Posts made by meed18

@ma-barker said in Manufactured spending:

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.

How do you “know most readers/followers of this thread are MSers”? For every MSers, there could be a confused rookie who doesn’t understand half of your posts. I’m not an MSer, I follow this thread, and I’ve definitely had to do a little research to figure out a few of the things you posted about. It’s nice that you are willing to offer tips via PM to those who ask nicely, but its not that hard to avoid using uncommon acronyms too.

@ma-barker said in Manufactured spending:

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!

You have some great posts, but it would be really helpful to a bunch of people if you tried to cut down on the acronym usage. . Most people have no idea what the BW Spin Game is since this is a thread about Manufactured Spending. You are super heavy in your acronym usage elsewhere too I.E. GCM for Gift Card Mall.

For those that don’t know BW is Best Western and this is the link to the promo https://www.bwinstantrewards.com/

@lowpricewanted said in Manufactured spending:

I was thinking there was a higher risk of the government looking over your activities when you’re moving six figures around every year. Most of what I do is real small stuff with a rewards card. The one that is a gray area though is using discounted Lowes gift cards to buy supplies for a client.

If you are using discounted gift cards in the course of doing business, that will decrease your expenses. So in that case, since your business income is higher, there are tax implications.

The government generally doesn’t monitor people’s financial activities (the IRS doesn’t, but if you’re being investigated by the FBI, that’s totally different). Banks are required to file certain paperwork for cash transactions of a certain size, but if you aren’t doing cash transactions, you likely aren’t going to get any extra scrutiny.

@ma-barker said in Manufactured spending:

FYI, you can now pay a bill using the WM app and enter all your info, payment amount and required IDs. Click the Express Money and follow prompts. You have up to 24 hrs to pay at WM (you will be asked to choose a store but IME, I was able to pay at any WM) using the Money Express lane where there is usually no line. You can pay with meta VGCs up to 4 swipes, no paper receipt prints, it’ll be saved in your app account. Go try it and see!

Just want to make sure I’m following you here…

1. Buy a $300 metabank Visa Gift Card with your XYZ Credit Card from ABC merchant
2. Go into the Walmart app
3. Set up a payment for $299 to XYZ Credit Card company (Walmart adds a $1 fee)
4. Go to the Walmart Money center
5. Show them the QR code on your app
6. Pay $300 with the metabank Visa Gift card
7. Your credit card balance is now just $1
8. The whole thing cost only time + $1 and you get the points for the $300 spend

Yes?

@ma-barker said in Discover AAA Savings account $150/$200 Bonus with $15,000/$20,000 Deposit at Discover Card:

We got our bonuses from AAII posted today but with date of 11/20. Those who opened accounts on or before 10/31, they should post by today since the last day to put funds and qualify for bonus was 11/15. For those who got approved for three, you may see three $200’s.

$1200 earned on $20K juggled in less than 60 days.

Thank you Discover!

My $200 for AAA and $200 for AAII just posted as well. Thanks to Doctor of Credit for his amazing site and all the commenters there for these two. I did a regular Discover Savings promo a while back where it was $100 for $15,000. Wish I had waited for this one, but $100 was the normal going rate for a while for Discover. Still, $500 from one online bank with no DD requirement and a fast turnaround on the bonus was one of my best scores for 2017.

@honkinggoose said in Common sense rules of banking - tips & tricks !:

I’ve opened 3 checking accounts in the past 6 years where I needed checks. Only one of the banks offered free checking. That didn’t stop me from asking, and getting them for free at all three. I haven’t yet had to re-order.

Good call. It never (well, almost never) hurts to ask!

@fivetalents said in Should be easy math question but I don't know how to do it.:

@meed18 said in Should be easy math question but I don't know how to do it.:

If you have a 5% card for use at office supply stores, why don’t you have a 2% card for non-category spend?

Also, are you 100% sure you can use a Best Buy gift card to buy a different gift card. Nearly every time I’ve tried something like that with a store gift card, they tell me I can’t buy another gift card.

I think Best Buy is one of the few remaining exceptions: I recently used a $50 Best Buy GC to purchase a $50 Whole Foods GC in store.

Interesting. I wonder why that is?

I’ve signed up for close to 20 bank accounts in the past year. I don’t know the exact number, but I think I got maybe 2 sets of free checks. And that was only from accounts where I was required to maintain a high balance. Those data points lead me to believe that free checks have gone the way of the dodo. If they haven’t yet, I believe they are headed that way.

