I seem to be catching myself making a series of stupid decisions recently, so I thought it might make a good series for the blog: Stupid Stuff I did this week…. Let’s start with TopCashBack.I’m loyal to no loyalty program, I simply sign up for them all, and use whichever is best on that day. […]
In case you weren’t aware. I’m an expert.
Last night I picked up two copies of the Ritz Carlton with 140K bonus, for $395 a pop, and I was pretty excited about it too.Today Josh over at the Forum calls me out via message, asking me what my angle is because as far as he figures it, that wasn’t a smart move. So what […]
500 Million Heartbeats
I’ve pondered this post for a long time. And as I finally sat to write it I quickly ran the math. With an average heartbeat of 60-100 bpm, 500 million heartbeats would be about 12 years old. It’s ironic as that number is very close to the age of the first person who I lost […]
How many people are using your SSN?
I just had an interesting chat with a new bank application specialist. I was in the process of opening up and funding the account with a reasonable, $15K deposit from one of my credit cards, and I hit a few hurdles from security.In fairness, having just moved I expected some identity problems to arise as […]
2015 Challenge – Live a month without money
An average human can live 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water and 3 seconds without checking their iPhone. But how long can you live without money? I’m not talking crazy here (well I am) about going off to live in the caves of Utah like Daniel Suelo. I’m talking living the life you […]
Learning from Criminals- how to value points
I’ve been bothered by this for the longest time. But I think we are all screwing up big time when it comes to Credit Card points. By valuing them high, we are stagnating, and losing real money. I find it interesting that people (myself included) who have been in ‘the game’ for any length of […]
Should you inflate your income on a credit card application?
No you bloody well shouldn’t.But strangely many people do. There are so many reasons why it is desirable to inflate your income, here are a few: Higher Income = higher individual credit line Higher Income = higher total credit allocation Higher Income = generally more important a person and more likely to be accepted The […]
The Power of Travel
I recently returned from our first family international trip – we travelled through Spain, starting at Madrid, and moving South to stop at Toledo, Granada and Cordoba. It was a fabulous trip, and I highly recommend all of these towns. We booked this as I typically do – with a one way to somewhere, (MAD […]
Using your iPhone and Apple Maps oversees without a data plan
I just returned from a great trip to Spain, and stumbled upon something pretty useful when playing around with my iPhone. You can access street level maps overseas, along with the ‘where am I now?’ blue dot, and the compass feature – without using data (cellular or wifi) I found this useful for navigating the […]
Kimpton acquired by IHG! Why I think it is great news
I just received an email from Kimpton to inform me that IHG has acquired them. This is interesting news since IHG themselves were the subject of a failed acquisition just a few months ago, as SPG made a bid for them. Often, as a consumer, mergers and acquisitions are bad things. It is typically the […]