Target Holiday Sales

Thanks to Coupon Ga for these Target deals, check out her site for even more deals.. These prices are based on stores in Southern CA Target prices vary by region, so check your store to confirm your prices. To view Targets official coupon policy check Target.com

Pepsi (12 pk.): $3.00

• Use $1.00 Target Printable HERE
• Final Price: $2.00

Buy 4 Steaz Organic Teaz: $$

• Use 2 BOGO Printables HERE
• Use 2 FREE Printables HERE
• Final Price: ALL 4 FREE!!

Pepperidge Farm Baked Naturals Crackers (5.9 oz.): $3.29

• Use $2.00 coupon from 11/1 Smart Source
• Use $1.00 Target Printable HERE
• Final Price: $.29

Kellogg’s All-Bran Crackers: $1.99

• Use $1.50 Printable HERE
• Final Price: $.49

Argo Corn Starch (16 oz.): $1.19

• Use $.40 coupon from 11/8 Smart Source
• Use $.50 Target Printable HERE
• Final Price: $.29

3M Command Hooks (8 pk.): $2.14

• Use $1.00 Printable HERE
• Use $1.00 Target Printable HERE
• *Go to Household Coupons
• Final Price: $.14

Oral-B Pulsonic Toothbrush: $49.99

• Use $10.00 coupon from 11/15 Parade Magazine
• Receive $10.00 Target Gift Card
• Submit for $15.00 Rebate HERE
• Final Price: $14.99

Apple 16 GB iPod Nano: $175.00

• Use 10% off Target Printable HERE (-$17.50)
• *Go to Electronics Coupons
• Receive $15.00 Target Gift Card
• Final Price: $142.50

Apple 8 GB iPod Touch: $195.00

• Use 10% off Target Printable HERE (-$19.50)
• *Go to Electronics Coupons
• Receive $15.00 Target Gift Card
• Final Price: $160.50

Five Little Monkeys Game: $13.00

• Use $3.00 Target Printable HERE
• Final Price: $10.00

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These deals are still available too!
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I can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Tub or Spray: $1.87

• Use $.75 Printable HERE (IE) or HERE (FF)
• Use $.75 Target Printable HERE
• Final Price: $.37

.Buy 2 Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pastas: $1.19 ea.

• Use $1.00 Printable HERE
• Final Price: $.69 ea.

.Up & Up Toddler Wipes (48 ct.): $.97

• Use $1.00 Target Printable HERE
• Final Price: FREE

.Up & Up Wipes Tub: $1.57

• Use $1.00 Target Printable HERE
• Final Price: $.57

.Mr. Potato Head Spud Buds Christmas: $5.99

• Use $5.00 Printable HERE
• Final Price: $.99

12 Future Apps For Your iPhone

With the new iPhone SDK, it's just a matter of time before we see a wave of new applications. We expect a lot of popular web 2.0 apps to offer an iPhone version. Native Twitter, Facebook and Flickr clients for iPhone will run faster than their in-browser versions and will take advantage of the impressive Apple UI libraries. But there is an entirely new breed of applications also coming to iPhone. These apps simply would not be possible without a device like iPhone.

The major theme of this new wave of apps will be blending of the physical and digital worlds, using iPhone as the bridge. In this post we take a look at what's coming.

1. Reality Tagging

Tagging reality is not new, but will be much better done with iPhone. Here's how it will work. You take a picture of a landmark, then comment and add tags. The phone will automatically geo-tag it and send the picture to a photo sharing service on the Web. Now anyone in the world can find your picture by exact geo location, or by its tags. Reality tagging will be like a distributed Google Earth, but for pictures.

2. People Tagging

Even better than tagging landmarks, you will be able to use iPhone to tag people. You can already take a picture and assign it to a contact. It is just a matter of time before these pictures will available to a search engine. Doing it on the phone will be quick and fun. In a couple of years the problem that we described in this post will go away.

3. Reality Recognition

Reality recognition will be fueled by reality tagging and advanced image recognition. Imagine going on a hike and coming across a tree that you have not seen before. You will point iPhone at the tree and instantly a Wikipedia page about it will load. Or imagine that it's your first time in New York City. You point an iPhone at the Chrysler building (because you think that it is the Empire State Building) and again information about the landmark will be paged to your iPhone.

