Category Archives for Finance.
Out and Out reader Claudia let me know all the of the items included in last week’s awesome Kohl’s appliance deal are now on sale for $14.99 (at the time, they were all $16.99).
So if you’re crazy like I was/am, and bought 40 items in total, making a quick 15-minute call to Kohl’s can get you $80 back!
That obviously sweetens the previous deal – and saves you more.
Here are a couple of things to note.
Update 10/4/16: It looks like Kohl’s gift card purchases from the MPX app are NOT coding as department store as expected. Peeps in the comments say it didn’t work with their Chase Freedom cards.
No dice here, either 🙁
I haven’t heard of this happening before now, so I will gather new data points before I recommend this moving forward. Thanks to all who let me know!
I’m bummed about this, but at least we got the 1,500 United miles (worth ~$30) as consolation. Though I would’ve preferred the cashback.
Update 10/3/16: This deal has expired. I plan on writing about my experience with it – here’s how to keep up with the blog so you’ll get the updates!
Need a little rush this weekend? How about buying $600+ worth of appliances at Kohl’s?
Last year they had a similar appliance deal I didn’t take part in. But this year I did.
Now before you think I’m crazy (although it may be waaay too late for that), let me explain.
This is a moneymaker if you do it right!
Hat tip to Jill Cataldo for blogging about this and my friend Jas for turning me on to this deal!
I feel like I say this every time I write about Kohl’s, but… it’s no secret I freaking love Kohl’s.
Right now, they have a lot of appliances on sale for $17, including:
Lots of appliances for $17
In total, there are 8 kitchen appliances at the $17 price.
All of the items have a $12 Visa gift card rebate
And, all of the items linked above are eligible for a $12 mail-in rebate. You get a Visa gift card with a limit of 5 per product.
That means if you buy 5 of all 8 items, you can get 40 X $12 back, or $480.
Right now, there’s also a 15% promo code: SMS1871. And it does work for these items.
When you add all of them to your cart and add the promotion code, the total is ~$625. You also get $110 in Kohl’s cash to spend next week.
I paid ~$625 for all 40 appliances
Note that taxes in your state might be different than mine! In Texas, the taxes came to ~$48.
And, you must purchase the items by tomorrow, October 2nd, 2016, to qualify for the rebate (here’s the rebate form). Cheers to the weekend!
Hey all! Meet Spencer!
He loves the Plastiq and Citi AT&T Access More combo as much as I do. I thought it would be fun to add his ideas about the recent RadPad promotion debacle that lead to the new Plastiq offer – to shake it up a little here at ol’ Out and Out. 🙂
A big thanks to Spencer for lending his thoughts!
Anyone who’s read Out and Out knows Harlan LOVES earning miles and points when he pays rent. When there’s a fun promo, you better believe he’s ready for it.
Two weeks ago, RadPad rocked the points world with a promo that allowed fee-free credit card rent payments via Android Pay.
Gone too soon
This earth-shattering offer was set to run through the end of 2016. That’s four months of fee-free, points-earning rent fun!
Fast forward to last night.
RadPad posts an update on their blog. They have pulled the promo.
RadPad’s crushing announcement
Only people who registered prior to August 24th, 2016, would be eligible and they will only be eligible for one rent payment that has to be paid by August 31st, 2016.
According to RadPad, Android Pay use increased from less than 5% of rent payments to 70% in the span of two weeks. That’s insane!
Well, so much for that points windfall.
If you were set on fee-free RadPad, where does that leave you?
Update: Wow, instant response! Chuck from Doctor of Credit let me know this may or may not work. So for now, I think the best thing to do is start slow at your local Staples (like try $5 and see if it works) and go from there, should you decide to try this. Thanks all for any info you want to add!
I was poking around as I am wont to do and assembled an 8X combination that I think will work.
Now, I haven’t done this myself, but it seems totally do-able.
What you’ll need to get started is:
Such as:
You can also get 5X on top of what you’ll earn from any other card with the exception of a couple of Amex cards.
Or, if you’re trying to meet a minimum spending requirement and want to get an extra 3X at office supply stores, this should work nicely.
Also see:
Back in 2014, when I rented my first Airbnb apartment, I felt like I was doing something crazy. Then, in 2015, I made an extra $60,000 from Airbnb rentals – after taxes and expenses.
I love my new Dallas Airbnbs!
