Random thoughts that are pointless and too dumb to say anywhere else thread ~ 2022 ~

[homer]

24 minutes ago, nate82 said:

I put everything on my credit cards and then pay them off at the end of the month.  I don’t like paying for things with my debit card.

You have basically zero protection against fraud with your debit card.  Well there are some protections but it takes forever for the money to be returned.  Far easier to remove charges on your credit card and you are protected more than you are with your debit card.  

Even better if you get a card that pays cash back or rewards. We have a travel card that we use for expenses and pay off in full every month. Eventually we will be able to take a really nice vacation with the points.

[stoutdude04]

41 minutes ago, nate82 said:

I put everything on my credit cards and then pay them off at the end of the month.  I don’t like paying for things with my debit card.

You have basically zero protection against fraud with your debit card.  Well there are some protections but it takes forever for the money to be returned.  Far easier to remove charges on your credit card and you are protected more than you are with your debit card.  

Yep - this is what I do as well.  Just pay it off every month. 

[stoutdude04]

1 hour ago, owbc said:

The average family in this country is bordering on financial ruin. It's pretty scary. 

Yep - one accident and a family is in ruin, it really is troubling.

[wallus]

4 hours ago, stoutdude04 said:

This.  We have 0 credit card debt each month...and it feels so good.  I think back to when I was a dumb college kid and opened 2 cards for 6 inch subs.  Woof.

You should have taken the t-shirt instead ;)

[zurch1818]

The theory is if you have a credit card you are more likely to spend more money than if you have a debit card. I can see how the theory can be true for natural spenders. As a natural saver, I feel just as much pain when I put something on my credit card as my debit card (mostly Woodman's), so why not get some rewards when I pay it off in full each month?

I also have always been a fan of cashback cards as then I get to decide on what and when the dollars get spent on. It's only about $500 cashback a year or so, so it isn't life-changing money.

I can always just save the rewards in an index fund or a high-interest savings account and create my own miles that can have an ROI. I just feel like I might get scammed and lose my miles and get no rewards at all. Maybe I should reconsider?

It's also depressing how little 2% to 5% can be over a year. I bet that's why they switch to points. 1,000 points sounds awesome until you calculate it is only $10. Marketers........

[Samurai Bucky]

I am going to give Mrs. Samurai some major props here.  We have a few different cards because of the rewards.  We have always paid off our credit cards before the due date.  That is 31 years.  Not only that, we have different cards that will:

• Give cash back at restaurants
• Give cash back when purchasing gas,
• Give cash back when ordering online

Part of Mrs. Samurai's gift is knowing when a card will switch from a 4% cash back with gas to the 4% for groceries, or something like that.  It does get confusing for me at times because I will forget that a certain card has the higher cash back percentage.  Yes... I was told but, for some reason, have a hard time remembering what she said ?

Here is an example -- go to Costco and get the cheapest price on gas.  Pull out the card that also gets us 4%.  BOOM!

Not only that, but the credit limit will also go up.  Can be very helpful at times.

The key word is discipline.

[homer]

8 hours ago, Samurai Bucky said:

I am going to give Mrs. Samurai some major props here.  We have a few different cards because of the rewards.  We have always paid off our credit cards before the due date.  That is 31 years.  Not only that, we have different cards that will:

• Give cash back at restaurants
• Give cash back when purchasing gas,
• Give cash back when ordering online

Part of Mrs. Samurai's gift is knowing when a card will switch from a 4% cash back with gas to the 4% for groceries, or something like that.  It does get confusing for me at times because I will forget that a certain card has the higher cash back percentage.  Yes... I was told but, for some reason, have a hard time remembering what she said ?

Here is an example -- go to Costco and get the cheapest price on gas.  Pull out the card that also gets us 4%.  BOOM!

Not only that, but the credit limit will also go up.  Can be very helpful at times.

The key word is discipline.

Yeah there is a whole community of people that take advantage of credit card deals. Some people get 10, 20, 30 cards and just rotate them based on whatever deal is best. You need a spreadsheet or two to track everything. I think someone on here was into that a few years ago. A friend of a friend does this and essentially gets his overseas vacations paid for every year.

When we got married, we got a Sapphire card which gives you 50,000 bonus points if you put something like $10,000 on there in the first 6 months which, when paying for a wedding, is easy to do. 

[MrTPlush]

If anyone has end of week travel plans taking them to/through Iowa/Illinois at the end of the week, you might want to start paying attention to the weather...it is looking very very ugly. 

[jerichoholicninja]

On 12/6/2022 at 6:13 PM, Hopper said:

Wasn't there a time when that meant that the ring owner was gay?  Seriously, I thought that if a man wears a ring on his right index finger, that was because he had a gay partner.  Not trying to offend anyone, but I think it is/was true at some time.

Bringing this up again only because over the weekend I saw a married woman with a ring on her index finger. As for the gay partner or not, I have now seen 4 men that I know are married to women wearing the ring. So that doesn't apply to them... most likely. Seems like it's becoming more common.

[owbc]

5 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

If anyone has end of week travel plans taking them to/through Iowa/Illinois at the end of the week, you might want to start paying attention to the weather...it is looking very very ugly. 

That has the look of a real blizzard! Not an everyday occurrence. 

[homer]

6 minutes ago, owbc said:

That has the look of a real blizzard! Not an everyday occurrence. 

We moved our flight out of town up a day to try and avoid it.

[MrTPlush]

16 minutes ago, owbc said:

That has the look of a real blizzard! Not an everyday occurrence. 

I have to get to central Iowa. Originally, we were supposed to go Thursday...but -50 windchills and 50 car pileups aren't exactly on my agenda. Probably going to go Wednesday...hopefully before the evening, but not sure she can get off early.

The warning map for the US is insane...and it is only going to get worse in color/size. Shaping up to be one of the worst travel day(s) in a really long time. 

Severe Weather Warnings & Watches | AccuWeather

[Samurai Bucky]

20 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

The warning map for the US is insane...and it is only going to get worse in color/size. Shaping up to be one of the worst travel day(s) in a really long time. 

Severe Weather Warnings & Watches | AccuWeather

But... the colors are so... pretty... ?

[owbc]

The storm that will eventually impact WI is approaching us in Seattle right now. We're expected to get 4-6" of snow tomorrow followed by temperatures plunging to the teens, which is extremely rare for this region. I'm sure there will be videos of Seattle drivers crashing down hills on social media by Wednesday. 

[MrTPlush]

4 minutes ago, owbc said:

The storm that will eventually impact WI is approaching us in Seattle right now. We're expected to get 4-6" of snow tomorrow followed by temperatures plunging to the teens, which is extremely rare for this region. I'm sure there will be videos of Seattle drivers crashing down hills on social media by Wednesday. 

I am sure Texans are having PTSD meltdowns over the temperatures barreling their way.

[jerichoholicninja]

Aww man, I might have to cancel my zero driving on Saturday and 10 minute drive on Sunday now.