4. Physical Social Networks

Today's social networks exist on the internet, but mobile technology is going to bring it to the physical world. You will be able to walk into a restaurant, open up your iPhone and see a list of your friends who have been to the place. You can flip through their comments and ratings, share comments on the menu - all from the palm of your hand. Similarly, standing next to a painting in the Louvre, you will be able to instantly find out what your friends thought of it. Looking at this broadly, as we discussed in this post, advances in mobile computing enable us to overlay the digital on top of our physical world.

5. Personalized Travel Guides

Travel is one of the most fun things we do in life and one of the most innovative businesses. People love tours and tour guides who tell them about the landmarks and history of new places. Now imagine having personalized tours of any location of the world available. With the touch of a button, information about your current location will appear in your hand. Even better, the tours will be custom tailored to you, since software will know your tastes and travel preferences.

6. Digital and Physical Treasure Hunt

Travel is fun, but not as much fun as games. With the latest spike in social games, we are sure to see interesting activity in mobile games as well. And with the iPhone, we will be able to play games that take place in both the physical and digital worlds. The clues will be scattered over the Internet and cities such as NYC. With your iPhone you can navigate your way through this fun physical and mental challenge, showing off your knowledge of the web and NYC.

7. Distributed Mobile Games

Casual gaming is especially on the rise these days, fueled by social networks. Applying this model to mobile devices is particularly interesting since it enables people to tap into, not web-based, but fully-fledged 3D games - anywhere. The possibilities range from setting the mood of a game based on the surroundings, to connecting players based on geo location. And even without tying the games to the physical world, the fact that people can tap into the network at any time is game changing (pardon the pun).

8. Credit Card and Biometrics as Software

The business world is also going to benefit from mobile innovation. Soon credit cards will become software. You will walk into a store and to pay, you simply choose a credit card button. The iPhone will communicate securely with the cash register in the store, via Blue Tooth or Wi-Fi. The safety of the transaction will be ensured via biometrics. For example, a clerk in the store might ask you to place a randomly selected finger onto the screen of your iPhone to verify that the phone belongs to you (assuming that all phones are securely initiated in the store and may not be reset).

9. Paperless Receipts & Digital Business Cards

We wrote here last week about the coming demise of paper as a transport medium. Among the things we discussed was the end of receipts. Even today some companies are switching to email receipts, but devices like iPhone now make it possible to manage all receipts in a digital format. You will get a receipt of your purchase on your screen via Bluetooth or Wifi. It will also be emailed to you and backed up to remote store. The advantage to having it on the phone is that if you want to return it, you can simply bring it up and beam it back to the clerk's computer.

Another piece of paper that is coming to an end is the business card. More and more people connect via LinkedIn these days, but they still exchange business cards when they meet. Palm did a good job early on of solving this problem - the business card could be beamed between the two devices. iPhone is likely to bring the digital business card exchange back in fashion and even make it big. This generation of software will automatically add the cards to contacts and connect the two of you on LinkedIn.

10. Medical records as Software

The medical industry uses the most advanced software when it comes to diagnostics, but also uses the most outdated ones when it comes to record keeping. Having your medical history available on the mobile phone will be a great way to enable all of your doctors and pharmacies to better communicate around your health. Because medical records are still mostly in paper, often doctors are not aware of all the treatments and drugs that a patient is taking. Having a simple, portable way to move your medical history around would make things much simpler.

11. Physical Browsing & Digital Shopping

The last two applications have to do with shopping. The first one is browsing things in the physical world and instantly buying them online. The experience of browsing books on Barnes and Nobles is different; and for most of us is superior than browsing on Amazon. But prices are better online, so we typically end up taking notes and then buying online. With iPhone it will be possible to take a picture of a book in the store and have it immediately appear in your Amazon shopping cart. The same can apply to many things, including clothing, houseware, etc.

12. Location/time-based deals

If you were be open to it, stores would love to compete for your business. If you are about to buy a camera at BestBuy and there is a Circuit City near by, they would be willing to win your business by bidding a lower price. Imagine pointing the phone to a camera and getting instant bids from neighborhood stores. Sure you can do this now online, but a lot of people still buy the old fashioned way - by first holding the thing in their hands.

