I had to close a number of CC recently due to fraudulent charges. I still haven't been able to pinpoint the source of the data leak and luckily, they were caught the moment they occurred. But this is worrisome enough that I went and close off some of the unused CC lying around. This also meant that my plan to transfer my balance to the Slate card was scrapped.

On the technology front, I finally decided to be one of those late adopter and got myself a tablet. My dad has been nagging at me for months to upgrade my laptop, so he could give my old one to a poor relative, and I finally had enough and gave in. One of the reasons that prevented me from getting a tablet before was the productivity factor. But with a robust app market, why I don't go with Amazon or Microsoft, a tablet is a lot more convenient than a laptop. The only down side so far is the software that I used to keep track of my income/expense. In the app market, it didn't have the features I wanted.

Edit: I need to write more often. My english is deteriorating at an alarming rate.

First Milestone



Solidly in the six digits

First Fraudulent Charge

When I applied for cash back CCs a few months ago, one arrived with flimsy packaging that has a large tear. I thought it was just the USPS mishandling it, but kept a lookout just the same and there it was. You may want to keep an eye out for charges from Spotify, especially if you don't use their service.

Discover email about cashing out reward at any amount came at a most opportune time. It reminded me that most CCs have some sort of program with Amazon that allows for purchases with reward points. So in preparation for closing down several cards, that had a few points here and there, I linked them all to Amazon and bought gift cards for the same amount as the rewards. Managed to clear out $16.54 that I would have lost had I closed them as planned.

Citi sucked as usual with an exchange rate of 125 pts for $1.00. So instead of converting an existing card to the double cash back card, I've decided to wait for a sign up bonus to apply. In the mean time, I planned to make use of the quicksilver 0% APR until August 2015. This would actually be a better deal than paying up front and getting 2%.

My third card also came in, no credit score though. The card itself certainly felt more luxurious than the other two, however, it came in a flimsy envelope with the card numbers printed on the front page, right above the delivery address. Any one could simply tilt the envelope and look though the address window to see it. My envelope was torn...I wonder if any post office employee thought there might be stacks of bills in there.

Two of the cards I applied for came in recently along with my credit scores. They used different type of scores but to see a difference of 86 points as well as a drop from the top to the third group was quite shocking. Especially as they came from the same source.

The card with the lower score offered free credit tracking so I decided to take advantage of it. It pulled data from another source and showed a higher number, right in between the 2 I received and still in the excellent zone.

I'm interested in what score the third card will show.

Tring to make use of credit card sign on bonuses to help out with the dental bill, but it’s slim picking out there. Hopefully more deals would show up closer to Black Friday. For now though, I’m limited to Discover, possibly converting a Citi card to Citi Double Cash, and maybe two bank bonuses. I’m not particularly thrill about the Citi card given their reward reduction in recent years, annoying separation between card and reward accounts, and worst no one has reported receiving the second percent on the Double Cash. Maybe I should just close all my Citi cards as initially planned and go for the Quick Silver. Decision, decision…

Reward is calculated per transaction upon posting. Reward redemption is a general credit to the statement and doesn't reduce future reward earning. Amazon is considered a bookstore and super Walmart a grocery store. Yup, this one is definitely a keeper.

Started my new year by getting my free annual credit reports and applying for the Sallie Mae Reward Card. The bonus is nothing to speak off and the APR is extremely high, but 5% cash back for groceries, gas and book is pretty nice to have. Also found out I made it in the nick of time for the last bit of Discover 5% cash back for online shopping. Sweet! I buy frozen food and household supplies at Costco, so getting this 5% on top of the 2% executive cash back is a pretty good deal.

Speaking of which, I've decided to switch to mostly frozen veggie. Even though I don't buy organic, my veggie still turn out to be non-mutants or maybe just really old mutants. They get spoiled so fast. I keep buying them, thinking I'll eat them, but when it's cold like this, they don't look very appetizing. So after sitting in the fridge for a few weeks, they go in the trash. I read that vegetables frozen at the peak of ripeness retain more nutrients than old non-frozen ones. Here's hoping that's true, because they're incredibly convenient.

This is why the veggie were forgotten.





Also started on some light couponing.

1 - Redeemed $20 cash back from Discover for a $25 Staple gift card.
2 - Bought 4 reams of paper
3 - Received $2.29 back in reward, a rebate check for $23.96 and left with $0.89 on the gift card.
4 - Felt a little bad for taking advantage of this when news broke that Staple is closing some stores.