Posts made by Ma Barker

If we use our rewards certificate from past deals, are we going to get back $15.98 new rewards certificate?

Opened checking and savings July 3, ACH using local CU to checking which posted as DDA on July 9, got pending bonus $300 today, July 17. Same is true for DH’s checking account. We’re just waiting for our $225 bonuses for our savings account where $15000 was placed as initial deposit on each account. I’m glad this is a lot easier and stress-free than getting the bonus from shitty bank.

We don’t have a mortgage so I can’t comment on the benefit with paying it down via MOs to the bank. All I know is Chase (may) frown on this activity depending on how much payment via MOs is made, and how often.

Latest update from from Shawn of Miles2Memories
https://milestomemories.boardingarea.com/the-plastic-merchant-website-closed/

Hopefully, sellers kept their own records just in case as proof of how much is owed them that wasn’t paid.

@my4mainecoons I just noticed this today, I apologize for the late response.

Since you’re dealing with Chase, if I were you, I’d be very careful about paying your mortgage with MOs (either sending them by mail or paying in-branch) because I’ve been reading some cases where this was the only activity they did prior to their shutdown; with Chase, they have a tendency to do a sweeping shutdown of all cardholders within a household. But if you have high risk tolerance, you can go ahead and maybe(?) get away with it. I value our Chase accounts so I’m avoiding all potential shutdown factors but of course, that’s just me. If you’re like others with very high risk tolerance, you must have done it with success and no AA from them.

@zennuts it’s YMMV. there are stores that says cash only for GCs while other stores allow CCs. I’ve noticed lately, the registers have been hard coded to allow only one $500 Vanilla per transaction which the manager cannot override; work around is asking if they’ll allow a second transaction where most acquiesce. I’ve completed my Chase Freedoms 5% for this quarter buying OVs.

IME with Citi, when I asked for a possible CL increase to my first DoubleCash card, I was told there will be HP so I didn’t proceed. I just PCd my Dividend and AA plat cards to DCash where the higher CL of those cards were transferred to the new DCash they sent me. I’m better off with cumulative higher CL and different cut off dates.

Latest update on TPM issue with no resolution in sight.
https://milestomemories.boardingarea.com/the-plastic-merchant-update/

We have no branches anywhere near us so when we decided to go to NOLA where there’s several branches near our hotel, I brought our checkbook and DH and I opened for each of us ~ savings with $225 bonus and $300 bonus for checking. Just before we left, I requested for the bonus codes to be emailed to us. I wrote them down on paper to make it easy for banker to verify; he didn’t even ask to see it on our phones. Too bad, we just missed the business checking bonus that expired on 6/30. Earning $1,050 on $30,050 capital parked for 90 days ain’t so bad. Will make sure to find ways to do this again next year.

Check your offers at WM, Hershey’s Forto coffee shots 2 oz single bottle @ $1.98, free after Ibotta rebate.
UPC:8 5347100401 1
Found this at the coffee aisle, middle shelf.

I used two $2/1 IPs and one $2/1 digital Q from WAG which came up to like buy 1, get 2 free. Cashier said there is limit of 4 per customer. I’m not sure if if IPs are still available at coupons.com but check your Balance Rewards account for the $2/1 digital coupon which will be taken off before total comes up as long as you save it to your account.

Mods, I wasn’t sure where to put this topic but since I didn’t see it mentioned here, I thought it best to make GC resellers doing business with The Plastic Merchant that a lot of checks they sent have bounced. Sellers did not get a response when they let Mike, the CEO of TPM know about it. Apparently, his “staff” has sent out email recently that Mike is in the hospital. A lot of sellers are skeptical due to many who have reported bounced checks, some are in high four figures to low five figures.

If you’re affected, check Miles to Memories blog where there is a discussion of this issue and how sellers are coping with it.

I have this offer at WM but rebate is only $2 any variety, any size x8/4/18.

Got this $15 back on $30 at Sam’sdotcom offer in my primary BCE, OBC and all AU cards. This may be the best time to renew my SC membership with this MM deal where profits will pay for membership. I just wished they bring back the variable $500s in-store. I saw vanilla GCs are sold online and GCs are not excluded under terms; still MM after fees although it may take a while to drain these.