Conclusion

The applications that we have discussed are very exciting and will change the way we do things. If you look carefully at each of the 12 apps above, you can see bigger trends among them. The first group is applications that mesh together the physical and digital worlds. The main benefit is that it enhances the physical experience by overlaying digital smarts.

The second group is games - always part of our culture and games evolve, adapt and re-invent themselves with new technologies.

Then comes the group of applications that aims to improve things we carry around. Credit and business cards, receipts and even medical records are on track to become software.

The last group of applications is focused on innovation in shopping. Interesting opportunities will arise from combining the best of both physical and digital shopping experiences.

And now please think about the applications that you would love to see on your iPhone and share your ideas with us.

Advices and game plan for this ThanksGiving

Make Your Shopping List

Once you know what items you want to make a shopping list that includes the stores that have the item and their advertised prices. This will help you map out a game plan for finding all of your items at the best prices. You should weigh price and location equally. Get as many things as you can in one trip, and try to focus on the store where you'll get the most savings overall.

Grab online deal

Remember you can buy items on 2009 Black Friday you don’t want just to sell it on EBay. Check online deals on amazon, ebay, buy.com and other online stores to see what the stuff will sell for.

Carry the right Card

Before going to store make sure you have credit card that store accept. Try to avoid a credit card from an company that has gone out of business due to the recent financial crisis. Nothing like shopping for hours on 2009 Black Friday and then being told at the checkout your card is not accepted. J

Grab the receipt and Rebate form

Make sure the store gives you your receipt plus an extra copy that you can send with your rebates after the checkout. Once you arrive at home jump on it and make the copies, fill out the forms, stamp it and send it out. If you wait few days you may get busy in other work and you may lose your rebate amount which Companies want you to. And make sure you copy all the info that you are putting in the envelope – rebate companies do lose your stuff and you want to be able to prove you sent it in.

Be sure and check the stores website for online rebate applications…some stores allow you to apply online. Many stores, even if they require paper rebate applications, will still allow you to check your status online.

A bit extra careful

Be careful during the rebate season. A lot of rebate checks look like cheap junk mailings. People have thrown away a lot of rebate money.

Have a wild idea if there is line

You go to store at 5 AM and you see the checkout line is 2 hours long. You’re thinking you need to get out of here and to the next store. If only you could keep my stuff and checkout later. Here is an deal buster idea. You are in a store that also sells appliances, you could put your stuff in a refrigerator or microwave that is on display. On 2009 Black Friday nobody looks at appliances. You may be able to hide your stuff and come back after the checkout line has gone down and checkout. In the meantime your stuff is hidden and you are on your way to the next store to shop.

Pick the correct store ad

Don’t go to a store with the 2009 Black Friday ads from all your stores. You don’t need all the 2009 Black Friday ads in that one store and, as your hands get full, you’ll be tempted to lay down that stack of ads while you examine merchandise. A few minutes later you notice your ads are gone, you go looking for them, they’re gone because someone else picked them up and your shopping trip is ruined.

Have a online deal and save your night

Many stores will place their 2009 Black Friday ads online before Black Friday and some of them will allow you to purchase online at the 2009 Black Friday ad prices and have the items shipped to your home. At today’s gas prices and figuring what your time is worth, online can be a great, even better, deal.

Hire a labor man

If the big screen TV and the laptop are only available at the store and in limited quantities. But man are they a great deal…hundreds of dollars of potential savings. But staying up all night, in the cold and rain, is not your idea of a good time. Not a problem. There is some kid in your church youth group or a college student who wants to make a $100. Hire them and let them freeze and then shop for you while you stay home and sleep in.

Comfort your Night

Here’s idea how to comfort your night. Bring a sleeping bag, umbrella, folding canvas chair, thermos with hot coffee, maybe another thermos with hot soup, a book to read, your IPod. Not only will you get a great deal, but you’ll be a whole lot happier about the wait.

Have a classic optimization

After you have decided which 2009 Black Friday stores to shop, punch all the store locations into your GPS and ask it to optimize the route. Your GPS will take you to one store after another in the most time efficient route. Remember, 5 minutes could make a difference in whether or not you get to the store in time to buy the last widget they have.

How to get your deal this ThanksGiving ?

