**I was still skeptical up until redemption, but the $500 gift card balance now sits in our Amazon account. I quickly applied them before Citi could change their mind.

The Double Dip was a success!!

I don't know if it made a difference that dh received a direct mail offer for this card (& oh yes, he will receive more - Citi sends him offers what seems like every freaking day). I am wondering now if I should try an unsolicited double dip.

Anyway, I redeem $500 cash tomorrow from Chase and $150 from another bank next week, and I think we will be done for a while. Not because there are no good offers out there or I am fatigued by this "barely lifting a finger" for a ton of tax-free cash. BUT, because our new mortgage is still not showing up on our credit reports and our FICO scores are diving a bit. I've always felt that the mortgage substantially inflated our FICO, and there is apparently much truth to that.

I think this works out well to take a breather in between deals. We will get these credit cards all closed before we entertain applying for a new one. Soon enough our mortgage will show back up and we can return to being far more carefree with the endless opening and closing of credit cards. But a little forced breather is nice.

I definitely see more rewards for 2012!

--------------------------------------------------

Yesterday was busy and productive.

**Picked up a Father's Day gift (just something silly for $5 that we know dh will like).

**Picked up flowers for LM's teacher. Dh is going to manage a few Scholastic hours for her too (volunteered for set up this week).

Dh did a video for BM's teacher (to end his 3-years with the kids) and we had a good Craigslist sale run a couple of weeks back so I already handed $20 cash to room parent towards Amazon gift card.

It is possible I just deleted or missed the e-mail, but no requests from LM's room parent. Phew! Last year they wanted to get airfare for the teacher - ??? - I never heard an explanation why. It would be one thing if she said, "Teacher does a lot of travel" or "Really wants to see her family," or something along those lines. She has also taken to only listing the families who contribute when presenting gifts. Which is probably just a matter of personal preference, but I find it really tacky. Not all the kids can financially contribute, and I think a class gift should be a class gift. Actually, what it really strikes me as is immature. That is the word I am thinking of. It is possible I feel totally alone in my feelings. Just seems to me if we want individual credit we can do individual gifts.

Which is maybe precisely what was decided this year...

**Got out invites for LM's party. I am kind of having a personal issue with the bowling alley he chose, because they say "no party decorations or cake" without a reserved party. So, me bringing 5 kids to go bowling (quite some business, but not enough to make a party) means I can't celebrate in a birthday way. Really??? Reminds me when I checked with McDonalds on their policy many moons ago and their manager looked at me like I Was crazy and said, "It is a free country!" Yes, it is, but private businesses have their rules. Put McDonalds (or at least this particular manager) on one end of the spectrum. Bowling alley on the other end. Dh said maybe we could just get birthday jerky. LOL! We will figure something out. I Wasn't going to bring decorations, and we can celebrate without a cake, for sure. I think we can think of something (probably not jerky).

No Cake for You!!

Seriously, I should check if they even allow outside food. Could be they just don't. Though it's funny they mention only the cake then.

**I am trying to wing BM's birthday with like a one-week notice, as this is the only way to take advantage of free play time at his favorite play place. I am not sure how well this plan will ever work. Planning anything short notice just does not work for the people I know. Actually, his best friend's family is pretty chill, but they are on vacation. Summer just adds that element of impossibility. Which was why we were trying to do it THIS week, before everyone went off on their vacation and day camp ways. Will figure it out... I am thinking we should just arrange a day with his best friend - because that will be far easier.

**I got a $200 MRI bill. I have the feeling this is not all of it. I initially got a $5,000 bill (it was glaringly incorrect; billed as if dh was uninsured). Reality is probably somewhere in the middle. They told him $1100 at time of service, which is more what they usually charge. In the meantime, it's the parade of random bills...

**Half the time I forget it is payday. I don't have everything on automatic pilot, but most my bills are paid enough ahead of time that it is a rather non-event. I rather *get to it when I get to it* than trip over myself every payday, I guess what it comes down to.

But, I am very happy that today is payday, because boy do I have some BILLS to pay.

I will pay off the Chase Sapphire card and our regular credit card (basically just furniture purchases). I already funded ROTH for June (had some cash) and paid off the other reward credit card (a whopping $20).

NEXT payday I can pay off the Citi.

The non-credit-card bills are already set to pay - there aren't that many. Just glad to get all those red negatives out of Quicken (red negative = credit card balance).

Now we just wait for rewards. Should be $1200 to redeem this month!

I think the second we get our rewards, we will just close them all. DONE! Then it is done and over and I don't have to ever think about any of these credit cards again. I like it simple. There are no new cards on the horizon, so I expect by 6/30 to have all cards paid, all rewards redeemed, and all cards cut up and closed. Rewards can be slow sometimes, but here is to hoping.

**Redeemed $250 from Citi this year (one-time), will be $250 ($50/month) for Fidelity card, as of next week. Earned $500 from Chase, but they haven't given it to us yet. Probably around the 10th of next month.

Guess we are easily up to $1000!!

**Got the "make one purchase, get $150" card. I have no idea when I will make a purchase. Maybe will pay for lunch date this week (If *I* remember to pay!). I am thinking of just giving the $150 to the kids' school.

**On the double dip, we are probably done with the card. Dh bought a $2000 camera with it, today. (Crossing fingers for no returns, but medical bills/insurance will easily add up to $2000 if that doesn't work). I charged $500 today for continuing education (employer will reimburse). We had already ran up $500 in groceries, gas, utilities, home repairs, etc.

I think that took a whopping 8 days! Now we wait for our $500 reward.

----------------------------------------------------

Dh returned camera #1. HE finally found some online resources that said the camera was a dog (as opposed to "the best thing out there."). So, there is HOPE!

This new camera is more what my parents had in mind, but will cost me another $1200, and does not include any accessories. Oh well!!

{If you missed it, my parents gave him $1,000 to put towards a $2,000 camera}.

-----------------------------------------------------

I suppose we need to get going on this rather impromptu Florida thing. Since the camera is going to cost *us* money in the end, I asked dh if we couldn't put off Florida to next summer. He doesn't want to, and I understand. But it was worth asking. I understand that we don't want our second trip of the year *to visit grandparents* to be rendered moot by a death. This is a very rare "Throw caution to the wind/live life" kind of move, for us. On the flip side, we are in an infinitely better financial position to handle this, than any year prior (since having kids). I am of course CAUTIOUS with the economy and all. In a perfect world I'd wait until next summer and get another overtime check - just use that money. A year or so to plan "the biggest vacation we've taken on, ever" would have been preferred! So big because it involves airfare for FOUR. & I won't be able to find $200/person...

But, by the same token, I think we will survive. It's obvious that speeding up the trip by 6-9 months won't make or break us. Which is why I am okay with it. It seems like a fitting celebration for making so many financial goals this year.

The plan?

