Your Money

By Daniel Eisenberg

Make Those Pennies Count

If you've finished stocking up on 1[cent] stamps, here's another way to get rid of those dusty pennies. Just stop by a supermarket like Kroger or A&P, and drop your change (the silver stuff included) into a Coinstar machine, which gives you a voucher good for cash or groceries (less an 8.9% commission). To find a terminal, call 800-928-2274.

File Tax Returns Online

Why can't doing taxes in the digital age be as easy as buying a book online? This year it may be. Last week Intuit launched a service at www.webturbotax.com that lets users securely fill out and file all returns ($10-$20 each) on the Web without downloading any software. Kiplinger TaxCut, its main rival www.taxcut.com) just started offering free Web filing, but only for the 24 million taxpayers who qualify for the simple Form 1040-EZ.

Helping Blacks Buy Homes

Black home ownership trails that of whites by nearly 30 percentage points--a gap Fannie Mae hopes to close. The federally chartered mortgage financier announced a partnership with the N.A.A.C.P. and BankAmerica last week to provide $110 million in financing aimed at helping disadvantaged blacks and other minorities obtain a mortgage with only a 3% down payment. For information on the program, which begins in a month, call 800-732-6643.

--By Daniel Eisenberg