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Speaker 1: Welcome to How to Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt,

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Speaker 1: and today we're discussing using credit cards forty dollars in

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Speaker 1: free travel with Brad Barrett. Yeah, Joel, I'm really excited

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Speaker 1: that we've got Brad joining us on the show today.

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Speaker 1: Brad Barrett. He is co host of the popular podcast

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Speaker 1: Choose five. He is a c p A who left

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Speaker 1: his job thanks to his pursuit of financial independence, so

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Speaker 1: he obviously knows a thing or two about personal finance. However,

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Speaker 1: Brad's favorite topic is leveraging credit card rewards to save

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Speaker 1: more money and take trips you never would have dreamed

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Speaker 1: possible for just pennies on the dollar. He's been able

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Speaker 1: to score more than fifty dollars in free travel thanks

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Speaker 1: to credit card rewards. So, Brad, thanks for coming on

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Speaker 1: the show Man. Hey guys, I am glad to be here.

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Speaker 1: That should be allowed of fun. It most definitely will

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Speaker 1: be a lot of fun, Brad, and we're so glad

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Speaker 1: to have you on the show Man. Every week on

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Speaker 1: the show, Matt and I drink a craft beer and

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Speaker 1: we and we do that intentionally. It's kind of the

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Speaker 1: splurge that we are more than happy to partake in

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Speaker 1: spend a little bit more money on beer because we

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Speaker 1: prioritize drinking fine beer. So the first question we have

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Speaker 1: for everyone in the first question we have for you

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Speaker 1: today is what's your splurge, Like, what's your craft beer equivalent? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's a great question. I love the sentiment behind that, because, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's where we talk about choose if I all the time,

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Speaker 1: which is, we set up a life that just doesn't

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Speaker 1: cost that much framework wise, but then you can spend

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Speaker 1: lavishly on the things that you do value. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm all about this. So for me, it is I

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Speaker 1: guess fitness, and I guess specifically now cross Fit is

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Speaker 1: actually something I joined about a year and a half ago,

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Speaker 1: and that is not cheap if you guys have ever

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Speaker 1: looked it up. So while I could probably work out

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Speaker 1: for free just in my house doing pull ups and

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Speaker 1: push ups and things like that, I just love the

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Speaker 1: camaraderie and the challenge of CrossFit frankly, so, even though

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Speaker 1: it's expensive, it's a splurge that I am very very

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Speaker 1: pleased with. Nice, very cool. How much does that run?

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Speaker 1: I guess there's a monthly membership if you don't mind

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Speaker 1: me asking no, I don't mind at all. Actually, so

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Speaker 1: I kind of found my little PI hack actually of

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Speaker 1: how to do it for a little bit less, which

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Speaker 1: is just kind of how I approached life. I'm always

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Speaker 1: looking for like that little way to optimize. So whereas

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Speaker 1: I could have a monthly membership, but that would just

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Speaker 1: kind of eat me up, as like I travel a

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Speaker 1: little bit, and like my family we just got back

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Speaker 1: from a big long trip to Hawaii, and to spend

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Speaker 1: hundred and fifty bucks a month on a membership, it

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Speaker 1: would destroy me like mentally, you know, kind of jokingly

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Speaker 1: here guys, but like to spend a hundred and fifty

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Speaker 1: bucks when I'm not using the thing. So what I

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Speaker 1: actually did was I bought a class punch card. So

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Speaker 1: essentially every time I go, they just kind of knock

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Speaker 1: off one of my cards in you know, in the

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Speaker 1: computer system. But what I did was Beau has f

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Speaker 1: I is about value, and it's about trying to extract

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Speaker 1: the most value and also not about having to worry

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Speaker 1: about cash flow, right, Like that's the beautiful thing about

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Speaker 1: being in a strong financial position is that you can

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Speaker 1: really approach things and try to maximize. So I think

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Speaker 1: I was the first person in the history of the

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Speaker 1: gym to buy like the biggest punch card they offered.

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Speaker 1: I think it was like a joke, but like I

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Speaker 1: think it was like a hundred classes for liked bucks

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Speaker 1: or something like that. So like I wade out, you know,

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Speaker 1: that kind of money at once. But actually I did

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Speaker 1: the math and even if I went the number of

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Speaker 1: times per week that the membership was, it would still

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Speaker 1: be less for me. And now I don't have to

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Speaker 1: pay for all these miss classes. So, you know, kind

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Speaker 1: of a funny story, but like it really illustrates how

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Speaker 1: I approached life. I guess, Yeah, no doubt man. And

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Speaker 1: you know, I think the first time I ever heard

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Speaker 1: about CrossFit, I was like, oh my gosh, people spend

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Speaker 1: that much money to work out. But the more and

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Speaker 1: more I get into understanding the things that make me

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Speaker 1: tick and the things that I enjoy, the more I

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Speaker 1: understand that someone's willing to spend a little bit more

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Speaker 1: money to join a gym that's actually going to get

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Speaker 1: them to work out, as opposed to having the thirty

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Speaker 1: or forty dollar gym membership that they don't even use. Right. Yeah, So,

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Speaker 1: so we want to ask you about credit cards in

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Speaker 1: in a few minutes. Brad, You've got a lot of

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Speaker 1: wisdom to share with us there. But first, let's kind

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Speaker 1: of talk about the concept of FIRE. You've already launched

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Speaker 1: into it just a little bit now, and it stands

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Speaker 1: for financial independence, retire early. A lot of our listeners

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Speaker 1: are already kind of familiar with that concept. But your

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Speaker 1: your podcast, Choose f I, is dedicated to this idea

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Speaker 1: of becoming financially independent at an earlier age, and so

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Speaker 1: we talked about that here on the show a lot.

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Speaker 1: But can you share with our listeners what that concept

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Speaker 1: of a fire or financial independence really means to you

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Speaker 1: and why you've gravitated towards it in such a big way. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and I'm glad you had the distinction there between financially

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Speaker 1: independent and and fire. I think fire is this really

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Speaker 1: kind of cute acronym. You know, it just has a

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Speaker 1: certain pinach to it, right, But but I think the

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Speaker 1: retire early people get lost lost in that because it's like,

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Speaker 1: I don't know, there's too many negative connotations about about

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Speaker 1: retiring and kind of being unproductive and and I don't

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Speaker 1: view f I that way at all. I mean, to me,

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Speaker 1: it's about running towards something that I'm passionate about, not

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Speaker 1: running away from something that I despise. Like, so, I

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Speaker 1: think that that mental reframe is something crucially important and

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Speaker 1: for me, FHI is about gaining power and autonomy over

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Speaker 1: your life. Right, So many people go to work, they

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Speaker 1: live paycheck to paycheck because frankly, they just they don't

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Speaker 1: they don't know any better, right, Like it's it's not

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Speaker 1: that they're trying to do something terrible or or destroy

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Speaker 1: their lives, but they just they didn't. Just like me,

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Speaker 1: I didn't learn anything from my parents financially, there was

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Speaker 1: no class in high school. And you know, I got

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Speaker 1: pretty lucky that I came across a couple of pieces

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Speaker 1: of information that changed my life for the better. But

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Speaker 1: many people don't. And you know, they're living that hamster

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Speaker 1: wheel existence right the nine to five or worse, and

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Speaker 1: really just kind of making themselves feel better by buying

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Speaker 1: fancy things. And then the sad part about it is

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Speaker 1: then they're locked in, right, They're locked in because in

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Speaker 1: order to buy and pay for those things, they have

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Speaker 1: to work, right, So these fancy cars and houses sit

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Speaker 1: idle all the time, and you just can't enjoy it.

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Speaker 1: So For me, financial independence is about creating that space

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Speaker 1: and taking a step back, maybe for the first time

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Speaker 1: in your entire life, and saying, all right, this standard path,

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Speaker 1: this paycheck to paycheck. Maybe I can retire at seventy

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Speaker 1: if I'm lucky. That doesn't have to be the only way.

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Speaker 1: Maybe I can figure out what do I want out

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Speaker 1: of my life? Right, Like, if I get eight or

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Speaker 1: nine decades on this planet, that's a pretty long life.

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Speaker 1: And in order to like to waste it, guys just

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Speaker 1: wasted in a nine to five job. That doesn't light

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Speaker 1: me up. I just I don't really understand that at

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Speaker 1: its core. So I guess in essence, I would say

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Speaker 1: financial independence and saving money, which is really at the

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Speaker 1: heart of it. Right, It's not being a miser, it's

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Speaker 1: not depriving yourself. It's saving money for the ultimate luxury,

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Speaker 1: which is buying back decades of your life. So when

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Speaker 1: you reframe it from saving money is deprivation from Oh

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Speaker 1: I wish I could buy all these trinkets and gadgets too, Okay,

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Speaker 1: I'm saving for the purpose of gaining my life back.

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Speaker 1: That is such an obvious choice to me. Man, that's yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's so amazing and Brad, one of the things you

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Speaker 1: just said is the fact that you're running towards something

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Speaker 1: versus a way. I think that's such a fantastic distinction

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Speaker 1: between the difference of how how you guys view five

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Speaker 1: and how other folks might view retirement. Right, you know

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Speaker 1: you've got experience with five because you retired at the

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Speaker 1: age of three five. But what are some decisions that

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Speaker 1: you made that you feel have the biggest impact in

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Speaker 1: helping you to achieve that? Yeah, so that is that

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Speaker 1: is really great question, and I think it's really important

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Speaker 1: if you don't mind, guys that I just take a

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Speaker 1: second and say that PHI, at least the way that

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Speaker 1: we look at it is very personal. Okay, So just

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Speaker 1: because I made some decisions doesn't mean that's the right path.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't mean it's the prescribed path. There's no dogma,

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Speaker 1: there's no you have to do X, Y and Z

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Speaker 1: to be a card carrying member of the PHI community.

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Speaker 1: It's nothing like that. It's life is a series of choices.

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Speaker 1: And if you're living paycheck to paycheck, or you're getting

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Speaker 1: into dead every month even worse, right, you know, you

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Speaker 1: have to make some decisions to ever retire, to ever

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Speaker 1: have any money. Right, So I personally don't care what

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Speaker 1: decisions each individual person makes, but I do care that

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Speaker 1: they get up off the couch and take action. I

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Speaker 1: think that is the crucial piece that is missing, right,

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Speaker 1: Like they can listen to your podcast, they can listen

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Speaker 1: to my podcast, they can read every blog in the world,

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Speaker 1: but unless they get up off the couch and take action,

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Speaker 1: it is all worthless. So you know it is. This

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Speaker 1: is very, very personal. But obviously since you asked about

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Speaker 1: me and I'm the guest on your podcast, I will

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Speaker 1: tell you some of some of my decisions were I

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Speaker 1: guess fairly radical, though we did not think it at

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Speaker 1: the time, nor do we ever kind of conceptualize it

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Speaker 1: that way, but but I guess my wife and I

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Speaker 1: we got married, so we we grew up on Long Island,

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Speaker 1: New York, which suburban New York City, and we that

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Speaker 1: was all we knew. We lived there our whole lives.

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Speaker 1: It's an extraordinarily expensive place to live. And for whatever reason,

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Speaker 1: when we got married, this was far predating any of

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Speaker 1: the five blogs or anything like that. We had no

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Speaker 1: concept of five but we just had a sense that

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Speaker 1: that wasn't the life that we were looking for we

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Speaker 1: knew we would always have to give something up, even

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Speaker 1: though we were both c p a s. Albeit at

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Speaker 1: that point where just beginning associates. Right, we're not making

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Speaker 1: a ton of money by an amiens, but there was

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Speaker 1: possibility for making some money down the road. But we

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Speaker 1: just knew we would always have to give something happened

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Speaker 1: for us that really meant Laura staying home with our

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Speaker 1: future at that point fictional kids, right, This was before

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Speaker 1: before the kids came around, but but it was a

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Speaker 1: thought in our minds, and at that point we said,

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Speaker 1: all right, I mean, as much as we love Long

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Speaker 1: Island and this is where we've grown up, our family

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Speaker 1: and friends are here, in order to make a better

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Speaker 1: future for ourselves, we need to move. And what was

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Speaker 1: this odd coirk of fate. I actually went to the

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Speaker 1: University of Richmond for undergrad but moved back home afterwards.

