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For anyone new to personal finance and credit, credit scores can be incredibly confusing. On the surface, FICO credit scores seem like a fairly easy thing to understand. If you have an income and pay your bills, you should have a pretty good credit score. However, it doesn’t exactly work that way. Instead, credit scores…
A friend of mine (let’s call him Joe) recently took his car to a mechanic and, as expected, got some bad news. His car was in need of some fairly extensive repairs which ended up being quite expensive. After the mechanic provided a repair quote, he had to make a difficult decision to make. How…
A few days ago I wrote about how I missed a credit card payment for the first time. In that post, linked here, I explained the series of events that resulted in my first missed credit card payment. However, from that experience I learned that I didn’t have payment reminder emails setup on my Citi…
Citi crafted the Citi Prestige card with one thing in mind; travel. Nearly all of the cards benefits are centered around traveling. Most notably, the Citi Prestige card offers 5X points on airfare and dining, a $250 annual travel credit, the 4th hotel night free benefit, and the obligatory Priority Pass select membership. All of…
Over the past few weeks credit card issuers have been making adjustments to their most popular rewards credit cards. These changes are, of course, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. After all, card holders aren’t getting much value from rewards cards tailored for travel and dining while sitting at home. Because these cards aren’t offering…
With many of us sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a large shift in counsmer spending. People are no longer spending money on airfare, hotels, and travel and are instead spending on groceries and other random impulse purchases from the internet. With that change, many of the card benefits offered from…
With everyone staying home during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been interesting to see how brands respond. From airlines we’ve seen added flexibility to otherwise inflexible fares. We’ve also seen certain restaurant chains giving out free meals to those in need and front-line workers. Banks have even offered to defer certain term loan payments to help…
Over the past few months, I’ve seen a complete change in my spending habits. For about the past three years my largest monthly expenses have been airfare, transportation, and dining out. However, with the statewide lockdown due to COVID-19, my spending habits have changed dramatically. With that change, I still want to try to earn…
One of the hardest parts of the world of points and miles is knowing which card to use in each scenario. As it stands today, there isn’t just a single credit card that offers the “best” return across all categories. Instead, points addicts usually maintain well over 10 credit card accounts to maximize value in…
There’s no doubt that for the past few years, Chase and American Express have dominated the rewards credit card market here in the United States. Chase obviously started things off with the introduction of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. That card helped bring high-end rewards credit cards to the masses. Next, Amex refreshed its ever…
