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DiMAn0684

Here's a nice card that has no AF and good perks:
https://www.penfed.org/credit-cards/pat ... an-express

One downside is that it is AMEX, which is not as widely accepted as Visa / MC.

DiMAn0684

I initially opened PNC account to get the $300 sign up bonus, but decided to keep it around after seeing that the savings rate was competitive. My account currently earns 2.4%, extra 0.05% come from meeting a requirement of making 6 debit card transactions each month, which have been automated throu...

DiMAn0684

New (to me) car. My 2000 Accord is started having issues, and driving it began to stress me out. Replaced with '16.5 Mazda CX-5, enjoying the new ride.

DiMAn0684

VZ FIOS 100 / 100 - $40/mo
2 T-mobile lines (via Teltik) - $47/mo
Amazon Prime - $5/mo
OTA Antenna - Free basic channels
Netflix - Free (Thx T-Mobile)

DiMAn0684

I am with AC, it's really up to the dealer to figure out how to re-pay you.

DiMAn0684

I would not use Chase Ultimate Reward Points at 1 cent per point. That is just not a good deal. For example, I recently used Chase UR points by transfer to Hyatt at a CB value of over 10% for a trip DW and I are taking next week (30,000 points generated by charging $10,000 to CSR card fully paid fo...

DiMAn0684

I am planning to buy Iphone 8 as a gift to myself. (My iphone 6 is breaking down unfortunately) I am wondering if there is any benefit to buying an iphone directly through chase ultimate rewards? I have around 60000 points worth $600. I can either directly buy from apple through chase (where 100 po...

DiMAn0684

I have recently purchased a 2016.5 Mazda CX-5 with 30k miles that came off a 2 yr commercial lease (it was non-CPO because of the way I got it, but it still had 12 month / 6k miles of the original warranty left). Based on the window sticker I found in the glove box and the research I've done looking...

DiMAn0684

I have done a 7 day safari in Kenya with two more friends in 2015 and this was perhaps the most epic trip of my life so far. With that said, the prices people throwing around seem ridiculous to me. A colleague of mine did a two week trip to South Africa with a small group of friends this summer, and...

DiMAn0684

Why not open a card that gives you $500-$600 instead of one for $100? You could get your tires for almost free that way. That's pretty much it. I buy all my tires from DTD during the sales, and every time I see the extra rebates I wonder if I should get the card, but then I think of the math involv...

DiMAn0684

Why not open a card that gives you $500-$600 instead of one for $100? You could get your tires for almost free that way. That's pretty much it. I buy all my tires from DTD during the sales, and every time I see the extra rebates I wonder if I should get the card, but then I think of the math involv...

DiMAn0684

Leasing is usually wasting money for the leasee but you can certainly afford the convenience cost of having a leased auto. It's not the most efficient way of having a car, but I'd not call it a waste. Financially, buying that Civic and driving it for a few more years would probably make the most se...

DiMAn0684

ClaycordJCA wrote: ↑
Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:16 pm
Don’t the lease terms require dealer servicing of the vehicle? If so, independent mechanic for service is not an option.

Don't think so, looked at a bunch of 2-3 yr old lease returns when I was car shopping, and most didn't show dealer maintenance on CarFax reports.

DiMAn0684

I am not a fan of that approach, and try to cancel all but one booking I have before my trip starts, but I know people that come to the rental places with multiple bookings and pick one with shortest line. I've also heard of people arriving to pick up their cars and being told that the company was o...

DiMAn0684

Car forums maybe? Unlike Toyota and Honda, Mazda does not sell too many cars and the forums are smaller with less on used car pricing. Thanks. I have recently purchased a 2016.5 CX-5 and forums / reddit were pretty helpful with figuring out prices people pay for similar vehicles. Perhaps the best t...

DiMAn0684

Car forums maybe?

DiMAn0684

I'd drive a Volvo rather then spend $400+ on rental. With that said, I did rent a car for weekend trip a few weeks ago. I had less than reliable personal vehicle then, and found lots of rentals available Fri-Sun for under a $100. Ended up booking a compact, and getting upgraded to Nissan Rogue, for ...

