Queercents

Hotel rewards credit cards are a great way for any traveler to make his or her travel dollar go further. With broader earning options, more generous introductory bonuses, and lower minimums for redemption, hotel credit cards will likely prove more useful to the casual traveler than airline credit cards.

Anyone wanting to compare travel rewards credit cards must foremost consider one’s own hotel preferences. Hilton-branded cards can be used at over 3,600 hotels in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio; The Marriott Rewards Visa from Chase can be used at over 3,300 Marriott locations; The Priority Club Select Visa from Chase can be used at over 4,300 hotels in the IHG portfolio (including Intercontinental, Holiday Inn, and Crowne Plaza hotels); and, The Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card can be used at over 1,000 hotels in the Starwood portfolio (including St. Regis, W Hotels, Westin, and Sheraton hotels). If the specific hotel is unimportant, one can also compare the Marriott Rewards Visa to the Hilton and others on the bases of annual fees, signup bonuses, and methods of points accumulation, conversion, and disbursement.

Travelers seeking a card without an annual fee can consider the Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card from Citi or the Hilton HHonors American Express card. Those willing to pay an annual fee can also consider: the Starwood Preferred Guest card from American Express, which carries a $65 annual fee; the Priority Club Select Visa from Chase, which carries a $49 fee; or, the Marriott Rewards Visa from Chase, which carries a $30 fee. It’s worth considering that these fees are waived for the first year in every case.

Every travel rewards card offers bonuses to newcomers. The Marriott Rewards Visa from Chase credits new users with 30,000 bonus points after the first purchase with the card, as well as a free night’s stay at any category 4 or less Marriott hotel. The Hilton HHonors American Express card offers 2,500 bonus points per Hilton stay made within the first 18 months, up to a maximum of 10,000 points; the HHonors Visa from Citi is more generous, offering 30,000 points after the first $600 of purchases made within the first 4 months. Chase’s Priority Club Select Visa and the Starwood Preferred Guest card from American Express both give bonus points after any initial purchase – 30,000 and 10,000, respectively.

Points can also be accumulated through everyday spending. American Express’ Starwood Preferred Guest card gives 2 points for every dollar spent, with a 2-3 point bonus for every dollar spent at hotels and resorts in the program; its HHonors card gives 6 points for every dollar spent on Hilton bookings, groceries and gas, and 3 points are awarded for every dollar spent elsewhere. Chase gives 3 points for every dollar spent at a Marriott hotel with its Marriott Rewards Visa, and 1 point for every other dollar charged to the card; its Priority Club Select Visa gives 5 points per dollar spent at any IHG hotel, 2 for every dollar spent on gas, groceries, or dining, and 1 point per dollar for all other purchases. The HHonors Visa Signature card from Citi gives 6 points per dollar spent on Hilton bookings, 3 points per dollar for groceries and gas, and 2 points per dollar for everything else.

Regardless of which card you choose, the key to maximizing rewards is using the card as often as possible. Make use of your travel rewards card at every opportunity, and you’ll earn a free night’s stay in no time at all.

Summer is nearly here and it’s time to begin planning summer vacation. With gas at an all time high, it may be wise to consider a gas card – unless you’ve budgeted a few extra hundred dollars aside. If not, and you opt for the gas card, be warned there are many options. When deciding which is best suited for your personal needs, one should first determine which factors are most influential. This article will review some of the best gas cards available on the market by lowest fees, best introductory APR offers, lowest APR, and most rewards on gas purchases. We will compare the Shell Master Card, Discover More Card, Chase Freedom Card, Blue Cash Everyday from American Express, Citi Thank You Preferred Rewards Card, and Capital One’s Cash Rewards Cards for excellent and average credit.

LOW FEES
If you don’t like the idea of paying to use a gas card, good news, all but one of these cards have no annual fees. The sole culprit is the Capital One Cash Rewards Card for average credit with a $39 annual fee. Still, it isn’t unusual for cards willing to accept those of us without perfect credit to charge such fees.