To those who plan to convert these back to cash, i.e, what mfr spenders do, the only way to do it is to use these to buy Visa (or Mastercard) GCs where you have to pay a purchase fee up to $5.95 depending on where you buy them. Thereafter, you can use the VisaGCs to buy a MoneyOrder and/or if you have a reloadable prepaid card like Serve/Bluebird, you can just load it at WM. You can also buy MoneyOrders at grocery stores, just ask if they accept Debit cards as payment.

I’ve converted my TopCashBack AGC rebate GCs to cash via GreenDot Visa GCs I buy at WM. Since I get 3% bonus for choosing AGC on payout, I still come out several $ ahead compared to ACH transfer to bank.

This is a great offer, I also take advantage of the weekly bonus offers. I bought a very cheap item at walmartdotcom, did in-store pick up, got my CB and $5 bonus from Ibotta : )

btw, I’m also loving the 25 cents credit on ANY grocery receipt which is under my new offers every other day. Free money just for taking a pic of receipts.

Starting tomorrow, May 6 thru May 12, $200 Visa GCs will be fee free (regular fee is $6.95) so this is a great offer to use Chase INK+, Chase Ink Cash or Amex Simply cash CCs to earn 5% UR/CB. 2% and 3% CCs for CB are also good to use for this offer. This is available in-store ONLY.

This item looks like one of those free wyb an item at Harbor Freight. I’d stay away from it even if it was free…caveat emptor.

Today is last day of this promo, take advantage if you can since the next one may be $10 off $300+ again which isn’t as profitable as this instant rebate.

If ya’ll can find the Dining/Grocery/Style everywhere Visas with $4.95 fees, they can be loaded to reloadable prepaids and/or buy MOs at ‘most’ WM supercenters. But don’t buy a ton until you’ve tried them at YOUR WMs so you’ll not not end up with stacks of useless ‘plastics’.

My purchases from Apr 8 have posted and I received add’l 4 pts bonus with Chase INK+ and InkCash CCs : )

@noahbody yes, there are Visa variable everywhere cards ~ Grocery, Dining, Style Everywhere that have $4.95 fees and qualify for the $15 off. That’s why for every $400 I buy, I pay only $394.90 which gives me instant $5.10 profit and fee is paid by the offer. These cards may not be available at all OD/OM. Check google to see what these everywhere cards look like so you have an idea what to look for.

If you buy the regular fixed $200 and $100 Visa GCs, the fees are higher where you’ll pay $297.90 (312.90 - 15) for $300 worth of card load. This gives you a profit of $2.10 plus CC rewards.
HTH.

@noahbody I paid $394.90 for every 2 $200 Grocery everywhere Visa cards which gave me $5.10 profit PLUS 1974.5 URs with my Ink cards (Xing my fingers I’ll get add’l 4 pts per dollar spent).

For those who buy $200 fixed Visa GCs, it’ll be $413.90 with fees which gives $1.10 profit plus URs for using INK cards or other rewards depending on CC used.

Hopefully, I’ll get 5% on this purchase using the Chase Ink+ and InkCash cards. More and more DPs are coming that people got only 1 pt (base pts, no bonus) for GC purchases at Staples and OD/OM during the last GC sale when they used AXP Simply cash that’s why I’m sticking with Chase cards for now.

@mistercheap sad to say emails were sent last month that starting Apr 1, giftcards won’t earn rewards at all. Check Doctor of Credit for full article regarding this issue.

The deal is back ~ get $15 off instantly wyb $300 or more Visa GCs. Best to use CCs that give 5% rewards like Chase INK+ and/
or Chase INK. Caution on using Amex Simply Business Cash especially to meet minimum spend requirement because OD/OM submits L3 data and this shows as giftcard purchase which the rats will see and will possibly deny the sign up bonus for these. So far, Chase has given 5% on these GCs during the last promo.

For those intending to buy VGCs in-store using PPDC backed up by Freedom card(s), DOC has posted new developments:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/paypal-has-discontinued-in-store-payments/

I didn’t see this deal posted here, I got the email to activate offer for free eggs up to $2 at Target. You have to activate the offer before you buy them at Target. Offer expires 4/5 so make sure to activate offer, buy the eggs and take a pic of the receipt and submit asap.

You can double dip and submit same receipt to Ibotta for an add’l 0.25 credit.

