I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[amcc]

I need to Venmo some money to my niece and it would help with CIP MSR. Do I need to do anything to make sure it doesn’t code as a cash advance or is that not a problem with Chase? It’s $800 so would be a nice boost to my spend. Thanks!

 

[orangecuse]

Scam call story-

MIL/FIL and sibling in laws were here visiting. SIL gets a call from our cousin “Hey...is FIL next to you?” Yes? Turns out she had ro call to prove to grandma that FIL was safe. Someone called grandma and said they had kindapped FIL and would kill him if she didnt go to her bank and withdrawal money for a drop. Thankfully grandma was at cousin’s house who quickly stepped in and assured her it was spam (grandma definitely believed the caller, especially considering FIL was out of town).

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Well still catching up but wanted to share the sw performance WiFi credits posted to my account from this week. Used 3 on one flight and they all credited.

 

[DaveL]

Well still catching up but wanted to share the sw performance WiFi credits posted to my account from this week. Used 3 on one flight and they all credited.

Woo Hoo!! Great news! Thanks for taking the first risk.

 

[platamama]

Yeah, that's where I am too. I switched to YNAB years ago because it was basically a nicer, more organized budgeting software that I was already doing with spreadsheets at the time. The more I read about nYNAB, the more it appears they are really emphasizing that one month at a time thing, which is just not how we budget and I don't feel we can do it effectively with those constraints. And frankly, if I'm starting from zero and building a brand new budget, I'm not going to force nYNAB to work for us - I'm going to find something else that actually does what we need. nYNAB is too expensive to deal with that headache. If they wanted subscription fees that badly, I'd pay them to keep continued support for YNAB4, but here we are.

There's a lot of polarization between old and new YNAB users, and most of the new YNAB users I've seen basically have a condescending "hurr durr new is different and better and you're obviously just set in your old ways and don't get it (side note, I never thought I'd see the day when I encountered a superiority complex about budgeting software, but thank you internet, I have now seen it all), watch the tutorials, read more, etc."

We're both on Androids and luckily the old app still works, so for now we're chugging along, but I know time is running out. Ugh, this is so irritating.

I had Quicken from 1994-2014 and then my data file got corrupted, and I was mad at Intuit for making me pay for upgrades every few years. So in 2014 I got YNAB4 but always missed the detailed info I had access to on Quicken, especially when it came to investments and my mortgage. I never made the switch to nYNAB because the whole subscription model irritates me too, I like paying for something once and having that be that. Anyhow, I had read that YNAB4 support was going to end this year, so back in January I did more looking around and ended up going back to Quicken. It has a desktop version (Windows OR Mac) that syncs to a dropbox account, and then you have access to it on your phone and on the web. I paid $90 for 24 months for the Premier version (there was a New Year's sale of 40% off), which works out to $3.75/mo which is less than nYNAB's $84/yr ($7/mo) and has so much more capability than even YNAB4.

I never used YNAB as an actual budget program though because I've never adhered to one (I'm kinda cheap by nature). I mostly used it as a way to track spending (basically a ledger system) and receipts from all the CCs so that I can hunt down a receipt if I need to return something. What I didn't like about YNAB is there was no way for me to see my net worth. Quicken allows that at a glance and over time so I can tell which direction it's going. For some reason, that's more motivating to me than sticking to budget limits.

 

[mmmears]

So I tried a Shack Shack burger for the first time this week, and I have to say I'm not a fan. Everything was very fresh. The leafy lettuce looked picture perfect. The sliced tomato were very juicy. The potato bun felt moist and warm. But the hamburger patty, which I always consider the whole point of a cheese/hamburger, was way too mushy. I prefer patties with a bit more substance and structure. Whatever meat they use for the patty was just too soft – juicy and fresh, but again too mushy.

I also tried their chicken sandwich. The chicken breast was thick, well battered and crispy, perfectly cooked, and juicy. Loved the taste of the pickles and the buttermilk herb mayo together. It felt very cool and fresh and was a nice balance to the fried chicken. It was messy though! The chicken and lettuce were sliding around between the bun and the sauce got all over the wrapper and my fingers. I'd say Shake Shack's chicken sandwich is better than Popeyes which I tried recently, but not better Bakesale Betty's in Oakland.

To bring it back on topic, I did use my Amex Gold $10 dining credit.

