Five Ways To Get a Free Credit Score (No Trials)

Credit Sesame
Every month, Credit Sesame can offer you a credit score based on your Experian credit report. They also offer tips to improve your score and qualify for a mortgage


CreditKarma
CreditKarma.com is an ad-supported site that offers you the ability to check your credit score daily, called a Transrisk score, based on your TransUnion credit report. The score range is the same as FICO, from 300-850. You don’t get your credit report details, but you do get a few tips on what recent changes to your credit report have impacted your score.


Equifax Credit Score Card
The Equifax Credit Score Card comes directly from Equifax and provides a free credit score range of Low (280-559), Below Average (560-659), Average (660-724), Above Average (725-759), and High (760-850). It’s called the Equifax Risk Score. FICO has a range of 300-850, and this range is 280-850 so you don’t really have to do any scaling. It doesn’t provide any specific data from your Equifax credit report, but it does include a short summary of any negative factors that you may have on your report.


Prosper Person-to-Person Lending
Prosper Lending provides a free credit grade for prospective borrowers, based on your Experian credit data. If you don’t actually finalize the application for the loan, they will not check your credit. They do offer some good rates on personal loans, if you are looking to consolidate credit card debts.


LendingClub Person-to-Person Lending
Similar to Prosper, if you start an application to become a borrower at LendingClub.com they will check your credit on your behalf to find out what rate they will charge you. Instead of a numerical score, you will get a grade like “A2″ or “B3″. Then you can use the table below to determine your credit score range. For example, A2 would indicate a score range of 747-769. It is also based on your TransUnion credit report.


You will need to provide your personal information and Social Security number to these companies, naturally, so be comfortable with that. None of these methods by themselves will affect your credit score as you are requesting them for yourself.

ShareBuilder Promotion Codes: Free Automatic Trades (Updated 2012)

There are a few new codes that give you automatic investment credits, and also two new codes that will give you $50 and $25 bonuses respectively if you make a $25+ transfer over (each) to ShareBuilder with no trades required.

To enter the codes into your account, first log in to ShareBuilder, and then go to the Accounts tab > Overview > Profile & Settings > Enter Promotion tab

In the marked box, enter a code. If it works, you should see a confirmation that says something like:

Thank you for referring ShareBuilder to your friends! Your 2 real-time trades have been credited to your account and are available to use immediately.

How To Verify
To see how many free automatic trades you have, click on the top Trade > Automatic Investing and look for “You have XX Automatic Investment credits”. If you click on it, you’ll note that these may have different expiration dates.

Active Codes
BDAY12JY (1 free automatic investments, expire 3/31/2012)
12AIP (12 free automatic investments, expire 3/31/2012)
SK483GXM2BU9 (5 free automatic investments, expire 12/31/2014)
START50 ($50 bonus with electronic deposit of $25+, enter this code before the code below)
INVEST122111 ($25 bonus with electronic deposit of $25+)
3AIP
3AIP*GEJZOH (try if above doesn’t work)

Expired Codes
TAF5ANL*073t0C TAF2RA*2VvUQt TAF2RD*c48Ugc TAF5AR*2AsFg5 TAF5AW*1FkJgR TAF2RG*2VvUQt TAF5AC*2AsFg5 TAF2RM*2VvUQt TAF5AZ*2AsFg5 TAF5AA*t9sUKs BDAY11NV

TD Ameritrade Online Cash Services $200 Bonus

It looks like TDA is following the trend of combining checking account features with their traditional brokerage accounts. If you have a TD Ameritrade account, this looks like a pretty easy $200 bonus score.


Visit this promotion page to sign up for Online Cash Services and if you (1) sign up for a Visa debit card and make 4 purchases of $10+ by 3/31/12, and (2) enroll in BillPay and pay 4 bills totaling $100 between 1/15/12 and 3/31/12, you will get $100 each = $200 total. Both the debit card and online BillPay are free services.

Many of you many have old, inactive TDA accounts that are still open and you can fund them to take advantage of this promo. Offer not valid for existing debit card holders or bill pay users

Costco $10 Bonus For Auto-Paying Wireless Bill with American Express

Costco and American Express have a promotion where you can earn a $10 Costco Cash Card when you enroll on their page and then sign up to pay your wireless phone bill automatically with any American Express card. All wireless providers distributed by Costco are eligible: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Alaska Digitel.