@fivetalents said in Featured GC rewards for PayPal Extras MC credit card month of March:

@Ma-Barker I didn’t think you had this card since you didn’t chime in on this thread: https://phatwalletforums.com/topic/5673/paypal-cashback-mastercard-questions. Are they different products? When did you get yours and what do you think of it so far?

If you scroll down on that thread, you’ll see my reply, third from the bottom.

Yes, I think the 2% PP Mastercard is different from the PayPal Extras MC which I have. I got this card late 2014, IIRC. Synchrony changed their T&C last year so I took it out of the sock drawer. Then when I saw WM GCs under their featured rewards in a month, I redeemed those instead of CB since WM GCs are more valuable to me when I get 10000 pts for $100 GC compared to 12000 pts = $100. This means I get to keep 2000 pts for the next redemption. I know many detest dealing with PayPal but so far, I have managed to toe their line with no difficulty.

I also like the fact that points I earned on the current statement is redeemable immediately unlike cashback from AXP blue cash which is delayed for one statement.

For March, under GC featured rewards, ebay GCs starting from $25 up to $100 are shown with the pts required for each ebay GC. It is currently 1:1 so 2500 pts can be redeemed for $25 ebay GC. This is mailed to cardholder as physical card which one can re-sell if they wish.

Hilton business GCs are also featured but not as good as ebay GCs. For a $25 Hilton business GC, one need 2805 pts instead of the regular 3300 pts.
I put WM GCs on my wishlist to make it easy to redeem them when they’re part of featured GCs on sale for the month.

@craig10x IME, Citi wants to do a HP when I ask for potential CLI so I decline. I went around it by PCing AA plat and Dividend to Citi so I now have 4 DC cards which are all active. I use them for GC purchase online for the past 3 yrs w/o problems.

btw, I have the PPEMC and I like that the rewards are posted as soon as statement cuts ready for redemption. Synchrony has also come up with featured rewards monthly and when WM GCs are a penny a pt, i.e.,5000 pts = $50 WM gc, I redeem those instead of 6000 pts for $50 cash. Most often I redeem for both cash and WM gc if they’re part of featured GCs for the month.

I’m paranoid too, I bring currency of the place we’re going just in case our Schwab cards fail. I also do what mikki does of scanning important travel docs and emailing it to myself/DH for easy retrieval in case of theft/loss. DH (jack of all trades) made a contraption since he’s paranoid about hotel safes so he made something that won’t affect/destroy the safe but make sure it won’t be easy to open by anyone. I’m telling him to go to shark tank to show his invention and who knows, he can get one of the sharks as business partner. LOL (j/k, he’s not interested to make a biz out of it).

Early 30’s isn’t too late to make something out of your life. I suggest you make a resume and file applications in your area. However, if you have a history of PTSD, I’d say to stay away from retail. I said this based on someone we know who had untreated PTSD who went ballistic on a grocery store customer who kept “pushing his buttons”. Needless to say he got fired for that and that added to his depression.

There’s a guy in our neighborhood who cuts wood and resells them. We have wood dumped on our property by a tree cutting company, this guy gives me an offer for them which I accept, he cuts them up and sell by the ricks; he says he makes good money out of it since there’s a huge demand now for firewood since propane price has gone up. He knows it’s seasonal but to him, it’s worth the effort.

In other words, if you can’t find a job, look around you for a need and fill it. Good luck!

btw, if you’re good in tinkering with computers, spread word around that you’ll fix issues like removal of virus, retrieving of pictures from ‘dead pc’ or other similar issues. DH loves doing these type of things which costs a lot of money if you have the techies at BestBuy do it but since he does it for friends, he doesn’t even charge for it. He has “brought back to life” laptops that his co-workers were getting rid of. For him, it’s a challenge to fix and repair what others have given up on and he’s really good at it.

as expected, one has to be a member of the CU to apply.

Who Can Join?
Your SAFE membership is a valuable financial resource that you, your family, and your business can share. If you live or work in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, Yuba, Sutter, Amador, Butte, Contra Costa, Nevada, San Joaquin, Solano, or El Dorado counties, you can become a part of the SAFE family and take advantage of the many benefits SAFE has to offer.

This is a CC offer from a credit union so I’m expecting one has to be a member to apply for any of their CCs. These is what I saw on the terms of this special offer:

Earn unlimited cash back on every purchase. 5% cash back on one revolving bonus category of your choice + 3% when you dine at restaurants, or buy groceries or gas + 1% on everything else.

