Is it just me or is Citi Double cash not that great? Only get $2 if you spend $100??

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know how the Discover deals or portals compare to Ebates? Is it better than Ebates? I use Ebates all the time and save tons. 

As for a simple life I am actually not trying to live a simple life! 

The guy who thought it was normal to spend $500 on entertainment and bills a month has a wife! 

As a single person spending $500 a month on entertainment is ridiculous as it is just me and I am not social and don't enjoy going out. 

I do spend on online shopping but like I said there is no set amount each month and it's sporadic; just whenver I feel like it but it's not a few hundred dollars per week. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Does anyone know how the Discover deals or portals compare to Ebates? Is it better than Ebates? I use Ebates all the time and save tons. 

As for a simple life I am actually not trying to live a simple life! 

The guy who thought it was normal to spend $500 on entertainment and bills a month has a wife! 

As a single person spending $500 a month on entertainment is ridiculous as it is just me and I am not social and don't enjoy going out. 

I do spend on online shopping but like I said there is no set amount each month and it's sporadic; just whenver I feel like it but it's not a few hundred dollars per week. 

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I don't know about Ebates, but I love Discover Deals. As in my earlier post, you can get 5% and even more by shopping through Discover Deals. I almost recommended you look into it since you do shop online. I just buy things I would normally buy through there. If you don't have a Discover card already, you might consider the Discover It Cashback Match, where Discover will match the cashback you earn in your first 12 months. I think I already have $37 after two statements, so Discover will give me another $37 when the year is up.

Sorry about my reference to simple life. It sounded to me like you lived in a little cabin, and your recreation involved nothing but hikes. After I read you last post, I realized I was wrong...sorry about my assumption. 

[Anonymous]

Ebates is similar. It's very common to get 8% off online retailers.. up to 12% back. I use it combined with online coupons like from Retailmenot etc and sometimes end up saving ovr 20% or getting free gifts with purchase etc. 

I've gotten $212.96 back from them,,,, 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ebates is similar. It's very common to get 8% off online retailers.. up to 12% back. I use it combined with online coupons like from Retailmenot etc and sometimes end up saving ovr 20% or getting free gifts with purchase etc. 

I've gotten $212.96 back from them,,,, 

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That sounds awesome! Hopefully someone who has used both will chime in...

[sarge12]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm not sure I can say anything that hasn't already been said here, but I did see one of the Citi Double Cash commercials recently and found myself thinking it wouldn't benefit me considering what I spend on and the mix of cards I already have/will have. I have the Cap1 1.5% cashback on everything, the Discover 5% categories and Discover Deals which also can be 5% or even higher (just got $20 back on a purchase made online at ACE Hardware and picked up in store), and my beloved NFL Extra Points card that will offset the cost of going to 1-2 games a year. Future cards JetBlue Plus that will pay for/offset costs of going anywhere I will go, and a CU Visa that will give 3% cashback on grocerie, gas, and dining. These work/will work for me, and they are subject to change as I gain more experience

I think in reading through these posts we need to realize, as many have already, that each person has a unique income, budget, needs, and personality that dictates what they spend and what they are okay with and willing to spend it on. What benefits one person won't benefit everyone. That's the cool part about being on a forum like this. We get to read about different people and what works for them. 

Personally, I like the idea of cashback cards and bonuses, but realized very quickly that I don't have the income and spend to juggle too many. I have actually become much more thoughtful about what cards I want to have in my wallet when the dust of rebuilding settles because of that. Having said that, I love reading posts from people that obviously have a lot of money and can spend thousands of dollars per month, and I also love reading posts from people that are able to live simply like OP, and even though some might think that life boring, I wonder if that life actually leads to more joy in a lot of ways. I'm rambling, but I actually think this forum is a rare place where rich and not so rich really come together and learn from one another, and I really, really appreciate the forum rules. I've been on other forums and left because people were so judgmental and rude. I'm so glad this forum doesn't allow that. 

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Every now and then you may encounter rude or judgemental posts, but the moderators do a pretty good job of monitoring these boards. Sometimes someone may make a post aimed at humor that someone pecieves as rude. I have done this myself, but I was only joking and meant no harm. For the most part the regular posters really want to take what they have learned, often the hard way, and try to help others avoid the mistakes they have made. There really is an incredible amount of knowledge of how credit scoring works, rewards, interest etc. You can really learn here, and I rarely see actual mean posts....pretty good group of members.