To receive a $10 Costco Cash Card, enroll any eligible American Express Card by filling out the information below. Then, sign up to pay your eligible wireless bill automatically on the same American Express Card – it’s as simple as that. Automatic bill payment is a convenient solution that helps ensure that your bills get paid on time every time. Plus, you can earn rewards if your Card is enrolled in a rewards program. Offer good from now until March 31, 2012.

I remember seeing this promotion in the past before, but you had to use the Costco AmEx card, whereas this promotion works for all AmEx cards.

No Fee 0% Balance Transfer For 12 Months – Discover More Card

Tip: if you apply for the card and don’t get the credit line you want, call them up and tell them you want to do a $X,XXX balance transfer and they may work to accomodate you.

A few updates- I called Discover and they changed the policies again

1) you can have more than 1 credit card
2) You have to open a new card to get the promo they won’t apply it to the old one.
3)If you call and speak to a rep and give them a balance to transfer they will recalculate the credit line
4) They will let you transfer the old credit line to the new one ie I had a $7.3K balance on the old one so they left it open with $500 and gave me a new card with a $7K balance. I was able to keep my 5 yrs of credit history with the 1st card active. I’ll probably transfer the line back to the original place in a yr.
5) I just saved a year of interest on my Citibank student loans for $6,550 with 15 minutes of work

Back for 2012! Limited-time only. Just in time for some New Year debt-busting action, Discover has brought back the Discover More Card with No Balance Transfer Fee, offering 0% intro APR on both balance transfers and purchases for 12 months. You can literally borrow money for free and pay it back in 12 months (keeping in mind you’ll still need to satisfy the minimum payment each month until then). Use this opportunity to lower your interest rates and make every cent you pay go towards shrinking that principal. There are different versions of this card, so please use specific application link. No annual fee.

When you see the application, be sure to scroll down to the “Important Information” and verify that you are getting 0% for 12 months and no balance transfer fee. You should see the following text at the top under “Interest Rates and Interest Charges”:

APR for Balance Transfers: 0% intro APR for 12 months from date of first transfer, for transfers under this offer that post to your account by July 10, 2012.

And then the following a bit lower under “Fees”:

Transaction Fees * Balance Transfer – Intro fee of $0 for transfers that post to your account by 8/10/2012 with the 0% intro APR balance transfer offer described above. After that, 3% of the amount of each transfer.

Application Quick Tips
In order to get the highest credit limit possible, be sure to maximize your reported income as much as you can legitimately. You can no longer include the income of other people living with you, but do include things like freelance income, overtime, rental income, interest and dividend income, alimony, child support, etc.

If you wish to get cash directly from this balance transfer offer without it being classified as a “cash advance”, one tip is to request money to be transferred to other non-Discover credit cards that you have. This will create a negative balance, after which you request a refund check be sent to you. Citibank and American Express are recommended for this because they have automatic features on their websites to request a credit balance refund.

Make money and miles with Performing Arts Tickets

You can earn miles or points for U.S. Air, Delta, Starwood, and Best Buy for answering trivia questions. They change sporadically. Two miles or points each (sometimes 20), for five or so questions which change irregularly. You may participate in all of the programs, as the questions are different for each. Just use a different email address for each. In addition, you earn 2 ShowPoints per question. If you have 2500 Show Points you can exchange them into miles at Points.com. As we all know the ratio is not great, but if you're never going to use the Show Points it's the best way

When you sign up for each program, use different email addresses, and be sure to record your Audience Rewards account numbers. Then, for the Delta questions, log in using your Delta account number in the upper left corner before answering the questions. For the U.S. Airways, Starwood, and Best Buy questions, first answer the first question, then click on the very bottom link of the pop up to log into your Audience Rewards account using your Audience Rewards account numbers, not your account numbers for U.S. Airways, Starwood, and Best Buy. If this doesn't work, your cookies probably say you are logged in. Go to https://www.audiencerewards.com/redeemcenter/index.cfm and log out. Then click on the appropriate link below.