Airfare: I think I can get airfare for around $1300 - $1500. Though we are going to Orlando, we will fly into Tampa to save a significant sum. Thankfully our home airport is on the cheap side, for flights to Florida. I'd much rather fly from our city, though would be flexible with many regional airports to save a bit. But, anyway, I am pleased I have found both cheap and convenient. A bit of a drive on the Florida side doesn't bother us... We will probably lock this down in a couple of weeks.

I will skip extra mortgage payments for 4-5 months to cover this.

Hotel: You guessed it - free room with MIL's endless timeshare points. But we have to get this booked!!

Rental Car, Disney Parks, Food, etc.: Will just use our meager vacation budget. It might be enough. Unfortunately means we probably can't do much else this year. I usually spread out this $1500-ish throughout the year for a lot more staycation-y/within driving distance kind of things. I'll just have to get over it, but it might make me cranky and remind me why I hate big vacations! !! I really do not enjoy condensing all that *fun* into *only one week out of the year.* Most people like vacations - it just makes me cranky! We will be feeling the pain all summer when we can't go to any amusement parks, camping trips, and such... {Sure, there were many years we had $0 vacation budget, but how quickly we forget!}

We have PLENTY of free things to do, so will get over it.

So, all in all, I am hoping not to touch savings at all for this trip. Though it will slow our mortgage payoff very temporarily. I think this is pretty darn optimistic, but worth a shot!

Dh got his new Citi card in the mail yesterday. If I had any inkling, we could have put off our furniture purchase by a few hours (or a day or two, or whatever).

We don't need any big purchases to make our goal, so we will survive. This just would have been a lot *simpler.*

------------------------------------------------------

Life is CRAZY and I can't quite put my finger on it. We try so hard to keep things "simple," that I feel like I am failing a bit, but am too busy to sit down and think about what is going on. I think it is just LIFE. It has been one thing after the other. end to this, tend to that, fix this, do this favor, on and on and on. Usually my To-Do list is not so crazy. These days it feels like it never ends.

& I cringe thinking about June, because we have so much going on (Family celebrations, vacations, etc.). I am hoping things will slow down in July??

The past month is one of those times I could not fathom dh working. At all. I don't know how the working folk do it!! But, I remind myself it could be worse, and we are pretty spoiled. Life has just been a second full-time job, of late.

**I think the Chase closes in 2 days. We were thrown off by airfare refund, BUT I made a couple of donations and dh got gas and groceries, etc.

Today it hit me to just put the rest to a health insurance prepayment. (Not sure it will clear in time - DOH!). But I only needed about $130. I prepaid $150. Thus, we don't have to wait another month for our $500 reward. Might get it this week!!

**I decided now was the best time for the "Double Dip" attempt. Dh got an offer that expires next month. It's for a Citi card he applied for reward and closed - last year.

WE decided now was a good time since we have a few large purchases. We need to spend $3,000, and I am expecting a large MRI bill. We may also buy some airfare and/or some furniture. So, what the heck. At least I won't feel too put out if they give us trouble for double dipping. {I don't expect it will be a problem at all though, since Citi always bends over backwards for dh}.

Another $500 reward - woohoo!!

**I applied for a "one purchase - $150 cash reward" deal that I got in the mail.

They did not approve me online - said they would get back to me. !!! I don't see why I wouldn't be approved, but will see. I'd generally hold out for something bigger, BUT I have not applied for one reward this year. & it's nice that it is an easy one.

Fingers crossed!

----------------------------------------------

**When we are done with Citi, I still have my eye on one more reward that dh has not done yet. I will start keeping an eye out since the deals seem to come and go - will jump on it if I see a big offer. (Or maybe he will get a personal invitation one of these days? I think it is one he did 2-3 years ago?)

**I did get my $250 Amazon redeemed. Woohoo!

I should have just bought my Quicken with these rewards, but I was not 100% sure they would come through this month. The points were there Saturday and I redeemed them last night.

I will pay off the credit card next paycheck, and close it shortly thereafter.

**We are still working on spending on Chase. Up to $2300 of $3000. I figure we will be done around 5/31.

**Mid-May I will try the Citi double dip. Or I may wait until we get dh's MRI bill. He has an MRI scheduled in May, but we often don't get billed for many months. I figure that bill will help immensely on our next reward. If the Citi double dip does not work, AmEx Gold is next on the list.

**I still need to apply for my $150 reward. No other offers have popped up in the mean time, so I will probably apply this week.

--------------------------------------------------

**Reminds me, we had a couple of free options for lodging in Denver, but this weekend we confirmed the nicer option (studio suite with MIL's vacation points). Phew!! More driving for us. We could have stayed free with Grandma, but she has been a little confused, and I Wasn't 100% sure if she would get it set up correctly. I was worrying about showing up with no place to stay. She tells me the bed is terrible (they have rooms for guests at her retirement home), but I didn't really give a flip if it was free. BUT since this is free too, I think it will work out better.

Our airfare and car rental will probably be covered with rewards, so this is working out much better than expected.

**I just checked the weather because we went to the beach yesterday. It was supposed to be a record 80 degrees (it was 90 on Saturday!!), but it was foggy and cold. We tried to wait it out a bit but gave up around 1:00 when it felt like it was just getting colder and foggier. I just checked and it was a whopping 59 yesterday. Well, we tried. I was just stoked we'd be at the beach on such a nice day. But I felt better to see that the sun never came out. At least we didn't just miss it with our impatience.

Anyway, we had fun anyway and we found a jellyfish on the beach. How cool is that??? {I had no idea jelly fish were around - that is good to know. Yikes!!}

**We had a very vacation-y weekend with our folks. Went down for a birthday party, spent the day in the in-laws' pool (aaaahhhhhh) and hit the beach Sunday.

I believe today was a NSD for the entire household.

Guess what? Dh got another Citi offer! Surprise surprise. {It's like offer #100 this year}. IT's same as last one - nothing new. ??? But since it is a $500 reward, I have it next on the peripheral. It will be our first double dip. We just got sidetracked by the Chase Sapphire - still got some spending to do on that one. But the offer I got today expires in 2 months. So if nothing better comes along, might try it in late May.

No spending yesterday - see below.

I was missing my $8 Walgreens charge and finally found it on the Citi card (it posted today). Funny thing is I don't remember using it. Anyway, so we are $4 short of our $2000 spending goal. Dh said he would just fill up his car today - I think it only needs a few gallons. So that should do it! {Dh is driving 100-ish miles, round trip, to pick up the kids today - so will gas up first - just to get the Citi card retired}.

It's just every penny over $4 could be working towards *another* reward!

------------------------------------------------

On the Chase Sapphire, spending to $3000 limit as follows:

$400 professional dues (I didn't include below because employer will reimburse - not out of pocket for me).
$500 airfare?**
$800 Health Insurance for May
$1300 gas/groceries (rest of April + May)

We have 3 months, but I'd like to get reward as soon as possible. By end of May? I will pre-pay June health insurance if the airfare thing falls through.