This Black Friday will remain special for the deals hunter than usual Black Friday. While there may be limited items per store It will be hard to find your deal.

If you’re planning on heading out the day after Thanksgiving, here are a few things to keep in mind that will help you save money and give you a better idea of when and where to buy.

Finding the best prices on HDTVs — Black Friday typically has the best prices of the year on TVs – even better than the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. But what few people realize is that the models on sale are specifically made for Black Friday. Manufacturers have found new efficiencies in models that cut their manufacturing costs. This allows retailers to offer the best prices of the year on this day. The downside is the sets aren’t exactly top-of-the-line.

“Black Friday is not a day about getting a good TV, it’s a day about getting a cheap TV,” says Dan de Grandpre, CEO of dealnews.com.

Finding the best prices on high-end HDTVs — If you want a top-end HD set, you’re better off skipping the Black Friday crowds and waiting until a couple of weeks before Christmas to find the best deal. That’s when retailers really begin slashing prices on the high-end equipment, in part because manufacturers are preparing to introduce new sets in January at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Saving through social networking — Recognizing that their Black Friday ads are inevitably going to leak online, many retailers are using social network sites like Facebook and Twitter to have some control over when customers learn about their big doorbusters. Staples, Sears and Toys R Us are just a few of the companies who have announced big sale items to their online fans and followers. (Staples, for example, tweeted that they would be cutting the price of a 21.5-inch monitor by 50 percent on Nov. 27.)

Thanksgiving is for eating, not shopping — In recent years, as retailers began to realize the threat of the Internet to their Black Friday gold rush, some began offering 'pre-Black Friday' sales on Thanksgiving itself. While there are a few deals to be had there, they’re usually not extraordinary and hardly worth interrupting your holiday to pin down. The prices offered during Thanksgiving Day sales will almost always be repeated later in the season — and often topped.

Think outside the box — It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that certain stores sell certain things, but as margins fall, many retailers are branching out beyond their core competencies. For example, need TV cables? You may find a better deal at Home Depot than Best Buy (You might even find a better deal on the TV itself at select locations.) If you’ve got questions about the product or want a wide selection to choose from, this strategy won’t work, but if you know specifically what you’re looking for, you could find a deal.

Don’t wait until Black Friday — Black Friday is no longer a 24-hour event. Retailers, hoping to pry money out of tight-fisted consumers’ hands have started offering doorbusters that are on par with the day after Thanksgiving deals much earlier this year. If you keep your eyes peeled, you can spot some very aggressive pricing.

“It’s really turned from just a single day event to almost a month long or four-to-six-week type phenomenon,” says Steve Koenig, director of industry analysis for the Consumer Electronics Association. Walmart and Sears have really upped the ante this year.”

The online advantage — Don’t want to stand out in the cold and fight for the limited selection of in-store items? While many doorbusters aren’t available online, some are, and shopping on your PC could earn you a few extra hours in bed. Better still, you can have them delivered directly to your house — or often to a store near you —for free, letting you pick them up when the crowds are a bit more manageable. Note, though, that you’ll still have to wake up early to buy the items, since you’ll still be battling others for a limited supply. You’ll just be doing it in your PJs.

Use your bargaining power — While many stores tout price-matching services, those low-price guarantees can get a little fuzzy when it comes to doorbusters. Store managers often have a certain amount of discretion, though, notes Mike Baker, an analyst with Deutsche Bank. Talk to them, show them the printed ads of competitors and try to consolidate your Black Friday shopping to a single location. It will get you home that much quicker.

Get Ready for Hi-Def Phone Calls

Radio ads running in the former Soviet republic of Moldova feature a variety of emotional phone conversations, evidence of how the world's first high-definition cell phone system can carry not tinny-sounding speech but voices full of raw human feelings: love, fear, exhilaration. "You can feel emotions; it is completely different," says Liudmila Climoc, chief executive of wireless carrier Orange Moldova.

For 40 years the quality of cellular phone calls has changed very little. The shift in the 1990s from analog to digital phones held the promise of crisper quality, but that never panned out. Struggling to cope with 30% annual increases in traffic, cell phone companies used the improved technology to add capacity, not quality. Today demand for cellular minutes is nearing its peak, with growth of 3% in the last year. Now the relentless advances in digital technology can be used for purposes other than simply packing more calls into the cellular airwaves.

