I’ve been playing the 0% BT for 15 years now–it’s paid all my education, down payment on my house, down payment on a beach house, my cars, the list goes on and on. I have opened just about every card that offered the 0% with no fee, and now, with $38K needed to flip by February, I’ve realized they all have a fee, most of which are 3%, even for current customers. I currently have all 38K on a Chase, and planned to switch it to a Discover which is offering me 0%, but with a 3% fee. However, Discover also has a card that has a $75 fee cap for new customers, but who would ever get approved with 38K credit limit? SOOOO… the trick is to open a new Discover with the better offer, then move your available credit from the old card onto the new card, which will bring my available credit to 40K. To move all that money for just $75 is quite a deal. When the 12 months is up, I’ll do the same, only back onto my Chase. I will have $40K available on my old Chase, then just open whichever one they’ll be offering with 0% BT at the lowest fee and move the available credit from the old Chase. Chase Disney also offers a $75 fee cap, so I’ll just hope it stays that way until next year.

Wow. And we wonder why we have a debt problem in this country.

You will want to keep a minimum balance that is greater than your single greatest payment. I like to keep more than $1000 in my checking account, since my credit card statements are usually less than $1000. I use multiple credit cards to get the most cash rewards ($300-500 annually with Chase). Using multiple cards allows spreading the bills across the month and minimizing the risk of over-withdrawal. I have my bank send me my checking account balance every week via email, so I don’t need to log in. Only do this if your email account is safe from hacking. They will also send another email if the balance is less than $1000 (my minimum balance). This means that unless I receive an email from my bank. My checking account will take care of itself.

Suggested actions:

• Spread large items (credit cards, rent, mortgage) across the month
• Set up credit cards to automatically withdrawal payment on due dates
• Setup an email alert to know when each credit card is about to be paid (3 days ahead)
• Setup an email alert to know when each credit card or bill payment has been paid.
• Setup utilities and rent/mortgage to automatically withdrawal payment (or send check) on due date
• Setup an email alert to know what your balance is every week.

Not that you don’t already know that credit card companies are sneaky. I generally prefer Chase over Citi for their rewards. Why?

First of all, I can get a $50 check for my 5000 reward points at Chase.

Second, a $50 gift card at citi’s ThankYouNetwork is 6000 points. That means if you currently get 1% back, you aren’t really. You are getting less than one percent back in rewards. You are getting 5/6ths of a point every time you pay a dollar on their credit card, because its costs 6000 points to redeem a $50 gift card.

Is there anyway around this? Yes, only redeem your points for gift cards that are in the 1/100 dollar/point ratio:

Thank You Network Gift Cards with 1/100 dollar/point ratio:
1/100 dollar/point ratio

• $100 WaldenBooks’ Gift Card
• $100 Macy’s Gift Card
• $100 Eddie Bauer Gift Card
• $100 Sears Gift Card
• $100 JCPenney Gift Card
• $100 Dillard’s Gift Card
• $100 Overstock.com Gift Card
• $100 Chili’s Grill & Bar Gift Card
• $100 Bennigan’s Gift Card
• $100 Romano’s Macaroni Grill
• $100 Applebee’s? Gift Card

You can even get a discount on the $100 Lands’ End Gift Card and the $100 L. L. Bean Gift Certificate, they are only 9,000 points each. If you go with a lower amount, you aren’t getting your full points worth.

I really wish the $50 Panera Card was 5000 points or that there was a $100 option. Chase has the $50 Panera Card for only 5000 points.

Today due to the weather, Rachel and I were the only guests in a server’s section–at lunch–on a Saturday–before Christmas–in front of a mall. I felt bad, so I tipped 30%, but that’s still only a few bucks on two orders of soup and salad. So if you are a server and have served us, we’re sorry that we are gluttons and we didn’t spend more and therefore tip more.