Another potential charge is increased life insurance, if it goes through. My long-term insurance is due this month, but I don't think I can charge it. I will call to make sure. That could be another $500.

**On the airfare, the prices went up a bit and we were back to "trip planning hell." I personally just have no patience for things that are overly complicated! I finally found decent dates/airfare in early June. We finally found a date MIL could watch the kids. I would have bought the air tickets yesterday, but we couldn't get ahold of my Grandma (which in turn had us all worried). Hopefully we can sort that out today. She's kind of crochety so I worry after all this she will tell us not to come, or something like that. I'd like to buy the airfare today...

----------------------------------------------------

Speaking of overly complicated? *Still* trying to get our internet bill set up online.

As is, dh was on the phone with them all day yesterday. HE still can not log in (I have never had so much trouble getting an online account for *any* service or bill). But he proudly told me he got us set up for online billing. We made this extra effort to finally get this set up, since they will charge $2/less per month, "indefinitely." (Until they change their mind? )

All I can say is: Wait, so our bills are going to an imaginary online account that I can not access? Way to go dh! {He seems to have much more optimism that we will ever get this sorted out. I am just aggravated!}.

If we do get this set up, and if we can pay with AmEx, we will also be saving about $1.50/month, with our rewards. So, this is a potential $3.50/month savings. Will be well worth it in the long run.


**Is it ironic that our internet company seems in the *dark ages* with this online account thing???**

----------------------------------------------------

April 10:
-0-
Dinner: Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

April 9:
$4 lunch (favorite sandwich on special - lasts 2 days)
$8 Post-Easter sale (candy, egg decorating supplies)
$29 Dinner (had a $10-off coupon, from mail)
$33 Target (groceries, Easter stock up, champagne)
Dinner: Out

April 8:
-0-
Dinner: Leftovers

I've only redeemed $150 so far this year ($50/month average on our regular American Express - the money goes into my ROTH).

But we've got a few things in the works to pass the $1,000 mark, so I figure I would tally them up:

$250 reward Citi (should receive reward in a couple of weeks)
$500 reward Chase (just started - will take some time)
$150 reward card for me (if nothing better comes along)
$150 redeemed American Express
-----
$1050 TOTAL Expected, 2012

Of course, the year is young, so who knows what else the year will bring.

On the $250, will just redeem for Amazon gift cards.

On the $500, I would like to use it to pay for our Denver airfare. We are right now looking at a June trip. Will probably fund the trip from OT or savings, and put it back to savings once we get the rewards.

The $150 reward I am looking at is a "statement credit," so it could pay for $150 of health insurance. Would be the easiest way to handle it.

As I mentioned, the other $150 is in my ROTH.

& in addition to that, we still get 1% cash back on our regular visa, and 5% off Target card purchases. The AmEx retirement card is 3% back on all purchases. {I've got a couple of utility/auto pay bills going to our regular Visa and AmEx that I haven't bothered to change at all with all these one-time cards. So will still earn rewards on those, though directing most charges to the one-time reward cards}.

Oh, today was spendy, indeed. But it was a long day and I will catch up on the spending details later. (Short version: stocked up on post Easter sales, and since the kids are gone for a few says, dh and I had a nice dinner date).

I got a credit card offer today. Make one purchase and get a $150 statement credit. Offer was from prior mortgage holder. I am only considering such a small offer because I have no other ones at current. I will hold onto it for a few weeks and see if anything better comes along. In the past I wouldn't think twice about it, but in the past these offers only came up once in a blue moon. If I get twelve $150 offers this year, do I really want to do twelve of them??? But I suppose I can do one. This offer will push us past "$1,000 in rewards" for 2012.

Check out "No Impact Man" on Netflix. I thought it was really well done. A documentary about a family that attempted to live a "no environmental impact" lifestyle for one year. If the movie was just about the guy, it might have fallen flat, but his wife really made the movie. She was skeptical and not thrilled with the whole thing, but very honest and open minded. She was really open to try anything. I *loved* her. Anyway, lots of themes that run through SA. Just thinking outside the box a bit, trying different things, and realizing that one can actually be a lot happier with more simplicity in their lives. (Versus the extreme backlash they got from other people for their experiment - WOW - considering how positive they found it to be for their own lives).

**Good Grief!

Dh got another credit card offer today. It was for a $500 reward from Citi. This makes it like the 10th Citi offer he has gotten in like the last 30 days - it has been absolutely ridiculous!!

Anyway, *this one* is the card he just closed a few months back. I think? So I will again try the double dip.

It wasn't a spectacular offer in that it was a "spend $3000" offer - which I think is just the normal offer. Last time he only had to spend $1000 to earn $500. But, anyway, I will bump this one to the top of the list for two reasons:

1 - I am curious to try the double dip. & if he is denied, we can just move on to the next offer.

2 - Citi seems to like him and gave him extra rewards last time. So, hey, it's worth a shot. Might get more than $500 in the end.

*Doh*

We didn't do a credit card double dip after all.

Just got dh's card and was linking it online, etc., when I noticed the new one is a "preferred" card and the old was was a "premier" card.

I found it quite odd they would invite him to re-open a card he very recently closed, but sometimes the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, know what I mean?

The plan is to charge the next 2 months of health insurance, and about $400 in groceries, to get to our $2k limit. The less transactions to get there, the easier it is for me. I am no longer setting up these credit cards in Quicken, because it *never ends* and was really mucking it up. I will just break down the expenses when I pay the card, so "less transactions" is far easier to track and handle.

----------------------------------------------------

In other fiscal chores, I officially applied for more life insurance. Still no decisions for the long run, but in the short run, my coverage is increased by 70%. Is enough to easily support the fam for 20 years and to pay off the house. Will see if I am approved, considering recent surgery.

When we first bought life insurance, the idea of using that money to pay off the house was absurd. (We could both easily pay the mortgage on our own, so why tie up all that cash?). But it is a more serious consideration with a long-term unemployed spouse and insane low interest rates (he couldn't possibly refinance if something happened to me, though the bank would want him to, and even if he could, lord knows where rates will be at that point in time). I am of the mind that *I* would probably downsize and keep a mortgage, if something happened to spouse. But I appreciate how dramatically things have changed since we signed those life insurance papers 10 years ago. Dh's life insurance is enough to pay off the mortgage, and have plenty left over, if that is the best choice. If I am unemployed or if interest rates are insane...

Of course, in the last 10 years we have only wiped out about $30,000 of mortgage debt. In the next 10 years I intend out to wipe out $100k - $200k (50% - 100% of remaining balance). Thanks to more income and less interest. So maybe the whole thing will be moot in a decade's time.

It's clear from some of the other blogs that focus on credit card rewards, that many people apply for the same cards over and over and over.

