I’m a big fan of living below your means and the reduced stress and peace that come with it. I’m also a big fan of saving money and making the most of what we’ve been blessed with.
How to save at Target — If my family misses a week at Target they send us get well cards. You can get their “Red Card” credit card and save 5% on everything in the store and online. You also get free shipping, which makes it handy for sending gifts. And you can have 1% go to a school of your choice. And if you use eBates you can get an extra 3% off online — so that is 8% off online purchases plus free shipping.
How to save on Amazon — Get the Amazon VISA and you get 3% off Amazon purchases and 1% on everything else you use it for (the credits are applied to your Amazon account so they are nearly as good as cash). Also be sure to use the “Subscribe and save” feature where you can. You get 15% off on things you buy regularly, such as batteries, and they deliver them every X months. You get to pick the delivery schedule, it is easy to skip shipments if you don’t need them and easy to cancel. We use Amazon a lot so the Prime membership (free two-day shipping on almost everything) is a great value.
Bing travel - I have found that their price indicators (guidance on whether prices are likely to increase or decrease) have been accurate.
Credit cards: Have the full balance paid from your checking account if you can (Chase and Target do, for example). That way you are never late and you don’t have to spend money on checks and stamps.
Note: Captain Obvious says that the suggestions on credit cards only work if you don’t buy anything you weren’t going to buy already.
I like the idea, but that would take some real discipline on my part to make sure they cards get paid off every month!
I use Amazon a lot, too. I use Amazon Prime, but I didn’t realize that 3% was an on-going thing, I guess I will have to get one of those cards.
I do pay off credit cards every month, except that one that offered me 1% interest on balance transfers. I transfered my other cards to that and have not used it since. I just pay the minimum every month. Since I have both a house mortgage and a farm mortgage I figure that 1% is a good deal. I have to give the credit card company it’s due though, they have stuck by their agreement and only charge 1%. They don’t send me those offers anymore though.
Great deal on the 1%!
“How to save on Amazon — Get the Amazon VISA and you get 3% off Amazon purchases and 1% on everything else you use it for (the credits are applied to your Amazon account so they are nearly as good as cash).”
I don’t like to split hairs, but—no, who am I kidding? I split hairs.
Whenever you’ve accumulated 5000 points (from 3% of Amazon purchases etc.), you can have them mail you a check (I think they call it a “cash check”) for $50. So it actually is as good as cash. Given that that’s an option, you’re actually losing money, relatively speaking, if you take them up on the alternative offer you mentioned, using the points to buy things on Amazon—because you’re paying for the purchase either way, but if you pay by putting it on your credit card, you earn (well, “earn”) another 3% on the purchase, whereas if you pay with points, you don’t.
At least that’s how mine works.
Good point — I should ask for a regular check instead!