No-Spend February - Finance thread

Love the idea, but I think I'll just stick with my Krusty the Clown Lifestyle Plan.

I'll do this only if I get paid $10,000,000.

Ditto.

Related: https://www.movieforums.com/communit...ad.php?t=47928

Things are going great. Grand total of expenditures for February =

Just paid the mortgage. Couldn’t buy anything if I wanted to now. First half of the month in the bag right there.

Like I always say: I don't pirate movies, I just watch movies that other people have pirated...

I like that!

In the vein....or lane of NSF.

Rewards cards are something that I've completely slept on. Sure, I have a cashback card, it netted me a little more than $200 last year. Nice reward for racking up all those merchant fees.


What never occurred to me, was the "points" rewards cards are an even better value. Sure, there may be a an annual fee ($95), but you get a sign on bonus of 60k points 😝. This translates to about 2 nights ($300 per) in a decent hotel. There are the perks (free late check out, fees waived, etc.) in addition to the points.

LSS - A free stay in a hotel is worth more than $200. A great way to save on vacation is not having to pay for a room.


Anybody have any experience with a rewards card? I'm not doing an AMEX, but there is a middle ground.

Wha-wha-what??? A sign on bonus of 60 thousand???
(Is that dollars or cents?)

I have a IHG Traveler Rewards card. No annual fee.

I get varying multipliers based on the purchase type. Points are for the IHG brand (they run Holiday Inn, but the Kimptons are more my style).*And you get automatic Sliver status in their rewards program.

Right now I’m sitting on 100k points and can stay for 4 nights at around 75-85k points, depending how far out I book. At the cheapest rate for the Kimpton brand, a four night stay would put you out for around $700-800.

If you look it over and think it’s worth opening a card let me know. I’d love to get a referral bonus.

EDIT: They keep sending me offers to upgrade to the Premier card but that comes with a $98 annual fee. However, that card does give you a free night every year on your account opening anniversary, automatic Platinum Elite status, and various other travel related perks. If you travel often it’s worth it.

I am in the process of paying off and closing cards, but I won’t ever get rid of my Traveler card. The travel protections alone are worth keeping it open.

EDIT 2: I could talk all day and night bout rewards cards. Hit my line. lol

My gf has the IHG rewards card with a $95 annual fee. The free night is great, plus all the waived fee perks, etc.

The Kimpton Tryon Park is a nice hotel. Walking distance to the Hornets game, park view out your window, a rooftop bar where you can go outside and take selfies with a WeWork background 😏

The Chase Sapphire gets a lot of good reviews. The flexibility of hotel choice is a big plus.

Tip for the day: Do your own cooking.

I just finished breakfast. I saved money by making it myself as opposed to stopping somewhere and buying it. I made my own iced mocha and my own blueberry muffins. I don't know how much I saved but over the course of an entire year it's a lot. I use to buy this breakfast cereal called Banana Gone Nuts. It was a premium cereal with a premium price. I swear I went through at least two boxes a week sometimes three as I would snack on it during the day. I had to give it up cold turkey which saved me a lot of dough on breakfast. Same with lunch and dinner too. I do all my own cooking which saves alot of money over buying prepared frozen microwaveable meals or ready to eat deli foods.

@John McClane

Don't close the cards or you take a credit hit. Just chop em up and stop using them.

Thanks DD for expanding the dimensions of the thread to include strategy for credit card use.

Our current usage consists of putting as much as possible on credit cards that have cash back rewards, and immediately paying them back to $0 as soon as the purchases post. Credit card companies count on irresponsible people to carry balances throughout the year while paying interest. They hate folks like us that they are pretty much paying $300 a year to to use their cards.

In the meantime: Day one in the books with a 0$ spend total.

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We do this everyday for all three meals. However, I normally go to the lunch counter on Fridays to chat with the local townies and have a lunch at the local greasy spoon. We also tend to eat out every Friday when we have friends stop by to watch films, play games, or complain about shit.

No Friday lunch or takeout this month!

They love my ass. Carrying a debt load that waffles from 60-80% depending on how much shit breaks that month. Or right now, where I'm at like 90% on every card but one. Because interest.

Closing cards is a temporary and minor hit. I've done it before, and the cards I want to close are ASS. I want open a Hilton AMEX card, but not until I've closed these shit cards. My oldest revolving account is that Traveler card, so that's why I would only take a temporary credit hit in closing the others. Score always bounces back up higher after a month or two.

I want to get to a position where I can use my cards the same way you talking about here, but I gotta make more money. So I give it 20 more years and I'll be doing good.

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"This is that human freedom, which all boast that they possess, and which consists solely in the fact, that men are conscious of their own desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been determined." -Baruch Spinoza

This has been every month for me in the last handful of years. Haven't been to a concert in 9 years. I even took in a friend who was homeless just because he said he'd buy me groceries, and I don't eat a thing until about an hour before I go to bed.... But after 5 days of no sleep, I had to find him a homeless shelter. He does leave things here, takes showers here, uses the internet, orders things sent here, etc., but I have no choice.

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https://www.youtube.com/c/LoyalOpposition

Come on...you can do it in 18!!

I've paid off my credit card in full ever since I got one. (And I now have the Bank of America Rewards card.)

For some reason, a lot of people don't understand the basic psychology of credit cards. It is very enticing to pay a minimum each month. It FEELS like you're not paying much, but that feeling is the exact opposite of what is really happening - with the interest accumulating over time, it is literally like paying double for everything you buy.

People need to apply the same attitude toward credit cards as they do to cash (unless they want to get "taken to the bank" for the rest of their lives... and not for deposits)... you can't spend more than you have or than you make... if you do, you'll be in debt forever, and that's not a good way to live.

I never pay late. Always on time because I don’t do interest payments. And my city card is one of those Double Cash ones.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

Yeah, but you’re smart enough to be a homeowner.