I love credit cards so much!

[tink1970]

@striker1064 - Navy Fed sent me the email to get 10% off on visa gift cards with points. I have no/negligible points so I won't get any this year, but if you do have enough to get a gift card this is the time to cash in.

I know this wasn't directed to me but I'm going to let DH know since his NFCU is his primary card (despite my best efforts!).

And, a funny little story: while I was in Lowes the other day, a young employee who had asked me if I needed help started having a conversation with me about credit card points

If you're retired military, Lowe's gives a 10% discount off of merch (not gc) so don't forget to use it if you can! They changed the program a little while back-don't know how you "prove" it now ?phone number? ID? special Lowe's card but do know DH tends to shop there v. Home Depot since every little 10% adds up.

 

[Eighty8Keys]

For those with a Wells Fargo card, I have Earn More Mall offers for 30% cash back rewards for Bed Bath & Beyond and JC Penney (up to a max of $50 cash back). My JCP doesn’t carry Disney but they carry Amazon/Kindle. I can use those to buy Safeway gift cards on Amazon and then buy Disney at Safeway. Or more likely I’ll just reload my Amazon account. There is also a 30% offer for Macy’s, but I haven’t seen any 3rd party GC at either of my nearby stores.

 

[Judique]

I know this wasn't directed to me but I'm going to let DH know since his NFCU is his primary card (despite my best efforts!).



If you're retired military, Lowe's gives a 10% discount off of merch (not gc) so don't forget to use it if you can! They changed the program a little while back-don't know how you "prove" it now ?phone number? ID? special Lowe's card but do know DH tends to shop there v. Home Depot since every little 10% adds up.

I used to have an ID card but that was a long time ago. My ex and I divorced after 15 years, so at that time I wasn't able to keep those benefits. Not sure what the rules are now, but I was able to get the discount at Lowes when I had a card, just by showing it but as you said they changed the program

However, I've definitely kept my Navy Federal benefits. Yes, there are better point cards, but overall, when needed they are lowest interest and worth keeping in my sock drawer!

 

[havaneselover]

For those with a Wells Fargo card, I have Earn More Mall offers for 30% cash back rewards for Bed Bath & Beyond and JC Penney (up to a max of $50 cash back). My JCP doesn’t carry Disney but they carry Amazon/Kindle. I can use those to buy Safeway gift cards on Amazon and then buy Disney at Safeway. Or more likely I’ll just reload my Amazon account. There is also a 30% offer for Macy’s, but I haven’t seen any 3rd party GC at either of my nearby stores.

This is becoming my favorite card—these deals are crazy!

 

[3 DD love princesses]

lowes verifies you qualify and attaches it to your lowes rewards. I did it a long time ago but now our store wont accept IDs anymore. I think they were loosing too much since the base it here and so many contractors have CAC cards and employees weren't really looking at the cards closely.

Does anyone know of a cashback portal that will give credit for purchasing gc at walmart?

 

[pillow]

This is becoming my favorite card—these deals are crazy!

How much are you making? Is it worth burning a 5/24 slot?

 

[pillow]

I just subscribed to the FIRE thread but I will probably just lurk. I haven’t been feeling great about retiring at even a normal age, but losing my job makes me feel like I never will. I am at or close to, the age some of you are planning to retire. I won’t be there for a long time. First have to find a job so we can pay the bills LOL. We done have a ton of debt, mortgage, two cars, cell phone, satellite, but it all adds up.

You might also enjoy frugalwoods.com. Her blog is terrific! I get lots of great ideas from her. Her writing is so good, I find myself mesmerized over topics such as electricity usage monitors and firewood - lol.

 

[1st*toright]

Really interesting discussion of FIRE and college - nice to hear both discussed concurrently. No question that if you are in hard core pursuit of FIRE, the best move you can make is to decide not to have kids

There is a distinct similarity, though, in the approach of considering cost vs. benefit in the choices you make. We are 2 years out from college for our oldest, and we have some savings, although they aren't specifically allocated to college expenses. If you want to be a law professor, you'd better go to an ivy undergrad and swanky law school and be prepared to make a serious financial investment in education. If you want to be a teacher, there is a much larger range of reasonably priced schools that will get you where you want to go. My oldest wants to be a physical therapist, so a solid state school for undergrad will likely set her up fine for grad school, and she needs to be prepared to pay for 7 years of school before she's done.

For some kids, working for a year between high school and college can be a really good idea. Nothing like working retail/restaurant/construction to teach kids the value of a dollar and provide some focus on what they would like to do for work long-term. I always say in my current career that I have worked a lot harder for a lot less money (and I don't come home smelling like food every day like I did when I worked in restaurants).

 

[wanderlust7]

Finally got DH to product change his very old CS to a CFU last week (boo can't do it via SM). It showed in his account right away. Since I saw he was pre-qualed for the CSP, I decided to just apply today instead of waiting for statement close. Auto-approved! I love that.

