Evolving Personal Finance » Entries tagged with "rewards"
August 2014 Month in Review: Money
Our income this month was Kyle’s new postdoc pay plus my normal stipend paycheck. Even with the higher income from July (Kyle’s first month as a postdoc), we kept our budget the same and it will be the same for next month (funded by our pay this month). We won’t really adjust our budget or money management system until October’s budget, the first with our lower income. A few other loose ends: We corrected our mistake from … Read entire article »
Filed under: month in review
Don’t Buy into the Pro- or Anti-Credit Card Hype
Last week’s FPU lesson was “Dumping Debt,” which was rather different from what I expected. Dave spent a lot of time talking about the disadvantages of various kinds of debt and not as much as I thought he would on the mechanics of the debt snowball. Of course, credit cards were pointed out as a particular evil, not just in the video but also reinforced by the class exercises. One exercise was to stand up … Read entire article »
Filed under: credit cards, debt
Current Credit Cards Rewards Strategy
When I weighted the advantages and disadvantages of adding another credit card, I decided that the chief disadvantage for us is that we might lose track of how to optimally use the cards for maximum rewards. After all, we use Mint to aggregate all our accounts so we don’t ever lose track of which card needs to be paid off and whatnot. I decided to comb through our current credit cards to make sure we are … Read entire article »
Filed under: credit cards
Adding Credit Cards – How Many Is Too Many?
Every few months Kyle and I consider adding a credit card to our collection to further optimize our rewards. Most of the time we decide not to open a new account but over the summer we each opened one new one for different purposes. (We never carry a balance and credit cards do not interfere with our ability to stick to our budget. I recommend that you develop a track record of perfect use of … Read entire article »
Filed under: credit cards
Frequent Flyer Programs: Have We Been Missing Out?
While I have been flying several times per year for the last nine years, I never considered myself loyal to any one airline. We are almost always flying for weddings or other events so our dates are inflexible and we choose flights strictly based on timing and price, not what airline is operating the flight. (Although I do love when a direct flight on Jet Blue or Virgin is the cheapest!) Because I never practiced … Read entire article »
I Will Not Accept Your “Exciting” Rewards
When I started graduate school and was on my own for the first time I decided it would be useful to have a credit card. I searched around and chose the BP Chase Visa rewards card because 1) there are BP gas stations everywhere in Durham, 2) the card was very positively reviewed, and 3) the cash back rewards were the best I could find for my needs. The card offered 5% back on gas, … Read entire article »
Filed under: credit cards
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