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A Points Blog You Should Be Reading
18 Jun. 2022
A Points Blog You Should Be Reading
David vs. Goliath The covid pandemic was tough on small business.  The path the government chose crushed so many small businesses and favored big business like Home Depot, Amazon, Walmart, and others.  During, and even before the pandemic, it seems like the points and miles loyalty game tracked down a similar path – with smaller,
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Moving, Manufactured Spend, and The Police?
18 Jun. 2022
Moving, Manufactured Spend, and The Police?
Movin-On Out I recently left Minnesota and moved out of state.  There were several factors involved in the move including better weather, the ability to work remotely, and the left-wing violence that engulfed the Twin Cities metro, which I wrote about previously.  Minnesota is a nice state, and I do love miss a lot of
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Walmart Western Union Money Order Changes
4 Jan. 2022
Walmart Western Union Money Order Changes
In With The New Out With The Old? Manufactured spend (MS) that involves Walmart money orders has definitely gone out of fashion for most people looking to accrue points en masse with limited cost (and risk).  A combination of a lower number of pin based gift card debits that actually work at Walmart for MS,
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Amex Revival
11 Dec. 2021
Amex Revival
Alive….Again A few months ago, and shortly after after trying to make a gas purchase with one of my American Express cards, I found out my accounts were closed.  Myself, along with hundreds of others (possibly more), had their credit cards shutdown.  I wrote about the issue before and won’t rehash it all here, but
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Amex Shutdown
6 Oct. 2021
Amex Shutdown
Say It Ain’t So Some shutdowns are not a complete surprise.  If you’ve read this blog before, you likely know that I’ve had a fairly lengthy rap sheet of big bank shutdowns associated with loyalty rewards earning credit cards.  Shutdowns are not a source of pride believe me; they are a touch of embarrassment combined
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Unblogging ?
19 Sep. 2021
Unblogging ?
Gut Check I haven’t blogged for awhile.  As odd as it may sound, part of the reason has been the political situation in the country and my city, which hasn’t sat well with me.  To be frank, it’s got me down and taken away some of the blogging steam I had before.  Blogging also takes
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New Credit Cards
25 Sep. 2020
New Credit Cards
Plastics It’s been awhile since I last applied for new credit cards.  In August 2019, I applied, and was approved for, 7 new credit cards.  Seeing the approvals and points hypothetically roll-in was great, but applying for that many cards led to issues, and I was actually shutdown by one of my major banks (who
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MoneyGram Banned….Again!
24 Jul. 2020
MoneyGram Banned….Again!
Back Scratch Fever You provide a service.  I use that service.  I pay you fees for your service.  You complete the service.  The cycle continues.  That seems like a logical and free market sort of thing to do.  MoneyGram has decided otherwise and is playing with a different set of guidelines.  Their rules go something
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