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Speaker 1: And after I went to work for one of the

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Speaker 1: big firms, I went to work for a private company

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Speaker 1: and they only had tax personnel in two places. It

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Speaker 1: was this weird serendipity. It's Long Island and Richmond. So

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Speaker 1: I actually asked if I could transfer down to the

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Speaker 1: Richmond office and they were thrilled with that. It was great,

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Speaker 1: Like the VP was down here so he was doing backflips.

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Speaker 1: It was great, right, And we got to live for

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Speaker 1: a third of the price of what we were living

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Speaker 1: on in New York. So that was a huge, huge one.

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Speaker 1: I think, you know, just kind of I said this before,

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Speaker 1: but setting up a framework of a life that just

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Speaker 1: simply doesn't cost so much. So we bought like a

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Speaker 1: nice house, but not a very expensive house at all.

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Speaker 1: We drive old cars. I haven't had a car payment

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Speaker 1: in ten plus years. I bought my car fifteen years

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Speaker 1: ago and I was sixteen, actually sixteen almost in the day. Uh.

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Speaker 1: And you know, we don't spend a ton of money

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Speaker 1: on food, not because we eat rice and means, but

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Speaker 1: because my wife has kind of come up with a

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Speaker 1: system to save money on cooking gourmet meals at home.

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Speaker 1: So again, when you set up a framework of a

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Speaker 1: life that doesn't cost so much, you can then spend

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Speaker 1: on things that you want, like travel, which we're going

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Speaker 1: to talk about cross fit. Like I mentioned, you know,

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Speaker 1: you you don't have to worry about the pennies when

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Speaker 1: you have the items and take up fifty to sixty

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Speaker 1: seventy in your budget when you have those locked down. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's so true, man. Yeah, the big things, when you

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Speaker 1: take care of those and you handle those things well.

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Speaker 1: The smaller things, that's something like buying that cross fit

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Speaker 1: in membership sort of thing. It's it's just not nearly

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Speaker 1: as big of a deal as it is for for

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Speaker 1: most folks who are have a have a big mortgage

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Speaker 1: that they can barely afford a new car payment, stuff

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Speaker 1: like that. Brad, I so appreciate your intentionality, and you

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Speaker 1: just touched on that, and you even talked about being

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Speaker 1: intentional before you had kids. So I want to know

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Speaker 1: what changed as you and your wife were working towards

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Speaker 1: financial independence once you had kids. Did your goals change

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Speaker 1: after becoming a dad and what did that pursuit of

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Speaker 1: financial independence look like when your kids came on the scene. Yeah, Joe,

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Speaker 1: that's that's a really good one. So, I mean, I

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Speaker 1: can't say that we ever like once my older daughter

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Speaker 1: Anna was born, that that Laura and I ever sat

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Speaker 1: down and said, alright, things are changing now you know,

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Speaker 1: we have a kid. What are we gonna do now?

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Speaker 1: Like it was, it was less intentional. I wish I

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Speaker 1: thank you for giving me credit. But but I think

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Speaker 1: we had this path and at our core, we've always

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Speaker 1: been on this path and we've always seen the goal

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Speaker 1: and the end goal is I guess, ultimately having financial independence.

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Speaker 1: But really along the way it was Laura's staying at

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Speaker 1: home with the kids, right, and we were able to

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Speaker 1: do that. So when we set up this entire, like

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Speaker 1: I said, this framework of a life, we set it

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Speaker 1: up knowing that Laura was going to stop working. So

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Speaker 1: we had a significant savings rate with both of us working, obviously,

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Speaker 1: but even when she stopped working, and this was part

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Speaker 1: of the plan, was we still had a fairly significant

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Speaker 1: savings rate. Not that I was making a ton of money.

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Speaker 1: I guess. I don't think my base salary. I don't

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Speaker 1: think it was ever over a hundred thousands. So like

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Speaker 1: we're not talking about like a vice president of a

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Speaker 1: of a tax department or anything. I mean it was

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Speaker 1: I was a low to mid level manager at a

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Speaker 1: big baking company, right, So like we're not talking like

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Speaker 1: light the world on fire partner at Ernston Young type thing, right.

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Speaker 1: So this was it was just about being intentional about

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Speaker 1: all right, this is what we know, we're predict that

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Speaker 1: our lives are gonna look like when kids come around,

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Speaker 1: can we do this and can we still save money?

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Speaker 1: Because saving money was essential to us because we knew

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Speaker 1: that was what would get us there. And now, frankly,

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Speaker 1: guys like I never envisioned when I was twenty five

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Speaker 1: that I would be owning a number of websites that

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Speaker 1: talked about travel rewards and having this podcast that's getting

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Speaker 1: you know, crazy downloads and people all across the world.

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Speaker 1: Like that was so foreign to me. So, you know,

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Speaker 1: obviously owning your own businesses that's helped. That's helped some,

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Speaker 1: but at our fundamental essence, we haven't changed our spending habits,

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Speaker 1: and I think it always comes back to value for us.

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Speaker 1: So honestly, like we don't budget. I know a lot

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Speaker 1: of people do and and I fully fully respect that,

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Speaker 1: but like, I've never understood budgeting because I don't have to.

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Speaker 1: I don't think in that manner. It's I spend on

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Speaker 1: what I value, and that's just the simple fact of

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Speaker 1: the matter, right, So, like I'm not worried about the

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Speaker 1: cash follower of that month, or if I'm budgeting to

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Speaker 1: save and I still have some money left over and

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Speaker 1: now I can go and spend it. No, like it

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Speaker 1: just naturally goes in the bank for me. So and

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Speaker 1: I love, actually, if you don't mind turning it around

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Speaker 1: on you guys, and I love to hear what your

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Speaker 1: thoughts are on budgeting it if you don't mind. Yeah, So,

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Speaker 1: when it comes to budgeting for me, I was very

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Speaker 1: similar to you, Brad for the longest time when cut

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Speaker 1: from the same cloth. For I didn't I didn't need

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Speaker 1: a budget when I was single. My natural tendency was

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Speaker 1: just to save more, put put more into my four

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Speaker 1: O n K or I ra A and and to

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Speaker 1: put more into my same US account to save up

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Speaker 1: for a rental property whatever. And then when I got married,

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Speaker 1: budgeting for for me kind of became this necessity to

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Speaker 1: be able to communicate about money well with my wife.

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Speaker 1: So we have to put the numbers down on paper

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Speaker 1: and we have to be able to talk about it

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Speaker 1: because my frugal nature, I think was kind of cramp

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Speaker 1: up my wife style really in a big way. So

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Speaker 1: we had to kind of get that stuff down so

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Speaker 1: we could communicate about money well. But I completely understand

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Speaker 1: that if it was just me, I could get away

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Speaker 1: with not budgeting and be totally fine. Yeah. And I've

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Speaker 1: always been all about the numbers. I think it's really

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Speaker 1: fascinating Brad that. I mean, you're a c p A

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Speaker 1: and so you deal with the minution, right, like the

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Speaker 1: details of the numbers. And it's interesting that you know,

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Speaker 1: you don't see yourself I guess being drawn towards that personally.

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Speaker 1: But sort of like what Joel said and alluded to,

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Speaker 1: is you know what that budget was able to allow

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Speaker 1: him and his wife. I saw that from the beginning

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Speaker 1: for myself, even just personally, right, even when I was single,

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Speaker 1: I saw that this is a way for me to

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Speaker 1: discipline my money essentially, right, we're talking about cross it,

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Speaker 1: and you know, putting those numbers down within that spreadsheet

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Speaker 1: was the equivalent maybe of you showing up and and

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Speaker 1: working out with these other guys and girls. You're kind

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Speaker 1: of spurring each other on. And when there's accountability like that,

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Speaker 1: I found that I was able to do much more

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Speaker 1: with my money. So, Brad, though, real quick, I want

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Speaker 1: to reframe that previous question about kids. You and your

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Speaker 1: wife discovered financial independence, you know how that was a

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Speaker 1: goal for you to strive after before you had kids,

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Speaker 1: And for a lot of folks, they want to make

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Speaker 1: sure that they achieve financial independence, or at least they

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Speaker 1: have their finances in a healthy place. That way, when

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Speaker 1: the kids do come on the scene, it's a big

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Speaker 1: goal of theirs to be able to spend as much

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Speaker 1: time with their kids, to have that flexibility. A lot

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Speaker 1: of folks just don't want to make some of those

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Speaker 1: sacrifices once kids are on the scene. But what would

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Speaker 1: you say to folks who have not discovered financial independence

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Speaker 1: yet but they do already have kids. I mean, I'm

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Speaker 1: seeing this for myself because there's always a balance that

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Speaker 1: I am personally trying to strive to maintain between being

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Speaker 1: the sort of father and the kind of husband that

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Speaker 1: I want to be to my family, while at the

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Speaker 1: same time trying to achieve some of these more lofty

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Speaker 1: financial goals, you know, investment properties or ultimately financial independence. So, yeah,

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Speaker 1: what are your thoughts on balance? So I guess quick

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Speaker 1: question right back to you is do you think that

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Speaker 1: in order to achieve I guess those lofty goals as

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Speaker 1: you're describing, like, does that take significant time? Like is

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Speaker 1: that what we're talking about ultimately like side hustles and

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Speaker 1: things that would take you away from your kids. Yes, exactly,

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Speaker 1: I mean I think for a lot of early on,

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Speaker 1: they're willing to make some of those times sacrifices to

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Speaker 1: you know, get ahead, to work a little bit harder,

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Speaker 1: burn the midnight oil. You've got the side hustles, the

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Speaker 1: side gigs. So yeah, yeah, time, Yeah, I mean time

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Speaker 1: is it's a tough animal, right, There's only twenty four

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Speaker 1: hours in a day. And and I think, just like anything,

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Speaker 1: you need to prioritize. So, I mean, are things going

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Speaker 1: to change when you have kids? Or I guess in

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Speaker 1: this case, if you're talking about families that that already

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Speaker 1: have kids, I mean, I think kind of the larger

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Speaker 1: point is that not everyone's five journey looks the same.

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Speaker 1: And that's how it's going to be. That's how it

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Speaker 1: has to be. That's how it's supposed to be, right,

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Speaker 1: It's it's just about making your life better. So you

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Speaker 1: can you could reframe that question actually twenty different ways, right,

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Speaker 1: Like is five possible for someone on a lower income,

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Speaker 1: It's five possible for someone who's fifty two and in debt.