INTRODUCTORY APR
The introductory APR is often the deal breaker for many. If you acquire a gas card shortly before taking your summer vacation you may be able to pay no interest on all gas purchases made during the vacation. The Discover More Card offers such a promotion, charging 0% APR for the first fifteen months. That’s right! Discover gives you over a year to repay before charging you. The Blue Cash Everyday charges 0% APR for twelve months on purchases – another fantastic feature. The Capital One Cash Rewards cards for excellent and average credit charge 0% APR until March 2013 and December 2012 respectively. This isn’t bad, but it’s definitely not the best promotion available. Neither the Chase Freedom Card nor the Citi Thank You Preferred Rewards Card offer introductory APR promotions. Instead the Chase card will give you a $100 to $200 cash bonus after you make $500 in purchases in three months. Citi will give you 250,000 points after you spend a whopping $2000 in three months. Those points can then be redeemed for a $250 gift card.

REWARDS ON GAS PURCHASES
The Shell Master Card will give you 5% cash back on Shell gas. But if you can’t find a Shell gas station, expect to receive just 0.5% cashback. If there are no Shell gas stations along your route, a Discover or Chase card may be the better bet. Both give 5% cash back on gas purchases from July through and including September. Blue Cash Everyday offers 2% cash back at gas stations. Both Capital One cards give 1% cash back per dollar spent on all transactions. Instead of cash back, Citi gives points which can be redeemed for rewards, giving one point per dollar spent.
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In a world that has quickly transitioned from being a predominantly hard-copy environment to an atmosphere where everything is done digitally and through cyberspace, there is no question to why the credit card has surged in popularity the past decade. A quick and efficient payment option, the credit card has become a staple of the modern economy, and is now available to almost anyone. Numbering in the thousands, credit cards have competed with one another to gain potential clients, wooing them with things ranging from cash back, sky miles, and even elaborate point systems, with points exchangeable for free goods and services. But, how can one actually consider which card to choose from? One major influence for choosing a credit card is the sign-on bonus, or the initial offer.

A credit card’s initial offer, besides its APR rate, is one of the leading factors that influence a potential client’s desire to apply for it or not. Many companies provide discounted interest rates for a short duration of the time, while others waive a card’s normal annual fee for the first year. A popular method cards use would be proving a cash incentive, either through actual funds distributed or a corresponding balance reduction. All of these influencing factors provide clients with the motivation to apply and possibly begin a long relationship with the crediting company.

Currently, there are several major cash back bonuses that are available from a select group of credit cards this year. One popular choice is the Chase Freedom Visa, with a $200 cash back bonus, after the first $500 is spent during the first 3 months. The Citibank ThankYou Preferred rewards card is now providing a $200 (gift card) reward after $700 in purchases during the first 3 months. The Citibank Dividend World MasterCard is also providing a $200 cash back bonus, after the first $500 is spent in the first 3 months. Capital One Cash Card has a $100 bonus, after the first $500 is spent in the first 3 months. Discover has a Discover Open Road Card that provides a free Restaurant.com $150 gift card with the first purchase. For students, Citibank currently has a Citi Dividend Platinum Select card that offers $50, after $150 is spent in the first 3 months.

For those seeking flight miles, there are also several options to choose from that offer a hefty amount of miles after the initial purchase. Delta SkyMiles offers the Gold Delta SkyMiles card, which has a 20,000 mile bonus after the first purchase. You can also add an additional 2 cardholders in your household and receive another 5,000 miles. Capital One Venture One Rewards Card provides a 10,000 mile bonus after the initial purchase, with no minimum. They also offer a Venture Rewards card that offers 25,000 miles, but with an annual fee. Citibank provides the CitiGold AAdvantage World MasterCard which provides a 25,000 mile bonus after the first $750 is spent during the first 4 months of ownership. Discover offers 2 cards, the Miles and the Escape card, which both provide a 1000 mile bonus for each month of the first year of ownership. Southwest Airlines is a providing one free flight after an initial purchase.