I don't think it is anything we have ever done. I don't think either of us has ever had the same credit card twice.

Anyway, with the refi done, I closed my last one-time credit card from last year. & so we begin anew. {I honestly don't think any of this would have affected our credit score in a way to hamper the refinance, but we did want to just be on the super safe side. A lower interest rate on our only debt was a FAR higher priority than these rewards!}.

I had three cards on my peripheral, and they would all have to be applied by dh. So, I think we will stay on a "one at a time" plan.

Our health insurance is about $800/month, so it is very easy to meet these minimums, with little effort or purchasing. We just put it on the credit cards.

The three cards?

1 - When I closed my AmEx Gold Premier, I noticed they were advertising $250 rewards to the general public. Dh had not had this card.

2 - I recently noticed Chase Sapphire had a decent reward (it was long enough ago I don't remember the details). Dh had not had this card.

3 - Citi still LOVES dh and sent him a direct mail offer for a card he just opened and closed recently. Citi Thank You. Spend $2,000, get $250. No annual fee.

So I started with #3. The offer would no doubt expire at some point, AND I expected him to maybe be rejected once he applied, anyway. Finally, amazon gift cards are the primary award we redeemed with this one. So, I think that is the best reward anyway.

I applied online today, and he was instantly approved.

They *really* want his business. They offered him all sorts of rewards to keep his account open "a little while longer" last time. So if we go through the same thing again, the reward potential is higher. On the flip side, there is absolutely no motivation for us to keep this credit card, beyond the one-time rewards. So apparently they want to keep trying, but I don't feel very enticed.

I got my nook!

I got those gift cards fast. Phew! Will probably give old nook to FIL for his birthday coming up.

{Though I have received some of these rewards in January, all of these rewards were earned in the year 2011. I suppose tehcnically these are all the rewards I expected to receive in 2011, though I am just getting the last of the rewards right now. AmEx was 4 weeks slower to let me redeem my point - compared to ANY of the others. I had really expected to have these gift cards in hand by Dec. 31}.

UPDATED TALLY:

$1030 cash Chase Sapphire (moi)
$200 cash Chase Freedom (dh)
$625 gift cards - Chase SW (dh)
$515 gift cards - Chase SW (moi)
$260 gift cards - AmEx (moi)
$500 gift cards Citi (dh)
+$100 gift cards - Citi for trying to close card
$310 gift cards - Citi (moi)
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
+$69 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$41 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
-----------
$3499 TOTAL *ONE-TIME REWARDS*

+$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex - 2% cash back)
+$ 25 cash back Fidelity Am Ex
+$ 76 Target rewards (5% discount Target purchases; mostly groceries)
+$ 64 Visa Rewards (1% cash back - for places that don't take AmEx)
----------------------------
=$4164 Total CC REWARDS 2011
----------------------------

For 2012, I already redeemed $50 to my ROTH. So, am getting a good head start! But, that said, I don't expect to pull anywhere near $4000 this year. Once our refi is done, will probably have dh apply for Chase Sapphire. He hadn't done that one, so will see. That's a $500 reward. That will put us closer to our usual $1000 average in rewards. We might hit closer to $1500 this year if dh can get $500 from Chase.

AmEx Gold - will be glad to be rid of it.

I had signed up for it to alert me when my points posted. It instead alerted me to tell me that my point balance was -0-. It just sends one e-mail per month, it looks like.

So saw a blogger mentioned getting the card, so thought I better check one last time (card month closed around the 15th?) and was expecting to send an e-mail asking for my points.

The points were there. Finally!!

So I go to redeem them and it takes me to a screen that says "rewards are 20% off." Woohoo! But then I dig deeper and these were not the rewards I had planned on. In fact, they were twice as expensive. & no B&N or Kohls gift cards as planned.

At this point I am getting really peeved, but figuring there must be some other rewards too. Either that or they just held onto my points until they could update their system and take away all the rewards I was planning to get.

I was about to give up since I know I looked up that B&N card with dh last week - figured maybe he could help me find it. When, finally I found all the gift cards I wanted. THOSE weren't on sale, but they cost half as much. Sneaky sneaky sneaky, American Express.

I redeemed my rewards, and then it asked me for the security code on the credit card, to verfiy my identity. Good Lord! Called dh, and I luckily knew where it was and he was home to give me the number.

So, the deed is done. But could they make it any harder?

Good thing is I should receive in 3 days. I redeemed for $100 B&N (for new nook), and $150 Kohls (for clothing). & $10 Old Navy. Their $10 cards were slim pickings, so I just chose that because I think my friend likes Old Navy. I am sure I can find someone who does.

It's not all over and done yet. I need to receive my gift cards and then I have to close the AmEx. & then I shall be done!

By next week I should have all my rewards in hand and all those pesky credit cards closed. Woohoo. I'll post a final tally when I get to it (2011 credit card rewards earned/redeemed: $4000+).

Friday was QUIET. Today so far too. Phew!!

Looks like MIL is having outpatient surgery this month (follows our pattern: in the middle of biopsies during the holidays, surgery in January). But, that's it! The word her doctor used was "pre-cancerous cells." There should be no recovery time. Her and dh seemed in good spirits after getting more information.

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I thought I Was going to have to really start bracing myself to withhold more income taxes, that we were on an upward swing after a long downward swing. For reference, last year we got about a $2000 income tax refund, and this year I owe $500.

I believe I was wrong. I got my W-2 today and updated my tax return. Even though I basically withheld hardly anything for the state ($30 per check), I am still owed a $40 refund. (I was trying to avoid any refund from insolvent state, but failed!) The Fed tax situation is about same as prior year, but the prior year way too much got withheld from my bonus check. This year, not enough. You can't win. But I rather have the use of the money up front and owe $500.
So the plan will be to file around January 31 for my refund, and to pay the Feds on April 15th.

Taxes will still be on an upward slope if this refi goes through. Will take a hit to our itemized deductions, so will still have to plan for that. But I thought it was going to be a bit of a double whammy, so I am relieved our taxes don't seem to be on an upward climb.

---------------------------------------------------

January has been pretty non-fiscal so far, BUT today I bought some shoes. When I noticed my very comfortable work shoes were falling apart, all I could find was some very high heels to replace them. I took the risk on the "these shoes are so comfy" reviews, though I Was skeptical. The kind of shoes I like and buy are way out of favor the last several years - can't find any in my size at a reasonable price.

Anyway, the super high heels are not too bad. Meaning, I can actually wear them. But I will go insane if those are the only shoes I have. SO, I checked online again today and thankfully found some flats and a low heel. Hallelujah! Everything was on sale, I found a 30%-off coupon in one minute, online, and delivered to store since that makes free delivery.

