About Harlan

Just a dude living in Memphis, traveling, and working toward financial independence.

More articles by Harlan »

15 Cashback Shopping Portals Compared: Payments, Bonuses, & How They Work

by Harlan 27 Comments

a screenshot of a phone

Cashback Monitor is far and away the best site to check the highest payouts (be it points, miles, or cashback) for online shopping. And there are a lot of shopping portals out there.

Each has its “quirks” – from slow payouts to minimum thresholds and different ways of paying. And most of them even give you a little reward just for signing up and shopping – some as much as $10 on top of your cashback bonus.

Cash Back Shopping Portals Comparison

Always click through a shopping portal when you shop online – but which one should you use?

There are many to choose from – and of course you can earn points or miles from airline or bank portals. Here’s an overview of the 15 most popular cashback portals. And how to pick which one to click through!

15 Cash Back Shopping Portals Comparison

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5 Apps to Effortlessly Save Money and Get Discounts (Set & Forget!)

by Harlan 3 Comments

a phone with a logo and a group of icons

There are apps you can set up once – and then, if you want, never look at them again. Even better, these apps earn credits for gift cards, get you refunds, or award cashback for setting them up.

best apps to save money

I turn Drop points into Whole Foods gift cards and get free groceries – just for keeping the app installed

I’ve gotten free groceries and Amazon gift cards, deposits into my checking account, and credits on my cards – all from having these apps on my phone.

Here’s an overview. And how they save you money without any ongoing effort.

5 best apps to save money

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Like Discount Shopping? Save Big With These Sites – My 3 Faves

by Harlan 9 Comments

a group of logos on a black background

Also see: 

As someone with 3 Airbnb properties, I buy a TON of home supplies: paper products, cleaning supplies, and linens. And I love Kohl’s for bedding, towels, and pillows.

But for regular stocking up, there are a couple discount shopping sites I turn to. I also wanted a share a site I discovered that’s pure fun slash addicting if you like to shop.

discount shopping

Do you use these sites to save? I’m obssessed

Here are 3 go-to sites for discount shopping.

Brandless

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Get 50 Cents per Uber Ride Through Acorns (YMMV)

by Harlan 1 Comment

a screenshot of a phone

Saw this today and wanted to share. You can now get 50 cents back for each Uber ride after clicking through the Acorns app.

Some peeps can still get $1 back after clicking through Ibotta – although it’s no longer showing for everyone. The 50 cents deal is also targeted. So hopefully you see it in one place or another.

acorns uber

Better than nada – but targeted

It’s not a lot. But all you have to do is tap a button and get 50 cents. Plus, there are 60+ other merchants on Acorns’ “Found Money” with great payouts.

Acorns is an app that lets you start investing for as little as $5. Here’s my full review of the service.

Targeted Acorns Uber deal

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Weekend Roundup: Office Depot Double Cashback, Pay It Forward, & Cheap DNA Testing

by Harlan 1 Comment

a man wearing a hat and glasses

Hi chickadees. Here are a few things that caught my eye on this beautiful, sunny Dallas day. All are time-sensitive to this weekend.

Double cashback at Office Depot

Now this is a great deal: through April 30th, 2018, you can get double cashback in store when you link a card through Ebates.

a screenshot of a store

Good deal alert

One of the participating stores is Office Depot for 6% cashback! Read More

I Bought the Wrong Gift Card – Then Broke Even With Points & Raise

by Harlan 12 Comments

a screenshot of a computer

My little brother came to visit recently. We went to the mall because he wanted to buy a new pair of shoes – in cash. He’s one of those “sneakerheads” so his purchase was likely going to be around $100.

My little mind started wondering how to get some points out of the whole deal. Then I remembered MileagePlus X!

sell gift card raise

An app you really need to download

And because I have the Chase United Explorer card (see it here), I knew I could get a 20% mileage bonus on any gift card I purchased through the app – even if I didn’t pay with that card.

We went into a dozen stores – Nike, Finish Line, Journeys, Foot Locker, and a couple of department stores. I’m not much of a mall shopper, so my head was spinning. When he finally decided on a pair of Nikes at Finish Line, I licked my chops and bought a Nike gift card on the MPX app. But realized the second the transaction processed I was in the wrong store. Guh!

My brother paid cash and I… had a Nike gift card I couldn’t use. “It wasn’t that much,” I told myself. But then remembered… I could sell it online. Maybe that would make it OK – and at least break me even – with the points I’d earn in the mix.

I ended up selling the gift card on Raise. Here’s how it went!

My experience selling a gift card on Raise

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Earth Day 2018: Commit to Using Less Plastic!

by Harlan 4 Comments

a man sleeping on a blanket

Earth Day is TODAY – Sunday, April 22nd this year. And I have a new mantra:

“The only plastic I carry is in my wallet.”

Our earth is full of plastic in oceans, landfills, and accumulated litter. This past year, I committed to eliminating plastic from my life as much as I can by using refillable water bottles, steel straws, and cloth bags.

I’ve made so much progress that I mostly touch plastic to earn points & miles.

use less plastic

I believe we can interact peacefully with the earth and help it heal. There is too much plastic pollution

The travel and hospitality industries are incredibly wasteful. If everyone took a small step to offset plastic use, imagine how much we could save from ending up in oceans, hurting animals, or going into a landfill.