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Speaker 1: Is five possible for someone with seven kids? So are

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Speaker 1: those paths all going to look very different? Of course

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Speaker 1: they are, But are you going to be in a

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Speaker 1: worse place five years from now. If you're trying to

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Speaker 1: get on a path to FI, then you are today. No,

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Speaker 1: of course, not right, because this is all about intentionality

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Speaker 1: and as we call it, it's about that we picked

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Speaker 1: up this phrase. It's the aggregation of marginal gains, right,

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Speaker 1: It's just getting one percent better at all these various

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Speaker 1: aspects of your life. It's not about up ending your

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Speaker 1: life and making everyone in your family miserable, you know,

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Speaker 1: your spouse, your kids and being a miser right like,

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Speaker 1: that is not what fire is about. To me. I

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Speaker 1: think it's akin like that type of thing is akin

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Speaker 1: to going on a diet. It's this deprivation mindset. It's

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Speaker 1: a short termism that I fundamentally disagree with with every

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Speaker 1: fiber of my being. Honestly, Guys like to me, FI

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Speaker 1: and just living a better life is about just looking

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Speaker 1: for these little winds and when you stack five, T

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Speaker 1: fifty a thousand of them over a decade or two decades,

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Speaker 1: you were going to have a better life. And yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean, you know, if you want to get into

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Speaker 1: the nitty gritty of of kids, I mean I think

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Speaker 1: for me personally, kids have helped me focus my energy

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Speaker 1: towards five, because I've realized how little you really need

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Speaker 1: to be happy. I know you guys are big board

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Speaker 1: game nuts. And actually my kids downstairs and my wife

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Speaker 1: while we're recording this or playing uh, Settlers of katan

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Speaker 1: Asia right now, and we had half of a suitcase

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Speaker 1: to Hawaii with board games. So like board games cost

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Speaker 1: thirty dollars each, you know, or whatever each, and we

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Speaker 1: spend hundreds of hours playing them. So like for us,

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Speaker 1: that's family time, that's teaching skills. Like again, it comes

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Speaker 1: back to just being better, right, So, like my seven

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Speaker 1: year old can play board games in an adult level

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Speaker 1: at any table in the world in my estimation, because

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Speaker 1: she plays with us all the time, and because we

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Speaker 1: talk strategy and we talk just different ways to go

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Speaker 1: about it, different ways to think. And I think that

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Speaker 1: is a hallmark of five. Is just kind of looking

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Speaker 1: at the problem a little bit differently, looking at the

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Speaker 1: world a little bit differently, right, and just trying to

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Speaker 1: get a little bit better. So, honestly, guys, I think

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Speaker 1: it's all part and parcel of the same path to five.

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Speaker 1: Good thoughts, man, really really good thoughts. And you know

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Speaker 1: what another hallmark I would say of a path of

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Speaker 1: financial independence is using credit cards well to score free

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Speaker 1: travel for you and your family. And we're going to

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Speaker 1: get into some of those tips with Brad. He's got

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Speaker 1: so much expertise there right after the break. All right, Joe,

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Speaker 1: we're back from the break and we've got Brad Barrett

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Speaker 1: with us. Brad, we're gonna launch into talking about some

430
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:54,800
Speaker 1: credit cards. Now, can you tell us a little bit

431
00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:57,520
Speaker 1: about your history with credit cards? How did you learn

432
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:02,080
Speaker 1: to handle them so wisely? I think this probably came

433
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,480
Speaker 1: from from my mom, I would imagine, so it was

434
00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:08,840
Speaker 1: ingreined to me very early to pay your cards off

435
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:13,040
Speaker 1: on time and in full every single month. That credit

436
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:16,880
Speaker 1: card interests will just destroy you. Honestly, I don't remember

437
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:19,880
Speaker 1: like an overt lesson, but I know it was brought

438
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:23,080
Speaker 1: up multiple times because by the time I was twenty two,

439
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,159
Speaker 1: when I was out of college and and had my

440
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:30,359
Speaker 1: first job, I opened my first credit card. And it

441
00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,240
Speaker 1: was never like, oh boy, I've got a five dollar

442
00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,960
Speaker 1: limited spending spree. Time, it was all right, I'm going

443
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:39,240
Speaker 1: to use this for all of my purchases, right, And

444
00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,639
Speaker 1: I think I've always looked at credit cards as a

445
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:47,080
Speaker 1: financial tool. Now clearly as you guys well know, credit

446
00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:51,280
Speaker 1: cards can destroy people, and unfortunately millions of people are

447
00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,040
Speaker 1: mired in debt because of credit cards and because of

448
00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:58,240
Speaker 1: really ultimately their their lack of the right behavior with

449
00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,520
Speaker 1: credit cards, which to me is spending the same as

450
00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:03,720
Speaker 1: you would with any other method, right with cash or

451
00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:06,080
Speaker 1: debit or check or who who the heck knows what

452
00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:08,800
Speaker 1: people do any anymore, but you know, spending the same,

453
00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:10,880
Speaker 1: So not spending more because you have your credit card

454
00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,639
Speaker 1: and paying it off on time and in full. I

455
00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:17,280
Speaker 1: think if you can do those things, then credit cards

456
00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:20,080
Speaker 1: are this wonderful tool. In essence, you don't have to

457
00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:22,600
Speaker 1: walk around with cash. I like I said, I went

458
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,760
Speaker 1: to Hawaii, we went to Scotland and England last year,

459
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,120
Speaker 1: and I didn't have to get a ton of paper

460
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,680
Speaker 1: currency yet. Because credit cards work everywhere, there's security with them.

461
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,520
Speaker 1: It's not giving somebody your debit card where they can

462
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,520
Speaker 1: essentially liquid et your bank account if something went wrong

463
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,000
Speaker 1: with it. And you know, naturally there are some safeguards,

464
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,560
Speaker 1: of course, but there are a lot more protections when

465
00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:48,600
Speaker 1: it comes to credit cards. And I mean, I guess

466
00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:50,280
Speaker 1: also in essence, if you want to look at this way,

467
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,400
Speaker 1: you're you're getting like a roughly thirty day interest free loan,

468
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:57,080
Speaker 1: because the interest doesn't start accruing the day that you spend.

469
00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,520
Speaker 1: It starts occurring if you miss your payment or you

470
00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:02,679
Speaker 1: don't pay on time and in full, right like in

471
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,399
Speaker 1: full each month. If there's still a balance, then the

472
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,439
Speaker 1: interest kicks in. So and then, obviously, guys, I think

473
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 1: you're waiting for me to say this, there's rewards points,

474
00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:14,320
Speaker 1: and I think that's where I've succeeded wildly. But you know,

475
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,520
Speaker 1: I started pretty modestly. I guess, you know, I had

476
00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,120
Speaker 1: I think a credit card that got me like one

477
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,840
Speaker 1: percent back might have even been less way back in

478
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:24,960
Speaker 1: the day when I first opened them. But you know,

479
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:26,639
Speaker 1: it felt nice at the end of the year to

480
00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,800
Speaker 1: get a check for eighty bucks or two hundred bucks, right,

481
00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:32,760
Speaker 1: and it just felt like free money. It felt like winning. Frankly,

482
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,399
Speaker 1: So I think that's that's kind of my general like history,

483
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,240
Speaker 1: which is I put everything that I can possibly spend

484
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,359
Speaker 1: on a credit card on it, and I paid on

485
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:43,840
Speaker 1: time and in full every month. And I've done that

486
00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:46,840
Speaker 1: since I was a twenty two year old kid. So Brad,

487
00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:48,760
Speaker 1: you've been doing that for a long time. You've you've

488
00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,640
Speaker 1: gotten a lot of free travel for essentially just using

489
00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 1: a credit card for what you would have paid cash

490
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,159
Speaker 1: or written a check for. So let's get into it, like,

491
00:24:56,240 --> 00:25:00,680
Speaker 1: how did you start using credit cards to really get

492
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:03,159
Speaker 1: just a ridiculous amount of free travel for you and

493
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,920
Speaker 1: your family? Yeah, so I guess we'll go to the

494
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:09,320
Speaker 1: inception story. So about I think it was like seven

495
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:12,480
Speaker 1: years ago. You guys know j d Roth from from

496
00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:15,359
Speaker 1: the blog get Rich Slowly He and you know that's

497
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:18,840
Speaker 1: like the godfather of of the personal finance blogosphere. That

498
00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:21,080
Speaker 1: was the original blog. And I mean I looked up

499
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,280
Speaker 1: to j D. I read every single blog and he

500
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:26,920
Speaker 1: had a post I forgot. I want to say, he

501
00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:31,200
Speaker 1: was like April of twenty eleven or twelve about the

502
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:35,600
Speaker 1: British Airways visa card at the time had a hundred

503
00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:38,879
Speaker 1: thousand mile bonus, And I'm like, what on earth can

504
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:42,240
Speaker 1: I do with with British Airways miles? Like I don't

505
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,359
Speaker 1: want to fly to England necessarily, Like I'm looking to

506
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,920
Speaker 1: take travel, take trips closer to home and such. But

507
00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:50,760
Speaker 1: but I really looked up to j D and he's

508
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,040
Speaker 1: like and in this blog post he said there is

509
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,479
Speaker 1: a lot of value here, and and people are opening

510
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:57,399
Speaker 1: these cards and instead of getting, like I said, on

511
00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:01,280
Speaker 1: my old card, one percent, you're getting a hundred thousand miles.

512
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,200
Speaker 1: And it just sounded crazy to me, like why would

513
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:06,520
Speaker 1: the credit card companies do this? But but in essence,

514
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,600
Speaker 1: they're looking for good customers. You can't get these premium

515
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,320
Speaker 1: travel cards unless you have a significant, significant credit score,

516
00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:17,760
Speaker 1: well over seven hundred in most cases. And you know,

517
00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:20,000
Speaker 1: it was one of these things where it was like

518
00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:22,119
Speaker 1: a trust but Verify. I did some research and it

519
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,480
Speaker 1: seemed legit, and I also seemed like I'd have an

520
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:30,080
Speaker 1: opportunity to redeem those points actually on American airlines which

521
00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,240
Speaker 1: flew from Richmond to New York, which, as I said before,

522
00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,359
Speaker 1: those are basically my two homes. So we open this

523
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 1: one card. I forget what what the minimum spending requirement

524
00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:41,720
Speaker 1: on it then was. It was probably two thousand dollars

525
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:43,840
Speaker 1: in the first three months, and of course I'm paying

526
00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 1: it off on time and in fall, so no interest expense.

527
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:49,439
Speaker 1: And I got these hundred thousand miles and guys, I

528
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,119
Speaker 1: kid you not, we turn them into and now this

529
00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,600
Speaker 1: deal doesn't exist in quite this manner, but it is

530
00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:58,040
Speaker 1: still to some degree. I turned it into eleven round

531
00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 1: trip flights from Richmond in New York, no joke, And

532
00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 1: it was insane. It was my best, my best redemption

533
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:09,680
Speaker 1: ever and from my very first card. So those were

534
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:11,960
Speaker 1: for feeling like the coolest dude on the face of

535
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:13,960
Speaker 1: the pandet, Like when you did that, Yeah, oh my god,

536
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,440
Speaker 1: I felt amazing because I got like forty four hundred

537
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:21,440
Speaker 1: dollars worth of value out of this, these hundred thousand miles,

538
00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,480
Speaker 1: and it was easiest can be. And guys, it was fun.

539
00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,760
Speaker 1: It was fun learning about how to redeem these miles.

540
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,840
Speaker 1: Like it's a fun game when you you earn these

541
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,760
Speaker 1: miles and you get to spend them, right, and if

542
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,560
Speaker 1: you're flexible with your travel. I know a lot of

543
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 1: people talk about travel rewards, as you've heard the common

544
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:42,200
Speaker 1: laments like, oh, they're a scam, these freaking flyer miles,

545
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,359
Speaker 1: I can never redeem them, all this other nonsense. And

546
00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,160
Speaker 1: I mean there's some validity to that, I guess, guys,

547
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,720
Speaker 1: in the sense that there are a finite number of

548
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:54,320
Speaker 1: these Savor Awards seeds because frankly, other people want to

549
00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:56,720
Speaker 1: book them and the airlines aren't giving away every seed.

550
00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,920
Speaker 1: But if you're flexible and you can plan in advance,

551
00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:03,440
Speaker 1: you can find these savor level seats and you can

552
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,679
Speaker 1: get amazing, amazing deals. So yeah, I mean that was

553
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:10,880
Speaker 1: my very best deal and from my very first card.