When I post answers here I will mention that I have done so on my What's New page. To be notified of the new answers simply subscribe to the service mentioned on that page that sends you an email whenever I post something to that page. Note: The author of the blogInACents says he intendes to keep up with the questions and answers on his blog. His answers are usually correct, but not always. However, if an error is found, it is promptly corrected. I suggest you wait a few days after his post before using his answers. I actually check my answers by entering them into the contest before posting them here, but I will not be posting them while I am traveling.

• U.S. Airways trivia questions.
  After answering the questions, be sure to log out athttps://www.audiencerewards.com/redeemcenter/index.cfm
  Answers as of February 18, 2012.
  1. True or False? The title character in The Phantom of the Opera is actually named Erik. True
  2. The Lion King is currently playing at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway, but where did it open? New Amsterdam
  3. What animal head forms the handle of Mary’s umbrella in Mary Poppins? A parrot
  4. The Wicked backstage tour, Behind the Emerald Curtain, was formed by a man who played what role in the original Broadway company? The Witch’s Father
  5. True or False? Priscilla, Queen of the Desert has changed its track list for its various venues. True
  6. In which Broadway theatre does Memphis perform? The Shubert Theatre
• Delta Airlines trivia questions
  Be sure to log in using your Delta account number in the upper left corner before answering the questions.
  After answering the questions, be sure to log out, both on the page you are on and at https://www.audiencerewards.com/redeemcenter/index.cfm.
  Answers as of February 26, 2012.
  1. Which of the following shows has Tom Hewitt not been in on Broadway?Follies
  2. True or False? The original first act of The Phantom of the Opera was presented at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s home. True
  3. In which country did a production of The Lion King open in June 2007 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Broadway show? South Africa
  4. The finale song in Rock of Ages is a song by what band? Journey
  5. Where does Newsies take place? New York City
• Starwood trivia questions
  After answering the questions, be sure to log out athttps://www.audiencerewards.com/redeemcenter/index.cfm
  Answers as of February 17, 2012.
  1. What role did Brent Carver play in the regional production of Jesus Christ Superstar? Pontius Pilate
  2. Sergio Trujillo, the choreographer of Memphis, is what nationality?Columbian (sic)
  3. What character in The Lion King has director Julie Taymor said to be "one of the hardest roles to master" because of the physical demands of the puppetry/costume pieces"? Timone
  4. Who originally came up with the idea for the musical, Chicago? Gwen Verdon
  5. What lyricist composed the lyrics for Masquerade in The Phantom of the Opera? Alan Jay Lerner
  6. Which actress starred in the title role in Mary Poppins in London and New York? Scarlett Strallen (This is a 20 point question that only some will see.)
• Best Buy trivia questions
  After answering the questions, be sure to log out athttps://www.audiencerewards.com/redeemcenter/index.cfm
  Answers as of February 26, 2012.
  1. True or False? There is NO female who sings a main song in Evita besides Eva. False
  2. What color is Glinda’s dress in the song “One Short Day” in Wicked? Yellow
  3. True or False? Tim Rice opposed the idea of casting Jesus in the new revival from a reality show. True
  4. What was the first song that George Stiles and Anthony Drewe wrote for the Mary Poppins musical? Practically Perfect
  5. The leading man of Newsies was recently in what show? Bonnie and Clyde
  6. Richard Stilgoe, who wrote some of the original lyrics for The Phantom of the Opera, also wrote lyrics for another Andrew Lloyd Webber show. Which one? Starlight Express

How to make money from Twitter

Every time we turn around we’re hearing about another social networking site offering users unlimited possibilities. Twitter is just such a site. Twitter is a very popular site that’s gaining more popularity every day. Members are constantly “tweaking” their friends, family members and even work associates! It seems like almost every one of all ages has a Twitter account today and many are making money doing it. Yes, you can make money with Twitter. Join the thousands of others that are doing that very thing. While you won’t become a millionaire overnight, Twitter offers you a great chance to earn some real cash!

Twitter Offers Many Money-Making Opportunities

There are several ways you can make money with Twitter. Before you can begin making money on Twitter, you will need lots of contacts the better. It’s been shown that Twitter users are getting as many as 20,000 followers within just the first month or two of joining. Imagine if you made a sale to just 1% of these followers: you’d have sold to 200 people. The opportunities to make money are endless with Twitter. So make as many friends as you can on Twitter and develop a good trusting relationship with these users. The more Twitter friends you make, the better your opportunity to make money.

