Harlan Vaughn

About Harlan

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

Need a Drink? Get a Free Cocktail Every Day for $10 a Month (in AZ, CA, FL, NJ, NY, TX, HKG)

November 23, 2017 by Harlan 1 Comment

How I did not discover by now is beyond me. If you need a nice stiff drink this holiday season, here’s an extremely good deal.

With the Hooch app, you get 1 drink per day (in select cities) for ~$10 a month. The list of bars is pretty solid – and more importantly, the drinks are good!

I am loving Hooch so far. A drink a day for $10 a month!

And if you use my link to sign-up, your first month is only $1! Plus, they have a great deal on gift memberships until November 26th, 2017 (Sunday)!

I tried the app myself. Here’s what I think so far.

Out and Out’s Hooch app review

New Credit Card Checklist: What to Do When You Receive Your New Card

November 14, 2017 by Harlan 1 Comment

Getting a new credit card is a big step for lots of peeps. It’s a new account, new financial history, and something else to track.

Did you know your new credit card came with a checklist? It does. Sorry

Some of you might be like “Ugh,” but I’m like “Yay!” Even though I have 33 credit cards right now (yep!).

Here are the steps I take with each new card. And you should, too. It’ll help maximize your benefits, earn more rewards, and keep track of what’s what!

So ya got a new card, eh?

Acorns: A Simple Way for Beginners to Invest (And You Should!)

November 14, 2017 by Harlan 14 Comments

Lately, I’m concerned with helping my 24-year-old brother develop healthy financial habits. I didn’t take control of my financial life until I was nearly 30. And god I wish I could get back those early years. Why?

Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe.

The earlier you start, the longer your money grows. It’s a simple concept. But so many peeps put off investing.

It’s perceived as complicated, overwhelming, and something to fear. The financial industry made sure you feel that way so you’ll overpay some bozo to manage your finances. Don’t get tricked. Get smart – and fast. Your financial future is an out-of-control emergency you can’t afford to sleep on.

It doesn’t matter where you start. Just as long as you do start.

Am I crazy about Acorns? No. But it’s a great place to begin

Acorns is a micro-investing app that will fit the bill nicely. Here’s my review.

Why Acorns?

My Free Anniversary Night in Downtown Austin – Thanks to the Chase Hyatt Card!

November 7, 2017 by Harlan 4 Comments

Say what you will about Chase, but their hotel cards that come with a free anniversary night are worth every penny.

I wrote how I got $500 in value from the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card earlier this year. And I’ve used my World of Hyatt Credit Card free night certificate at the Hyatt Centric in New Orleans and the Hyatt at the Bellevue in Philadelphia. I also wrote about 5 worthwhile Category 4 hotels where you can get a lot of bang for your Hyatt free night cert.

A view of Texas hill country – paid for with my Hyatt free night certificate

And this past weekend, I got a stay worth ~$284 at the Hyatt Place Austin Downtown (full review soon!) in exchange for my $75 annual fee.

With values like this, a card with a valuable free night each cardmember year is a no-brainer to keep year after year. Especially when you can get outsized value in popular areas like downtown Austin.

A cute lil weekend trip

How (and Why!) to Use Mint.com to Track Your Credit Card Spending

November 7, 2017 by Harlan 4 Comments

With over 30 credit cards in my ~~sock drawer~~ wallet now, I have a lot to keep track of. Especially minimum spending requirements and limited-time promotions. I’ve long advocated everyone use Mint.com to track transactions on all their accounts.

Especially because you can see your transactions at a glance – that’s helpful to monitor any unwanted activity if you have several accounts.

Mint.com is the (free!) ace in your hole

But there’s another extremely helpful use: you can track your spending on a particular account based on date or timeframe. Which helps you know how close you are to meeting a spending threshold. Here’s how.

Mint.com – an easy way to track your spending

Who’s Going to FinCon This Week? Say Hello!

October 24, 2017 by Harlan 4 Comments

Well, the day is finally here – tomorrow begins FinCon 2017 in Dallas! I got early bird tickets back in February and it seemed the day would never arrive. I’ve been looking forward to attending my first FinCon expo for a while!

Finally, FinCon 2017 is here!

I know a lot of fellow bloggers and readers will be there – so if you see me around, say hey! Read More

Costco Members: 2 Dozen Kirkland Golf Balls for ~$35! (Limit 2)

October 17, 2017 by Harlan 2 Comments

Quick!

If you’ve been on the hunt for the Kirkland Signature 4-piece Urethane Cover Golf Ball, here’s your chance because they’re back in stock!

Kirkland Signature Golf Balls are a hot item in the resell community

They’re ~$30 for 2 dozen, shipping is ~$5, some states have taxes – and the limit is 2 per membership. If you’ve been looking for these either to resell or just have as gifts or to use, go go go!

The elusive Kirkland Signature Golf Balls are back

I Had to Use (My Chase Visa’s) Primary Rental Car Insurance – and Saved $692!

October 16, 2017 by Harlan 13 Comments

It finally happened – I had to file a claim to use my card’s collision damage waiver benefit. I knew the day would arrive sooner or later.