I felt the same way. It definitely didn't live up to the hype. I was one and done over there. And the one near me doesn't have a line anymore. I did think it was pretty decent for "fast food" but I'm not a fan of fast food so I am probably a poor judge of this stuff. We've been grabbing CCF GCs lately. I hope Amex won't punish me for that, but there is a much better dining option right near that CCF and we would rather eat there (mmm, dumplings!)

 

[bernina]

I had Quicken from 1994-2014 and then my data file got corrupted, and I was mad at Intuit for making me pay for upgrades every few years. So in 2014 I got YNAB4 but always missed the detailed info I had access to on Quicken, especially when it came to investments and my mortgage. I never made the switch to nYNAB because the whole subscription model irritates me too, I like paying for something once and having that be that. Anyhow, I had read that YNAB4 support was going to end this year, so back in January I did more looking around and ended up going back to Quicken. It has a desktop version (Windows OR Mac) that syncs to a dropbox account, and then you have access to it on your phone and on the web. I paid $90 for 24 months for the Premier version (there was a New Year's sale of 40% off), which works out to $3.75/mo which is less than nYNAB's $84/yr ($7/mo) and has so much more capability than even YNAB4.

I never used YNAB as an actual budget program though because I've never adhered to one (I'm kinda cheap by nature). I mostly used it as a way to track spending (basically a ledger system) and receipts from all the CCs so that I can hunt down a receipt if I need to return something. What I didn't like about YNAB is there was no way for me to see my net worth. Quicken allows that at a glance and over time so I can tell which direction it's going. For some reason, that's more motivating to me than sticking to budget limits.

With nYNAB it does display my net worth and even allows me to select which accounts I want included in the calculation (for example I exclude DD’s accounts that I have in YNAB purely so I can keep track of them). I have to manually input my 401k since the website my company uses doesn’t offer a connection to YNAB (or Mint).

 

[bernina]

Bank account bonus questions.

Does anyone have experience with the Citizens Bank $600 or Simple Finance up to $500 promos?

Citizens is limited to a handful of states, Simple is nationwide.

Both involve tying up some cash but the Simple account can earn around 2% APY so that doesn’t seem too bad.

My usual goal with bank bonuses is to cover the cost of annual fees and MS fees (Plastiq, MOs, etc) and a stretch goal is to cover reward redemption fees to keep things as cash neutral as possible. I’m in the black for the year but plan to do more MS later this year and want to build a cushion.

 

[happ]

Bank account bonus questions.

Does anyone have experience with the Citizens Bank $600 or Simple Finance up to $500 promos?

Citizens is limited to a handful of states, Simple is nationwide.

Both involve tying up some cash but the Simple account can earn around 2% APY so that doesn’t seem too bad.

My usual goal with bank bonuses is to cover the cost of annual fees and MS fees (Plastiq, MOs, etc) and a stretch goal is to cover reward redemption fees to keep things as cash neutral as possible. I’m in the black for the year but plan to do more MS later this year and want to build a cushion.

I'm doing the Citizens one right now. Though I'm not sure if I did it the savings part correctly because it says to deposit 15k "at account opening" and I ach'd it in after my initial deposit. I did a Citizens bonus once before, but it was only for $150. I'm not familiar with Simple Finance.

 

[Alice Sr.]

Guys, guys, guys!! Delta emailed a limited time offer to grab their new “Skymiles Select” 1 year bundle for only $59 instead of $100! Decisions, decisions... What’s included you ask? Main cabin group 1 boarding (yes, the one I already get with the cc), 8 drink vouchers (gonna get LIT on the 2 Delta trips I take a year) and a limited edition red luggage tag that says SELECT (because the world needs to know I AM ABOVE THE RIFF-RAFF, I. AM. SELECT.). ...as y’all can tell I am jumping on this offer right now!!!

* /s Please don’t buy this, there are better ways.

This is embarrassing, but I had already purchased the "Skymiles Select" offer right before I checked in here and saw your post. I think I was wooed by the 8 free drinks and not knowing that my Delta Plat meant that I could board with Main 1 even if I only purchased a basic seat, (this is starting to feel like confession) (more because I purchase basic sometimes than that I didn't know about the cc benefit), and I have always wanted a luggage tag but was too frugal to spend money on something I thought had a good chance of being ripped off by merciless baggage handlers or stolen because it was so cool. But I just found out that it triggered the $50 gold airline credit I still had, so in my skewed calculation I'm getting 8 drinks for $9.