Schedule one-time or automatic redemptions when you earn $10 in rewards
Apply rewards to your card balance, deposit them into your SAFE account, or donate them to charity – you decide!
No annual fee
No balance transfer fee
Credit limits up to $25,000
25-day grace period on purchases
No cash advance fee if the cash advance is taken at any SAFE ATM, through CALL-24 Phone Banking, or through SAFE Online Banking
SAFEGUARD protection against unauthorized transactions
Visa® Everyday Discounts
Complimentary Travel Accident Insurance
Complimentary Warranty Manager Service
Complimentary Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
A convenient source of overdraft protection for your SAFE checking account

1 0.00% Introductory APR on new purchases for 12 months, available to well-qualified applicants only. APR after intro period ranges from 13.49% to 19.49%, and is accurate 10/23/2017. Your APR is determined by your credit history. This APR will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate. Cash Advance Fee: Either $10 or 3% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater. Late Payment Fee: $15 or the current minimum payment amount, whichever is less. Returned Payment Fee: Up to $10. Foreign Transaction Fee: 1% of each transaction in U.S, dollars. Rates, terms, and conditions subject to change.
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Best to base decision based on their terms and compare it with other credit union CC offers.

View Agreement

@novocane Yes, I got all my expected CBs from TCB. For whatever reasons, there were months it took a while to go from confirmed to payable while other times it went to payable a day or two after getting confirmed. I had to file for missing CB that didn’t get tracked for 3 purchases but it got resolved in two weeks and I got my CBs. Overall, I’m satisfied with TCB.

BTW, I’ve always used whatever free shipping code is current before I place an order using TCB portal and I have yet to be denied my $3 CBs.

I recommend Alliant CU for those who do bank churning and use it as main hub for direct deposits. IME, it has also been very user friendly since I have their 3% Visa signature card which I use mainly for manufactured spending. They also gave me a huge credit line to work with. I’ll give 5 stars for this CU.

I used the last 4 AU cards of Blue cash everyday with this offer last week and ordered via TCB. I used the free shipping code, paid $203.95 per card and got back $10 from Amex plus $3 for each from TCB. Net profit per card comes up to $9.05 for each of my primary and AU amex cards.

I sent an email to them early this month to find out if I qualify and got the reply that I have to live within certain zip codes where they have branches. I like straightforward replies.

Dividend - $5999.90 @ BBY - done.
DiscoverIT - $2000 @ Target - done with spending on this card
WF signature visa - done with min spend

PS: check banks scheduled for closure before year ends to start another round of churning.

Lest I forget, Happy Holidays everyone!

The purchase on GCMall already tracked and the $5 bonus also tracked today. This is the quickest where both transaction and bonus were sent via email.

For MSers who are buying VisaGCs, you can stack this with the $3 off purchase fee code CYBERVISA17 and $3 will be taken off the fee for EACH card so net purchase fee becomes $2.95

Today is the last day for $3 off code purchase fees on VGCs at GCMall ~ CYBERVISA17. Discount is taken off instantly. My order on 11/22 using a $3 off code has already tracked so I’m confident this will also get tracked.

I know most readers/followers of this thread are MSers ; in case you’re not one of them and are rookies on this, feel free to ask me if you’re not familiar with any of the acronyms and I can even give you some tips via PM like I’ve done for those who ask NICELY.

Woot! today is my lucky day ya’ll…I did 3 spins on BW spin game and won 10,000 pts three times in a row. Today is the last day to spin, I’m sending ya’ll my good luck and may one of you win the million points!

I’m glad I was able to buy 2 pks of the Duracell batteries before they went OOS. Thanks bpvh

@lowpricewanted rewards earned in the form of CB, miles, hotel points are considered as rebates and therefore, they are non taxable according to our accountant who does our taxes. Whereas with bank sign up bonuses, the banks make it clear that the customer will pay tax on the bonus(es) they earn.

I don’t think MS rewards have any effect on those who receive gov’t benefits. But then for those who are on welfare, I’m not sure how they can get approved for a lot of CCs and given a substantial credit limit that’ll be enough for them to MS w/o having to cycle their CLs to avoid getting flagged by credit card companies.

Last day of this promo and cheap way to meet the first $6.5K threshold and start earning 5% up to $50K on g, g, and ds purchases