“The only plastic I carry is in my wallet.”

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A $2,100 Trip to San Francisco and Portland for 30 Cents Out-of-Pocket!

by Harlan 12 Comments

a group of coins on a table

This month’s marked with lots of travel. I just got back from a week in Japan. And tomorrow, I’m off to San Francisco and Portland!

I was tallying up my points totals and comparing what the retail costs would’ve been. This trip would’ve cost over $2,000 had I paid cash.

san francisco with points

I got 30 cents… will this be enough for 5 days in San Fran and Portland? :p

I should disclose ended up paying a little cash, in addition to my points. 30 whole cents. 😹

Here’s how I did it!

5 days on the West Coast for under a buck

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Which Chase Card Is Best When You’re Starting With Points?

by Harlan 3 Comments

a room with chairs and a door

In general, I tell most peeps to start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. It’s the quintessential points card, even after all these years. And you can transfer the points you earn directly to airline and hotel partners at a 1:1 ratio – most of them instantly.

If you spend a lot in travel & dining, or if you want lounge access, spring for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Here’s how to find the break even point with the annual fees ($95 for the Preferred and $550 for the Reserve, but you get a $300 annual travel credit).

which chase card is best

I transferred Chase points to Hyatt to stay 3 free nights at the Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta

Already have one or the other? Then get the Chase Freedom Flex℠ or Chase Freedom Unlimited®. The only difference is the bonus categories. Chase Freedom Flex℠ has 5% rotating quarterly categories. Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns 1.5 points per $1 spent – and you can combine the points with your Sapphire card points. So they’re an easy way to boost your Ultimate Rewards points balance fast. And both cards have a $0 annual fee!

If you’re looking for a small business card, get the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card or Ink Business Cash® Credit Card. The former earns points that transfer directly to travel partners and has a $95 annual fee; the latter requires you to have a premium Chase card to access travel partners, but a $0 annual fee.

If you just want to earn cashback, spring for any of the cards with a $0 annual fee (Chase Freedom Flex℠, Chase Freedom Unlimited®, or Ink Business Cash® Credit Card).

But to get awesome travel (think international Business Class flights, upscale hotels, and cheap flights to Hawaii), you want one of the annual fee cards (Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card). The annual fees are worth it for the huge travel savings you can get. It’s how I got a $2,000+ Mexican vacation for $90!

Which Chase card?

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Review: American Airlines Business Class 777-200 Dallas to Tokyo-NRT

by Harlan 17 Comments

a tray of food with chopsticks

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The day finally came to travel to Japan. I love travel days. And this one was silky smooth.

We arrived to the airport in 20 minutes flat, cleared PreCheck in I swear to gods 90 seconds, and headed to the Centurion Lounge. There was time for breakfast, a cocktail, and a free manicure. And, our departure gate was right across from the lounge.

(Perfect!)

I was relaxed and happy when boarding began. And used 54,000 American miles for this flight.

The actual cost is 60,000 American miles. But I got a 10% mileage rebate upon booking – so 6,000 miles were instantly redeposited into my account. This perk comes with most American co-branded cards (with both Citi and Barclays). It’s worth the annual fee for this alone.

american-airlines-business-class-777-200-review

Ready to fly over the Pacific (and nearly halfway around the world!) in Business Class for 54,000 American miles

Last time I flew this route in this plane was in First Class.  So I was curious to see how the new retro-fitted Business Class seats would look and feel. And off we go!

American Airlines Business Class 777-200 review

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New! Chase Hyatt Visa Offers for Spending at a Dozen Merchants

by Harlan 2 Comments

a screenshot of a website

Just got this email from Chase. Peeps with a Chase Hyatt Visa can now sign up for an official offer page and activate offers – very similar to Amex Offers. The only difference is there’s a dedicated page for it – you can’t activate the deals from your Chase accounts page.

a screenshot of a website

Visa Offers with the Chase Hyatt card are live

I have 13 offers on my card after signing up for access, to places like Lowe’s, Boxed, Hulu, and StubHub. Here’s how to find it!

Chase Hyatt Visa Offers

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Review: JAL Business Class Sky Suite 787-8 NRT-DFW

by Harlan 21 Comments

a box with food in it next to a bottle of wine

Also see: 

Last week, before my flight from Tokyo to Dallas, I checked if seats were open on JAL. I originally booked my way home with 50,000 Alaska miles for an American Airlines Business Class ticket. But I was totally willing to pay 10,000 more miles to fly back on JAL. Especially when the cash rate was $7,300+!

JAL Business Class Sky Suite

JAL Business Class cabin

Seats were available! I called Alaska Airlines to make the switch. A few minutes and 10,000 miles later, I was booked into a JAL Sky Suite seat back home to Dallas.

I’d always wanted to fly a Japanese airline. Both times I’ve flown were with American. So I did a happy dance I was able to score this seat.

Even better, the new flight time was within 5 minutes of my old one. So I didn’t have to change any plans, other than fly home in a better seat on a new (to me) airline!

JAL Business Class Sky Suite review

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