554
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,960
Speaker 1: So yeah, that's kind of my inception story. Well, Brad,

555
00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,080
Speaker 1: in order to get those points and to get those miles,

556
00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:18,399
Speaker 1: you obviously you've got to put expenses on that card.

557
00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:21,240
Speaker 1: And so for you, is there an expense that you

558
00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 1: think most folks don't think of that you and your wife,

559
00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:27,680
Speaker 1: that you're putting on your cards. Yeah, so we try

560
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,520
Speaker 1: to put everything we possibly can. So I think a

561
00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:34,120
Speaker 1: lot of people miss out on utilities. I know we

562
00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:38,280
Speaker 1: were able to put our Verizon or Comcast bills on there.

563
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:42,600
Speaker 1: I think some utility companies allow you to put like

564
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: water bills and electric bills and things like that. The

565
00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 1: big I guess kind of caveat here is you never

566
00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:50,320
Speaker 1: want to pay a fee. I think that's kind of

567
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:54,000
Speaker 1: one of my guiding lights for personal finance generally, is

568
00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,840
Speaker 1: if you're getting hit with fees just in any aspect.

569
00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,560
Speaker 1: Is not limited to credit cards, but there's usually a

570
00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,560
Speaker 1: better way. Now that said, there are some fees, like

571
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:06,560
Speaker 1: for me, there's some credit card annual fees that I

572
00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:10,480
Speaker 1: very willingly and happily pay because I get value out

573
00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,240
Speaker 1: of that card that's way more than the annual fee.

574
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,719
Speaker 1: So you know, of course, just like anything, it's you

575
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:17,520
Speaker 1: have to know yourself and you have to know what

576
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:21,120
Speaker 1: you value. So you know that that all said, I

577
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,120
Speaker 1: think you can put most things in life. I mean,

578
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,400
Speaker 1: we haven't figured out a way to put our mortgage

579
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:27,640
Speaker 1: on there used to be away a long time ago,

580
00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,480
Speaker 1: but that yeah, that's almost impossible. But but yeah, I

581
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,320
Speaker 1: mean short of that, we put pretty much everything out.

582
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:35,720
Speaker 1: So if we go to the grocery store, if we

583
00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,360
Speaker 1: go you know, my kids are in a swimming program,

584
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:40,600
Speaker 1: and we just pay it all in one fell swoop

585
00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:42,520
Speaker 1: and and just put it on a credit card. And

586
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,520
Speaker 1: that's usually enough to hit a minimum spending requirement to

587
00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:48,480
Speaker 1: get one of these massive sign up bonuses. So you know,

588
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,120
Speaker 1: if if you're smart about it, you can definitely earn

589
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,040
Speaker 1: a number of these bonuses, and and really over a

590
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,120
Speaker 1: course of months and probably you know, potentially twelve to

591
00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:01,080
Speaker 1: eighteen months, you can put together a trip that is

592
00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,160
Speaker 1: saving you thousands upon thousands of dollars. But but I

593
00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:08,080
Speaker 1: think It comes back again to intentionality and planning. If

594
00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:12,240
Speaker 1: you're impulsive, if you're you need that that instant gratification,

595
00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:15,120
Speaker 1: well you're probably not going to get the best deal.

596
00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:16,960
Speaker 1: I think you can probably still save some money. But

597
00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:20,320
Speaker 1: if you're intentional and you can plan, then yeah, I

598
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:22,520
Speaker 1: mean you can travel pretty much anywhere in the world

599
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:24,800
Speaker 1: that you want to go. Yeah. I love what you

600
00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:26,520
Speaker 1: said about annual fees. I think there are a lot

601
00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:29,320
Speaker 1: of people that see the headline annual fee for credit

602
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:31,920
Speaker 1: card and they out of hand dismiss it. They say, well,

603
00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:34,480
Speaker 1: that's that's too expensive. I'm never gonna get the value

604
00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,240
Speaker 1: out of that card for the cost of the annual fee.

605
00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:39,640
Speaker 1: But when you're talking about the sign up bonuses that

606
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,040
Speaker 1: are available, and when you talk about just some of

607
00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:46,440
Speaker 1: the the underlying offers that that credit cards offer alongside

608
00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:48,000
Speaker 1: of that, So it might not just be the sign

609
00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:50,920
Speaker 1: up bonus, but there might be a multi hundred dollar

610
00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:54,360
Speaker 1: credit that you can get towards traveled every year just

611
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:56,200
Speaker 1: by signing up for that card. So there are all

612
00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:59,080
Speaker 1: these other ancillary benefits to having credit cards too if

613
00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:00,960
Speaker 1: you use them. Well, on that note, I want to

614
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:03,040
Speaker 1: ask you, Brad, do you have any tools or tips

615
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:05,600
Speaker 1: for folks who are using credit cards, but they want

616
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:07,600
Speaker 1: to make sure they're staying on top of their spending.

617
00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:09,640
Speaker 1: They want to make sure that if they're going to

618
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:11,840
Speaker 1: go this route and try to sign up for credit

619
00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,440
Speaker 1: cards banking on the fact that they can travel essentially

620
00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,040
Speaker 1: for free if they do it well, how can they

621
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,040
Speaker 1: stay on top of their spending so that they're not

622
00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,640
Speaker 1: falling into that credit card debt trap every month? Yeah,

623
00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:25,640
Speaker 1: I mean, I think this comes back to just behavior, right,

624
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:29,760
Speaker 1: and and just kind of going in and not impulse buying, like,

625
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,240
Speaker 1: oh I need to hit this spending requirement, so let

626
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,080
Speaker 1: me go buy all this junk that I don't need.

627
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,440
Speaker 1: I mean, I think I think people need to to

628
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,240
Speaker 1: be smart just about how they spend their money. Like

629
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:43,240
Speaker 1: I I don't have any like amazing killer tips other

630
00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 1: than like they are ways to set up I think

631
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:47,680
Speaker 1: this is kind of after the fact, but you can

632
00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:51,040
Speaker 1: set up alerts on on what spending is coming through,

633
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:54,520
Speaker 1: I know, like in order to to not get into

634
00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:58,200
Speaker 1: trouble with with credit cards generally. I just mentioned like

635
00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,280
Speaker 1: paying it on time and in full, right, And what

636
00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:02,480
Speaker 1: I do actually is I set up when I first

637
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:05,440
Speaker 1: open up a credit card, I set up an automatic

638
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:09,720
Speaker 1: payment to pay the entire balance every single month. That way,

639
00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,719
Speaker 1: there's no surprises. I'm not missing something, because to me,

640
00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:15,600
Speaker 1: that would be catastrophic, right, like to pay a lead penalty,

641
00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 1: Like how galling would that be? To pay a lead

642
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:21,480
Speaker 1: penalty and interest on top of it, just because I

643
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:24,880
Speaker 1: wasn't organized. So I mean, I think, I think maybe

644
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,800
Speaker 1: maybe to your question, like being organized is a crucial

645
00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,880
Speaker 1: crucial aspect of using credit cards properly. It's it's understanding

646
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:35,520
Speaker 1: when these do dates are right. Like for me, I

647
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,320
Speaker 1: keep extra money in my checking account because I never

648
00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:41,840
Speaker 1: want to be scrambling for cash. I know that's not optimal,

649
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,479
Speaker 1: you know, because I could invest that money clearly and

650
00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:47,080
Speaker 1: it could be doing better for me. But the peace

651
00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:50,160
Speaker 1: of mind for me personally of having that extra cushion

652
00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:52,840
Speaker 1: in the in the checking account to not have to

653
00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,520
Speaker 1: worry if my credit card bill is five bucks extra

654
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,640
Speaker 1: that month, right, It's it's just there and I don't

655
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,840
Speaker 1: have to stress. So I think that's a huge aspect

656
00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:04,640
Speaker 1: of how I set up my entire financial life, not

657
00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:07,239
Speaker 1: not just credit cards, is try to set it up

658
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,480
Speaker 1: so it's on autopilot. But so that I'm never stressing

659
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:13,240
Speaker 1: about the cash flow of oh am I going to

660
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:17,320
Speaker 1: get paid on Thursday, but I have this bill coming

661
00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:19,240
Speaker 1: out on Wednesday? What am I gonna do? Right? Like

662
00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:22,320
Speaker 1: that is a really really stressful existence to me, And

663
00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:25,400
Speaker 1: I think just following the path to file, like even

664
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:29,680
Speaker 1: if you're not anywhere near financial independence, right, Like, it's

665
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:33,000
Speaker 1: not just a binary zero or one like financially independent

666
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:36,840
Speaker 1: or not. It's every step along the way you accrue

667
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,680
Speaker 1: some power in your corner. Right. So, if you were

668
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,240
Speaker 1: paycheck to paycheck and now you have five thousand dollars

669
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,000
Speaker 1: in the bank, your life is dramatically better. Think about

670
00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:48,360
Speaker 1: when you have ten thousand or twenty your life is

671
00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,280
Speaker 1: better still. And then it can cause you to make

672
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:53,720
Speaker 1: decisions like you know I talked about jokingly with the

673
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:56,160
Speaker 1: CrossFit thing, or in this case, like you just set

674
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,720
Speaker 1: your credit card up for auto pay and you never

675
00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:01,160
Speaker 1: have to worry about missing it. Yeah, but it makes

676
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:03,320
Speaker 1: me think of what you mentioned earlier about having like

677
00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:05,400
Speaker 1: that thirty day interest free loan. I think for a

678
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:07,680
Speaker 1: lot of folks that really can be an issue, right

679
00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:10,239
Speaker 1: because it might be thirty days, it might even be sixty, Right,

680
00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:11,640
Speaker 1: if you make a purchase at the beginning of the

681
00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 1: building cycle, the statement comes due, and then if that

682
00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:17,399
Speaker 1: statement isn't due for another thirty days. Man, it's close

683
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,839
Speaker 1: to sixty days before you actually feel that pain, right, like,

684
00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:23,640
Speaker 1: of that money leaving your account. And like you said,

685
00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:26,480
Speaker 1: I think staying organizes is so clutch. We're gonna talk

686
00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,479
Speaker 1: about some additional credit card benefits. Specifically, we're gonna launch

687
00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:32,279
Speaker 1: more into the travel benefits. But first let's take a

688
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:44,080
Speaker 1: quick break. All right, Well back, we're talking with Brad Barrett,

689
00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:47,440
Speaker 1: co host of the Choose Fi podcast. And Brad, we

690
00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:51,000
Speaker 1: were talking about credit card travel rewards and we heard

691
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:53,319
Speaker 1: about your first credit card sign up. But what are

692
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:55,239
Speaker 1: some of the best trips that you've taken thanks to

693
00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:58,960
Speaker 1: credit card travel rewards since that first sweet bonus that

694
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,640
Speaker 1: you got? Yeah, there there have been a lot. Yeah,

695
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:05,640
Speaker 1: we've been really fortunate. I think the the biggest one

696
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:07,759
Speaker 1: or or the one that sticks to my mind the

697
00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:10,800
Speaker 1: most is our trip to our family trip to Disney World.

698
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,640
Speaker 1: So my I have two young daughters and they, you know,

699
00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,120
Speaker 1: desperately wanted to go to Disney World and it's just

700
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:18,320
Speaker 1: it's very expensive. I mean, I don't know if you

701
00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:20,080
Speaker 1: guys have priced it out yet, but it's it's like

702
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:23,640
Speaker 1: four to five grand. Oh yeah, it's coming, don't worry.

