Potpourri

This month's Gazette will highlight some miscellaneous websites that I've accumulated over the last year.

I'm sure this past holiday season a lot of you received gift cards that you don't want and that could end up in a drawer until their expiration date. Or perhaps you spent $100 of a $200 store gift card and can't find anything else in the store to purchase. Wouldn't you rather sell the card for, say $75, then just let it expire, unused? Gift Card Granny, is a "gift card marketplace site that connects buyers and sellers of discounted gift cards." They function as a middle man, researching and finding the "very best deal of the day on each specific card" and they only use the most reliable brokers. Each day's top deals are prominently displayed on their homepage. If you're interested in a card, click on the company name and select the card you're interested in. The card value, price you'll pay, discount percentage, shipping cost (if any) and seller are displayed. Click on the "shop" button to be linked to the broker's site, where you can complete your purchase. You can also sell your unwanted gift cards through one of the 5 major, trusted brokers Gift Card Granny works with. Check out the site for more details.

Other reputable gift card exchange sites include Plastic Jungle and Cardpool. On Plastic Jungle you can "buy discount gift cards (for up to 35% off) or sell us (for up to 92% of face value) your unused gift cards for cash, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." They also carry electronic gift cards, or eCODES, for online retailers, such as iTunes, Macy's, Zappos, etc. If there are no cards for your favorite store, set up an Alert, to be notified when they become available. Cardpool is a "gift card exchange marketplace," where you can buy, sell or trade your gift cards. They only sell cards with no fees or expiration dates and offer free shipping on all orders.

Although it's too late for this season's holiday shopping, Invisiblehand, can save you money year-round. It is a "browser extension which discreetly notifies you if the product or flight you're shopping for is available more cheaply from another retailer or travel site. The notification provides a convenient button which links you straight through to the relevant page on the competing website. It also provides a drop-down menu, so that you can see the prices at the other sites which sell that product or flight." The add-on is available for Firefox 3.5+, Chrome, Safari or Internet Explorer.

If you're in the job market, perhaps it's time to update your resume. On Resunate you can upload a resume or import your LinkedIn profile. Copy a job description into the site and you'll receive a "JobFocus Score" which tells you how well your resume matches the job. Select one of their templates to change the format of your resume, add bullet points, add or remove information to improve your "Focus Score." Read through the Support Center page for more details.

I have quite a few friends that shop for groceries online. You're probably familiar with Peapod or Fresh Direct. But did you know that Amazon also delivers a wide array of groceries, including fresh produce, staples, meats, etc., to your home? At Amazon Fresh you can even sign up for "Automatic Delivery." Schedule a day and time, add items to your list and they will be delivered the same day and time each week. Information for products include product features, product description, product details, including Weight Watcher Points and expiration dates, and customer ratings and reviews. ShopFoodEx.com is another online grocery store that carries over 12,000 items and ships throughout the United States internationally.

If you love history, or need a historical map for research purposes, be sure to check out The David Rumsey Map Collection. It contains over 150,000 maps with a focus on rare 18th and 19th century maps of North and South America, although it also has maps of Asia, Africa, Europe and Oceania. The collection includes atlases, wall maps, globes, school geographies, pocket maps, maritime charts, and much more. There are over 27,000 items digitized online. Tools allow you to view maps side-by-side for comparison and analysis.

The Travel Film Archive is a "collection of travelogues and educational and industrial films - many in color - that show the world the way it was between 1900 and 1970." The earliest films are silent but the later ones have sound. Many are from renowned travel filmmakers such as Holmes, de la Varre and FitzPatrick. You can search the archives by region, country, state or cities, decade, subject or filmmaker. Films are available for licensing.

I'll write more about tax sites in a future issue, but for the basics you couldn't find a better site than Internal Revenue Service. Here, you can find Forms and Pubs, Hot Topics, Tools, Filing & Payments. Get the latest news on gas mileage rates, inflation adjustments and new e-File rules, health care credits, and exemptions. If you haven't received your refund check, you can search for it online. Learn about appealing a tax dispute, disaster relief and taxpayer advocate services.