For those searching for bonus reward points, which can be redeemable for a variety of gifts, there is a large selection available which offer some points after an initial purchase. There are 3 credit cards that offer a substantial amount during initial ownership period. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card provides 50,000 reward points after $3,000 is spent in the first 3 months. The Citi Thank Preferred Premier Rewards card provides a 50,000 point bonus after $2000 is spent in the first 3 months. American Express offers their famous Gold card, which provides a 15,000 bonus after the first $1,000 is spent in the first 3 months.

There are a variety of cards to choose from that offer a substantial bonus after initially owning the card. Cardholders must remember though that regardless of bonus incentives, one must remain discipline and responsible when using credit cards. Bonus miles or points are meaningless if one’s credit rating is poor.

Looking for the best credit card for lesbians? An option you may want to assess and review is credit cards from Olivia Company. Maybe you are wondering, why choose Olivia and not just opt for one that provides similar benefits for you and your partner, right? Read on as we discuss what Olivia is all about and what it can offer the lesbian community.

Established in 1973, Olivia was originally a women’s record label company; however, as time passed by, Olivia companies that were situated in San Francisco evolved into one of the leading names in lesbian travel, providing lesbians a unique travel experience for their cruises, eco-tours, luxury vacations and resorts. As of today, the company has been considered as the biggest advertiser of lesbian travels and cruises worldwide. The company has acquired enormous vessels, hot spots and tours widely ranging from affectionate boutique cruises in the Galapagos Islands and France to voyages around the Caribbean Islands on vessels that hold more than 2,000 women. The company offers women with various options that they can opt to venture out to in solo or with a partner.

In terms of their popularity, the world renowned company has catered to big names in the industry including Melissa Etheridge, Heart, the Indigo girls, Rosie Jones, Whoopi Goldberg and Lily Tomlin. Inside the cruise lines of Olivia, clients can enjoy their trip further with entertainers, singers, comedians and performers who have claimed a spot as a member of the Olivia family. Activities have also been launched by the company such as Sisters at Sea and Sisters at Play that were created for lesbians of different color or race along with their friends. Read the rest of this entry »

Below are two Discover More cards you do not want to pass up because this offer expires at the end of day on February 28. One is the NO Fee balance transfer on 0% APR and the other offer is for 24 months at No Interest.

See more balance transfer offers in more detail:
Low 0% Zero Balance Transfer Offers
Fair Credit Cards

Today is the end of my first month of rigorous budgeting, and I can tell you this: I suck at budgeting.

The upside of all this drama is that in failing, I will succeed. Take a gander at November’s wrapup.

Almost $460 over budget. That means that I could have used that money–plus the money I had supposedly earmarked for paying down debts–and gotten rid of nearly $1,000 of credit card debt. That’s a powerful lesson for me, and hopefully for anyone who’s followed the series thus far. You can see how easy it is to spend gobs of money without paying attention, and I admit more than most that I was not paying attention.

Going forward, my posts are going to be monthly as it makes less sense for me to talk about this every week. Just like therapy, you have an intensive series of sessions at the beginning and scale back as time goes on. I hope you’ll follow me as I pay my debt off, and hopefully find along the way that you make a lot of the same mistakes that I do.

A few observations: yes, my credit card debt swung up slightly. I used my cards (re-maxed them out) because I was cash poor. My goal next month? Don’t use them at all. On top of that, stop being freaking cash poor. That means I may have to skip a month of paying down debt yet again, but if it means I have cash to float on, so be it. Liz Pulliam Weston advocates not doing that as it makes less financial sense in the long run, but I can’t keep using my credit cards. I have to have cash as many places I go to don’t accept credit. Or perhaps that’s the lesson here, to cut myself off? Only this month will tell what I end up doing.

Areas of opportunity: my food budget is low, but I can send it far lower. I’m a big meat and potatoes guy, and if I start cooking for myself, I can get by on $20 a week. That would halve my food budget, and I’d have that extra for Christmas presents. For the sixth year running, my family has stuck to its policy of no-gift Christmas, so I’m just going with token gift cards for the kids. I may renege on that and bake for them instead. I have yet to decide, but I have to make up my mind quickly. That’d bring in $80, by the way.