So far the big American carriers plan to use their growing capacity to add all sorts of data services. Eventually the U.S. will catch up to Moldova, as the cost of better-sounding voice calls becomes too cheap to ignore. Today's carriers convert calls into 6,000 digital bits per second, a tight squeeze and the major reason the calls sound so poor. In tiny Moldova, where capacity is relatively abundant, French wireless carrier Orange now uses double that number of bits. The highs and lows of the human voice are not so badly truncated.

In the U.S., chipmaker Broadcom is hard at work on gear that will allow even better-sounding calls. Nambi Seshadri, who oversees that work at Broadcom, says that with 32,000 bits per second he'll be able to produce voice quality that is virtually indistinguishable from face-to-face conversation. A demo of the technology shows a clearly audible improvement over not just ordinary cell phones but also landlines, which chop off high frequencies.

The other big problem with cellular quality is also about to disappear. Right now there's an annoying lag that occurs between the moment when one caller speaks and the time his voice reaches the other person's ear. Many people assume that's an inherent drawback of cell phones. It's not. Wireless signals fly through the air at the speed of light just as they do in optical fiber. The delays come from slow software and circuitous routing. The new Long Term Evolution gear set for deployment next year should cut that lag by at least 75%, so most human ears won't notice it.

The same quality advances are at work in wired phones as well. Orange already has 500,000 high-definition phones installed in Europe that use voice-over-Internet technology. When this style of phone connection hit the scene it was roundly criticized for its poor quality relative to traditional phone lines. Yet Orange has shown that better technology can close that gap and then some. Both cellular and Internet phone calls may soon sound so good it might even make you want to cry

I Can Hear You Now!

A quick look at how the problems with today's cell phones will soon be fixed.

1) PROBLEM: "Tinny" Sound.

To save capacity, today's phones drop high-pitched sounds. The letters "f" and "s" sound similar, and "p" is easily confused with a "t."

SOLUTION: More capacity, less compression. New networks that begin rolling out next year can triple the number of bits a call uses, leading to better-than-land-line sound.

2) PROBLEM: Pops and Clicks.

Cell phone calls are often interrupted by peculiar, and annoying, sounds caused by the connection briefly failing and tiny snippets of speech getting lost.

SOLUTION: New chips from Broadcom integrate "packet loss concealment," letting the phone fill in the small gaps with less grating sounds.

3) PROBLEM: Wind Noise.

SOLUTION: Clever software that identifies wind noise and suppresses it.

4) PROBLEM: Overlapping Speech.

Talk from one cell phone to another and you notice a big lag between when you speak and the other person hears you, often leading to overlapping conversations.

SOLUTION: The next generation of cell phones is designed to waste less time transmitting calls and to eliminate any noticeable latency.

Apple : The next "500 pounds GORILLA"

The big, obvious take away fromApple's Q4 Earning earlier today was that it once again crushed the estimates. And not just its own forward-looking estimates, which are always laughably low, but even the estimates of the most optimistic analysts — by a lot. But some of the other numbers from today were just as impressive, and some of the information, even more interesting.

Apple now has $34 billion in cash in the bank. Apple watchers will also know that they have no debt. So what are they going to do with all this money? That’s $10 billion more than they had a year ago, and this past quarter alone, they added about $3 billion to the pile. Apple keeps saying that it will use the cash for “preservation of capital,” which is a fancy way of saying that they’ll be take little risk and keep it close.

That’s more cash than Microsoft has, and for some comparison, $34 billion is $10 billion more than the overall market cap of Yahoo. It’s also about $1.5 billion more than the market cap of eBay, and $4 billion more than the market cap of Dell. It’s almost exactly the same as the market cap of News Corp.

Apple’s stock could open tomorrow at or near its all-time high. Let me repeat that, all-time high. You probably haven’t heard that too often over the past year, but it’s true. Apple’s all-time high is $202.96 a share, which it reached on Dec. 27, 2007, nearly 2 years ago. Today, after earnings were released, the stock shot up over 7%, pushing it past $203 a share. It has since settled a bit lower, but it’s not out of the question that the stock could hit the mark again tomorrow during regular trading hours. Apple’s stock price has more than doubled over the past 7 months alone.