[Anonymous]

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@Sharingan wrote:

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Just curious, do you also mention the bolded line in threads about the Quicksilver and the Chase Freedom Unlimited as well? I notice that posters only like to use this argument in threads on the Citi Double Cash. I mean, surely 1% to 1.5% is the same half percent as 1.5% to 2%, is it not? 

Regardless, it's impossible to know the strategy that posters here employ when doing their shopping. How do you know that people here aren't doing those things you mentioned? The discourse here is driven by credit cards, so most people probably aren't going to preface their posts by saying they use coupons and participate in BOGO offers when making an inquiry.

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I mention it with respect to ALL rewards, not just a half a percent.  Even a full 2% CB [compared to none] can easily be dwarfed by other means of saving.

Do I know that everyone already does those things I mentioned?  Of course not.  I can say with 100% certainly that not everyone is though.  Not that they have to, but obviously people chasing rewards or people that are worried about a half a percent etc. are people that are looking to save money.  So my thing is, if you are worried about saving a half a percent, wouldn't you jump at the chance to save 10%?  25%?  50%?  The bottom line after the smoke clears is what matters, so taking into consideration all (or more) of the pieces that go into the bottom line outside of rewards was what I was getting at.  For those that already do this, fantastic.  For those that don't, perhaps it's worth of consideration for some. 

[Anonymous]

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@kdm31091 wrote:
It's a good card but not life changing. That said no cash back cards really are. It's a little extra back on money you spend. That's all. It's also very easy to accidentally increase your spend by more than the reward amount!

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100% true, and I'd venture to guess that the majority does exactly that.  All you have to do is increase your spend 2% above what it "normally" would be.  So if you spend $500/mo it's simply spending ten bucks more a month that you normally wouldn't spend.  Pretty simple to do, and many do that or exceed it without question.

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Does anyone know how the Discover deals or portals compare to Ebates? Is it better than Ebates? I use Ebates all the time and save tons. 

As for a simple life I am actually not trying to live a simple life! 

The guy who thought it was normal to spend $500 on entertainment and bills a month has a wife! 

As a single person spending $500 a month on entertainment is ridiculous as it is just me and I am not social and don't enjoy going out. 

I do spend on online shopping but like I said there is no set amount each month and it's sporadic; just whenver I feel like it but it's not a few hundred dollars per week. 

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Always check, for example, http://www.cashbackmonitor.com/ and see which the best portal is for that particular merchant.   For the merchants I use, ebates usually isn't the best rate, even with the 3% for using the ebates card, but for other merchants the may work out.     I usually use a few of them (topcashback, befrugal, simplybestcoupons, dollardig) whichever has the best rate, just making sure I spend enough to meet minimum redeptions in a reasonable time

[StartingOver10]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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Always check, for example, http://www.cashbackmonitor.com/ and see which the best portal is for that particular merchant.   For the merchants I use, ebates usually isn't the best rate, even with the 3% for using the ebates card, but for other merchants the may work out.     I usually use a few of them (topcashback, befrugal, simplybestcoupons, dollardig) whichever has the best rate, just making sure I spend enough to meet minimum redeptions in a reasonable time

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^^^Thank you for posting that link longtimelurker - I have never seen it before. You can bet your bottom dollar I will use it from now on though! 

[Themanwhocan]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Completely off topic here, but I think people chase the extra half percent cash back on rewards often when they are losing far in excess of that potential reward gain in other aspects of their spending.  The old stepping on a dollar just to pick up a quarter.  I'm talking about things like using coupons, hitting BOGO offers, using coupon codes for online purchases, calling your cell phone or cable company and threatening to jump ship and magically they find you $15-$20/mo in savings off your bill to keep you.  Any of these things among many others can save a consumer more money in a single transaction than another half percent in rewards can save them in a year in some cases.  Just something to take into consideration.

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 *sigh* ... I bought BOGO boxes of Breaded Fish Fillets today. But I forgot to buy tartar sauce.

I'm such a boring loser today.