If you have a 5% card for use at office supply stores, why don’t you have a 2% card for non-category spend?

Also, are you 100% sure you can use a Best Buy gift card to buy a different gift card. Nearly every time I’ve tried something like that with a store gift card, they tell me I can’t buy another gift card.

@david-scubadiver said in Common sense rules of banking - tips & tricks !:

If you use an ATM card, make sure your bank reimburses you for ATM fees.
If you use a checkbook, make sure your bank provides free checks and does not require a minimum balance.

Those recommendations are too specific.

My main bank doesn’t reimburse ATM fees, but it’s the closest ATM to my house and they have ATMs almost everywhere. I also have two secondary accounts that do reimburse fees that I keeps some money in, so in a pinch, I can use any ATM for free. I would recommend that people try and pay as little in ATM fees as possible, not that they need to limit themselves to a bank that reimburses ATM fees, though it is a good thing to have in a pinch.

As for free checks, this is such an uncommon thing banks offer today, you would be severely limited if you only banked at places that offer free checks. A $10 order of checks has lasted me over 3 years and I write a check almost every other week. That’s such a small amount of money that getting free checks is a negligible benefit. A better recommendation would be to buy your checks from a discount company instead of directly from the bank. They’re often 50% cheaper.

@mrvietnam
Correct.

I would wait to enter until you have 10 codes ready to go. If they end the promotion (it says while supplies last and there were lots of “sold out” rewards in their last platform) before you enter all 10, you will probably lose whatever you entered.

So far I received $30 in amazon credit. If I had known they were going to run a promo as good as this one, I wouldn’t have tried to liquidate so many caps right before the old rewards platform shut down. Oh well, I’m just happy I kept collecting caps.

Please put the price in the title next time.

Awesome deal! I knew these things were going to go cheaply as the introduced newer models, so I held off getting one back when they were $100 and then $50. I didn’t know that they would eventually drop this low. The no-name brand universal ones they sell at Walmart are more expensive than this. Great find!

@myisland said in $5 off $25 coupon when you get a no-cost flu shot @CVS thru Mar 2018:

Flu vaccines have been shown to be highly ineffective and toxic for humans.
Toxins include Formaldehyde, Aluminum, and Mercury.

My first downvote of the new forum

@gwraigty said in Car Rear ended need help in claim with Allstate:

@meed18 said in Car Rear ended need help in claim with Allstate:

Ugh, just responded to this exact post over at fragile deal. This is what I was worried would happen.

I confess to posting some things at both sites, but it’s hard to know how much overlap exists.

I don’t blame anyone for cross posting. I’m just sad that in order to get the best responses, you pretty much have to cross post. I’m sad we fractured into two forums.

I don’t remember how much a $10 Walmart gift card was with the old mycokerewards program, but it was a lot more than 60 points! This is a fantastic deal, and now I can say “I told you so” to my wife who has been giving me a hard time for keeping all my powerade bottlecaps.

I got two of these for $1.00 each during the xfinity mobile sale. My wife was using a Moto G3 and she switched to this. The camera on the LG X Charge takes significantly worse photos than the camera on the Moto G3. She would have switched back to the Moto G3, but unfortunately, the xfinity sim doesn’t work in it. If you use your phone’s camera a lot and care about the photos, I wouldn’t get this phone. Just one guy’s opinion.

Ugh, just responded to this exact post over at fragile deal. This is what I was worried would happen.

A base was stolen last night so that means a free taco on 11/1
http://link.mlblists.com/r/CVNAF9/HFB7TM/M9RKRXB/FK8AOR6/P1UFDI/TT/h?a=12040710&b=1027293293

Just a heads up if you like this deal. Sign up for a CVS extra care card and go online and link your card to your email. I regularly get 25% and 30% off coupons from CVS in my email with no minimum spend. Those beat this 5 off 25 coupon which is essentially a 20% off coupon only if you spend exactly $25.

google your state’s 529 program and start there. no need to go through edward jones and give them your money. they won’t do anything with it that you can’t do on your own.

I’ll be going for this probably around the beginning of November. I plan on reporting back to DoC about my data points. I’ll put them up here too.