 

[Alice Sr.]

Oh man, I think I lost my Global Entry card

 

[EACarlson]

Damn you all for introducing me to Ebags. Wife decided she had to have an anti theft purse, which of course is on sale for a really good price, then we had to have another RFID luggage tag, and now packing cubes are as cheap as I've ever seen them. We leave for WDW in 35 days, how many more things am I going to have to order before we leave?

 

[AmyAnne]

So I tried a Shack Shack burger for the first time this week, and I have to say I'm not a fan. Everything was very fresh. The leafy lettuce looked picture perfect. The sliced tomato were very juicy. The potato bun felt moist and warm. But the hamburger patty, which I always consider the whole point of a cheese/hamburger, was way too mushy. I prefer patties with a bit more substance and structure. Whatever meat they use for the patty was just too soft – juicy and fresh, but again too mushy.

I also tried their chicken sandwich. The chicken breast was thick, well battered and crispy, perfectly cooked, and juicy. Loved the taste of the pickles and the buttermilk herb mayo together. It felt very cool and fresh and was a nice balance to the fried chicken. It was messy though! The chicken and lettuce were sliding around between the bun and the sauce got all over the wrapper and my fingers. I'd say Shake Shack's chicken sandwich is better than Popeyes which I tried recently, but not better Bakesale Betty's in Oakland.

To bring it back on topic, I did use my Amex Gold $10 dining credit.

Thanks for posting this. I have never been to a Shake Shack and I'm not sure where one is even but there must be one not too far because it shows up in my UberEats app.

 

[elgerber]

.

quoting myself b/c I think it's hilarious to call a dvc purchase an investment..... and I know I've seen this argued (most entertaining) back and forth for years around these boards.... That said I fully 100% understand it's the only timeshare where it's still has some sell value after you use it for whatever amount of time you keep it....(Our fam had to sell a contract a few years back) I'm guessing if our fam had kept it, we would still be using it and having fun,but I don't miss it overall. except for @Judique plan. That I like.

For us we could make double what we paid for it 17 years ago so I think that’s pretty good.

 

[Lain]

I need to Venmo some money to my niece and it would help with CIP MSR. Do I need to do anything to make sure it doesn’t code as a cash advance or is that not a problem with Chase? It’s $800 so would be a nice boost to my spend. Thanks!

Recent DPs say the CIP is coding Venmo and PayPal as a purchase (not cash advance). See:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DISchurners/comments/cfv6iu/_/f55nlzc

It’s still a good idea to send a SM to Chase with a request to lower the cash advance limit on your CIP. You can ask for a $0, but I think the lowest they’ll go is $100, which should be more than enough to prevent an $800 payment from going through as a cash advance.

 

[amalone1013]

I almost had a GC fail. I used our $25 off $100 at Staples AMEX offers earlier this month to buy a $200 VGC when they were fee free, and then was going to use that on Sam's to get Disney GCs so it'd go a teeny bit farther than just getting a Disney GC (plus every month I have swagbucks GCs and a GC for a carpool incentive to use towards them). So I've been waiting all month... Finally RMN has Sam's again so I ordered some yesterday... totally forgot about the VGC Off to order more! lol


ETA: And of course Sam's isn't on RMN anymore argh

 

[Haley R]

Today was the last day to use our 10% off in store at target so Dh and I walked around trying to find something for the baby. We ended up getting our first piece of art for the nursery!

 

[have2getaway]

Enjoy your travels! Such an exciting time. Did something similar with my youngest, from Maine to California and points in between. Of course she chose CA which is the farthest from home, and stayed there after graduation.

Thank you! Wow, CA! We have been trying to get DS to consider schools further west, but he really wants to stay in the Northeast. He was willing to look at one school in TN, though.

 

[have2getaway]

I'm doing the Citizens one right now. Though I'm not sure if I did it the savings part correctly because it says to deposit 15k "at account opening" and I ach'd it in after my initial deposit. I did a Citizens bonus once before, but it was only for $150. I'm not familiar with Simple Finance.

Are the bank account bonuses taxable?

 

[DaveL]

Are the bank account bonuses taxable?

I think most are since they classify them as interest?