I went back and forth on buying the cutest boots, but with 30% off, they were only $21. So I did a $21 splurge on myself today. It's hard for me to splurge like that, right after the Christmas and Birthday binge. If it was July, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it. But today I felt a lot of reservations. It seems silly as I type it out, since it was well below my monthly allowance limit! Frankly, I probably won't buy anything else for myself the next 3 months anyway. I usually don't shop much during tax season, and I don't really shop online much at all (except when I need something).

----------------------------------------------------

Tax season is well under way, one-day weekends for me for a while. I have no idea why, but I was the only one to show up to work today. It was very nice and quiet and I got a TON done. Everyone has been complaining about money (which is very unusual - accountants tend to be pretty conservative) so lord knows why I am the only one racking up the overtime. I also had a TON to do, but the financial incentive is extra nice. So I guess I was extra surprised that no one else seemed to take advantage. I am sure I will not be alone for long!

-----------------------------------------------------

Oh, I did also redeem $50 on my Fidelity AmEx ($50 deposits to my ROTH). On the 4th, when the statement was ready and my points were available. Will be on average once a month now that I no longer have any other credit cards I am charging up for points.

I still have not been able to redeem my $250 AmEx reward. Of ALL the rewards cards I had this year, this is the only one that did not make my points available within a week of the credit card cycle closing. I am waiting for the second closing next week and will call if I still don't have those points. (They credited them to me with my last statement, but still says "pending," so I have been unable to redeem!)

UPDATED TALLY:

$1030 cash Chase Sapphire (moi)
$200 cash Chase Freedom (dh)
$625 gift cards - Chase SW (dh)
$515 gift cards - Chase SW (moi)
$500 gift cards Citi (dh)
+$100 gift cards - Citi for trying to close card
$310 gift cards - Citi (moi)
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
+$69 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$41 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
-----------
$3239 TOTAL *ONE-TIME REWARDS*

+$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex - 2% cash back)
+$ 25 cash back Fidelity Am Ex
+$ 80 Target rewards (5% discount Target purchases; mostly groceries)
+$ 35 Visa Rewards (1% cash back - for places that don't take AmEx)
------------------------
=$3879

+ $250 American Express reward (gift cards)
----------------------------
=$4129 Total CC REWARDS 2011
----------------------------

**I am still waiting to be able to redeem the last AmEx reward of $250. Points are "pending." This one looks like it will be a Kohls gift card.

**I just noticed a $25 statement credit from AmEx. I remember signing up for some bonus, but can't seem to find the details. I believe it was 5% back on $500 of grocery purchases - something like that. Woohoo! (A nice surprise, because I totally forgot!)

*Dh received an offer for a $100 cash back credit card. I haven't ruled it out, but did put it aside for after the refinance. If it was more enticing, I probably wouldn't bother waiting...

UPDATED TALLY:

$1030 cash Chase Sapphire (moi)
$200 cash Chase Freedom (dh)
$625 gift cards - Chase SW (dh)
$515 gift cards - Chase SW (moi)
$500 gift cards Citi (dh)
+$100 gift cards - Citi for trying to close card
$310 gift cards - Citi (moi)
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
+$69 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$41 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
-----------
$3239 TOTAL *ONE-TIME REWARDS*

+$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex - 2% cash back)
+$ 80 Target rewards (5% discount Target purchases; mostly groceries)
+$ 35 Visa Rewards (1% cash back - for places that don't take AmEx)
------------------------
=$3854

+ $250 American Express reward (gift cards)
----------------------------
=$4104 Total CC REWARDS 2011
----------------------------

This is my first *$4000 is official* post.

YAY!!!

I am just waiting to redeem my latest rewards - should be $250 around December 15th.

All of our other one-time credit cards are closed and cut up.

I haven't come across any offers in the interim - it has been very quiet on the credit card reward front.

All of the cards are officially closed, as of today. (Southwest Chase was kind of slow to respond).

Chase did not offer automatic refund of annual fee to dh, like they had to me. So I wrote back and asked them if the fee would be refunded (because in my experience it usually is - I said something like that). I poked around and saw that Chase has a policy on refunds within 30 days or 60 days - depending who you ask. Interestingly, they charged me the fee on the second billing cycle, so I thought maybe I fell in the 30-day time period as a fluke. BUT, I looked, and it was about 45 days from when I was charged the fee and when I closed the card. It was over 60 days that I actually had the card. The only thing I did different when I closed the card was cite the fee as a reason not to keep the card. Not sure if that mattered.

Anyway, dh has also had the card 45 days. So, will be interesting to see what they say. (Er, 45 days from when the fee was charged, anyway?)

---------------------------------------------------

I checked my AmEx Gold, and $1000 in charges is showing up there (they got my insurance charges). SO, I just have to wait for December 15th to redeem that reward - I am hoping I can pay it off January 1. I suppose if I don't pay it until January, I can't kill it until January.

It's the only one-time rewards card we still have open from the pile. I cut up a LOT of credit cards over the weekend.

--------------------------------------------------

As an aside, I am SO not liking the trend of credit card companies to offer rewards based on rotating categories.

For one, it's far more complicated than what I am used to (I am used to 3% back on gas and groceries, all the time, which was GREAT since most of our variable spending is gas and groceries).

Rotating Categories?

Dining
Department Stores
Movie Theaters
Charitable Organizations
Clothing Stores
Electronics Stores
Toy Stores
Travel

Even if they had these categories all year, don't think they would help ME much. But, the fact that it changes every quarter, and you have to register for the categories to save on? I find uber annoying. I hope someone is making money off this. I've closed all my cards that have moved to this rewards structure. Thanks, but no thanks. (I think I am almost more annoyed about how complicated all this is, than anything else).

Well, Citi did absolutely nothing to make me warm up to them.

I e-mailed them to close my card today, and it was literally closed within one minute.

The only reason I know is I then went to plastic jungle to sell some gift cards, and they asked me for a credit card #. To verify my identity. I was aggravated, so decided to use the card that would be closed by the end of the day. Except it wouldn't work and just caused problems. I checked my e-mail. CLOSED! ALREADY!

Dh called and closed his Citi card. They begged him to stay, but decided to stop giving him cash rewards for stayinng just one more month. They didn't offer anything useful. I am just glad to get the card closed.

Not sure what it is but they were like kissing dh's feet the whole time, and offered him the moon. Me? They just put up with me and are happy to be rid of me. So, just leaves me annoyed. I believe that is the only Citi card I ever had. Chase - sure - I am no longer banking with them in any capacity (no more chase credit cards), but they did shower me with rewards and give me everything I asked for. It bodes well for the future - if they ever have a credit card that fits my needs, again. Citi? Meh. Who needs them? It probably pays off in the long run to have a little more customer service. Even if it means no difference in the short run.

That said, besides messing up my plastic jungle scheme (to not give them a REAL credit card number), I do appreciate how fast and simple it was to close the card. Easy Peasy!

I'll e-mail Chase tonight to close dh's 2 remanining Chase cards.

Tomorrow I will mail all these gift cards to Plastic Jungle - they will mail me a check for $182 in return.

