Speaking of cheap phone service, SunRocket is now offering two years of VoIP phone service for $199. That's $8.30 a month for unlimited long-distance and just about every phone feature out there! And that includes all taxes! The only catch is that it's only for the first 1,000 customers, so I'd decide quickly.

I've been using SunRocket myself for over a year now now and I'm very happy with it. Check out my SunRocket VoIP Phone Service Review for a detailed rundown of my thoughts.

If you're starting a side business, you probably don't have the budget for a secretary, office space, or all the usual business amenities. But you can still project a professional image by using these cheap and even free services to create what I call a Virtual Office:

Telephone Service
Obviously, one option is to just use your current home or cell phone. With landlines, you'll have to change your answering machine recording and also warn the other people in your household not to answer the phone with the usual "Yo wassup!". For cell phones, you may be concerned with call quality or running out of minutes.

Another solution is to sign up for a free voicemail-only phone number (206 area code) from K7.net. You can customize the ...

Emigrant Direct's rate is now up to 5.15% APY, as promised. Hurray competition!

The old account numbers do work. I just sent a deposit and debit through ING Direct, which was linked using the old account number, and it worked just fine (screenshot). I didn't mean to alarm anyone before, but I guess the 'official' way to get money in and out of Emigrant is still through their linked accounts.

This was a good week for receiving some free bonus money, with $285 in total! Some updates too:

» $60 from Unwired Buyer via their $20 Bonus program. I've received $20 PayPal x 3 now, two for both of my eBay accounts* and one for my wife's. For those that haven't had a chance to bid yet, I've updated the post with a link for tons of good auctions to bid on. It's Friday, get it over with!

» $100 from Bank of America for a (now expired) opening bonus (previous post). I've had to fight for BofA bonuses before, but this one came on time without hassle. There is a new $100 bonus available here.

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) can be a great way for people to save money on health insurance, especially if you are young and healthy. I looked at them last year (and listed some HSA pros and cons) but missed some deadlines, and need to start again. I found quotes online as low as $80 a month at eHealthInsurance, whereas I currently pay about $200 a month as part of my wife's plan. I could even stay with the same company (BlueCross/BlueShield), just with different deductibles.

Now, HSAs are great mainly due to the fact that earnings grow tax-free, and when used for healthcare expenses withdrawals are tax-free too. I think of it as a Health Roth IRA. Accordingly, the ...