I’ve also scaled back my mental health visits, as I have been pretty darn happy despite all this. I’m going to my therapist now twice a month instead of every week, so that’s an extra $30.

Although I advocate smartphones, I’ve found that I don’t actually use the phone portion at all. Looking into pay-as-you-go plans, I can ditch my phone and pay $25 a month to have unlimited texting and Skype for just about everything I do call-wise. I’d have to go back to a flip phone (ugh) but it might be worth it, since I’d be able to get a PDA to handle all my other stuff. That would mean a savings of $40 a month from my cell.

That means that right off the bat, I’ve freed up an extra $110 from my budget with a total $150 possible if I can ditch my smartphone this month. I’m probably going to sit back and wait to see how the tablet computer market goes next year first, but by April I plan to be smartphone-free since I never use the data, never use the voice, and only use the texts. It is not worth the cash to text someone for $70 a month.

On the tricky situation of porn, about which you all were extremely supportive and sweet bee tee dubs, I spoke to my therapist about it and he said that especially creative people suffer with the need to create. Without that need fulfilled, they will look for other sources, which is apparently what I’ve been doing. As a result, I have planned out my next six months chock full of new projects, endeavors, and creative pursuits to keep me off the paid porn sites (and free ones, for that matter) and doing stuff with my life that I’d rather do. I don’t know if anyone else out there has struggled with this like I have, but I hope that sheds a bit of light on it for everyone.

Let me know if you have any feedback. Next week: financial makeover for a lucky guinea pig!

This Weeks Credit Card Deals: $75 to $100 Cash Back!

I run a credit card website and thought I would give you the down-lo on the hottest deals out there in terms of credit cards today.  Since it is Friday and you are sitting at your desk wondering what you could or would or should be doing today I figured this is the best time to say you need to be looking into better credit cards.  Some of the cards listed on the site give you big rebates on certain items and others give you less than one percent in some cases.  This week we are going to consider all of these cards but put in one major factor which is the cash back you get once you spend a certain amount upon first usage of the card.  Big bonuses such as these are taking off in the travel credit cards and in the popular cash back cards.

The Discover More Credit Card is offering $75 cash back when you spend $500 in purchases within 3 months.  This offer is similar to the airline offers of getting 20,000 or so miles after spending $750 or so with American Express and Citibank.  Then you have our favorite offer right now with Chase Freedom® Visawhere they want to give you $100 big ones for  making $799 in purchases and we know that is pretty easy to do in a few months during Christmas or Back to School seasons that are right around the corner.

Citibank just ended their $40 bonus when opening up a new card account but these offers should still be going on for a few weeks. The Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card is still offering a $50 with an account opening.

Business Credit Cards

If you own a business there is a few business credit cards added to our line this week from Chase including the Ink Bold which can not only help you master your business more but save money at 3% cash back on dining, fuel, home improvement stores, and office supply purchases.  Manage your credit profile with D&B to improve your bottom-line benefits. If you are not using a business card for your company now then you may consider it at least for making your taxes that much easier.  The Ink Cash(SM) Business claims that Points are 25% more valuable than American Express Membership Rewards points when you book travel through Ultimate Rewards.   Oh and keep in mind that these restaurant purchases include bar and clubs that all come up as restaurants saving you 3% under dining.  Can you imagine how much Kathy Griffin could be saving using this card?

Keep in mind all these bonuses and rebates may not be around long with all this new legislation passing left and right. A new law on Financial reform could make the credit card companies go even more creative finding ways to try and keep their most loyal customers happy. Discover SimplyCash Business Card, American Express’ cash back card that repays your business with cash back.

What are your favorite credit card offers?  or best reward or rebate cards?

Have any of you ever used Mint? It turns out that in all the time that this blog has been around, not a single person has ever covered the site, and I find that to be a shame. It has been mentioned here and there, but there has never been a full-on review. I say that changes now, because Mint is an incredibly easy to use and powerful tool to help you whip yourself into shape. Let me tell you about it and how you can fit it into your life.