Become an Affiliate on Twitter

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online while doing very little in the way of work. Most online companies offer an affiliate program to anyone interested. Find a company that offers affiliate marketing (it will be on the bottom of their website). Sign up and wait to hear from them. They’ll check out your Twitter page and make sure it offers good opportunities for sales. Once they’ve accepted you as an affiliate, you’re all set to go.

Put up an attractive ad for the business and promote it to all your followers. The more of your followers you can get to purchase the product, the more money you’ll make. Since Twitter is such a large social networking site, the possibilities just keep getting bigger and bigger. Some companies will even pay if a person just clicks on the ad without making a sale, although these are rarer. Affiliate marketing is a very popular way to make money and if you have a Twitter page anyways (who doesn’t?), you may as well make some money at the same time.

Make Money on Twitter with RevTwt

RevTwt is a platform that deals with CPC (cost per click) and allows you to make money from your tweets. For those unfamiliar with Twitter, tweets are messages and posts you put on your Twitter page.

Sign up for an account with RevTwt and they’ll check out your Twitter profile. After doing this, they’ll allow you to put ads for different products or services on your Twitter page. Each time someone clicks on these ads, you can make money.

As you can see, there’s a lot of money to be made off of Twitter but the key is to get as many followers as possible so make all the friends you can!

How to Make Money Trading Binary Options

Anyone looking to earn money online as quickly as possible should explore the newest, most profitable form of online trading: binary options trading.

Binary options trading has been the most popular form of trading since it was introduced on the Chicago Board Options Exchange in the US in 2008. It offers people with little or no financial background the opportunity to make incredible profits in very short periods of time without any training whatsoever.

Here’s how it works: A binary option is a financial contract that enables a trader to earn money by predicting if the value of a financial asset – like Gold or the Euro-US dollar exchange rate, for example – will go Up or Down in the immediate future.

Since there is only one decision to make with only two possible outcomes: Up or Down, your chances to make money are 50-50 at worst – and you can increase your chances of making money to closer to 90% with the help of some basic option trading strategies.

If you select the correct direction, you make money – It’s that simple.

Binary options are offered by online financial brokerages that issue them on: 1.) the price of shares of stock from large companies like Coca-Cola; 2.) the price of natural resources (called “commodities”) like Gold and Oil; 3.) the value of exchange rates for major currencies like the US dollar and the Euro, and; 4.) the value of stock market indices like the NASDAQ stock market in the US.

Here’s how to start: If you believe the price of Gold, for example, will increase in the immediate future, you should invest in a “call” binary option on Gold. In order to do so, you simply select your asset – in this case: Gold. Then you select the direction you think the price of Gold will move – in this case: Up. Finally, select the investment amount and execute your trade. If the price of Gold is higher at the time your binary option expires than it was when you invested in it, you’ve made money.

On the other hand, if you believe the value of Gold will decrease in the immediate future, you should invest in “put” binary option on Gold. In order to do so, you simply select your asset – in this case: Gold. Select the direction you think the value of Gold will move – in this case: Down. Select the investment amount and execute your trade. If the value of Gold is lower at the time your binary option expires than it was when you invested in it, you’ve made money.

Payouts on successful binary option investments can go up to 85% so a successful trade can yield a return of hundreds of dollars in as little as 15 minutes time.

Getting started investing in binary options is as simple as getting signed up with an online broker that offers binary options trading.

Investors should keep in mind that, like any investment opportunity, there is risk involved. Investments in binary options do not guarantee a profit and come with the risk of losing the initial investment. While extensive research is not necessary, it may be helpful to conduct some basic research into the financial markets in order to increase your likelihood of success with binary options trading in general.

Personal Finance Management and Planning: Why you wont like to live in Canada

Personal Finance Management and Planning: Why you wont like to live in Canada

How to To Improve iPhone’s Battery Life Dramatically

Many users who recently upgraded their devices to iOS 5 are experiencing major battery-life issues. It seems that iPhone and iPad users are more affected than iPod touch users.

Regardless of which iOS device you own, here are some tips that could help in improving your iOS device's battery life.