703
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:27,960
Speaker 1: So but I just couldn't stomach spending that money. And

704
00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:30,319
Speaker 1: I did a lot of research and figured out I

705
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,319
Speaker 1: could use rewards points to pay for the flights, the

706
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,960
Speaker 1: on site Disney hotel, and for Disney Park tickets. So

707
00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:39,560
Speaker 1: we did that for our family. I think instead of

708
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,200
Speaker 1: it being a little over four thousand, I think we

709
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:44,759
Speaker 1: paid a hundred and fifty out of pocket, which was

710
00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:48,719
Speaker 1: just amazing and actually right, like how cool is that?

711
00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,839
Speaker 1: And and my parents joined us, my wife's parents joined us,

712
00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:55,000
Speaker 1: and we had this amazing like three generation trip to

713
00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,600
Speaker 1: Disney World, and each of us, each of the three

714
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:00,719
Speaker 1: families spent a little over a hundred bucks out of good. Well, Brad,

715
00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:03,400
Speaker 1: do you have any specific cards for Disney in particular?

716
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,200
Speaker 1: Are there any cards that kind of, I don't know,

717
00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:08,640
Speaker 1: maybe cater their benefits towards a trip like Disney. Yeah, yeah,

718
00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:12,760
Speaker 1: so good question. I think the hardest aspect to figure

719
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:16,960
Speaker 1: out was the park tickets. So a card like the

720
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:21,839
Speaker 1: Capital one Venture where you basically purchase travel on your

721
00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:24,319
Speaker 1: credit card, you're just paying for it, like normal just

722
00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:27,440
Speaker 1: with your credit card, and if it codes as a

723
00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:31,080
Speaker 1: travel expense, then you can use your Capital one miles

724
00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:34,160
Speaker 1: to offset that expense. So I actually did a ton

725
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:37,520
Speaker 1: of research and found this website. It's an official Disney

726
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:41,360
Speaker 1: authorized ticket seller. It's called Undercover Tourists because if you

727
00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:44,360
Speaker 1: buy from Disney, evidently it doesn't work. It doesn't code

728
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:46,800
Speaker 1: as travel. But if you buy it from Undercover Tours,

729
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:49,759
Speaker 1: it's such a weird quirk it does count as travel. So,

730
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:53,439
Speaker 1: uh yeah, Capital one Barkley Card Arrival Plus I don't

731
00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:56,400
Speaker 1: think is currently being offered, but that card comes and goes,

732
00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,360
Speaker 1: so if that is ever available in the future, that

733
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:01,960
Speaker 1: might be an op. And Capital one has a Spark

734
00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:05,640
Speaker 1: Miles card as well that operates this very similar fashion

735
00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:08,200
Speaker 1: to the Venture cards. And you know, each spouse or

736
00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:11,560
Speaker 1: significant other, each adult, basically let's say, can open a

737
00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:15,920
Speaker 1: card in their name and they can each earn the bonus.

738
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,239
Speaker 1: So you know, my wife and I were each able

739
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:21,319
Speaker 1: to open up a Capital one Venture card and you know,

740
00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:23,120
Speaker 1: depending on what the bonus was at the time, I

741
00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:26,280
Speaker 1: think we got fifty thousand miles at the time, plus

742
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:29,120
Speaker 1: the points we spent we earned for the spending so

743
00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:31,920
Speaker 1: I think we got like eleven hundred and twenty dollars

744
00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:34,320
Speaker 1: in free park tickets just from those two credit cards,

745
00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:38,520
Speaker 1: So I mean that was awesome. Uh. Southwest has a

746
00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:42,200
Speaker 1: huge presence in Orlando, and Southwest is actually the easiest

747
00:37:42,239 --> 00:37:45,279
Speaker 1: of all of the miles to use because they don't

748
00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:47,360
Speaker 1: limit it based on those savor awards that I was

749
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:50,359
Speaker 1: talking about before. It's just like a simple function of

750
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:54,239
Speaker 1: the cash price. So Southwest miles are really easy to

751
00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:57,360
Speaker 1: come by with a bunch of the different Southwest credit

752
00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:01,400
Speaker 1: cards and also Chase Ultimate Rewards Points, which are actually

753
00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:06,200
Speaker 1: my number one points. Those transfer to become Southwest miles,

754
00:38:06,239 --> 00:38:09,000
Speaker 1: so those are pretty easy to come by. And then

755
00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:12,720
Speaker 1: the hotel I use star Ward Points at that time,

756
00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:16,320
Speaker 1: but they've since been purchased by Marriott, so you can

757
00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:19,920
Speaker 1: use the Marriott points, and again they're at Chase Ultimate

758
00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:23,520
Speaker 1: Rewards Transfer partner, though that's not optimal, and there are

759
00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:27,080
Speaker 1: many Marriott cards. Uh. You can use those points to

760
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:30,799
Speaker 1: book the Disney, Swan and Dolphin hotels, which are like

761
00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:34,600
Speaker 1: these real luxury properties right there next to Epcot. So yeah,

762
00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:37,480
Speaker 1: I mean, there really are pretty easy ways to to

763
00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:40,200
Speaker 1: do that to get to Disney World. Nice, Brad, Wow,

764
00:38:40,239 --> 00:38:42,239
Speaker 1: that's so much information just about how to get to

765
00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:44,440
Speaker 1: Disney for people. Have to put a lot of that

766
00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:47,200
Speaker 1: in our show notes on on our website. Cool, No,

767
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:50,720
Speaker 1: that would be awesome. And actually my original website, Richmond

768
00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:55,319
Speaker 1: Savers dot com, we actually have an article specifically on

769
00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:57,520
Speaker 1: how to get to Disney World, so that's step by step.

770
00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:01,000
Speaker 1: We also offer like, ah, this little like challenge like

771
00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:03,839
Speaker 1: coaching program. Actually that's free. So yeah, I mean if

772
00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:06,960
Speaker 1: anybody is interested in that, that is available awesome. Yeah,

773
00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:09,200
Speaker 1: we'll definitely link to that as well. And I love

774
00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:12,000
Speaker 1: the tip too that that both spouses can essentially apply

775
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:13,520
Speaker 1: for the card as well and get the bonus I

776
00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:16,680
Speaker 1: want to ask you for for people that aren't terribly

777
00:39:16,719 --> 00:39:20,240
Speaker 1: familiar with with credit card travel rewards. Can these points

778
00:39:20,239 --> 00:39:23,000
Speaker 1: go to waste? Is is there sort of a time?

779
00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:25,200
Speaker 1: Is there like to use it or lose it? How

780
00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:27,480
Speaker 1: do these points work? Where do they sit? And then

781
00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:30,120
Speaker 1: how hard is it to actually redeem the points? Okay,

782
00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:31,960
Speaker 1: if you thought a lot of information was coming on

783
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:33,839
Speaker 1: that last one, and give me, give me a little

784
00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:35,840
Speaker 1: a couple of minutes here that I'm gonna be as

785
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:38,400
Speaker 1: near as I possibly can. But but but there is

786
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:42,880
Speaker 1: a lot here. So there are three broad categories of

787
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:47,560
Speaker 1: travel rewards points, okay, And it is very very hard

788
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:51,720
Speaker 1: to lose these points if you're organized and if you're aware, Okay,

789
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:53,880
Speaker 1: people who are listening to this and are and are

790
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:56,400
Speaker 1: excited about it, Like, as long as you're organized, it

791
00:39:56,520 --> 00:39:58,840
Speaker 1: is very hard to lose the points, but it is possible,

792
00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:01,680
Speaker 1: So I think that's that's important to note. So the

793
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:05,799
Speaker 1: first broad category are the transferable points. So, like I

794
00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:09,640
Speaker 1: mentioned before, Chase Ultimate Rewards points, right, and am X

795
00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:13,560
Speaker 1: has their membership rewards points, City has their thank you points.

796
00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:18,279
Speaker 1: So these points reside in the credit card account, okay.

797
00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:21,520
Speaker 1: So if you had those points and for some reason

798
00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:23,680
Speaker 1: you close the card and you still have the points,

799
00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:27,200
Speaker 1: they would be gone, all right, because they are associated

800
00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:29,480
Speaker 1: with that credit card account. So that is like a

801
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:32,319
Speaker 1: catastrophic mistake to make, is to close one of those

802
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:35,200
Speaker 1: bank cards when you have points. Now, in the case

803
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:37,840
Speaker 1: of like Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can redeem them a

804
00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:42,080
Speaker 1: number of ways, but the most optimal is to transfer them.

805
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,080
Speaker 1: Like I said, to their transfer partners. They have a

806
00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:49,160
Speaker 1: bunch of airline and hotel transfer partners, including like Hyatt

807
00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:52,799
Speaker 1: and Southwest, United and British Airways. Those are four of

808
00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:54,520
Speaker 1: my favorites, but they I think they have at least

809
00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:57,320
Speaker 1: a dozen, it might be thirteen. Now, yeah, So I

810
00:40:57,360 --> 00:40:59,640
Speaker 1: mean you have a ton of flexibility just getting those

811
00:40:59,719 --> 00:41:02,520
Speaker 1: ultimate Rewards points. And ultimate rewards come from a card

812
00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:05,920
Speaker 1: like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Chase Sapphire Reserve. They have

813
00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:08,480
Speaker 1: an inc business preferred cards. So there are a lot

814
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:10,600
Speaker 1: of ways to earn those points. And like I said,

815
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:12,440
Speaker 1: if you had the points, they reside in your account,

816
00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:15,200
Speaker 1: in your bank account, you could lose them theoretically, but

817
00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:17,480
Speaker 1: once you transfer them. Let's say I sent them to

818
00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:20,640
Speaker 1: Southwest and I wanted to book that flight to to Orlando.

819
00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:24,080
Speaker 1: They are Southwest miles at that point. They are no

820
00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:27,640
Speaker 1: longer related to Chase, all right, So I can't transfer

821
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:30,359
Speaker 1: them back to Chase. It's a one way thing. They

822
00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:34,759
Speaker 1: are Southwest miles from their forward Okay, So whatever you

823
00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:38,360
Speaker 1: do with your credit card account thereafter is irrelevant to

824
00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:42,360
Speaker 1: those Southwest miles that are sitting in your Southwest Rapid

825
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:47,399
Speaker 1: Rewards account, all right. So but that said, there are

826
00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:51,359
Speaker 1: expiration policies of each of the airlines and hotels, so

827
00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:56,040
Speaker 1: it's very very very easy to extend the expiration. In

828
00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:59,719
Speaker 1: most cases, it's any tiny little bit of activity. You know.

829
00:41:59,719 --> 00:42:02,960
Speaker 1: The easiest thing is book some travel, right, So if

830
00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:05,920
Speaker 1: you had a hundred thousand airline miles and you booked

831
00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:10,520
Speaker 1: one round trip for miles, well that would extend the

832
00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:15,840
Speaker 1: expiration clock and reset it on the remaining seventy miles actually,

833
00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:19,360
Speaker 1: because that's account activity, so it is really easy. You

834
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:23,279
Speaker 1: can google just how to extend United Airlines miles, how

835
00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:25,880
Speaker 1: to extend Delta miles, and you will find a laundry

836
00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:29,200
Speaker 1: list of things, so super super easy. But again you

837
00:42:29,239 --> 00:42:31,160
Speaker 1: have to be organized and you have to be aware.

838
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:34,400
Speaker 1: So that kind of ties into very obviously into my

839
00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:38,480
Speaker 1: second category, which are the co branded credit cards. So

840
00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:41,759
Speaker 1: like the Delta m X or the United Airlines Chase

841
00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:44,120
Speaker 1: Card or whatever it may be, write any airline or

842
00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:48,319
Speaker 1: hotel credit card those points. In very general terms, at

843
00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:52,040
Speaker 1: the end of each credit card cycle, those points get

844
00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:55,759
Speaker 1: zipped over to your airline or hotel rewards account, and

845
00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:59,319
Speaker 1: again those reside in your airline account and they're not

846
00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:02,880
Speaker 1: related to credit card, so you still can have them expire,

847
00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:06,600
Speaker 1: but it's based on the expiration policy of that airliner. Hotel,

848
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:09,520
Speaker 1: and again it is pretty easy to extend the expiration.

