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Manufactured Spend Magic: Goodbye 5backs?
15 Sep. 2017
Manufactured Spend Magic: Goodbye 5backs?
The End? Just like the saying states, “All good things come to an end”.  The Simon mall 5backs are on their way out.  Today the load limits change on Simon’s 5% back Visa debit (gift) cards.  Earlier this week Simon corporate sent out a memo: The reason for the load change to the 5backs?  Retailers were
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Rogue Manufactured Spending
17 Jul. 2017
Rogue Manufactured Spending
There is a rogue manufactured spender in my area.  He’s originally from Eastern Europe (for this piece I’ll refer to him as “Spazi”) and craps on every place and deal that he touches.  That may sound a little harsh to you, but every word of it’s true. Bad for Business Since he’s a full time MSer,
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Best Rewards Credit Cards For Beginners
25 Jun. 2017
Best Rewards Credit Cards For Beginners
In the Beginning If you are just starting to collect frequent flyer miles, hotel points and other loyalty based travel currencies, you should have at least one rewards credit card.  Ideally you should have enough rewards credit cards to maximize every purchase in a variety of shopping categories, but having just one card is good
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Earn 5x on Airlines, Accommodation, and Transport with No Annual Fee Credit Cards
23 Jun. 2017
Earn 5x on Airlines, Accommodation, and Transport with No Annual Fee Credit Cards
5x Points The Platinum Card from American Express is a nice travel rewards card.  It offers lots of solid benefits like: $200 Annual Airline Fee Credit $200 Annual Uber Credit Free Hotel Status Airport Lounge Access Global Entry Or TSA Pre-Check Credit Free Rental Car Status Fine Hotels & Resorts 5x points Hotels (5x only
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10 Reasons Why Manufactured Spending is Not for Most People
15 Jun. 2017
10 Reasons Why Manufactured Spending is Not for Most People
Rose Colored Glasses I just finished speaking on a (Manufactured Spending) panel at FTU in Minneapolis this past weekend.  The room was filled with a variety of people, some who have never done any manufactured spending to those doing comfortably over six figures worth each month.  In general it seemed like most of the audience
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Scamming the system? The moral case for travel hacking…
7 Jun. 2017
Scamming the system? The moral case for travel hacking…
The Power of Points When people ask me how I travel so much for so little money, I usually just keep it simple with a one word answer: “Points”.  That answer is usually followed by a brief explanation of the concept of travel hacking and how I benefit from it.  On more than one occasion,
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Last Year I Earned 2,332,753 Miles and Points !!
7 Jun. 2017
Last Year I Earned 2,332,753 Miles and Points !!
Earning Rates You’ve probably heard the story before.  If Bill Gates dropped a $100 bill on the ground while walking it wouldn’t be worth his time to pick it up.  Depending on the year and value of his portfolio and other assets, calculations peg Mr. Gates as earning between $100 to $400 per second.  Yes per
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Too Many Points with Too Many Programs?
1 Jun. 2017
Too Many Points with Too Many Programs?
Balanced? I comfortably earn over a million frequent flyer miles, hotel points, and other travel related award points each year.  I do so in a variety of ways and always have the goal of attaining those points with no out of pocket costs, or as close to zero as possible.  In case you’re wondering how
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