Sales of the iPod touch were up 100% year over year. This is especially impressive considering two things. First, overall iPod sales were down, once again. Second, despite indications that they would, Apple did not add a camera to the iPod touch during that line’s refresh a few months ago. Instead, the iPod nano got the camera, but it would seem that the iPod touch is still the hot sibling in the family.

OS X Snow Leopard came out of the gates twice as fast as OS X Leopard. This really shouldn’t be all that surprising, considering the upgrade costs just $30. Still, impressive.

Half billion apps downloaded in the last quarter alone. We already knew the big 2 billion app download milestone was hit, but Apple clearly stated that a full half billion of those came just in the past three months. That’s huge.

Portable sales were up 35% year over year. Apple didn’t want to seem to talk about its desktops at all when it came to the Mac business (which had its best quarter ever). Instead, it’s very clear that notebook sales are the driving force (nearly 3/4th of Mac sales now). Of course, some new iMacs, which may launch as soon as tomorrow, could help balance the sales a bit more.

China is getting the iPhone on October 30, but Korea should get it this quarter as well. Obviously China is a huge key to the Apple’s plan for international success, but getting the iPhone in Korea won’t hurt either. Apple COO Tim Cook made a quick reference to the unlocked iPhone issue in Asia, and noted that the company is excited to finally be able to meet a demand that is clearly there.

Apple has some new products coming that have relatively low margins and cost a lot on to ship in. The obvious guess here would be Apple’s tablet. But the latest rumors had the thing being announced in January, but not shipping until closer to mid 2010 — neither of which are fiscal year Q1 (which ends December 31). Instead, the lower margins could well be related to new iMacs and MacBooks that have been rumored to be cheaper.

But the more interesting bit comes from Cook’s wording about why Apple spending more on shipping: “In general, we spend more in freight in Q1, but this increase is larger than usual. I’m sorry, I can’t be specific on the product, but it’s an abnormal sequential increase.” That would seem to suggest a new type of product outside the ones it already offers, like the iMac and MacBook, which it has, of course, shipped in the past. Could the tablet come early? It seems unlikely, but something is causing Apple to worry about out-of-the-ordinary shipping costs.

Apple has until Q1 2011 to use the new accounting rules. The changes allow Apple to count money made of off its so-called “subscription” devices, the iPhone and the Apple TV, immediately, rather than spreading the money over a 2-year period. While they were approved in September, Apple is still debating on when to start using them, and will not for Q1 2010. Cook noted that Apple was “pleased” with this new rule.

Scottrade Referral Program Details - 5 Free Trades

As mentioned in my Scottrade review, they offer 5 free online trades (currently 7 free trades until 03/31/2010) if you are referred by an existing customer. The referrer also gets 5 free trades. To get the required referral code, simply apply code YQYU4744.

The referral bonus applies to all accounts except IRAs or custodial accounts. You must open the account with at least $500 for cash accounts ($2,000 for margin accounts). The free trades should show up about one week after you open and fund your accounts, and expire after 6 months.

Here is a screenshot of what you should see when you login, after you get the 5 free trades:


Please don’t spam the comments with your own referral code.


APPLY THE CODE: YQYU4744 and get 5 free trades.

Thanks

Apple’s Black Friday deals leaked?

One of our connects just hit us up with some intriguing Apple information.

According to them, what you see detailed above is a shot of Apple’s yearly Black Friday deals.

It’s reported to be something Apple will email out shortly.

This time around, it looks as if Apple will be offering up to 30% off on all iPods (Update: excluding iPhone and iPod shuffle, sorry), up to 25% off Macs, and up to 15% off all accessories as well as Apple software and hardware.

The deal is only good for the day of November 27th and if that’s not good enough, “select” Apple stores will open at 6AM. This is unconfirmed but it doesn’t seem too unrealistic. Thoughts?

The 70% Discount on Goldman's $500M Gift

IT’S BEEN DUBBED the apology with a half-billion-dollar gift attached. In an attention-grabbing move this week, Goldman Sachs (GS: 172.83, -4.07, -2.30%) said it would launch a $500 million initiative to help small businesses with Warren Buffett as a key adviser, an announcement that coincided by hours with a public mea culpa from CEO Lloyd Blankfein for mistakes in the financial crisis. But it turns out Goldman’s program includes its own discount — the kind that only an investment banker could love.