849
00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:12,239
Speaker 1: So I think, you know, just looking at those two

850
00:43:12,280 --> 00:43:16,239
Speaker 1: broad categories, that's how you look at it conceptually, and

851
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:20,080
Speaker 1: it's pretty hard to lose them. But the third category

852
00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:22,560
Speaker 1: is what's known as like the fixed value cards, and

853
00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:24,759
Speaker 1: that's actually the list that I gave you before with

854
00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:27,880
Speaker 1: Capital one Venture and they're Spark Miles card and the

855
00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:32,000
Speaker 1: arrival plus when that existed. Those points are bank points.

856
00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:35,439
Speaker 1: They can't be transferred. I guess Capital one miles. Sorry,

857
00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:38,279
Speaker 1: I guess I have to be technical here. Capital one

858
00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:41,080
Speaker 1: miles now technically can transfer, but I still think of

859
00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:44,200
Speaker 1: them conceptually as as these bank points. And if you

860
00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:48,040
Speaker 1: don't use those points and you happen to close the

861
00:43:48,040 --> 00:43:50,520
Speaker 1: card at some point in the future, you do lose them.

862
00:43:50,560 --> 00:43:55,520
Speaker 1: So you need a qualifying travel expense to offset with

863
00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:58,120
Speaker 1: those points. So pretty easy, right, Like you have a

864
00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:00,400
Speaker 1: travel card, you have all this free travel, you may

865
00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:03,200
Speaker 1: as well travel, right, So like it should be pretty

866
00:44:03,239 --> 00:44:05,719
Speaker 1: easy to to to not lose these miles and to

867
00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:08,680
Speaker 1: get significant significant value out of it. So I know

868
00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:10,960
Speaker 1: that was a lot, but yeah, those are that's kind

869
00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:14,560
Speaker 1: of the three broad categories and how to think about

870
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:18,120
Speaker 1: potentially losing them, which is pretty hard. So are you

871
00:44:18,239 --> 00:44:20,279
Speaker 1: keeping like a spreadsheet, Brad or or how are you

872
00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:22,520
Speaker 1: kind of keeping track of the points that you've got

873
00:44:22,560 --> 00:44:24,680
Speaker 1: going on, making sure you don't lose them, and then

874
00:44:24,719 --> 00:44:28,000
Speaker 1: actually making sure you redeem them in the most beneficial

875
00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:31,399
Speaker 1: way possible. Yeah, So I do have a spreadsheet. I

876
00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:35,720
Speaker 1: keep a spreadsheet of my credit cards and my award

877
00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:38,880
Speaker 1: programs and roughly how many miles I have. So uh,

878
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:41,520
Speaker 1: the credit card, it's just when I opened it, how

879
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:43,520
Speaker 1: much money I have to spend in a certain amount

880
00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:45,200
Speaker 1: of time, that that kind of stuff, Just so I'm

881
00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:47,400
Speaker 1: I'm aware, and it's it's just a quick glance. It

882
00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:50,719
Speaker 1: doesn't take a lot of time. If this was laborious, Guys,

883
00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:53,040
Speaker 1: I'm looking for simplicity in my life, Like I'm not

884
00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:56,200
Speaker 1: looking for something that's lurious. This is this is simple

885
00:44:56,239 --> 00:44:58,920
Speaker 1: as long as you're organized from the outset. So I

886
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:03,719
Speaker 1: actually use a software called award wallet dot com and

887
00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:05,799
Speaker 1: they have a free account that you can sign up for.

888
00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:10,120
Speaker 1: You connect all your freaking flyer and airline accounts and

889
00:45:10,440 --> 00:45:14,879
Speaker 1: they actually send you an email notification when you are

890
00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:17,840
Speaker 1: facing an expiration. You know, it's six months in the future.

891
00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:20,399
Speaker 1: So that's cool, right, It's awesome, and it's so yeah,

892
00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:24,080
Speaker 1: that's award wallet dot Com. And yeah, I mean it's

893
00:45:24,280 --> 00:45:27,759
Speaker 1: really pretty easy to extend the expiration, especially because like

894
00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:30,080
Speaker 1: I have a ton of those Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

895
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:34,120
Speaker 1: So if I know I haven't used my United Miles,

896
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:37,239
Speaker 1: I can send actually the lowest amount, which is a

897
00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:41,520
Speaker 1: thousand Chase Ultimate Rewards points to my United Miles Plus

898
00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:45,600
Speaker 1: account and that extends the expiration. So like I'm constantly

899
00:45:45,640 --> 00:45:48,160
Speaker 1: aware of it both with award Wallet, but also I

900
00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:53,120
Speaker 1: use the task Less program to doist and I actually

901
00:45:53,160 --> 00:45:56,439
Speaker 1: put in like just little notes even like eighteen months

902
00:45:56,440 --> 00:46:00,000
Speaker 1: into the future, like if you haven't used United Miles,

903
00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:03,000
Speaker 1: check expiration or something like that, or send Ultimate Rewards.

904
00:46:03,239 --> 00:46:05,719
Speaker 1: It becomes very easy. But I know I've said this

905
00:46:05,840 --> 00:46:07,719
Speaker 1: five times right now, it sound like a moron, But like,

906
00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:11,000
Speaker 1: as long as you're organized from the outset, it's so easy.

907
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:12,799
Speaker 1: So what it sounds like as well is that you're

908
00:46:12,800 --> 00:46:15,080
Speaker 1: wanting to get those miles out of the banks. It

909
00:46:15,120 --> 00:46:17,439
Speaker 1: seems like you want to detach those from the car

910
00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:19,480
Speaker 1: just in case, you know, you might end up closing

911
00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:21,919
Speaker 1: that card. So is there any downside to to having

912
00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:24,040
Speaker 1: those points or those miles, you know, sort of stuck

913
00:46:24,040 --> 00:46:27,080
Speaker 1: within that bank. I mean there really actually isn't. And

914
00:46:27,239 --> 00:46:30,520
Speaker 1: the funny thing is, while I think you get the

915
00:46:30,560 --> 00:46:34,160
Speaker 1: most value from the redemption, so when you actually redeem

916
00:46:34,239 --> 00:46:36,480
Speaker 1: the miles, I think you get the most value when

917
00:46:36,520 --> 00:46:40,440
Speaker 1: you do transfer points like Chase Ultimate Rewards out of Chase.

918
00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:44,279
Speaker 1: So there are redemption options through Chase. You can book

919
00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:47,120
Speaker 1: through their travel portal, okay, and it's just like I

920
00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:49,560
Speaker 1: forget which search engine they use, but it's like Expedia

921
00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:52,080
Speaker 1: or Travel Lost City or something, and and you're basically

922
00:46:52,120 --> 00:46:54,680
Speaker 1: just they take the cash price. If you have the

923
00:46:54,800 --> 00:46:57,960
Speaker 1: Chase Sapphire preferred for instance, you get like one point

924
00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:00,319
Speaker 1: to five cents per point. They just do the math

925
00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:03,640
Speaker 1: and you just use your points, right, But that doesn't

926
00:47:03,640 --> 00:47:07,640
Speaker 1: give you any upside, whereas when you send them to

927
00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:11,000
Speaker 1: United you might be able to get some amazing like

928
00:47:11,280 --> 00:47:14,520
Speaker 1: international round trip that would cost you, I don't know,

929
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:19,680
Speaker 1: too grand for eighty thou miles, right, so you're getting like,

930
00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:21,640
Speaker 1: what is that two and a half cents per point,

931
00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:24,719
Speaker 1: So that's double the value as if you had just

932
00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:27,439
Speaker 1: bought it through the Chase Travel portals so I think

933
00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:30,560
Speaker 1: there's a lot more upside to transferring to one of

934
00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:34,319
Speaker 1: the travel partners, but then you do lose some flexibility, right,

935
00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:38,080
Speaker 1: Like you need to find those award flights or nights.

936
00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:41,480
Speaker 1: So there's like the spectrum here, right, Like, as you

937
00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:44,120
Speaker 1: give up a little bit of flexibility, you can get

938
00:47:44,200 --> 00:47:48,480
Speaker 1: potentially more value. So what I counsel actually is to

939
00:47:48,719 --> 00:47:52,960
Speaker 1: keep your points in your bank, your bank credit card accounts.

940
00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:55,239
Speaker 1: So in this case we're talking about ultimate rewards, I

941
00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:59,480
Speaker 1: keep them with Ultimate rewards until the absolute last minute

942
00:47:59,719 --> 00:48:02,720
Speaker 1: that I know for sure, like a hundred percent sure

943
00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:04,960
Speaker 1: that I'm going to book a flight or a night,

944
00:48:05,320 --> 00:48:07,920
Speaker 1: and then I send those points. And I think most

945
00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:11,279
Speaker 1: of their transfer partners the transfer is either instant or

946
00:48:11,320 --> 00:48:13,799
Speaker 1: like within an hour or so. So we're talking like

947
00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:17,320
Speaker 1: that's pretty clear. Yeah, it's amazing. Like I've literally booked

948
00:48:17,360 --> 00:48:20,800
Speaker 1: I found a high at night. I quickly jumped into

949
00:48:20,800 --> 00:48:24,600
Speaker 1: my Chase account, sent over eight thousand points, logged out

950
00:48:24,600 --> 00:48:27,239
Speaker 1: of my high att logged back in. The points were there,

951
00:48:27,280 --> 00:48:30,040
Speaker 1: and I booked the night and it took under two minutes.

952
00:48:30,120 --> 00:48:34,040
Speaker 1: So you preserve that flexibility because well, you know what,

953
00:48:34,040 --> 00:48:35,520
Speaker 1: what if I wanted to book a Mario at night,

954
00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:37,279
Speaker 1: or what if I wanted to book a Southwest flight?

955
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:39,800
Speaker 1: So you always have more flexibility keeping it with the

956
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:42,360
Speaker 1: bank until that last minute, for sure. So Brad, you

957
00:48:42,400 --> 00:48:44,520
Speaker 1: mentioned some of the travel restrictions, right, and how they're

958
00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:46,040
Speaker 1: you know, they're not that bad as long as you

959
00:48:46,120 --> 00:48:48,600
Speaker 1: have some flexibility when it comes to travel. You've got

960
00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:51,840
Speaker 1: two daughters, right, Um, do you find that harder to

961
00:48:51,920 --> 00:48:54,240
Speaker 1: line up that travel with the dates that are available?

962
00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:55,759
Speaker 1: Do you find it harder to take advantage of these

963
00:48:55,800 --> 00:48:58,600
Speaker 1: travel benefits now that you have kids? Yeah, I mean

964
00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:03,440
Speaker 1: I think it is incrementally harder, but it's not catastrophically harder.