All that should be left is to redeem my AmEx Gold rewards in about one month time, and close that card too. It's the only one-time reward card that I (and dh) should have open by the end of the day.

Usually the only *annoyance* factor for these schemes, for me, is having to close the cards. (Keeping them open would be infinitely more time consuming and annoying. I prefer to kill the card once reward is redeemed - never have to think about it again. Ever). With these e-mail systems, the *annoyance* factor is virtually eliminated. Which makes this super crazy easy money. Didn't even have to sit on hold with the credit card company. Reminds me, AmEx even let me activiate my card online. NO SALES SPIEL. Love it!

2 Snafus today on the credit cards.

#1 - American Express Gold Premier - what a racket! First, they left the credit card at my front door. Literally. Dh said, "My you got quite the package today!" I said, "Um, aren't those our gift cards?" I thought they were our Southwest gift cards. HE looked appalled and said, "I hope not! They just left it at the front door." (They = UPS)

Even better - they left a credit card on my front door!

Plus it came with this big bound book detailing many rewards. It was gold. I told dh I suppose I was supposed to leave that laying around to show how special I was with my premier rewards card.

Then I couldn't find the credit limit, so I finally realized there is no "pre-set" limit. Which is basically a pile of BS. I googled that out of curiosity. Really? No limit. Apparently they just randomly change the limit whenever they want. It's just not *set.* (I saw lots of rants online about how aggravating that whole thing is - since there really is a limit, it's just no one knows what it is until they get denied).

Of course this is just the *you have got to be kidding me* parts of it all.

So I go online to charge my $1000 and be done. But, apparently State Farm doesn't take American Express. Small Details!!! Problem is our flood insurance used to be through State Farm, but I think it is now directly through FEMA. So I did thoroughly check that the flood insurance could be paid with AmEx, and just assumed it would be okay for the rest of our insurance.

(IT's such a bummer since we get 2% back on our primary AmEx - can't use that one either!!)

I'll have to charge the flood insurance and one month health insurance, for reward. I already prepaid one month health insurance, so shouldn't pay again until December. BUT, I want to kill this card, so more pre-payments. It's just one more thing to remember/juggle. Anyway, I have nothing else to charge, so this is what it is.

(I wonder if my health insurer wonders why I use a different credit card every single month, lately. HA! I could online imagine what my CU thinks about my endless credit card bill additions and deletions in "online bill pay," too).

#2 - I decided to pass on the PenFed $200 reward. First, you have to apply to be a PenFed CU member. Not sure if we would qualify. Plus, then we have to close the card AND end the membership when we are done. Secondly, the rewards weren't very good. Nothing we would spend otherwise (gift cards) or could sell for very much cash. For $200 cash? Sure. I'd go through with it. But for $200 in restaurant gift cards? Eh. I'll check with dh to be sure - the offer is in his name. But I am personally not feeling this one. (No huge loss - I am sure there will be more credit card offers on their way!)

----------------------------------------------------

Er, since I can't charge my home insurance for rewards, and it's not due until late December, it is now a bill I can pass off to next year. It will add about $1,000 to my bottom line.

It's cheating, but it works. I have some dream at some point to have an extra one month of expenses in cash. Since I do tend to pay last month's bills this month. More so every year as credit cards are more widely accepted. IT just is what it is. All it means is I will have some extra cash for my net worth, come 12/31/11.

---------------------------------------------------

In other news, dh was able to get 25 hours at the big Scholastic Sale this winter. (Will earn $250 in Scholastic books). I am assuming $100 for us, $50 for each teacher, and $50 for the school. Just because dh usually keeps about one day's work ($80) for Christmas shopping. Of course, last time we gave BM's teacher a $80 voucher, I think he bought a bazillion books. It's like earning $1000 in books, or more.

So, more free stuff there. Free stuff; free charity.

This is my original tally:

UPDATED TALLY:

$1030 cash Chase Sapphire (moi)
$200 cash Chase Freedom (dh)
$625 gift cards - Chase SW (dh)
$515 gift cards - Chase SW (moi)
$500 gift cards Citi (dh)
+$100 gift cards - Citi for trying to close card
$310 gift cards - Citi (moi)
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
+$69 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$41 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
-----------
$3239 TOTAL *ONE-TIME REWARDS*

+$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex - 2% cash back)
+$ 80 Target rewards (5% discount Target purchases; mostly groceries)
+$ 35 Visa Rewards (1% cash back - for places that don't take AmEx)
------------------------
=$3854 TOTAL REWARDS 2011
------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

It's not overly organized, because, well, I didn't expect so many rewards. I just kept adding more and more. So I went back and re-organized a bit to show by reward offer.

What I also wanted to see is what exactly I received in rewards, and what I did with said rewards.

So here is another break down:

CASH: $1230
AMAZON GIFT CARDS: $1225
ROTH DEPOSITS (CASH) $500
WALMART GIFT CARDS: $500
KOHLS GIFT CARDS: $250
B&N GIFT CARDS: $50
CARLS JR GC: $20
OLIVE GARDEN GC: $5

TOTAL = $3780

For simplicity, I left out ongoing Target and Visa rewards (small).

----------------------------------------------------

I was able to sell the WalMart gift cards for cash and more amazon gift cards, so I ended up with:

CASH: $1594
AMAZON GIFT CARDS: $1320
ROTH DEPOSITS (CASH) $500
KOHLS GIFT CARDS: $250
B&N GIFT CARDS: $50
CARLS JR GC: $20
OLIVE GARDEN GC: $5

TOTAL = $3739

With these rewards I was able to:

Add $500 to my ROTH
Add $1132 to payments of mortgage principal (amount is greater than one monthly mortgage payment)
Donate $250 to kids' school
Paid $212 towards Napa vacation
$700-ish towards kindles/etc. for Christmas gifts
$80 Roku (to help with dropping cable)
**Didn't have to spend cash for many household or fun purchases the last few months/made, and some long put-off purchases, with remaining Amazon gift cards

NOTE: I could have easily sold all the gift cards for cash, at a 80%-90% discount, if I would have just preferred cash.

-----------------------------------------------------

I've still got significant gift card balances to carry me through next year. $100 Kohls, $50 Barnes & Noble, at least $50 Amazon, etc.

I am working on a $250 reward at the moment. If I can sell the rewards for cash, I will probably put this reward toward the mortgage. I am $162 short of my goal for year, and this will put me to goal without touching savings or any gift (birthday/christmas) money.

I am officially approved for another $250 reward card.

Plan of action is to charge home insurance when I receive the card. Pay off card December 1. Redeem rewards. Close card.

I believe the reward was CASH!

----------------------------------------------------

This may be the 6th credit card I have applied for this year. (Though, to be fair, I closed 3 credit cards, too. So my number of open accounts is not overly high).