According to a review of Goldman’s program by SmartMoney in consultation with corporate tax experts, the ultimate price tag of the initiative could be far less than the heavily publicized $500 million. A big chunk of the money is destined for charitable institutions, creating potentially sizable tax deductions for Goldman, while other portions are being made as loans that Goldman confirms it expects to be repaid with interest.

All in all, tax experts say, the ultimate cost to Goldman could total roughly $136 million to $150 million—70% or more below the half-billion figure that helped generate so much publicity for the firm this week. Interest income from the loans could lower the final bill even more. Asked about the estimates, a Goldman spokesman didn’t comment on the specific figures but defended the program as a boon to small businesses, while giving Goldman “a modest economic return.” Buffett didn’t return requests for comment.

The program, titled 10,000 Small Businesses, drew a wave of media attention. Its advisory board includes Buffett, a big Goldman investor who is well known for his philanthropy, as well as Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter. While Goldman said explicitly that the small-business program was not designed as a public-relations move, many have interpreted it otherwise. Goldman has been the target of criticism for getting ready to pay out billions in bonuses to executives this year after benefitting from the U.S. government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, during the financial crisis—as well as for missteps that some say contributed to the meltdown.

On Tuesday, the same day Goldman announced 10,000 Small Businesses, Blankfein appeared before a room full of CEOs and journalists at an awards ceremony in which he was named CEO of the year by the Directorship Forum, and said Goldman had “participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret.” Those comments suggested a turnaround from earlier this month, when Blankfein drew notice for being quoted in an interview with The Times of London saying he is a banker doing "God's work."

Here’s why the cost of 10,000 Small Businesses is likely to be lower than the $500 million figure. Half of those funds will be charitable contributions to community colleges and other nonprofit institutions to sponsor business education. At an all-in tax rate of 40% for state, local and federal obligations, that could give Goldman a $100 million savings on its taxes over the next five years, says Robert Willens, an independent tax and accounting analyst in New York and a former managing director at Lehman Brothers.

The rest of the Goldman discount is even simpler: Goldman should get back most or all of the $250 million it is also providing for loans to small businesses that a Goldman spokesman says are to be repayed in three to five years at “market rates” for nonprofit institutions that lend to small businesses. Market rates for that type of loan would generally range around 7% to 8%, according to Mark Pinsky, who consulted with Goldman on the program. Pinsky is president and CEO of the Opportunity Finance Network, a Philadelphia-based association of Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs, which are nonprofit institutions that lend to small businesses.

“They’re not paying $500 million,” says Benjamin Leff, a tax law professor at American University’s Law School in Washington, D.C. “They’re not even paying $250 million.”

The Goldman spokesman confirmed that the firm expected tax benefits from the charitable contributions and that it expected the funds being disbursed as loans would be repaid. “The program has a triple bottom line: We’re providing capital to underserved businesses, capacity building for CDFIs and a modest economic return to ourselves,” says the Goldman spokesman.

To be sure, at a time when the credit crunch has made it much more difficult for entrepreneurs to secure loans, Goldman’s money will no doubt be welcomed by beneficiaries regardless of how the investment bank’s accounting works out. Already, the program is drawing widespread praise in the small-business community. Says Bill Dunkelberg, the chairman of Liberty Bell Bank, a community bank in Cherry Hill, N.J.: “Even though it’s like 1% of the company’s bonuses, it is nice to fund these things and I’m sure community colleges will appreciate the money.” Adds Dunkelberg, “Small businesses can certainly use the money.”

Goldman is also taking an obvious risk that it won’t get repaid on the loans. The default rate for these types of loans has traditionally been low – less than 1% prior to the recession, says Pinsky. However, since the downturn, Pinsky expects the default rate to reach 1.5%.

To limit potential defaults, Goldman has tasked the program’s advisory board — including Buffett and Porter along with Blankfein — to select CDFIs that have track records of helping successful businesses. In addition, Goldman says it plans to lend only to companies that are at least two years old, have four employees ore more, and pull in revenue between $150,000 and $4 million in the most recent fiscal year.