965
00:49:03,719 --> 00:49:06,160
Speaker 1: What I say to anybody is any little bit of

966
00:49:06,160 --> 00:49:10,200
Speaker 1: flexibility you can build into your travel rewards plans will

967
00:49:10,200 --> 00:49:13,080
Speaker 1: help you. So if you told me, like I needed

968
00:49:13,120 --> 00:49:15,840
Speaker 1: to go somewhere and I hate to say this, like pedestrian,

969
00:49:15,920 --> 00:49:17,680
Speaker 1: like you know in in the Caribbean, Like I'm going

970
00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:21,840
Speaker 1: to Jamaica for a wedding, you know in no I

971
00:49:21,880 --> 00:49:25,480
Speaker 1: loved me, but this one particular weekend, right, and like

972
00:49:25,719 --> 00:49:29,879
Speaker 1: that doesn't sound like like an ultra ultra like exotic trip,

973
00:49:29,960 --> 00:49:34,200
Speaker 1: but like that is really hard with rewards points because

974
00:49:34,200 --> 00:49:38,239
Speaker 1: it's very specific. Right You're flying from one airport to

975
00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:41,839
Speaker 1: another on those exact dates, and you probably have very

976
00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:46,319
Speaker 1: little flexibility with your hotel. Now, if you told me, hey, guys,

977
00:49:46,360 --> 00:49:50,480
Speaker 1: I want to go to Europe for two weeks next

978
00:49:50,520 --> 00:49:54,080
Speaker 1: fall and I want to see four different cities, you

979
00:49:54,120 --> 00:49:56,200
Speaker 1: could do that in a heartbeat. That would be simple,

980
00:49:56,360 --> 00:49:58,799
Speaker 1: and that is like a life changing trip, you know,

981
00:49:58,960 --> 00:50:01,080
Speaker 1: like that would be something you talk about for years

982
00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:04,319
Speaker 1: because you have the flexibility because you don't care if

983
00:50:04,360 --> 00:50:08,600
Speaker 1: you go to Rome first, then Paris, then Bruise, then wherever.

984
00:50:08,760 --> 00:50:10,960
Speaker 1: Right Like, you could do it backwards. You could throw

985
00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:13,759
Speaker 1: in Barcelona, you could do whatever you want it. That

986
00:50:13,840 --> 00:50:17,600
Speaker 1: makes it so much easier because there's flexibility. So I

987
00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:22,200
Speaker 1: think when you're talking about having kids, right like, obviously

988
00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:27,319
Speaker 1: there are very specific times like the winter holidays, right Like,

989
00:50:27,600 --> 00:50:32,120
Speaker 1: those are extraordinarily difficult times to travel with rewards points.

990
00:50:32,160 --> 00:50:35,200
Speaker 1: It just is so you have to kind of line

991
00:50:35,280 --> 00:50:37,480
Speaker 1: up your expectations. I think this is like a key

992
00:50:37,480 --> 00:50:40,960
Speaker 1: to success in life is line up your expectations with reality.

993
00:50:41,280 --> 00:50:43,960
Speaker 1: Right It's if you're expecting to be able to use

994
00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:48,560
Speaker 1: your miles and find savor level tickets over Thanksgiving or

995
00:50:48,640 --> 00:50:51,319
Speaker 1: around Christmas and New Year's you're out of your mind,

996
00:50:51,760 --> 00:50:54,480
Speaker 1: right Like, It's just it's not gonna happen. It is

997
00:50:54,520 --> 00:50:58,719
Speaker 1: simply not gonna happen. So but if you said, hey,

998
00:50:58,760 --> 00:51:02,160
Speaker 1: I want to take one or two family vacations over

999
00:51:02,239 --> 00:51:05,120
Speaker 1: the summer, sometime over the three months my kids have off,

1000
00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:08,359
Speaker 1: and I have some flexibility with my job, and you know,

1001
00:51:08,400 --> 00:51:10,560
Speaker 1: maybe I can take a week off in in July

1002
00:51:11,280 --> 00:51:13,200
Speaker 1: and a week off in May or you know whatever

1003
00:51:13,239 --> 00:51:15,920
Speaker 1: it may be. Write like, you can definitely do that

1004
00:51:16,480 --> 00:51:20,120
Speaker 1: any little bit of flexible. So you're flexible on your destination.

1005
00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:22,040
Speaker 1: Right If you're locked in, like I said, on that

1006
00:51:22,080 --> 00:51:24,400
Speaker 1: one weekend in Jamaica, that's gonna be hard. But if

1007
00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:26,160
Speaker 1: you say, hey, I want to go to the Caribbean,

1008
00:51:26,719 --> 00:51:29,399
Speaker 1: that's gonna be easier still. If you say I want

1009
00:51:29,400 --> 00:51:32,759
Speaker 1: to go someplace warm, that's gonna be easier still, right Like,

1010
00:51:33,400 --> 00:51:35,560
Speaker 1: and you know what guys like, even if you can't

1011
00:51:35,600 --> 00:51:38,400
Speaker 1: be flexible, Okay, So even in that situation of that

1012
00:51:38,480 --> 00:51:42,200
Speaker 1: Jamaica trip that I'm making up here, you can use

1013
00:51:42,280 --> 00:51:45,160
Speaker 1: points like the Capital One venture that we talked about before.

1014
00:51:45,600 --> 00:51:48,839
Speaker 1: Those are simple. You open the card, you use that

1015
00:51:48,920 --> 00:51:52,600
Speaker 1: card to pay for that travel, just normal purchase, right,

1016
00:51:52,680 --> 00:51:55,120
Speaker 1: no matter where your book at, Travelocity, from the web,

1017
00:51:55,280 --> 00:51:58,040
Speaker 1: the United website, or whatever it may be. And then

1018
00:51:58,120 --> 00:52:00,520
Speaker 1: after the fact, when you earn your miles, you go

1019
00:52:00,600 --> 00:52:04,680
Speaker 1: back and you apply your miles against that expense. So well,

1020
00:52:04,840 --> 00:52:08,880
Speaker 1: that's not a world changing Hey I'm getting four cents

1021
00:52:08,880 --> 00:52:13,000
Speaker 1: per point and value off this. No, but you're getting

1022
00:52:13,360 --> 00:52:17,319
Speaker 1: the value of of getting this significant free travel from

1023
00:52:17,320 --> 00:52:20,000
Speaker 1: a card and saying all right, look, I don't have flexibility,

1024
00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:21,439
Speaker 1: but I'm still going to do the best I can.

1025
00:52:21,520 --> 00:52:24,360
Speaker 1: So I think that's a way to approach this mentally,

1026
00:52:24,440 --> 00:52:28,040
Speaker 1: is like there's always ways to save money with travel rewards.

1027
00:52:28,239 --> 00:52:30,279
Speaker 1: You just have to be honest with yourself of of

1028
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:32,680
Speaker 1: what's going to make the most sense. If you're someone

1029
00:52:32,680 --> 00:52:35,239
Speaker 1: who is locked in, then maybe a card like the

1030
00:52:35,280 --> 00:52:38,400
Speaker 1: Venture Card makes more sense. Or maybe getting that Sapphire

1031
00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:41,120
Speaker 1: Preferred that I talked about and not transferring, just booking

1032
00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:44,000
Speaker 1: through their rewards engine, maybe that makes more sense, so

1033
00:52:44,239 --> 00:52:46,400
Speaker 1: you have options. Yeah. What I love about that is

1034
00:52:46,440 --> 00:52:48,200
Speaker 1: it just sounds so scrappy, you know what I'm saying.

1035
00:52:48,440 --> 00:52:50,600
Speaker 1: It's like, well, I can't be flexible, but I'm at

1036
00:52:50,680 --> 00:52:52,600
Speaker 1: least going to use this one card. And yeah, I

1037
00:52:52,640 --> 00:52:55,200
Speaker 1: just I just love that approach. Bread, take whatever potential

1038
00:52:55,239 --> 00:52:58,359
Speaker 1: method I can take and leave that on the table, right,

1039
00:52:58,360 --> 00:53:00,640
Speaker 1: don't take it off. I wanted to say too. I

1040
00:53:00,680 --> 00:53:03,040
Speaker 1: was thinking of arrested development right there. There's always money

1041
00:53:03,080 --> 00:53:05,360
Speaker 1: in the Banana State, Like there's always money in the

1042
00:53:05,360 --> 00:53:07,960
Speaker 1: travel credit card, you know, like rewards there there is

1043
00:53:08,000 --> 00:53:10,920
Speaker 1: so fresh to be had. Yeah, no doubt, Brad, this

1044
00:53:10,960 --> 00:53:13,440
Speaker 1: has been a really fun conversation. Man. We really appreciate

1045
00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:16,240
Speaker 1: you coming on and sharing not only your your wisdom

1046
00:53:16,360 --> 00:53:19,000
Speaker 1: when it comes to travel credit card rewards, but also

1047
00:53:19,400 --> 00:53:22,759
Speaker 1: you're you're really deep thoughts on achieving financial independence. Yeah.

1048
00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:24,680
Speaker 1: I just really appreciate the way your brain works and

1049
00:53:24,719 --> 00:53:26,600
Speaker 1: the way you think about that. And I know that

1050
00:53:26,640 --> 00:53:29,279
Speaker 1: our listeners will will enjoy it as well. So thank

1051
00:53:29,320 --> 00:53:31,120
Speaker 1: you so much for taking the time to hang out

1052
00:53:31,120 --> 00:53:33,399
Speaker 1: with us today. Man, We really appreciate it. Nice. Well, yeah,

1053
00:53:33,480 --> 00:53:35,560
Speaker 1: thanks again for having me on, Guys, I really appreciate

1054
00:53:35,560 --> 00:53:37,239
Speaker 1: it was a lot of fun. And then, Brad, where

1055
00:53:37,239 --> 00:53:39,440
Speaker 1: can folks find you on the web? Well, yeah, I

1056
00:53:39,480 --> 00:53:42,680
Speaker 1: mean the easiest places definitely choose if I so, obviously,

1057
00:53:42,719 --> 00:53:46,360
Speaker 1: if you're listening to this podcast. Just search for Choose

1058
00:53:46,560 --> 00:53:50,359
Speaker 1: f I and we'd highly recommend starting with episode one

1059
00:53:50,440 --> 00:53:52,160
Speaker 1: hundred if you really like that, go back to the

1060
00:53:52,160 --> 00:53:55,600
Speaker 1: beginning or pick up and pick and choose episodes. But yeah,

1061
00:53:55,680 --> 00:53:58,040
Speaker 1: we'd love to have you listen. And actually, if you're

1062
00:53:58,080 --> 00:54:03,080
Speaker 1: interested in travel rewards, we have a free travel rewards course.

1063
00:54:03,080 --> 00:54:04,680
Speaker 1: Then we set up through Choose a high and you

1064
00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:07,080
Speaker 1: just go to choose if I had a calm slash

1065
00:54:07,120 --> 00:54:09,960
Speaker 1: travel and yeah, I think it's uh, it's just a

1066
00:54:10,000 --> 00:54:12,440
Speaker 1: free email course and you would love to give you

1067
00:54:12,480 --> 00:54:15,080
Speaker 1: more information. Awesome, that's great, Brad. So thanks so much

1068
00:54:15,080 --> 00:54:18,000
Speaker 1: for joining us on the show today. We really appreciate it. Yeah,

1069
00:54:18,040 --> 00:54:20,319
Speaker 1: thanks so much, Guys, I really appreciate this is a fun,

1070
00:54:20,360 --> 00:54:23,919
Speaker 1: fun conversation and yeah, I just love being here. All right, Matt,

1071
00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:27,320
Speaker 1: that was a great conversation with our friend Brad and

1072
00:54:27,600 --> 00:54:30,239
Speaker 1: his podcast Choose f I. Really, it truly is a

1073
00:54:30,280 --> 00:54:33,160
Speaker 1: great show. They like us, put out two episodes a week.

