Grand Prize Winner Selected!

Congratulations to kathyluman on Twitter, who has been randomly selected as the grand prize winner of a 16 GB Wi-Fi Apple iPad. Thank you to everyone for entering and participating in my first social media contest. Continue following me on Twitter for details on my next giveaway!

Using an iPad to Manage Your Finances

Yesterday, I announced the launch of my contest aimed at helping taxpayers stay up-to-date on tax and financial news by following me on Twitter or FaceBook. I will be giving away copies of my books, iTunes gift cards, and an Apple iPad grand prize. In addition to some of the standard features of the iPad, there are dozens of applications that have been developed to help users with their finances. Take a look at the ways an Apple iPad can help taxpayers manage their money:

1. iCal Bill Reminders

All iPads come with iCal preinstalled. If you have a MobileMe, account you can even sync your iCal between your computer, smart phone, and iPad. In addition to keeping track of your schedule, you can set monthly alarms to remind you about important bills and other important dates, such as paydays.

2. Expense Tablet

Expense Tablet was one of the first financial apps to arrive for the iPad, and remains one of the most useful. It helps users manage their expenses by linking up with their accounts. Expense Tablet will then provide you an easy-to-use expense report. It is available at the iTunes store for only $1.99.

3. Financial Advice eBooks

Now that Apple has launched a book store to complement the iPad’s eBook reader features, you can easily download a wide selection of financial advice and self-help books. Since you can store hundreds of books on your iPad, you can purchase a variety of financial topics, like financial organization and tax planning, and have them at your fingertips at all times.

4. Square

Square is a handy app that was created to help people easily accept and make payments through most Apple devices, including the iPad. Square also organizes your receipts, calculates tip options for customers, and allows business owners to set up virtual shelves of their products. With of all these great features you might think this app would be expensive, but it is actually a free download!

5. Mobile Access to Financial News

There are plenty of ways to use your iPad to stay in the know on tax and financial news. You can access news websites using Safari or subscribe to a financial podcast. Even some magazines are beginning to create iPad optimized versions of their content. For daily tax news and advice, you can even follow me at Twitter.com/RoniDeutch.

6. Box.net

Box.net is a free app helping users keep track of important financial documents by digitally storing them all in one place. Essentially, it acts like a virtual filing cabinet, storing all your documents, videos, images, and spreadsheets.

7. Emailed Bank Receipts and Statements

The iPad mail application comes preinstalled. Most banks allow customers to have their monthly statements and even ATM receipts emailed instead of arriving via snail mail. If your bank offers these services, you can have all of your banking documents sent to your iPad.

8. Market Scan

For stockholders, keeping track of the market can be very time consuming. Fortunately, Market Scan developer Michael Foster developed an iPad app that allows you to complete all your stock-related research quickly and easily. Market Scan lets you set up custom searches that can be updated instantly. For stockholders on the go, the application’s $3.99 price tag is very reasonable.

9. Bread and Milk

The simple, yet incredibly useful, Bread and Milk app helps users create grocery lists, and even estimates the costs of your groceries. You can email grocery lists to friends or family, and save money on food by only purchasing items on your list. The Bread and Milk app costs 99 cents, but will likely save you plenty of money in the long run.

10. E*Trade Mobile Pro

Thousands of Americans use E*Trade to create and handle their stock profiles, but not everyone has 24/7 access to a computer with Internet. Therefore E*Trade created a free iPad app offering financial news in addition to investment evaluation and quotes.

Don’t forget to check out the blog entry I posted yesterday to learn about my contest and enter—Good Luck!

Win an Apple iPad by Following Me on Social Media!

I am excited today to announce my first Twitter and Facebook contest! By simply following me on Twitter or Facebook, not only will you stay-up-to-date on important tax and financial news, but you will also be entered to win great gifts such as an iTunes gift card, a copy of my book, or one of my new financial kits. Not to mention the grand prize, a 16GB Wi-Fi Apple iPad! Each status update and retweet will be numbered. Then, we will choose the winners using the random number generator on random.org. So, tell all your friends, and remember you can enter once per day. Good luck!

Below is a breakdown of the prizes we will be giving away each day, followed by how you enter:

Day 1: 10 winners will receive my book, The Tax Lady’s Guide to Beating the IRS with a coupon for a free copy of the next edition

Day 2: 5 winners will receive a $10 iTunes gift card

Day 3: 5 winners will receive The Tax Lady’s Guide to Beating the IRS along with a coupon for a free copy of the next edition

Day 4: 1 winner will receive the Roni Deutch financial kit as seen on HSN and 1 winner will receive The Tax Lady’s Guide to Beating the IRS with a coupon for a free copy of the next edition

Day 5: 5 winners will receive a $10 iTunes gift card

Day 6: 1 winner will receive the Roni Deutch financial kit as seen on HSN and 1 winner will receive The Tax Lady’s Guide to Beating the IRS with a coupon for a free copy of the next edition

Day 7: 1 winner will receive the Apple iPad Grand Prize


Here’s how to enter:

1. Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ronideutch or Follow me on Facebook at http://bit.ly/daSYbE

2. Write the status message below on Twitter or Facebook once daily:

“Win a Free iPad and other prizes daily! Follow @ronideutch or friend Roni on FaceBook. Repost daily! http://bit.ly/rdcontest”


Contest Rules:

The winners of the contest will be selected using the random number generator at random.org then using that corresponding number and count that number of status update/tweet that mentioned Roni’s Retweet request. Then the winners will be announced on this blog each day.

By participating, you agree that should you be declared one of the prize winners, Roni Deutch may announce your name, city, and state on her or her companies’ websites/blog(s). Roni Deutch will also notify the winner by either an email message on Facebook or by Direct Message on Twitter. All information provided or exchanged is strictly confidential and will not be shared with any third party for marketing purposes.

Only one entry per person per day allowed. No purchase necessary. Must be 18 or older to enter and be a legal resident of the U.S. Void where prohibited. Roni Deutch reserves the right to disqualify any entrant and his or her entry when she believes a law has been violated in the jurisdiction where the entrant resides. All federal, state, provincial, and local laws and regulations apply. Employees, officers, directors, agents, representatives, and immediate family and household members of her companies (Roni Deutch, A Professional Tax Corporation, RDTC Inc., Niko & Inu, LLC, and Benigirl, LLC), any Roni Deutch Tax Center® franchise, or any sponsoring business are not eligible.

The Contest is governed in all respects, including validity, interpretation and effect, by the laws of the State of California (without giving effect to its choice of law principles). All disputes arising out of the Contest shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the California state courts in the County of Sacramento (or, in the case of exclusive federal jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California (Sacramento)). Notwithstanding the above, any dispute arising out of or relating to the Contest shall be settled by arbitration in Sacramento, California through the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, and judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.

You are solely responsible for all applicable federal, state, provincial and local taxes on any prize awarded to you. Neither Roni Deutch nor her companies and their employees, officers, directors, agents, or representatives shall be liable for: (i) telephone, electronic, hardware or software program, network, Internet or computer malfunctions, failures or difficulties; (ii) errors in transmission; and (iii) any condition caused by events beyond their control that may cause the Contest to be disrupted or corrupted.

By participating in the Contest, you agree to release and hold Roni Deutch and her companies harmless from any and all losses, damages, rights, claims, and actions of any kind in connection with, related to, or as a result of the Contest or resulting from acceptance, possession or use of any prize, including without limitation, based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy. We may terminate the Contest at any time without prior notice or liability to the entrants.