DiMAn0684

Found an old thread on the same subject:

viewtopic.php?t=224010

DiMAn0684

I also live in an area where alignment is almost mandatory if you want to have even wear on your tires. However, I found a few problems with prepaid alignment arrangement or any other prepaid contracts: (1). The company may close shops and you lose all the unused prepayment. In fact, we just had a ...

DiMAn0684

Not often, mostly because I didn't feel like paying $100 for an alignment every time...with a plan I'd do it once a year.

DiMAn0684

I have recently purchased a new to me 2016 Mazda CX-5, which I intend to keep for a while. Living in MA, there're plenty of potholes here every spring and I've been thinking if it was worth getting a lifetime alignment plan. I did previously get a 1 yr plan for my old vehicle at NTB and second align...

DiMAn0684

What I'm thinking is maybe apply for the CSP and use that for the first year, then *maybe* product change it into a CSR the second year. Reasons: First year annual fee is waived on the CSP ($0 vs. $450), the sign-up bonus is the same (50K UR) and as I mentioned earlier, my "Player 2" already has a ...

DiMAn0684

What I'm thinking is maybe apply for the CSP and use that for the first year, then *maybe* product change it into a CSR the second year. Reasons: First year annual fee is waived on the CSP ($0 vs. $450), the sign-up bonus is the same (50K UR) and as I mentioned earlier, my "Player 2" already has a ...

DiMAn0684

I'm waffling on which card I should get next. Overall goal is to build up airline points for future travel. Future destinations include Asia and Europe; can't be more specific at this time. At present I have a Chase Southwest RR VISA acquired last year as part of their California resident Companion...

DiMAn0684

I am thinking of canceling my Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) card, because I have two other cards that perform CSP's functions: - Chase Ink Preferred has 3x on travel expenses - Chase Ink Cash has 2x on restaurants Chase Ink Preferred allows me to: - book on the Chase portal at 1.25 redemption rate...

DiMAn0684

I brand new corolla is like $18K so not sure paying $14K for a used one with 45K miles makes sense. We bought a certified pre-owned Mazda CX-9 with 36K miles on it for $16K and new they are $40K, so we paid less than half of new for having 36K miles on it..... Curious how old that CX-9 was. 2013 36...

DiMAn0684

Thegame14 wrote: ↑
Wed Sep 05, 2018 11:34 am
I brand new corolla is like $18K so not sure paying $14K for a used one with 45K miles makes sense. We bought a certified pre-owned Mazda CX-9 with 36K miles on it for $16K and new they are $40K, so we paid less than half of new for having 36K miles on it.....

Curious how old that CX-9 was.

DiMAn0684

This is a bit OT, but I am also in the market for a used car roughly the same age, and the price seems a bit steep. I know it's a Toyota and the demand is high, but if a new one can be purchased for ~$4k more, wouldn't it make sense to go for that instead?

DiMAn0684

There's an occasional short term CD deal with better rates, seen 2.75-3% for 13 month this year, but outside of that ~2% savings account is just fine.

DiMAn0684

I have not done the analysis myself, but I often hear that Prius is still more expensive than a non-hybrid econobox due to higher initial cost and more complex drivetrain that needs to be maintained.

DiMAn0684

Hello, My brother had graduated college a couple years ago and has been working in the Boston area since then. A family friend recently mentioned that my brother could qualify to buy an income restricted apartment and shared some links to actual listings. I can tell that the prices are noticeable be...

DiMAn0684

Want to see what you guys think: Currently have the following cards: CSP, CFU, USAA (2.5%), Amex BCP. I want to simplify down to two cards. Would you stick with CSP/CFU or go with USAA/Amex? We typically buy flights on Southwest as we fly on AA for free (family member is corporate exec). Really jus...

DiMAn0684

I wouldn't do this, too long of a term for 3% today. I occasionally see 2.5-2.75% for 12-18 mos, would rather go for that.

DiMAn0684

Want to see what you guys think: Currently have the following cards: CSP, CFU, USAA (2.5%), Amex BCP. I want to simplify down to two cards. Would you stick with CSP/CFU or go with USAA/Amex? We typically buy flights on Southwest as we fly on AA for free (family member is corporate exec). Really jus...