With all of the amazing features iOS 5 has to offer, it's no surprise that your battery is taking some hit. This is especially true because of iCloud's syncing feature. However, if you're not using everything all the time, disabling what you don't need will help spare you plugging in iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch constantly.

1. Disable Bluetooth (Settings > General > Bluetooth > "Off")
2. Turn off specific or all app Notifications in the Notification Center (Settings > Notifications > "Off" for any unneeded apps)
3. Disable Ping (Settings > General > Restrictions > Enable Restrictions > Ping > "Off")
4. Disable Time Zone Adjustment (Settings > Location Services > System Services > Set Time Zone to "Off")
5. Disable iCloud (Settings > General > iCloud > "Off" for any unneeded features)
6. Disable Location Services (Settings > Location Services> "Off" for any unneeded features)
7. Disable Diagnostic and Usage Reports (Settings > General > About > Diagnostic & Usage > "Don't Send")
8. Reset Network Settings (Settings > Reset > Reset Network Settings) Note: This will reset all network settings, including passwords, VPN, and APN settings.
9. Users are reporting that removing your email accounts and re-adding them also seems to have helped some users:
• Delete email accounts (Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Account Name > Delete Account)
• Reset Network Settings (Settings > Reset > Reset Network Settings)
• Reboot Device
• Re-add email accounts (Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account)

Many users are reporting about half their previous run time, even when on standby, and many iPhone users are saying their phones are getting quite warm. Some iPhone users are blaming iCloud and have disabled it completely. Still others are blaming the Location-based Time Zone Adjustment.

How's your battery life doing after upgrading to iOS 5? Have you done anything else to improve it?

Trick to Get Verizon Unlimited Data Plan For Your iPhone

Verizon followed AT&T’s footsteps and killed their unlimited data plans for their smartphone (including iPhone) customers on July 7th, 2011.

But looks like some Verizon customers have figured out a way to trick the system to get the unlimited data plan. Surprisingly, it seems to also work for customers who purchased the iPhone after Verizon had stopped offering the unlimited data plans.

Folks at Slick Deals has posted a step-by-step guide to switch to the unlimited data plan, which according to the forum thread seems to have worked for some Verizon customers.

1. Dial *611 from your Verizon phone, or 1-800-922-0204 from any phone.
2. Wait for computer CSR to go through the main menu. You will need your Verizon phone # and account PIN or last 4 of SSN.
3. Hit option 4.
4. When it asks you what you would like to do today say “Add a feature.”
5. If you have a 3G device (which includes all iPhones): Say you would like to add the $20 2GB 3G Mobile Hotspot FEATURE to your phone
   If you have a 4G device: Say you would like to add the $30 Unlimited 4G Mobile Hotspot FEATURE to your phone. According to http://stopthecap.com/2011/07/12/…r-account/ , they may be able to locate this feature via referencing feature code #76153.
6. Your data plan will now be the $29.99 unlimited data plan, and you’ll have either the 2GB or unlimited Mobile Hotspot feature on top of that.
7. {OPTIONAL – if you don’t want the Mobile Hotspot feature} Log into My Verizon and remove the Mobile Hotspot FEATURE from your account. Many people recommend waiting a few days (at a minimum) to remove the feature. The $29.99 unlimited data plan should remain on your account.
8. If they say they can’t add that feature to your plan, or that you must bundle your data + mobile hotspot service together as a single data plan, tell them thank you, hang up, and repeat the steps above.

It goes without saying that Verizon could always switch you back to a tiered plan.

Please don’t forget to let us know how it works in the comments if you plan to give it a shot.

How To Perform Untethered Jailbreak On Your iPhone 4/3GS Without Updating Baseband Using Redsn0w For iOS 5.0.1

iPhone Dev team has released a new version of Redsn0w, which finally allows iPhone 4 GSM, iPhone 4 CDMA and iPhone 3GS users to perform an untethered jailbreak.

In this guide, we will take you through the step by step procedure to jailbreak iPhone running iOS 5.0.1 without updating the baseband using Redsn0w.

Here are some important points to note before you proceed.