OTOH, I've been stewing about my Venture app since Thursday. Been reading the DPs and a little worried. I'm 3/24, but 5 inquiries on both Eq and Ex, and I don't carry a balance. Hope they can just tell me soon so I can stop obsessively calling!

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Really interesting discussion of FIRE and college - nice to hear both discussed concurrently. No question that if you are in hard core pursuit of FIRE, the best move you can make is to decide not to have kids

There is a distinct similarity, though, in the approach of considering cost vs. benefit in the choices you make. We are 2 years out from college for our oldest, and we have some savings, although they aren't specifically allocated to college expenses. If you want to be a law professor, you'd better go to an ivy undergrad and swanky law school and be prepared to make a serious financial investment in education. If you want to be a teacher, there is a much larger range of reasonably priced schools that will get you where you want to go. My oldest wants to be a physical therapist, so a solid state school for undergrad will likely set her up fine for grad school, and she needs to be prepared to pay for 7 years of school before she's done.

For some kids, working for a year between high school and college can be a really good idea. Nothing like working retail/restaurant/construction to teach kids the value of a dollar and provide some focus on what they would like to do for work long-term. I always say in my current career that I have worked a lot harder for a lot less money (and I don't come home smelling like food every day like I did when I worked in restaurants).

there are some colleges that offer DPT programs including undergrad for 6 years.

 

[tink1970]

I always say in my current career that I have worked a lot harder for a lot less money (and I don't come home smelling like food every day like I did when I worked in restaurants).

LOL! I worked at a pig farm one summer so I feel you When you drive near a pig farm the old timers will say "that's the smell of money" but whew, I'd call it something else

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I just subscribed to the FIRE thread but I will probably just lurk. I haven’t been feeling great about retiring at even a normal age, but losing my job makes me feel like I never will. I am at or close to, the age some of you are planning to retire. I won’t be there for a long time. First have to find a job so we can pay the bills LOL. We done have a ton of debt, mortgage, two cars, cell phone, satellite, but it all adds up.

I haven't commented on your situation because I truly couldn't find the words to say. I am so sorry that you are dealing with this situation, at this time of year. My best advice is to embrace optimism as best you can. Firmly believe in your heart that this will work out for good, that something better will come along and it just might! You are valuable, and you have skills that are valuable and maybe 5 years from now you'll look back on this and say it was a great thing.

This is of course easy for me to say as I'm not in your situation. I can say that losing my job just after Christmas in 2015 was the best thing that ever happened to me from a career standpoint.

 

[havaneselover]

How much are you making? Is it worth burning a 5/24 slot?

$400 since the end of September on about $1000 of spending. I’m not sure i’d Use a slot since future offers are uncertain.

 

[1st*toright]

there are some colleges that offer DPT programs including undergrad for 6 years.

Thank you. Clearly she needs to start doing some serious research about colleges...

 

[Eighty8Keys]

$400 since the end of September on about $1000 of spending. I’m not sure i’d Use a slot since future offers are uncertain.

I agree. I'm at $325 on $730 in spending since September. I never paid too much attention to the Earn More Mall offers since whenever I checked they didn't seem to be any better than what I could get through Ebates. The September offers for me were 50% but they've decreased since then - October offers were 40%, November's were 30%. My WF card is my oldest card (since 1995) so I only use it occasionally to keep it active. I've been redeeming the cashback as a statement credit since I haven't seen a better use for the rewards.

 

[liloca]

Off-topic - I just got a google mini for $1 by signing up for a spotify trial ($1 total for 3 months of spotify and the google mini). The deal is on slickdeals if anyone is interested.

Is this not available anymore? I went to the site and used the link but I do not see anywhere abou the google mini

 

[magickingdomprincess]

DH was approved for the Arrival Plus last night! So excited I finally got him to apply. Planning on using the points for our Universal hotel stay in June.

 

[trenty]

Is this not available anymore? I went to the site and used the link but I do not see anywhere abou the google mini

Not sure...it worked yesterday. I got a shipping notification that my mini is on the way. There is a pending charge of $1.99 on my credit card (not .99), but I am ok with that even if when the charge posts it is $1 more than slick deals advertised.

 

[1st*toright]

Grrr- was too lazy to enter my cc number on an online order for Macys. Then remembered that I had a RMN $10 cashback that I was trying to trigger.... so now I'm on hold with Macy's to try to change the payment method from paypal to the actual credit card (when paypal would actually charge the same card, but I don't know if that will trigger the $10 cashback). Fortunately I can work (or post!) while I sit on hold, but it was still dumb of me!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Does anyone know if the Safeway gift cards from amazon work at Acme yet?

I think someone here works for Albertsons?