Many of you know that I accrue all credit card related savings and apply them to the cost of travel. (I've mentioned it before) That includes statement credits, cash back, other CC related discounts, etc. I basically run my family's finances like a business (we literally have an income statement and balance sheet...don't hate, I'm weirdlol!) So lately the game has been going good...like super good. The accrual is so strong that I'm still trying to assign some AMEX MRs cashed out in Nov '17 and over $1,000 from my Citi Prestige signup which posted in Jan '18. We are earning funds towards travel faster than I can use them (and assign the credits).
So this weekend was a good one in the @SouthFayetteFan household. The tire went flat on my older daughter's bike (which we had previously purchased for $5 at a yard sale). My younger daughter still had a toddler bike (with no chain - just pedals on the wheels). So in a rare moment, I overcame my cheapness and the girls are both proud owners of 2 brand new Walmart bikes! Of course I'm going to offset the cost with the abundance of unassigned accrued savings. At any rate...in a strange way, CC signups got my daughter's bikes. That's a new wrinkle for me in this game, LOL! I figured you guys would get a kick out of it!
Hey there, I live in Davis and I had no idea flights from SMF to Orlando could be so affordable! Every time I’ve checked it’s been but around $500. I know SW recently added a direct route so I’ll have to check that out. I wish we could go in September but DS10’s soccer and school schedule make it impossible.
Yeah, I just picked random Saturdays in Sept to see how much it would be, but it came to $1300 for the four of us. These weren't the most ideal times, but they were nonstop! 
We can't go during school times anymore either. It was just too hard for ods to do all that work on vacation, and he was only in 6th grade. I can't imagine what it would be like now as a high-schooler!
I don’t know that anybody has ever fully figured out what that buffer needs to be. I also haven’t been tracking discussion on this for a long time since I was out of the Chase game. The General advice I recall was to try to meet the spend 4-7 days prior to statement close.
Many of you know that I accrue all credit card related savings and apply them to the cost of travel. (I've mentioned it before) That includes statement credits, cash back, other CC related discounts, etc. I basically run my family's finances like a business (we literally have an income statement and balance sheet...don't hate, I'm weird
So this weekend was a good one in the @SouthFayetteFan household. The tire went flat on my older daughter's bike (which we had previously purchased for $5 at a yard sale). My younger daughter still had a toddler bike (with no chain - just pedals on the wheels). So in a rare moment, I overcame my cheapness and the girls are both proud owners of 2 brand new Walmart bikes! Of course I'm going to offset the cost with the abundance of unassigned accrued savings. At any rate...in a strange way, CC signups got my daughter's bikes. That's a new wrinkle for me in this game, LOL! I figured you guys would get a kick out of it!
(yay new bikes for the little ladies! 
). I'm more about what ultimately generates the most amount of happiness, whether it's through vacations, or everyday spending, especially for something I have a hard time paying truly OOP for. Example: I couldn't have been happier to use the majority ($900 of cold hard cash) of my Spark Biz towards my father's one medical bill, in secret, since they warned me not to given they have the means to pay for it but it's out of their emergency fund, but if I can cover one, why not? 
Welcome! I don't know anything about the citi card but can help with Chase.
Chase has a 5/24 rule, so you can't open more than 5 of ANY cards in 24 months. Can you share where you are at on that? That will help us direct you.
The CSR has a high annual fee, offset by various credits, but allows you to redeem you URs at 1.5x value. So if you have 100,000 they are worth 150k ($1500) on the UR portal. That is a great way to pay for your disney trip! The CSP gets you 1.25x value. If you are under 5/24, you could start with a double dip...meaning apply to both cards in one day. That is the only way you can hold both cards, thus getting both sign up bonuses.
If you have any sort of "business" (ie sell on ebay or facebook, rental property, etc) you can apply for the CIP. It has a great sign up bonus as well.
I am a few hours behind on this thread, so you may have already received answers and replied to questions, but I had a minute and wanted to respond. We are friendly here so don't be a lurker!
I just realized you can't PM yet since you just joined. You need to get to 10 posts and then wait about 30-45 minutes. So ask a bunch of questions and up your post count
To join DISchurners in the meantime you need to have a reddit name. If you don't have one register at reddit.com (a lot of people use the same or similar name there as here). Then just @ me here on this thread with your Reddit Name and I'll get you setup.
I love this for many reasons, but especially for the mention of yard salesMany of you know that I accrue all credit card related savings and apply them to the cost of travel. (I've mentioned it before) That includes statement credits, cash back, other CC related discounts, etc. I basically run my family's finances like a business (we literally have an income statement and balance sheet...don't hate, I'm weird
So this weekend was a good one in the @SouthFayetteFan household. The tire went flat on my older daughter's bike (which we had previously purchased for $5 at a yard sale). My younger daughter still had a toddler bike (with no chain - just pedals on the wheels). So in a rare moment, I overcame my cheapness and the girls are both proud owners of 2 brand new Walmart bikes! Of course I'm going to offset the cost with the abundance of unassigned accrued savings. At any rate...in a strange way, CC signups got my daughter's bikes. That's a new wrinkle for me in this game, LOL! I figured you guys would get a kick out of it!
I just got weird looks from coworkers this morning by mentioning we used to go to them and have them ourselves growing up. I feel like not many people do that anymore. But also, yard sales in my area of CO are not like the area I grew up in at all.Right now I'm just sad because for the wedding we traveled on a Thurs/Tues for 13.3k points/$228 per person RT... What I've got for this September is 24k points/$364 per person RT.
Thought the flight to MCO did drop from 13.3k to 7.7k since I booked it in April. Hopefully the return flight will drop too!I don't understand why they don't just put only sheets on the bed... then maybe put real blankets on the closet? I guess I would feel better getting a folded blanket off the closet shelf, because even though they might not have changed it between guests (which I'm sure they don't for the places that still do that...) but it seems pretty unlikely a guest would use it and fold it back up...
Ew,, I remember the big comforters. We always pushed them off the bed
I thought going just white sheets/etc was the point, so it was easy to wash... I mean, I don't like to wash my comforter at home because it's a pain, so I wouldn't think housekeeping would either. But thin blankets? Why else would you have thin blankets made up with the bed...
thanks for the advice..... I think my biggest spend in life is groceries so it probably won't even stir the waters here! I will def. spread the spending out tho