You could ask (and feel free to, just do it quietly if there are people around) is the problem actually how much Rachel and I eat? Or is the problem the tipping method we use? Should there be a minimum tip? What if only one people was eating out?

E-trade is running a promotion on their savings accounts $25 bonus on new accounts with a deposit of $1.

Ashley answered the phone and I begin to ask her questions. The answer to my question was “we don’t do that.” I then said, “but it says right here on the check.” I asked a few more questions and she had no idea what I was talking about, and kept saying “if that’s what it says on the check.” I almost started to make up rules just to see what she would say, but I didn’t. At the end of the phone call, she didn’t even ask me if I wanted to enroll over the phone (which I’m trained to hear at the end of every call to a marketing company) which tells me, that she absolutely had no idea what I was talking about.

Something tells me I shouldn’t get this $140 extended return/warranty policy.

There have been additions to the alerts page also. You can now be alerted when your reward points exceed a certain amount. I have mine set to 5000 points or a $50 check. This means you don’t have to check your reward balance regularly which is even more convenient if you have have multiple credit cards.

My favorite alerts to be emailed to me:

A payment has been posted to this account.
My payment is due in [3] days.
My rewards balance exceeds [5000] Points.
No payment was received for this account.

And because the last one, no payment was received for this account, is so important. I have this one sent to my mobile via SMS. Thankfully, that hasn’t happen yet.

When we love something, we are obsessed with it. Just as someone can be obsessed with spending, another can be obsessed with saving. Every week or so, I think of my bosses purchasing my lunch. There income is greater than mine, but they also more easily give it away–”What’s five dollars to me?” Yes, there is more to give, but isn’t it the thought that counts–or Biblically, the widow’s mite that counts. So how much am I caring about my mite? I care about my mite a lot, thank you very much. I have spent 10 hours researching computer monitors for the best buy, five hours researching digital cameras, hours searching for discount coupons, and hours finding the best bank CD rates. I check dealnews.com and gotapex.com before I buy. I use e-bates.com when I do buy.

I have come to decide that among the circles that surround me, the temptation is to sacrifice our time in order to save our money. With me though, it’s more than saving money, it’s beating the system. It’s a game. It’s applying for the credit cards that give you $100 and not using the cards. It’s cashing the checks that ask you to subscribe for a trial period, and then canceling before the trial period ends.

Who does money control the most? The man who spends all his time working or spending or the man who spends all his time searching for deals or saving. It’s both work, I just have a tendency to go easier on the person who is saving and not categorize him as a workaholic.

Download the Free Household Budget Spreadsheet Template (Excel 2000, .xls)

I have tried to differentiate expenses that could be paid on a credit card and expenses that can generally only be paid from a checking account. I receive a few hundred dollars worth of credit card rebates annually and thus try to pay with credit as much as possible. If you already have major credit card debt, it may be best to stop buying on credit and use an envelope system. There are five columns on the budget worksheet:

• Weekly
• Bi-Weekly
• Monthly
• Six Months
• Annual

The numbers in black are all the numbers derived from the numbers in red; so only change numbers in red. Behind the “Budget” worksheet is the “Salary” worksheet that computes taxes and net pay. You will need to place the Net Bi-Weekly field on the Salary worksheet into the Budget worksheet to compute the budget. I did not leave this to automation, since you can get your net pay straight from your paycheck.

Errata on debt:

• There are no easy, painless ways to get out of debt. As Dave Ramsey (free podcast) says, “act your wage.” Lower your consumption.
• Interest rates probably don’t matter if you are planning on paying your debt off in under a few years.
• Getting out of debt is usually more about self-discipline and behavioral modification and less about crunching the numbers. Sticking to a budget will help you stay out of debt.
• Don’t borrow in order to pay off the first debt. This only switches the burden to a later time and adds finance charges. Banks always make money on refinancing–you alleviate in the short term and pay more in the long term.
• Don’t cash out your retirement if there are penalties associated with it.