DiMAn0684

I have had a little over 100K marriot points for several years now and find it very difficult to use them. Most hotels we would want to stay in are category 8 or 9 requiring 40K to 45K points per night. So we can get only two nights. What's wrong with getting two 'free' nights at, what appears to b...

DiMAn0684

$40/mo for Verizon FIOS (100Mb /100Mb) $47/mo for two lines on a (larger) T-Mo business plan. I also help my other fam members save money on their cell phones, and generally end up going with discounted RedPocket 1 yr plans vis Ebay. One person is on a plan with 5 GB of data monthly (paid ~$205 for ...

DiMAn0684

Question-2 : Should I convert CSP into Freedom Unlimited? - Most bloggers recommend it, but I am wondering why should not I apply for FU later and get another bonus? Conversion is recommended to get 1.5x UR on all non-bonus purchases, while not burning 5/24 slots. Outside of the recent 3x URs on ev...

DiMAn0684

I am hitting the Citi AA credit cards pretty hard. Wife and have each opened four in the past 5 months - 2 personal and 2 business each. We will have about 500,000 miles combined. Citi seems to be the last issuer that allows the old style churning, but you have to use the 9 digit mailers in order t...

DiMAn0684

Just a thought: if the expenses you will put on the CSR are Travel/Dining, and you plan to redeem the points on travel, you effectively have a 4.5% return. This would outweigh the 3% balance transfer fee. If you are savvy/flexible enough, you might be able to transfer the points to an airline partn...

DiMAn0684

I contacted MA DOR and they responded with this:

https://www.mass.gov/service-details/fr ... ty-sellers

DiMAn0684

OK, I think I found the answer. From the IRS website: https://www.irs.gov/payments/general-faqs-on-new-payment-card-reporting-requirements I received Form 1099-K. How do I report it on my tax return? Separate reporting of these transactions is not required. However, you should follow the return ins...

DiMAn0684

student wrote: ↑
Wed Oct 25, 2017 9:51 pm
A new card for those who use Uber.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/uber-cre ... nnual-fee/

It does not have much to do with Uber outside of branding. Redemption options are at the same rate for Uber as for other things.

DiMAn0684

^^^
BA, Hyatt, IHG and Ritz are not under 5/24.

DiMAn0684

Jack FFR1846 wrote: ↑
Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:31 pm
Amazon cards because it seems that I'm always getting a pop up to save $40 by applying for yet another amazon card (5).

$40 savings for opening CC accounts is too low even if you're not collecting travel rewards points. Plenty of cards that could have gotten you $500+ per card are available.

DiMAn0684

There's a workaround for that particular card that allows to get it even if you have more than 5 open cards in the last two years. The workaround requires going into a branch and asking business banker (not all branches have them) to submit a paper application on your behalf. The paper app also has ...

DiMAn0684

New tire price seems reasonable. Regarding pan / work you should do some research and make a more informed decision. For parts, check RockAuto.com and for labor you can call the local dealer and see how many hours they charge for to do the pan replacement. I believe they follow manufacturer's time a...

DiMAn0684

VictoriaF, Air Serbia is a partner with Etihad, and you can get one way flights from BEG to JFK for around 45k Etihad pts. Etihad is transfer partner with Citi and AMEX and sometimes have extra 20/25% pt transfer promos. If you play it right, you should be able to get that one way for 35-37k ThankYo...

DiMAn0684

Really depends on how much effort you want to put in this. 2% cash back is decent, but if you play bank points game right (Citi TY, Chase UR, AMEX MR) you can come out way ahead of 2% return and still retain pretty good flexibility with your rewards. Comparing UA, AA, Delta cards vs 2% card for all ...

DiMAn0684

Define `expensive car`.

DiMAn0684

Really depends on the car you're looking to buy. I was recently looking into Subaru Crosstrek and had a gentlemen who has access to car auction data do some research with me. The average price for 2014 Premium trim models with 30-40k miles on them was $16,500 (that's before dealer and auction fees) ...

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