• This guide is meant for iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS users who are interested in unlocking their iPhone using Ultrasn0w - a software method. iPod touch 4G and iPod touch 3G users can checkout this guide, while iPad users can checkout this guide.
• If you don't care about unlocking your iPhone and/or preserving the baseband then checkout this step-by-step guide.
• This guide is meant only for GSM iPhone users.
• This guide is only applicable if you haven't upgraded to iOS 5.0.1.
• Redsn0w 0.9.10b5c supports an untethered jailbreak.
• Please note that jailbreaking your iPhone may void your warranty and hence proceed with caution and at your own risk.
• It is always a good idea to take a backup of SHSH blobs using TinyUmbrella (Windows and Mac) oriFaith before upgrading to iOS 5.0.1 so you can downgrade to the current version if required.
• Please do not forget to backup your iPhone before you proceed. You can refer to this post for instructions on how to backup your iPhone.
• If you've jailbroken your iPhone then you can use jailbreak apps such as AptBackup, PkgBackup or xBackup from Cydia to take a backup of all the jailbreak apps and tweaks so you can reinstall them easily after successfully jailbreaking your iPhone rather then installing them individually. However, since you're moving from iOS 4.x to iOS 5, it may be a good idea to reinstall the jailbreak apps to avoid compatibility issues.
• After the jailbreaking process is complete, do not forget to checkout our article on tips to keep your iPhone secure.
• Please ensure you are running latest version of iTunes i.e. iTunes 10.5 or later.

Update: Some readers are reporting issue with iBooks after jailbreaking their iPhone.

You can follow these step-by-step instructions to jailbreak your iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS:

Step 1: Download Redsn0w 0.9.10b5c for Windows from this link and Redsn0w 0.9.10b3 for Mac from this link and save the application in a folder named "Redsn0w" on your desktop.

Step 2: You need to download the iOS 5.0.1 firmware file (use Firefox or Chrome to download the firmware file instead of using Internet Explorer or Safari):

iOS 5 firmware file for iPhone 4 from this link (iPhone3,1_5.0.1_9A405_Restore.ipsw)

iOS 5 firmware file for iPhone 3GS from this link (iPhone2,1_5.0.1_9A405_Restore.ipsw)

Step 3: Double click the Redsn0w zip file and extract the application to the Redsn0w folder.

Step 4: Connect your iPhone to the computer, which should automatically launch iTunes.

Step 5: Navigate back to the Redsn0w folder and launch the Redsn0w application.

Step 6: Click on the "Extras" button.

Step 7: Here click on the "Custom IPSW" button from the options.

Step 8: Navigate to the Redsn0w folder on the desktop and select the downloaded iOS 5.0.1 firmware file (iPhone 4 users - please select iPhone3,1_5.0.1_9A405_Restore.ipsw and iPhone 3GS users - please select iPhone2,1_5.0.1_9A405_Restore.ipsw).

Step 9: Redsn0w should now creating the custom iOS 5 firmware file.

Step 10: Once the custom iOS 5 firmware file is successfully created, you will be notified with a dialogue box. Click on the Ok button to continue. You will notice that Redsn0w has created the custom iOS 5.0.1 firmware file with a prefix "NO_BB_". So custom iOS 5 firmware file for iPhone 4 will be NO_BB_iPhone3,1_5.0.1_9A405_Restore.ipsw and for iPhone 3GS it will beNO_BB_iPhone2,1_5.0.1_9A405_Restore.ipsw.

Step 11: You will now need to put your iPhone into the DFU mode. Redsn0w will take you through the necessary steps:

(a) Hold the Power button on iPhone down for 3 seconds:

(b) Now simultaneously hold the iPhone and keep the two buttons pressed for 10 seconds:

(c) Now release the Power button while keeping the Home button pressed until Redsn0w detects the device:

Step 12: Redsn0w will run the Limera1n exploit.

Step 13: You will be notified when your iPhone is in Pwned DFU mode. The Pwned DFU will allow you to restore your iPhone using the custom iOS 5 firmware file.

Step 14: Now launch iTunes.

Step 15: From the 'Devices' section on the left pane of iTunes, select your iPhone. Now, hold down the Option button (or Shift button for Windows) and click the 'Restore' button.

