Things I wish I knew BEFORE I bought into The Villas at Disneyland Hotel

[stat]

Especially when we are all here to make bad financial decisions!

I optimize my finances in a hundred small ways so that I can make bad financial decisions at Disney Because to me it's not a bad decision if I love it and if I've been responsible in offsetting ways.

“Spend extravagantly on the things you love, and cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t.” ― Ramit Sethi

 

[VGCgroupie]

Look into some of the online HYS accounts. Lots of them offer sign up bonuses while earning 3.5 - 4.5%. Some can even be serviced in branch if you prefer that. The Apple Cash HYS linked to an Apple Card even provides 3.65%. That one is easy to setup if you have an iPhone.

I even have a Money Market with a local community bank that provides me tiered interest up to 3.78%. It's not the highest, but they are friendly and competent and I like dealing with them. I've actually switched all my primary banking to them.

I just got $1500 bonus with Cap One. But I still do my GC side hustle.

 

[PolyRob]

I just got $1500 bonus with Cap One. But I still do my GC side hustle.

I try to churn bank bonuses like I churn CCs

I started out covering the AFs for credit cards with the bank bonuses, but the CC fees easily surpassed what I could net with bank bonuses

 

[VGCgroupie]

I try to churn bank bonuses like I churn CCs

I started out covering the AFs for credit cards with the bank bonuses, but the CC fees easily surpassed what I could net with bank bonuses

I rarely do them since they take more work in my eyes. But I couldn’t pass up that $1500 from cap one. Now that I think about it I’ve done 3 of them in a span of about 2.5 years.

 

[PolyRob]

I rarely do them since they take more work in my eyes. But I couldn’t pass up that $1500 from cap one. Now that I think about it I’ve done 3 of them in a span of about 2.5 years.

Plus you lose at least 1/3 of the bank bonus like the CC referrals since you get a 1099-INT. I just do the bonuses that seem worth it. DOC comments are a life saver. I don't want to CFPB a bank (again ) for my bonus

 

[emchen]

Oh man you two aren’t in the churner thread here! English please…nvm my LLM got it:
Of course! Here's the translation in current millennial slang:

VGCgroupie's part:
"Translation:" Lowkey, I rarely do these because it's a whole thing. But Cap One was offering a bag—like, $1505—so I had to send it. No cap, I just realized I've done this three times in the last few years.

Polyrob's part:
"Translation:" Also, you gotta remember the IRS is gonna tax you, so you lose like a third of your bag. It's a whole vibe kill.
"Translation:" I only go for the bonuses that are actually worth it. The comments on DOC are literally my holy grail for the tea.
"Translation:" I do not want to have to file a CFPB complaint on a bank again to get my money. Been there, done that, and it was major side-eye.

-Sorry, I had set it to translate to millenial-speak.

 

[PolyRob]

Oh man you two aren’t in the churner thread here! English please…nvm my LLM got it:
Of course! Here's the translation in current millennial slang:

VGCgroupie's part:
"Translation:" Lowkey, I rarely do these because it's a whole thing. But Cap One was offering a bag—like, $1505—so I had to send it. No cap, I just realized I've done this three times in the last few years.

Polyrob's part:
"Translation:" Also, you gotta remember the IRS is gonna tax you, so you lose like a third of your bag. It's a whole vibe kill.
"Translation:" I only go for the bonuses that are actually worth it. The comments on DOC are literally my holy grail for the tea.
"Translation:" I do not want to have to file a CFPB complaint on a bank again to get my money. Been there, done that, and it was major side-eye.

-Sorry, I had set it to translate to millenial-speak.

Sorry! I re-read what I posted are there are so many acronyms

I did just say "Poly is a vibe" in another thread and text a friend that I "needed the tea" about something tonight so your translation is spot on

 

[AstroBlasters]

You pay federal income tax, but generally not any state income tax on interest from U.S government debt (it’s another benefit of most MMFs, as much or all of the interest is from U.S. treasuries). If you want to avoid federal income tax, you need a municipal bond fund.

Oh, not the case. Agency bonds and government repos do not count as US Treasures and you will lower the State and Local tax.

Your vanguard fund is only 32% in UST.

 

[AstroBlasters]

My HYSA sits at 4.02 currently (was more) but I still find buying GC's to be a larger savings and better way to go for me personally.

Remember, @ClaraOswald says she buys GC at a 5% target discount throughout the year and then spends them all on dues at once.

In that scenario, it would be better to park that money in a money market and then buy the GC @ a 5% target red card discount at the end of the year and then use that GC to pay off the dues.

I don’t have the time or mental bandwidth to chase down a lot of small GC through the year… I do hope Costco offers discounted GV again, but I think DIS broke their system….

 

[AstroBlasters]

Oh man you two aren’t in the churner thread here! English please…nvm my LLM got it:
Of course! Here's the translation in current millennial slang:

VGCgroupie's part:
"Translation:" Lowkey, I rarely do these because it's a whole thing. But Cap One was offering a bag—like, $1505—so I had to send it. No cap, I just realized I've done this three times in the last few years.

Polyrob's part:
"Translation:" Also, you gotta remember the IRS is gonna tax you, so you lose like a third of your bag. It's a whole vibe kill.
"Translation:" I only go for the bonuses that are actually worth it. The comments on DOC are literally my holy grail for the tea.
"Translation:" I do not want to have to file a CFPB complaint on a bank again to get my money. Been there, done that, and it was major side-eye.

-Sorry, I had set it to translate to millenial-speak.

CFPB…. Ha! I’m pretty sure they gutted that because…. you know… protecting the little guy

 

[PolyRob]

CFPB…. Ha! I’m pretty sure they gutted that because…. you know… protecting the little guy

UGH I really needed it the week it was being gutted

The website eventually came back and the bank finally responded in April (you know... almost three months instead of the previous 14 days), but it's definitely not the same

 

[AstroBlasters]

UGH I really needed it the week it was being gutted

The website eventually came back and the bank finally responded in April (you know... almost three months instead of the previous 14 days), but it's definitely not the same

Frustrating. I’m glad they finally responded.