Money. Purpose. Joy.

Times are tough, which means service providers are especially intent on keeping their customers, and that's making it easier to negotiate better rates. ABC News profiled one man who systematically called everyone from his cable provider to his health club and said, "I need to save some money. I know you get it. Can you work with me?" His phone and cable company reduced his monthly bill by almost fifty percent. His health club knocked ten dollars off his monthly bill and added a free month. He advises people that if the first customer service rep they talk with can't help, ask to speak to the "customer retention" department. Mentioning competitive offers helps as well.

Matt's View

I tried this advice by calling our phone and Internet service provider to ask for a better rate. In less than 15 minutes, they knocked about twenty dollars off our monthly bill. You never know what you can get unless you ask.

Last month I mentioned that I was planning to switch from a traditional version of Quicken to one of the newer free online "financial aggregators." The traditional software version ties you to one computer, whereas the online tools provide access via any computer. While I'm not done with my evaluation, here are a few things I've learned so far while checking out Mint , Geezeo , Wesabe , and Quicken Online .

First, most of these services seem to work best if your checking or savings accounts are with large financial institutions. One of our accounts is at a small bank and Quicken Online, by far, did the best job of gaining access to transactions from that bank. Mint had trouble. Even after succeeding a couple of times, I cannot gain reliable access to transactions from this bank via Mint.

This is disappointing because I really like Mint's user interface. It gives you an instant read on how your actual spending in various categories compares with your spending targets. If your accounts are with large financial institutions you should do just fine and I think you'll enjoy using Mint.

Geezeo has already been eliminated from consideration. It was not able to access transactions even from a big financial institution that we do business with.

Matt's View

A number of readers have asked about the security of these tools. I plan to address that question in the next issue of this eNewsletter, along with an evaluation of Wesabe and one more that I have put on the consideration list: Yodlee .

If you're anticipating an income tax refund this year, the fastest way to get that money is to file your tax return electronically and have the refund automatically deposited. The process takes as few as 10 days. This year, the IRS has expanded its e-file program, making it possible for nearly everyone to file electronically for free. Here are the options.

If your 2008 adjusted gross income was $56,000 or less, you qualify for Free File . The program gives you free access to software packages that will walk you through the form preparation process and tell you if you qualify for various tax credits.

If you don't qualify for Free File, you still have two electronic filing options. First, if you want to use tax preparation software, some programs are now free even for those with higher incomes. Or, if you know exactly which forms you need and don't need help filling them out, use the free fillable forms .

Matt's View

About 80 percent of taxpayers receive a refund each year and the average refund totals over $2,400. If that's your situation, and you'd like to stop giving the government a free loan, use the IRS withholding calculator to estimate how much you should be having withheld for federal taxes and then talk with your human resources department about making the appropriate adjustment.

This sure seems like a good time to buy a car with all the incentives being offered by ailing carmakers. However, a deal isn't a deal unless you were in the market for the item anyway. And I'm a strong believer in keeping vehicles as long as possible. But if you really are in the market for a vehicle, Consumer Reports offers some great advice for avoiding a lemon .

Matt's View

As I've mentioned before, a good source of information about other costs associated with various vehicles is a tool on the Edmunds.com site called True Cost to Own . You may be tempted to buy a smaller car because of its fuel efficiency, but many smaller cars are much more expensive to insure than bigger cars, potentially washing out the fuel cost savings. It's good to take all of the costs into consideration.