Mike from Upgrd playfully calls me a slumlord. My Airbnb posts tend to get a LOT of polarity in the comments; I’ve addressed my moral and ethical position in this post.
I get a lot of questions about why I do it and how it’s going. So here goes.
Also see:
I’ve long enjoyed using RadPad despite its 2% fee because I’ve been earning 3X Citi ThankYou points per $1 spent on rent with my Citi AT&T Access More card, which far outweighs it, especially when paired with Citi Prestige.
But on June 1st, 2016, RadPad is increasing its rent bill payment fee to 3.49%, which makes the service much less appealing.
Byeee
But, Plastiq easily takes its place – and charges a 2% fee on MasterCard payments. Even better, you can earn 3X Citi ThankYou points with the Citi AT&T Access More card. And, it works on mortgage payments, too.
Also see:
I’m targeting late April/early May to be out of NYC and in Dallas full-time.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted a silver Subaru Forester. Buying a house and moving to Dallas meant I’d need to buy a car sooner or later.
The budget I had in mind was $6,000 for everything. Tax, title, registration, base price of the vehicle, everything.
I knew car prices tend to rise as it gets warmer, so when I found a great deal on the car I wanted in late February, I went ahead and snagged it.
My new cahhh. I named him Clyde
Oh! And I wanted to pay for it in full. No financing.
Just an in-shape, reliable used car whose only expenses were maintenance, insurance, and gas. Boom.
Also see:
Back in November, I wrote about wanting to close on a house in Dallas. I did, in fact, close on a house in Dallas right on schedule, on December 15th, 2015.
My new living room!
That was almost 3 months ago, but it’s taken me this long to write about it.
A friend of mine said it best. We had lunch when she was scheduled to close on a house a few days later.
“OMG!” I exclaimed. “Are you like, so excited to be closing ?”
“Not really, actually. I’m just sort of… ready for the process to be over.”
I didn’t think much of it at the time because I still was excited to be moving toward a closing.
That is, until I got there.
I wrote earlier about my wishes for the Citi ThankYou program and increasing fascination with Citi.
Today, I had some sort of psychic break and picked up the Citi AT&T Access More card.
Oops, I did it again
I applied for it instead of the Citi ThankYou Premier card. Based on my current spending habits, and the fact that I already have Citi Prestige, the Citi ThankYou Premier seemed redundant.
Except for its broad 3X category for all travel including gas. But then I thought, you know, no.
Before I go all-in with Citi ThankYou, I wanna see what’s next. I can pick up that card up any time. And use my Chase Sapphire Preferred (or some other card) for gas/other travel.
And then, thinking more on the Citi AT&T Access More card, I thought about why it could be better. Including for paying rent at RadPad, a topic I’ve mined frequently.
Also see:
Side hustle extraordinaire
I’ve written a lot about my side hustle with Airbnb a lot in the past. So I thought I’d follow up, because side hustles are a big part of my FIRE, and a great way to dig yourself out of debt – or earn more income.
In my Q2 update, I estimated I’d make an extra ~$31K off the endeavor in 2015.
I took some knocks here and there, but doubled my original projection. All told, I earned an extra ~$60K from Airbnb in 2015. And most of it went toward debts. In 2016, I’ll earn less but hopefully knock out my student loans once and for all.
Good vibes
Here’s how I did it.
Happy New Year! I thought I’d hop on the bandwagon with the predictions. So here’s my effort.
“Everyone else is doing it, so why can’t we?”
A portrait of the Fidelity AMEX card
Wow. Out and Out made huge strides in 2015. A lot happened – and even more will happen in 2016.
Blog traffic tripled this year. In fact December 2015 is the biggest month ever for the blog (and it’s not over yet!). I’m thinking of how to improve things around here even more, and celebrating every step of the way because I couldn’t grow without your support.
Celebrating!
You guys are awesome. I love my readers!
I’ve ironed out many ideas on here and found solid resolutions thanks to tons of community-focused comments. And meeting new peeps at the regular Reach for the Miles meetup has been fantastic.
I hope to continue the momentum and keep improving.
But first, I want to take a moment to pause and look back at where we’ve been this year.
Hello and welcome to Out and Out! My name is Harlan – I’m a points and miles enthusiast who loves to travel. I am interested in personal finance, the power of positive thinking, and the extraordinary journeys that make life worth living.