First and foremost, let me express my intense hatred for two things: software and banking websites.

I hate software because it’s the 21st century. Why am I downloading things when I have a vast internet where I can do anything I want, plus Javascript, Flash, and HTML5 to emulate virtually anything I could do on my computer anyway? The only thing my hard drive should be used for is downloading media, and even then I am not a fan of that. That’s one reason to love Mint. It’s all browser-based and there’s zero reason to download a thing.

Banking websites, meanwhile, suck without exception. Okay, I do like ING for ease of use. But it isn’t exactly an analytical tool. Even though Discover Card has started to offer spending analysis, I have four credit cards. There’s no reliable way to analyze all my spending. In fact, according to Discover Card, all I did was buy a computer last year. That doesn’t encompass my unfortunate takeout addiction and my predilection for Amazon.com purchases. Thanks, but no thanks. Also, that doesn’t nearly help when I just withdraw money to stuff singles into some sweaty college kid’s g-string at the club or tip an inappropriately surly bartender.

Mint covers all that plus some. I entered all four of my credit cards, both bank accounts, my student loans from Sallie Mae and from the federal government, and even my Roth IRA. Instantly, I had account information stretching back three years into my past and was able to see that I had spent an embarrassing sum of money on delivery. I suddenly had an urge to start cooking for myself, especially because I had shamefully ordered grilled cheese to the tune of $10 a pop three times in one week. I have a firm policy of only ordering food I can’t make myself.

Yes, I discovered I’m not in a great spot in terms of credit, but that’s okay. Mint even broke down my spending into a budget, so I found that I was spending more than I was earning. I could plug holes in my spending by altering my behaviors, not just tweaking some abstract numbers. The less I called my local deli, the lower my restaurant budget went until my earnings outpaced my spendings. That’s precisely where I needed to be.

It’s a powerful tool just for spending analysis but even more helpful if you want to knock together a budget. There are shortcomings, however. I have a couple phantom charges that I cannot ascertain nor delete, and often I look pretty awesome because Mint inexplicably tracked my credit card payments but not their debits, so I came out a couple hundred dollars ahead when I’d really broken even. Until Mint finally allowed me to use custom tagging, I’d filed all cash purchases under porn (well, ‘entertainment’) because I had no idea what they were, despite some being legitimate purchases. Fortunately, Mint has fixed that issue and even allowed me to split cash into nearly infinitesimally small chunks, so yes, I could theoretically track which singles are currently pantyliners for some gogo twink and which are being collected by a grinchy barkeep. Not that I would, but I could.

Do you use Mint? Or do you have alternatives? I’d love to hear from you. Let me know!

A Money 411 clip on the Today Show last week had some really surprising comments about things that could be hurting your credit score.

Some of the factors weren’t surprising – late payments, or mistakes on your credit report. But the idea that going to a mental health therapist was really beyond the realm of reality to me. That shouldn’t be something that is allowed to be viewed by anyone but you, your therapist, and your insurance company. What about HIPAA? And would this actually show up in a credit report if you paid cash, or only if you used a credit card to pay your bill? I’m really curious. Read the rest of this entry »

In a recent post about credit card interest rates, Philip Brewer at Wise Bread explained:

I use credit cards for transactions, not to borrow money.

One of the smartest things you can do for your financial health is to pay off the total balance each month on your credit card. Whenever we use a credit card, we’re borrowing money. Interest gets added to the balance if we don’t pay off the total amount we owe each month.

The big money-maker for credit card companies is consumer interest. They want us to carry a balance. But they don’t make us. A lot of people just do. Why?

Please don’t say it has to do with how much money one makes. At the age of twenty-two, I never carried a balance; nor do I now at forty-two. Just because I have an available credit limit doesn’t mean it’s my money to spend.

What makes some people get this concept and others don’t? Behavior and money… sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to me.

Photo credit: stock.xchng.