I have never been denied for any loan or credit I have ever applied for. Of course, being rather anti-debt, I don't apply/use much credit in the grand scheme of things.

But, 6th card in one year? I wasn't feeling overly confident about approval. Though I have said my credit card reward activity seems pretty small beans compared to some others. I am sure it is possible that nothing about my credit report would make any credit card company blink - even if I opened 10 cards or more... But it's just getting to the point for me where it sounds kind of ridiculous. & so I will keep opening these credit cards, until I get denied.

Interestingly, they have been so *one at a time* in recent months that I haven't done much to keep track of all these cards. Open, charge, payoff, reward, close. Repeat. I have been managing this all in my head. I stopped putting the cards in Quicken. It was really mucking it up. Especially when it comes to these "one charge for reward" cards. (Of course, I have all the deals in writing, etc., to dispute any problems. & Quicken and online bill pay at my CU has helped me manage. Instead of setting up every credit card entirely in Quicken, I just put the payments when I want to pay them, in my Quicken checkbook. Between that and oreceiving online bills - from both cc companies and my CU - would be impossible to forget).

$4,000, here I come!!

I am updating for redeemed SW rewards. Was about $375 more than expected. Firstly, rewards were on sale. Secondly, dh was able to get a newer/better reward honored. So, he went from $250 in rewards to $500. The sale turned $500 into $625. I still can't believe the rewards were on sale all month - I didn't really think by the time the second half came through that they would still be on sale! We officially redeemed those, yesterday.

------------------------------------------------

UPDATED TALLY:

$1230 cash (Chase Sapphire $1030 + Chase Frdm $200)
$1640 gift cards (Citi $500 + SW $515 + SW $625)
$100 gift cards - Citi for trying to close card
$310 gift cards - Citi
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
*Will they refund this one too?*
-$41 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
-----------
$3170 TOTAL *ONE-TIME REWARDS*

+$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex - 2% cash back)
+$ 80 Target rewards (5% discount Target purchases; mostly groceries)
+$ 35 Visa Rewards (1% cash back - for places that don't take AmEx)
------------------------
=$3785 TOTAL REWARDS 2011
------------------------

In addition, I expect a $69 refund from SW card and just applied for another $250 cash reward. So, $4000 Total is looking very doable. (& if you told me this in June, I wouldn't have believed you!!)

At a later date I will breakdown exactly what I received (break down all the gift cards - what they were - and how much were sold for cash, etc.).

I am still awaiting some gift cards in the mail.

No word on last offer I applied for, but it usually takes a week for them to verify my identity. I expect a call this weekend.

Chase transferred dh's extra points over extraordinarily quickly this time AND Southwest is still having a sale on rewards!!!!!! BUT, the online redemption is STILL not working. He will have to call when he wakes up.

That said, should be able to get $125 in Amazon gift cards (to keep, and for gifts). & $200 Wal-Mart gift cards that I can sell for about $180.

That said, plasticjungle.com no longer tells you how much they will give you ahead of time. I went to double check that Wal Mart was still the most valuable of the bunch. Will see...

$180 cash will pay for our Napa trip.

(Okay, so I did a little research and looks like several companies pay 90% on the dollar for WalMart gift cards - much more than average, so still looks like the best choice!).

Did you hear?

Target is now offering free shipping (no minimum purchase) to RedCard holders.

I heard about 3 ads on the radio about it on my 10 minute commute. I was like, "Since when???" I looked up when I got to work - it was just announced today. Phew. I thought I was slacking on knowing all my credit card rewards and benefits.

Interestingly, the RedCard has worked out really well for us. Target is probably one of my favorite stores for retail therapy. BUT, we have had the RedCard for one year and I have barely been in the store. We do spend about $100/month, on average, on groceries there. & cat litter, laundry detergent - that kind of stuff that they seem to have in bulk and on sale often. Groceries - we generally stock up on nuts, granola bars, generic cereals, and stuff like that.

Free online shipping??? Boy, that's trouble! I will have to resist! I do most my shopping online - free shipping is a bit of a weakness. I think shipping charges is generally what reins me in pretty well.

--------------------------------------------------

Does any techie know why *everyone* is revamping their websites in the next 1-2 weeks???? I've got notices from several credit card companies, mortgage company, etc. that site will be down for a couple of days over the weekend. (Last weekend, next weekend, some in October. MOST will be down this upcoming weekend).

THEN, PG&E sent me a similar notice, but they will have lots of new features. I am wondering if this means I can finally pay this bill by credit card! That will be the first thing I check when it comes back online.

My CU will also be doing a revamp of some sort. We have had online scanning of deposits for a while, but they just got a smart phone app worked out. That will be SWEET if we ever get smart phones. (We both want them and know we will eventually, but the cost is just ridiculous at the moment - waiting it out for more reasonable costs - as we tend to do with these things). So yeah, CU website will be down too, this weekend.

It never ends!

I figured we'd be putting all these cards to bed and closing the *crazy rewards of 2011* chapter.

I am really bad at checking mail offers because I am just in the habit of shredding them. I have tried to be more mindful, but doesn't seem like we have gotten many lately.

Until today! I got some Gold AmEx offer - spend $1000 - get $250 in rewards. No fee.

*sigh*

I have to - I can't pass it up!

This will push our year-to-date rewards over $4,000.

WOW!!!

I will apply ASAP - hope to get those rewards this before the year is up.

(Interestingly, I saw several people were offered this card in May - per MyMoneyBlog - and when they ignored all the offers they were eventually offered $750 in gift cards for charging $500. Double wow! I could try that game, but I think I rather just take the $250 and run. I have no reason to be greedy. What's one more card?).

I hope I can just charge home insurance - total bill is about $1200 for home and flood insurance. This makes it easy - if insurer takes AmEx - that is the only question.

-------------------------------------------------

Oh, and my regular AmEx card offered me $25 cash today, if I spend $500 on groceries through the end of the year. Easy Peasy! (It was basically a 5% on groceries offer, through 12/31, capped at $25 reward).

I redeemed $310 in free gift cards today. I used some other gift cards to buy a kindle cover for my mom, and a new lunch bag for BM (Amazon).

I have updated rewards tally to reflect that I was able to squeeze $310 from Citi. ($10 was unexpected!). I also added smaller rewards - Target and visa.

The only thing I have yet to redeem is some SW gift cards - should be available in about a week. Then we can resuming closing cards again. Dh has 3 cards to close - I have just one. They have all been paid off, so not much to keep track of at this point.