While I have used the Harbor Freight batteries in the past (I think I still have like 10 of them left), they are of the “Heavy Duty” variety, and the ones here are alkaline. I’ve found enough of a difference between the two that they aren’t even really worth it when FREE.

Just “ordered” two pens and one pen cup. Thanks!

I love the Best Buy battery deals. I took advantage of the last two and now have 100 AAs that will probably last me beyond their “expiration date.”

Just for comparison sake, the last Best Buy battery deal I took advantage of was on 8/8/17. It was a 60 pack for $6.74, so this is not that good. Depending on how badly you need batteries, it might be better to wait until the 60 pack is on sale. Last time I got a 48 pack for 6.99 and then the 60 pack went on sale about 2 months later for $.25 less. Wouldn’t have bothered with the 48 pack had I known the future. Just FYI.

Any idea if credit report inquiries are bypassed if I’m prequalified for the Kohl’s Charge card? They just sent me an email saying I was prequalified and gave me a personal offer code.

@dangeruss said in $499 ASUS VivoBook F510UA FHD Laptop, Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, USB-C, NanoEdge Display, Fingerprint, Windows 10, Star Gray (F510UA-AH51):

@meed18 said in $499 ASUS VivoBook F510UA FHD Laptop, Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, USB-C, NanoEdge Display, Fingerprint, Windows 10, Star Gray (F510UA-AH51):

@dangeruss said in $499 ASUS VivoBook F510UA FHD Laptop, Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, USB-C, NanoEdge Display, Fingerprint, Windows 10, Star Gray (F510UA-AH51):

@meed18 said in $499 ASUS VivoBook F510UA FHD Laptop, Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, USB-C, NanoEdge Display, Fingerprint, Windows 10, Star Gray (F510UA-AH51):

@gambit3 said in $499 ASUS VivoBook F510UA FHD Laptop, Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, USB-C, NanoEdge Display, Fingerprint, Windows 10, Star Gray (F510UA-AH51):

Ugh…
1000 GB Mechanical Hard Drive

Other than no SSD, this is a killer deal

THIS. I want this exact computer except with a SSD.

How hard is it to put one in?

No idea without looking at the bottom of the laptop. However, if I’m buying new, I’d prefer it have what I want out of the box.

And usually you will pay for it. If you know how to do simple things like upgrading the RAM/wireless card/HD yourself you can get much better deals.

Yes, obviously. But RAM and other hardware upgrades are easy. Hard drive upgrades are much more work because of what is involved in installing the operating system and drivers. I’ve done it before. It’s not worth my time for the small amount of savings.

@dangeruss said in $499 ASUS VivoBook F510UA FHD Laptop, Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, USB-C, NanoEdge Display, Fingerprint, Windows 10, Star Gray (F510UA-AH51):

@meed18 said in $499 ASUS VivoBook F510UA FHD Laptop, Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, USB-C, NanoEdge Display, Fingerprint, Windows 10, Star Gray (F510UA-AH51):

@gambit3 said in $499 ASUS VivoBook F510UA FHD Laptop, Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, USB-C, NanoEdge Display, Fingerprint, Windows 10, Star Gray (F510UA-AH51):

Ugh…
1000 GB Mechanical Hard Drive

Other than no SSD, this is a killer deal

THIS. I want this exact computer except with a SSD.

How hard is it to put one in?

No idea without looking at the bottom of the laptop. However, if I’m buying new, I’d prefer it have what I want out of the box.

@gambit3 said in $499 ASUS VivoBook F510UA FHD Laptop, Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, USB-C, NanoEdge Display, Fingerprint, Windows 10, Star Gray (F510UA-AH51):

Ugh…
1000 GB Mechanical Hard Drive

Other than no SSD, this is a killer deal

THIS. I want this exact computer except with a SSD.

@ruthie said in TopCashback: Extra $3 CB if you spend $10 by 10/15:

Does anyone know which stores at topcashback offer free shipping? I looked for a list at their site but don’t see one.

Probably easier to search which online stores in general offer free shipping or free in store pickup and then see if a store you are interested in is on topcashback. I don’t think topcashback itself keeps a list.

Most used car sales are as-is/no warranty. It is on you as the buyer to thoroughly inspect the car. If you don’t know enough about cars, get a mechanic to do an inspection. If you don’t do this BEFORE you buy a used car, you have no right to complain about something on the car that was broken before you bought it.

