I thought today I’d share a brief update on credit card hacking some of my tuition has been going. So to clue you all in about how I pay my tuition, I’m a self-funded PhD student, which is a joy, and if I knew in 2021 what I know now about higher education, I would’ve…
If you pay off your credit cards every month, I am a strong advocate of harnessing the power of rewards cards. If you don’t pay off your cards every month, the interest rate generally destroys the value of using rewards cards. Over the last several years, I’ve usually opened new credit cards when planning for…
There’s something to be said for simplicity. This past year, when I was knee deep in trying to buy a house, I knew I couldn’t mess with my credit score and so I just left every credit card I had alone. I have been a fairly hardcore rewards card churner for the last seven years.…
It makes sense to me to be a little wary of using credit cards, but they are one of the easiest ways to start building up credit. Before getting a credit card, I think it’s important to get in the right mental state. I don’t know about everyone else, but in my family, no one…
Lots of people seem to have lots of opinions about credit cards. For me, I am super pro credit card. I always pay off my balances. So far I’ve never struggled with too much impulse buying (I joke about the candles… it can get a bit excessive, but it is under control). I recognize this…
One word: Don’t. In 2016, my BFF and I went on a flipping awesome trip to Hawaii. I was a little cash strapped at the time, so I did everything I could to travel hack the heck out of that trip. I read up on reward churning and tried some of the “crazier” ideas. I…
Cards are now one of the most widely used payment methods in the modern day. In fact, debit card payments alone overtook cash payments in terms of volume last year, showing just how popular they have become. There are now many different options on the table when it comes to bank cards, with each offering its own…
Let’s start with – this is not a sponsored post. Two of my worlds have collided here and I find it very curious. Across from where our RVs are parked, I noticed something strangely interesting. Capital One Café. The stage manager in me loves coffee. The personal finance blogger is very puzzled that Capital One…
Image source – https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/09/28/10/35/road-sign-464641_960_720.jpg Credit card fraud is something you may not have given a lot of thought to. However, the harsh truth is that fraud and identity theft are rife at the moment, and so it is vital to take the steps to protect yourself. Everyone needs to be vigilant with regards to the…
Do you have one of those elite credit cards? The Platinum Card® from American Express is one of the most popular rewards cards today. But I have to remind you that this is also one of the most expensive cards when talking about annual fees. But regardless, more and more people are still getting this…
For most Americans, credit is a thorn in our side, but it affects every aspect of our lives. Good credit can save us thousands across the lifetime of a loan, while poor credit can cost us an order of magnitude more than what we’d otherwise pay. Poor credit can also hurt us in other ways…
Guys, remember when I was talking about spider webs a few weeks ago? A big part of how I build up spider webs involves some good, old fashion living on less than I make, but sometimes I use a modern form of witchcraft called credit card churning to help out too. If you have trouble…
And the major pain in the butt it takes to get there. In my life before being a personal finance blogger, I had one brick and mortar bank account that I opened when I started college, an online bank that held 99% of my money, a single savings account and two credit cards – the…
Most of the people associate a credit report with banks, financial institutions, loans, credit cards, and so on. However, there is more to a credit report. Maintaining a good credit report is a sign that you are leading a disciplined life. It shows that you are in control of one of the most important aspects…
Do you know your credit score? 59.1% of Americans don’t, according to a 2015 LendingTree survey. Kind of crazy considering the huge impact it has on most people’s ability to make large purchases. You may be one of the few who is able to cash flow a new car or buy a home without a…
The trick to really rocking the travel rewards is to plan ahead. For FinCon 2014, I travel hacked my flight and hotel and NJ Transit and managed to spend an amazing weekend in New Orleans for $608.87 – with just under half of that being the FinCon ticket itself. However, I knew I wanted to…
Having a good credit history is essential to functioning in modern society. Your credit score is used to determine interest rates, approve rentals, establish insurance premiums and even in applying for jobs. However, according to a new study, it looks like this generation of Millennials is struggling to understand the very basics of consumer credit.…
Please note that I was compensated by Upromise for the content in this post. However, all opinions expressed below are my own, based on my personal experience with Upromise. I’m a big fan of little things creating a big change. You don’t suddenly nail a bunch of frugal skills and get rich or magically…
I’m not always the most optimistic person and there are definitely times I get a little bogged down in how much things suck, but recently it occurred to me that sometimes the money irritations in my life are actually blessings in disguise. The first time I applied for a rewards credit card, I was rejected.…
I had an alarming conversation with my little brother recently. He’s a pretty smart dude, just turned 21, and recently got his first credit card. I was talking with him about how I was starting to get into credit card churning and he was interested in hearing about all the rewards card perks. Then he…
**This post is not sponsored by Roomba or CapitalOne. But it should be.** Roombas trigger an entirely different emotion in me these days. At the end of last month, I logged onto my CapitalOne account to pay my bill and found it was roughly double what I expected it to be. As I scanned the…