UPDATED TALLY:

$1230 cash (Chase Sapphire $1030 + Chase Frdm $200)
$1580 gift cards (Citi $500 + SW $515 + SW $565)
$100 gift cards-Amazon- Citi for trying to close card
$310 gift cards Citi
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
*Will they refund this one too?*
-$23 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
-----------
$3128 TOTAL *ONE-TIME REWARDS*

+$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex - 2% cash back)
+$ 80 Target rewards (5% discount Target purchases; mostly groceries)
+$ 35 Visa Rewards (1% cash back - for places that don't take AmEx)
------------------------
=$3743 TOTAL REWARDS 2011
------------------------

I generally only use one primary rewards card, but since the AmEx is not taken everywhere, really have to rely on 2 cards. Target card adds another inconvenience factor, but the rewards sure add up!! (In addition, earned $16 for the kids' school, with Target card - 1%). So, it is working out well. What I have bee doing is paying off the smaller cards the first of every month (the second the cards close for the month). This really lessens the hassle factor. Not much to think about or remember. The negative red balances (Credit card balances) in Quicken is all I really need as a visual reminder that I now regularly pay off 3 credit cards instead of just one. Of course, I just pay online through my credit union, with the rest of the bills - VERY EASY.

I personally haven't done anything special with credit card rewards this year. I just followed my usual rules of "charge anything and everything" in hopes of rewards, and jump on deals that pay off nicely for doing so. This year is unique in that there are just TONS of easy deals out there. We have never opened near this many credit cards for rewards. Maybe 7-8 in the last year. Our prior record was 3 or 4 in one year.

Anyway, there are numerous reasons I prefer to deal in credit versus cash. For reference, I have paid off the balance every month since aged 16, so I don't find anything scary about the process of utilizing a credit card. I have always managed my finances electronically, and am well aware how to avoid fees (pay off balance every month, well withing grace period). IT's from this electronic mindset that I look at cash with caution. Cash is very easily lost or stolen (& when it's gone, it is gone!). & having to track cash expenditures involves a lot of writing down. I don't have to bother with all that writing down. I can just look on the computer, download to Quicken, etc. Just to share that I have spent almost 20 years paying many bills with credit cards.

I suppose there is one other unique thing about the credit card reward bounty this year. I was able to charge an extra $11,000 or so that I usually don't. Basically, all of our insurance companies suddenly allowed us to charge everything with no fees to do so. That's like a quarter of our annual spending. So, I admit this made it MUCH easier to rack up rewards this year!

I've seen a lot of comments of surprise about the kinds of things we charge, so I wanted to mention things you can probably charge on credit, in the vein of earning rewards. (& as always, I only recommend if you are disciplined to pay off!!!). We generally earn our rewards with regular bills like insurance, gas, groceries, utilities. That is the bulk of it. There is not a lot of discretionary spending beyond that being racked up just to earn credit card rewards. THAT would defeat the purpose!

--------------------------------------------------

As of today, we are able to charge the following:

*Medical insurance and all medical/dental bills
*DMV Fees (California)
*Any city utilities (water, electric - Sacramento)
*cell phone bill
*internet/landline/cable provider
*home/auto insurance
*gym membership
*charity (generally through paypal)
*groceries
*auto fuel
*retail
*restaurants - these days even most fast food
*most services (auto mechanic, etc.)
*netflix, hulu, blockbuster, etc.

Expenses I can not charge:

*Mortgage
*Most individuals (gardener, piano teacher)
*HOA Dues
*county utilities (sewer - our particular county)
*PG&E (gas bill)
*credit card payments (other debt payments)
*payments to public school (requests for money, etc.)

These are the very few items that I write checks for (or pay online, for the most part - online bill pay).

**It is possible that PG&E takes automatic payments by credit card. I personally avoid automatic payments - I like to authorize every charge before it is made - just a personal preference. So is one reason I know I have ruled out not paying by credit in the past.**

Expenses I choose not to charge, because fees are involved:

*Property Taxes (maybe just my county)
*Income Taxes (Fed/state)
*payments to charity, when I want to skip paypal fee (the paypal fee will generally ding the charity - I usually skip charging charitable donations, on principle)

------------------------------------------------

Of course, in addition to all this, I have ample savings so I can prepay items to build up credit card rewards. This month I prepaid health insurance to reach goal faster. One could buy gift certificates for groceries, etc., to try to advance purchases. Pre-pay utilities? I think that is an idea I have seen mentioned.

Beyond these ideas, check back often. For many years the DMV charged a fee for the privelege to pay by credit, but I just check every year and one year the fee was gone. All of our insurers really made the shift to accepting credit cards this year. I still have to check with our life insurer in the spring (we pay annually on that).

In the last year or two I have been able to stop using cash entirely. Most small places that did not accept credit cards before, will now accept cash. I carry a small amount of cash for "emergency" but besides the ocassional bridge toll, I don't seem to ever need it. Heck, when we were in L.A., the parking meters took credit cards. I thought that was genius! How many times have I been stuck digging around for change for a meter? Change I never have, since I never spend cash.

Is there anything else that you can charge? That you don't see mentioned?

I was pleasantly surprised to see dh's 10,000 points from Citi. (He called to cancel card last week or so and they said they would give him 10,000 points if he stayed 1-2 months longer. I guess technically he only had to stay 1 week? I checked because the credit card month closed yesterday)

I also caught on "my moneyblog.com" that Citi card has amazon gift cards. I didn't see them before. So I had my "doh" moment since I bought some other card and sold it for Amazon at 95 cents on the dollar. Last time...

I found it. It wasn't under "retail" so I didn't see it last time. There really is an Amazon reward! So I decided just to redeem $100 Amazon for myself. If dh got the e-mail code, we can put Citi back on the *kill* list.

2 other credit cards close next week. Should get:

$250 amazon gift cards from Chase
$300 gift cards from Citi

From Citi? Maybe zappos, kohls, and some cards I can trade in for cash. I can top off my mortgage goal with nearly $200 in cash. I buy new tennis shoes every couple of years on zappos - so next ones will be FREE. & I just love shopping at Kohls!

I'll pay off the $1500 Citi balance next week, too, and then ALL Of the cards can go back to the *kill* pile. (All the rest are done with - paid and done - waiting for rewards).

I see the end! Unless Citi/Chase offers dh more rewards. I don't expect Citi to offer squat to me.

UPDATED TALLY:

$1230 cash (Chase Sapphire $1030 + Chase Frdm $200)
$1580 gift cards (Citi $500 + SW $515 + SW $565)
$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex)
$100 gift cards-Amazon- Citi for trying to close card
$300 gift cards Citi (may change some for cash)
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
*Will they refund this one too?*
-$23 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
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$3618 TOTAL
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I expect to hit $3700 because we get 1% cash back on our CU visa, at the end of every year, & I expect we will get an annual fee refund from Southwest. I read somewhere those are usually pro-rated. (I've mentioned I've never paid annual fees before so have no experience in that category. I didn't mind paying those fees for these kind of rewards. Getting them refunded is just an unexpected bonus).

We always take advantage of credit card rewards/offers, but this is some huge annual record for us. The credit card companies were very generous this year!

ETA: Received Amazon gift cards today - $300 from Southwest. So, was a very fruitful rewards day!