Got this in an email, activated, and just did a purchase at Kohl’s. Hopefully it goes through smoothly.

Just ordered without Kohl’s charge and didn’t get the extra $5 Kohl’s cash offer. Still, came out to only $67.12 with all my coupons and $5 in Yes2You rewards money. After $20 rebate, it’ll be $47.12 Clicked through topcashback, so hoping to get a few extra bucks there too.

My wife’s birthday is in two weeks. Hope she won’t mind some new cookware! Thanks for the heads up @MISTERCHEAP

@KohlsPowrShopper knows exactly where I go for Kohl’s coupon codes!

@mistercheap said in Live Fri 10/13 3PM ET: Kohls Charge: T-Fal Reserve 20-pc. Nonstick Aluminum Cookware Set $42.99 ac/mir shipped PLUS $10 KCash Back:

PS @meed18 if you are going to be doing many deals at Kohls, I strongly urge you to get a Kohls charge. the free shipping codes with no minimum are never for non cardholder, nor are the general 30% off codes that come out just for cardholders. best you do is 20% when the 30% is running, on rare occurances 25%. But having the Kohls charge pays for itself easily and it is free to get.

I know the price listed in the subject line is only for Kohl’s charge holders, but this is a deal regardless of whether you have a Kohl’s charge or not. Thank you for posting it! I’ve got no issue looking for and finding other Kohl’s coupons applicable to me. I was just pointing out that moonknight’s post is useful and I wasn’t sure if you thought it was with your reply.

I’ve debated getting the Kohl’s charge for a while and I know I would have saved money over the years if I had one, so I trust that this is good advice. However, I’m currently under 5/24 and I always try to stay under in case something new comes out that I want, so I just can’t justify the card. I’ve been going to Kohl’s at least monthly for the past year, but now that the Discover Card Kohl’s cash is no more, I’m not sure how much I’ll keep going.

Fortunately, my local Kohl’s has this item for pickup, so no need for the free shipping!

@mistercheap

clearly says KOHLS CHARGE in the title.

Yes, but it’s good to note which coupons are for kohl’s charge card holders and which aren’t because these deals are still deals for those of us without kohl’s charge cards.

Also, rebate is now available: https://www.kohls.com/rebates/10.13TFal20.pdf
NOTE: Rebate is only good for purchases today and tomorrow.

@David-Scubadiver Nice avatar!

I used Google Wallet to have some clients pay me for some work I did. No issues whatsoever. I know google is like big brother, but I don’t see it any differently than giving your card info to Amazon.

@ma-barker said in Manufactured spending:

@calwatch without a doubt, it is worthwhile for me because the DS and WMNM I have are uberly MS friendly. When the offer at one DS comes giving free GC when you buy 2 vanillas, my go-to DS does not blink if I buy 2 variables per register, total of $4K in one trip, get my free GCs on each transaction. That comes up to 50% off the fees per K so buying $30K++ in one week is doable. I don’t max out the Ink, the few times I use it are during sync promos or when there are in-store promos for buying VGCs. I use the CFU more for online GC purchase that has worked well for me, when my priority envie comes, I can easily drain them at my go-to WM soon as the CS opens; if I find the YVrep in a good mood and asks me if I want to buy more, I grab the chance to drain up to $10K, 4 strikes of plastics each. It’s really all YMMV and the place where I’m at is very encouraging. BTW, I don’t do delta.

Yes, it’s definitely a lot of work, we have to crunch our numbers (am focusing on CB now) and determine for ourselves if it’s worth our time. I don’t base my numbers on others’ computation. I focus on my goals and how to attain them.

There are so many abbreviations in this post that I have no idea what you are saying.

@dangeruss said in Skin to make this look like FWF?:

@meed18 said in Skin to make this look like FWF?:

Is there a way for someone to create a skin that makes this place look like FatWallet Forums? (light grey, dark grey, and white)

Yes there is.

We’re using https://bootswatch.com/spacelab/ right now.

If someone wanted to tweak it, we should be able to add it as a theme.

Awesome, thanks for the reply. Now all we need is someone with more skill than me to come up with that skin. Anyone???

Is there a way for someone to create a skin that makes this place look like FatWallet Forums? (light grey, dark grey, and white)

Happy to see that my last useful post from FWF was reproduced here as one of the first finance posts. thanks @marcopolomle !