After I hiked down from Granite Park Chalet, I found my rental car had a little *DING* on the front passenger side door. The parking lot was packed, and it was obvious someone parked too close and opened their door too hard into my rental car. It was nearly imperceptible to the point where I thought about not saying anything about it.

See that little dent? Yeah, I nearly didn’t either… *grumble*

But, I was responsible and filed a proper report when I returned the car. I wasn’t expecting to ever hear anything about it again. Until one day, I got a random call saying they filed a claim against me. In a near-panic, I filed my own claim online through Chase in just a few minutes.

THANK GODS I waived the CDW and put the charge on my Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Taking those small steps saved me nearly $700 – for a little ding on a car door.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Primary Rental Car Insurance

Last Day: Get 5,000 Drop Points ($5) for Out and Out Readers!

September 30, 2017 by Harlan Leave A Comment

a white cell phone with a screen showing a cash rewards program

Special Drop Offer for Out and Out Readers: 5,000 Point Sign-Up Bonus!

Link: Download Drop for iOS
Link: Download Drop for Android

Just a quick reminder. Spencer from Straight to the Points set up a special promotion code for Out and Out readers for downloading the Drop app.

Get early access to Drop!

You get:

Early access to the app
Higher earning rates if you sign-up today
5,000 Drop points with promotion code “outandout” – worth a $5 gift certificate at tons of merchants

There’s also an ongoing offer to earn extra points with Plastiq. If you haven’t already, take a minute this Saturday and get $5 free for downloading!

After you link your banks, the points add up automatically. The only reason you’d want to interact with the app is to activate special offers and redeem your points.

There’s currently a waitlist for the public – but the promotion code above also gets you early access. It’s a pretty cool deal, so definitely take advantage if you haven’t already!

Boom

You can also search “earn with Drop” or “Drop loyalty” in your device’s app store to find the app. Follow the prompts and under the “Account” section under Settings, there’s a box that says, “Have a code?” Click it and enter “outandout” to activate your bonus. 👍🏻

Oh and if you can’t find the Plastiq offer listed under “Ongoing Offers” shoot Drop a quick email (inside the app) and ask them to add it for you. Other readers have had success that way.

Thank you for reading – hope you all have a good weekend! 😺

Is the Chase British Airways Card Worth It for 50,000 Points? Maybe.

September 28, 2017 by Harlan 1 Comment

a group of bicycles parked on a brick road

Update: This offer is NO longer available. To see the latest credit card deals, click here.

The tiered sign-up bonus for the Chase British Airways card ends on October 5th, 2017 – in one week! Until then, you can earn:

50,000 British Airways Avios points after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening
An additional 25,000 British Airways Avios points after you spend $10,000 total on purchases within your first year from account opening
A further 25,000 British Airways Avios points after you spend $20,000 total on purchases within your first year from account opening for a total of 100,000 bonus Avios

Committing to spend $20,000 on a single card is a lot to ask. And it’s certainly not for most peeps.

Fly to Amsterdam with British Airways Avios points and ride a bike

But it can be worth it to see this as a 50,000 point sign-up offer to spend $3,000 within the first 3 months – that’s much more reasonable. And forget about the other tiers.

50,000 points for that amount of spending it a respectable sign-up bonus. Especially because this card is NOT subject to the Chase 5/24 rule.

And a thank you to Ben for helping to unravel the numbers of this deal even more!

Pick up 50,000 British Airways Avios points

House Hacking Through… Airbnb? My 1st Month Numbers!

September 26, 2017 by Harlan 5 Comments

Also see:

I’ve written extensively about my adventures hosting on Airbnb. I’ve always leased apartments, then listed them on Airbnb. That formula worked in New York and continues to work in Dallas.

The Airbnb service is intended to rent space in your primary residence. I’d never done that because I didn’t want strangers in my actual home. But last month, I took a weekend and converted my spare bedroom and bathroom into a private guest room and listed it on Airbnb.

My guest bedroom

And so far… wow! The response is incredible. Guests are loving it. And something that surprised me… so am I!

A nice benefit is I’m earning more than if I had a roommate. And I’m even thinking it could get to the point where it could cover my entire mortgage payment – I could live in my own place for basically nothing!

Airbnb house hacking… for real?

Should You Dump Your Car If You Have Premium Card Travel Credits?

September 25, 2017 by Harlan 3 Comments

It occurred to me I only drive for a handful of reasons:

To go to the gym
To drop the dog off before I travel
Costco runs every ~6 weeks
To visit nearby places, like Fort Worth

Most of the time I walk or use Uber/Lyft. Because if I intend to drink, I don’t want to deal with parking (and possibly having to pay for it) or of course driving back unsafely. And I live so close to many of the places I frequent that I can walk.

I realized, surprisingly, there are lots of peeps in Dallas who don’t have cars. And I I was shocked by how extremely walkable certain parts of the city really are.

Lookit all my Lyft credits

I’ve also been using the $325 travel credit from my US Bank Altitude Reserve card for Lyft rides lately (I prefer Lyft for many reasons). Then it hit me that I could subsidize $825 in Uber and Lyft rides thanks to travel credits of 3 of my premium cards. It got me thinking – are those credits enough to consider getting rid of my car?