1074
00:54:33,440 --> 00:54:37,799
Speaker 1: They have great conversations with people pursuing financial independence in

1075
00:54:37,840 --> 00:54:40,759
Speaker 1: these really impressive ways. So yeah, it's great stuff. So

1076
00:54:40,840 --> 00:54:42,839
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you, Matt, what was your big

1077
00:54:42,880 --> 00:54:45,759
Speaker 1: takeaway from this conversation? With Brad. Yeah, Joe, So my

1078
00:54:45,840 --> 00:54:47,759
Speaker 1: big takeaway is going to be kind of broad, but

1079
00:54:47,800 --> 00:54:51,120
Speaker 1: it's when Brad mentioned how credit cards are a tool,

1080
00:54:51,560 --> 00:54:53,560
Speaker 1: and like any tool, you can use it for good

1081
00:54:53,760 --> 00:54:55,480
Speaker 1: or you could use it poorly and it could end

1082
00:54:55,560 --> 00:54:57,480
Speaker 1: up harming you. I think this is back when we're

1083
00:54:57,520 --> 00:55:01,040
Speaker 1: talking about cash versus using plastic and how you know,

1084
00:55:01,200 --> 00:55:03,239
Speaker 1: sometimes you might be tempted to spend more on a

1085
00:55:03,239 --> 00:55:06,000
Speaker 1: credit card, but the fact is, like cash is basically

1086
00:55:06,040 --> 00:55:08,280
Speaker 1: in the past, and credit cards are so much more convenient.

1087
00:55:08,280 --> 00:55:10,520
Speaker 1: They offer all those protections, and we've just covered a

1088
00:55:10,600 --> 00:55:12,920
Speaker 1: host of different ways that you can have some serious

1089
00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:15,720
Speaker 1: benefits from your credit cards. And man, really this takeaway

1090
00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:18,879
Speaker 1: is applicable to how we teach our children about money too.

1091
00:55:18,920 --> 00:55:21,040
Speaker 1: I think a lot of folks are really concerned about

1092
00:55:21,120 --> 00:55:23,680
Speaker 1: allowing their kids have credit cards, but again, that's the

1093
00:55:23,719 --> 00:55:25,840
Speaker 1: most relevant tool that we have when it comes to

1094
00:55:25,840 --> 00:55:28,560
Speaker 1: making purchases. In What better way to teach our kids

1095
00:55:28,560 --> 00:55:32,320
Speaker 1: about money than to allow them to experiment use the tools.

1096
00:55:32,520 --> 00:55:34,640
Speaker 1: You know, while we still have some say in their lives,

1097
00:55:34,640 --> 00:55:36,200
Speaker 1: to be able to correct them, to point them in

1098
00:55:36,200 --> 00:55:37,919
Speaker 1: the right direction, to scoop them up when they really

1099
00:55:37,920 --> 00:55:39,759
Speaker 1: mess up. I just love how Brad was able to

1100
00:55:39,800 --> 00:55:42,600
Speaker 1: reframe the conversation of credit cards as the sort of

1101
00:55:42,680 --> 00:55:46,600
Speaker 1: neutral object and it's not necessarily something that's evil as

1102
00:55:46,640 --> 00:55:50,160
Speaker 1: it's often portrayed. Yeah, use that tool well, don't use

1103
00:55:50,160 --> 00:55:52,520
Speaker 1: it poorly. If you use it well, there's a lot

1104
00:55:52,520 --> 00:55:54,839
Speaker 1: of potential good benefits in it for you. Yeah for sure.

1105
00:55:54,840 --> 00:55:56,640
Speaker 1: What was your big takeaway, man, Yeah? I think mine

1106
00:55:56,840 --> 00:56:00,399
Speaker 1: was flexibility, And I think Brad kind of talked about

1107
00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:01,719
Speaker 1: it in two ways. He talked about it at the

1108
00:56:01,719 --> 00:56:05,160
Speaker 1: beginning of the episode when he was mentioning the flexibility

1109
00:56:05,200 --> 00:56:07,440
Speaker 1: on a path to financial independence. It doesn't all have

1110
00:56:07,520 --> 00:56:09,480
Speaker 1: to look the same. Some people might get there by

1111
00:56:09,600 --> 00:56:12,640
Speaker 1: driving cars that were made sixteen years ago, and other

1112
00:56:12,680 --> 00:56:15,400
Speaker 1: people might get there by moving to a new location

1113
00:56:15,560 --> 00:56:17,880
Speaker 1: a cheaper place to live. Other people get there by

1114
00:56:17,960 --> 00:56:20,560
Speaker 1: riding their bikes more often. They're just different ways to

1115
00:56:20,560 --> 00:56:24,120
Speaker 1: approach financial independence, and I love that also. Flexibility when

1116
00:56:24,120 --> 00:56:26,560
Speaker 1: it comes to booking travel, and in particular with these

1117
00:56:26,560 --> 00:56:28,960
Speaker 1: credit card rewards points. The more flexible you can be,

1118
00:56:29,280 --> 00:56:31,920
Speaker 1: the more money you can save. And when you're flexible,

1119
00:56:32,040 --> 00:56:34,840
Speaker 1: the more cheap travel you can actually take over the

1120
00:56:34,880 --> 00:56:36,759
Speaker 1: course of your life and When you do it that way,

1121
00:56:36,800 --> 00:56:38,960
Speaker 1: the more cheap travel you can actually take as well,

1122
00:56:38,960 --> 00:56:41,040
Speaker 1: which I think is really cool. So flexibility was a

1123
00:56:41,120 --> 00:56:43,919
Speaker 1: huge part of this conversation with brad Man. He taught

1124
00:56:43,960 --> 00:56:45,360
Speaker 1: me some things that I didn't even know, so I

1125
00:56:45,520 --> 00:56:48,759
Speaker 1: appreciate his his depth of knowledge on this subject. Nice

1126
00:56:48,800 --> 00:56:50,840
Speaker 1: Joel Man, I love that. So I'm gonna take it

1127
00:56:50,840 --> 00:56:53,680
Speaker 1: back to our beer. We are having a scamper I

1128
00:56:53,800 --> 00:56:56,120
Speaker 1: p A. And this is my up country brewing company.

1129
00:56:56,320 --> 00:56:58,480
Speaker 1: And this was donated to the show by our friends Stacy,

1130
00:56:58,600 --> 00:57:01,520
Speaker 1: So thanks so much. Stacy good friend of the show,

1131
00:57:01,680 --> 00:57:04,279
Speaker 1: and she and her husband are good friend Matt. They

1132
00:57:04,280 --> 00:57:06,960
Speaker 1: took a trip up to North Carolina and they stayed

1133
00:57:07,040 --> 00:57:10,359
Speaker 1: in this scamper van, which Matt was telling me about

1134
00:57:10,400 --> 00:57:12,600
Speaker 1: in their trip, and he said they parked slightly off kilter,

1135
00:57:12,640 --> 00:57:15,040
Speaker 1: so the mattress was basically slipping the whole night and

1136
00:57:15,200 --> 00:57:17,280
Speaker 1: while they were sleeping in the van. It sounds like

1137
00:57:17,320 --> 00:57:18,840
Speaker 1: they had a good trip though, sleeping in the van

1138
00:57:18,920 --> 00:57:20,640
Speaker 1: in the woods. It's kind of a cool way to

1139
00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:23,120
Speaker 1: take a cheap vacation. So when when does the scamper van?

1140
00:57:23,200 --> 00:57:25,080
Speaker 1: Is that just like a name brand kind of camper van?

1141
00:57:25,200 --> 00:57:26,640
Speaker 1: I think so okay, I think, well, I think it's

1142
00:57:26,640 --> 00:57:30,400
Speaker 1: his company that yeah, has these camper vans and then

1143
00:57:30,800 --> 00:57:33,800
Speaker 1: rent them out to you for your fun North Carolina

1144
00:57:33,840 --> 00:57:36,080
Speaker 1: mountain vacation. So it's like it's just the name brand version.

1145
00:57:36,120 --> 00:57:38,320
Speaker 1: So Kleenex, Yeah, I got it. And now they've got

1146
00:57:38,360 --> 00:57:40,479
Speaker 1: their own beer. So yeah, this beer was really fun.

1147
00:57:40,560 --> 00:57:42,680
Speaker 1: It was a pine heavy i p A kind of

1148
00:57:42,680 --> 00:57:45,240
Speaker 1: one of those old school super piney i p s,

1149
00:57:45,280 --> 00:57:47,840
Speaker 1: which is that tiny citrus bite. It was a nice

1150
00:57:47,840 --> 00:57:49,400
Speaker 1: beer to drink on the show tonight while we were

1151
00:57:49,400 --> 00:57:51,840
Speaker 1: talking with Brad and big thanks to our friends Matt

1152
00:57:51,840 --> 00:57:54,040
Speaker 1: and Stacy for getting this one for us while they

1153
00:57:54,080 --> 00:57:55,960
Speaker 1: were in North Carolina. It was really tasty. Man. It

1154
00:57:56,000 --> 00:57:58,160
Speaker 1: had that amber color to it, again taking me back

1155
00:57:58,200 --> 00:57:59,560
Speaker 1: to some of those old school I p a s.

1156
00:57:59,800 --> 00:58:02,200
Speaker 1: It totally got a hippie vibe with a cannart that's

1157
00:58:02,240 --> 00:58:04,400
Speaker 1: on there. It's kind of has the flower power color

1158
00:58:04,440 --> 00:58:07,320
Speaker 1: palette going on. It totally takes me back to living

1159
00:58:07,360 --> 00:58:10,480
Speaker 1: in North Carolina, hanging out with my my granola crunchy

1160
00:58:10,520 --> 00:58:12,800
Speaker 1: friends up there. And it's been a number of years

1161
00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:14,400
Speaker 1: since you and I have been up to Ashville. We're

1162
00:58:14,440 --> 00:58:16,360
Speaker 1: gonna have to get up there and visit the number

1163
00:58:16,440 --> 00:58:19,160
Speaker 1: of amazing breweries that are up there soon. Yeah, that

1164
00:58:19,200 --> 00:58:22,320
Speaker 1: part of North Carolina has so many good breweries. All right, Matt,

1165
00:58:22,320 --> 00:58:24,400
Speaker 1: that's gonna do it for this episode. If you want

1166
00:58:24,400 --> 00:58:26,600
Speaker 1: the show notes for this episode, you can find them

1167
00:58:26,640 --> 00:58:28,640
Speaker 1: on our website at how to money dot com. And

1168
00:58:28,680 --> 00:58:32,240
Speaker 1: also if you're interested in credit card rewards and also

1169
00:58:32,280 --> 00:58:34,440
Speaker 1: finding some of Matt and Ey's favorite cards with some

1170
00:58:34,480 --> 00:58:36,640
Speaker 1: of the best sign up bonuses, well you can find

1171
00:58:36,640 --> 00:58:39,240
Speaker 1: those at how to money dot com slash credit cards.

1172
00:58:39,600 --> 00:58:41,360
Speaker 1: And if you've been digging our show man, we would

1173
00:58:41,360 --> 00:58:43,000
Speaker 1: love for you to leave us a review over on

1174
00:58:43,040 --> 00:58:46,080
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts. Anytime a solid review is left up there,

1175
00:58:46,080 --> 00:58:47,840
Speaker 1: it just really helps us to spread the word and

1176
00:58:47,840 --> 00:58:50,040
Speaker 1: that helps folks who haven't even found the show yet,

1177
00:58:50,040 --> 00:58:52,480
Speaker 1: So thank you. Yeah, Matt, and I've already gotten pretty

1178
00:58:52,560 --> 00:58:54,480
Speaker 1: much every family member I know to leave a review,

1179
00:58:54,560 --> 00:58:56,320
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean, I'm barking up the tree now.

1180
00:58:56,360 --> 00:58:59,280
Speaker 1: I gotta now start contacting unknown family members and that

1181
00:58:59,360 --> 00:59:01,720
Speaker 1: just gets awkward. I kid, I kid. All right, buddy,

1182
00:59:02,040 --> 00:59:04,120
Speaker 1: that's gonna do it for this show. Until next time,

1183
00:59:04,520 --> 00:59:06,120
Speaker 1: Best Friends, Best Friends Out