Credit Cards

[haulingthescoreup]

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jmbfl wrote:

Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address on the back of an old envelope...

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I wish my scribbles had a hundredth of the content of that. It's more like, if we lower grocery spending by $60 a month and reduce car insurance, extra money goes to blah blah blah.

Truly a PITA when I go looking for those envelopes later, by the way.

[haulingthescoreup]

The calculator for Blue Cash is here, for those trying to find their break-even point on that one:

https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/loyalty.do?page=bluecash.maximize

I spent 10 minutes cussing my way through the amex site trying to find this, including using their search function. Gave up, went to Google entering "blue cash" calculator, and this was the first hit.

I swear, I wish amex would make their site less baffling.

[cheddar]

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UpUpUp wrote:

Uh. Wow. You must either be a math major or do something in the computer field...or both!

That's really cool.

P.S.

I ended up with the Chase Freedom Plus which has 6 categories instead of 3 for the 3% cash back and no cap on the rewards as far as I know. I think that would easily win over the Blue Cash. Though, I'm not sure if you can app for it directly or they just give it to you?

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Thanks.  Not a math major, but you're right on the other point.  I do write financial software for a living.

I agree that Chase Freedom Plus is the much better card for most people, even with the $30 annual rewards fee after the first year.

[cheddar]

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athensguy wrote:
Now Cheddar, show us how the Blue Cash compares to your Citi Plat Amex for the first two years

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Ha!  Now that one would be easy.  No contest.

[cheddar]

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WhirledPeasPlease wrote:

Uh WOW!  Very well done Cheddar!

Have you considered comparing Blue Cash with Chase Freedom Plus?  Hehehehe!

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Thanks, Peas!

Blue Cash vs Freedom Plus would be harder because of the additional variable of spending level on categories 4-6.  Maybe the next time I have insomnia.

[cheddar]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:
I'm stickying this puppy, because this question gets asked A LOT!

Thanks for keeping me from having to work all this out on the back of an old envelope.

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Well, in my case it took a couple of Excel tables and a little bit of VBA programming.  If you can do it on an envelope, I'm impressed!

Thanks for the sticky, HTSU.

Message Edited by cheddar on 08-02-2008 08:01 AM

[cheddar]

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MidnightVoice wrote:

Cheddar - you need to get a life

Very, very cool. Thank you!!

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Perhaps, or maybe just some Ambien.  The forums are slooooow at 3 a.m.

Thanks, MV!

[WhirledPeasPlease]

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cheddar wrote:

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MidnightVoice wrote:

Cheddar - you need to get a life

Very, very cool. Thank you!!

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Perhaps, or maybe just some Ambien.  The forums are slooooow at 3 a.m.

Thanks, MV!

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THAT, I can help with..  (digging around in Peas' big bag of tricks)

But seriously, nicely done.  One of these days I'll make some significant contribution to the fora.  Really, lol.

And no pressure on the Chase Freedom Plus -- I'm not even sure if Chase will let me in the door at this point. 

[SeanDEE]

Excellent post, Cheddar. Now I don't feel as if Chase is totally useless to me. I got my first credit card from them in late-December '07, an Amazon Student Visa with a nice 22.49% APR which has dropped to a modestly better 19.99%. I was thinking of cancelling once I got established, but instead, I'll ask to upgrade to a Freedom card. Bear in mind, that'll be a while down the road.

I'm 18 right now, so it's hard for me to even fathom spending $1000 a month on those purchases. I thought the $200 I spent on gas a month was eye opening enough.

[UpUpUp]

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cheddar wrote:

Thanks.  Not a math major, but you're right on the other point.  I do write financial software for a living.

I agree that Chase Freedom Plus is the much better card for most people, even with the $30 annual rewards fee after the first year.

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You write financial software...aah hah!  That makes sense!  Well, good job! That was very informative and I know a lot of people will reference this post!