Important Note: It is very important that you hold down the Option button (or Shift button for Windows) else you will end up accidentally upgrading your iPhone to iOS 5, so please follow the instructions carefully

Step 16: Navigate to the Redsn0w folder on the desktop and select the downloaded iOS 5 firmware file (iPhone 4 users - please select NO_BB_iPhone3,1_5.0.1_9A405_Restore.ipsw and iPhone 3GS users - please select NO_BB_iPhone2,1_5.0.1_9A405_Restore.ipsw). Click on the 'Choose' button to let iTunes update your iPhone with the jailbroken custom iOS 5 firmware. You will be asked to setup your iPhone either from a previous backup or setup as a new iPhone, select the backup you want for your device (ideally should be the most recent one). Wait for iTunes to finish.

After this, you need to follow the instructions in our step-by-step guide to jailbreak your iPhone on iOS 5.0.1.

If you're new to the jailbreaking world and wondering what to do after jailbreaking your iPhone, checkout our jailbreak apps category page to find out the apps you can install on your iPhone using the Cydia app. Please note that some of the jailbreak apps and tweaks are still not compatible with iOS 5/iOS 5.0.1 so please be cautious while installing them.

Troubleshooting Tips:

Error 16xx:

If you're getting error 16xx then it is most likely due to host file entries pointing to Saurik's server. You can either remove the host file entries or try jailbreaking from another computer.

Error 3194:

You have probably not put the iPhone in DFU mode properly. Try the step by step guide again.

White Cydia Icon:

If you notice the white Cydia icon (which fails to launch) after successfully jailbreaking then follow these steps to fix the issue.

• Launch Redsn0w again.
• Click on Extras and then click on Just Boot from the list of options.
• You will now be prompted to plug your iPhone to the computer and switch it off. Follow the instructions in the correct sequence and click on 'Next' to move to the next screen:
• You will now need to put your iPhone into the DFU mode. Redsn0w will take you through the necessary steps:
• Hold the Power button on iPhone down for 3 seconds.
• Now simultaneously hold the iPhone and keep the two buttons pressed for 10 seconds.
• Now release the Power button while keeping the Home button pressed until Redsn0w detects the device.
• Your device will reboot and you will see the Pwnage icon on your iPhone's screen for few minutes.
• After your iPhone is successfully rebooted, you will see the regular Cydia icon (brown). You should now be able to launch Cydia without any issue.

Cydia Issues:

It looks like some of the repositories are getting hammered due to the surge in traffic, so keep trying or try after sometime.

"No identifying data was found" Error:

If auto-detection fails and you get the "No identifying data was found" error message when you use Redsn0w then you need to manually select the iOS 5.0.1 firmware file before following the step by step instructions mentioned above. To select the firmware file manually follow these steps:

• Download the appropriate iOS 5.0.1 firmware file for your iOS device:
• iPhone 4 GSM - iPhone3,1_5.0.1_9A405_Restore.ipsw
• iPhone 4 CDMA - iPhone3,3_5.0.1_9A405_Restore.ipsw
• iPhone 3GS - iPhone2,1_5.0.1_9A405_Restore.ipsw
• Click on Extras instead of Jailbreak
• Then click on the Select IPSW button
• Select the iOS 5.0.1 firmware file that you had just downloaded.

Update 1:

If you're having issues launching jailbreak apps install the latest version of Corona iOS 5.0.1 Untether. More details available here.

Update 2:

iPhone Dev team has released Redsn0w 0.9.10b2 to fix the launchCtl issue. We've updated the download links with the latest version of Redsn0w.

Update 3:

iPhone Dev team has released Redsn0w 0.9.10b3 to fix the problem with MobileSubstrate based jailbreak apps. We've updated the download links with the latest version of Redsn0w.

Update 4:

Corrected the links for Redsn0w. Thanks everyone for pointing it out.

Update 5 (17/01/2012):

iPhone Dev team has released Redsn0w 0.9.10b4 to fix the iBooks issue. We've updated the download links with the latest version of Redsn0w.

Update 6 (29/01/2012):

iPhone Dev team has released Redsn0w 0.9.10b5 to fix the iBooks DRM issue. We've updated the download links with the latest version of Redsn0w.

Update 7 (15/02/2012):

iPhone Dev team has released Redsn0w 0.9.10b5c to fix some bugs. We've updated the download links with the latest version of Redsn0w.