WEBVTT - Using Credit Cards like a Pro #014 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.880 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt, 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:18.919 and today we're talking about using credit cards like a pro. Alright, Matt. 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:22.639 First thing on everybody's minds after last week this awesome 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.119 giveaway we have to update people on. Yeah, thanks to 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:29.160 everybody that got on our Instagram and uh figured out 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:31.600 how to how to register and be a part of 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:35.159 our giveaway. And thanks to Republic Wireless as well for 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:38.120 giving us that sweet giveaway. Man, they totally hooked us 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:40.520 up with that and we couldn't have done without him. Yeah, 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:43.479 sweet deal. Dollars towards a new phone and a lot 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:46.760 of phones are free because with that and three months 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:49.000 of free service. And as you guys know from from 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:51.040 listening to the last episode two, we're fans of Republic 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:53.720 Wireless no matter what their plan. Pricing is just you know, 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.240 among the cheapest out there, and uh they've all they've 0:00:56.240 --> 0:00:58.160 got great phones you can bring your own. Just a 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:00.760 great company to consider doing business with. Yeah, so you 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:05.280 wanna announce too, Yeah, Matt, So the winner is drumroll please, 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:11.280 Brian Sebezma. Brian, thanks for following us on Instagram. Thanks 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:14.200 for entering our giveaway. It was a lot of fun. 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:16.840 We'll get the republic wireless stuff over too soon. And 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.360 that six pack of awesome beer. Yeah, that was a 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:21.920 sweet giveaway. Man. I'm hoping we can do more of these, 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:24.600 you know, in the future. Just giving away free stuff, 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:26.840 giving away things that aren't ours to give is a 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:30.320 lot of fun. You know, that's pretty awesome. Maybe maybe 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:32.399 at some point we'll give away an autograph pair of 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.120 your George. Oh yeah, I think those would would go 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:38.039 for a lot of money. You know how the show 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:40.360 Arrested Development, Like, you'll watch something in season one and 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:43.000 then in season three it comes back the George thing. 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:44.919 I'm gonna I'm telling you, it's gonna make it at 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:46.800 least like every third episode it's gonna make an appearance. 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:48.560 I thought you're gonna talk about what's his name? Being 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:53.280 a never nude. So it's crazy, is I never even 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:56.600 watched uh Arrested Development. I watched like the first season 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:58.440 then just got sick of it because your sense of 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:01.240 humor is lacking. I don't maybe so, man, Like I 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:02.960 think you and I we have a little bit different 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:06.640 since the humor and we just we didn't dig it, man, Matt, 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:08.520 real quick before we get into the topic of credit cards. 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:11.040 I wanted to talk about last year and what that 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:13.120 meant in the craft beer world, because you know, we 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:16.640 like beer. Uh found this stat interesting that it was 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.160 a really fantastic year for craft beer in a lot 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.480 of ways. We had almost a thousand breweries new breweries 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:26.560 open up in the United States total. Uh, But on 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:28.760 the flip side, we had a hundred and sixty five 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:31.760 breweries closed down. UM, So I kind of wanted to 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:34.480 know your thoughts on this. It seems like craft beer 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:37.040 feels like it's like flying high, but then there's this 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:40.080 contracting in part of the industry too. So what do 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:42.560 you think about all those breweries? Man, I think those 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:46.360 breweries that well, I mean, it's competition, right, and so 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:48.720 a lot of it, Like, yes, there's still a ton 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.119 of people out there that are wanting like a good 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:54.520 local craft beer nearer they're living. But there's a lot 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:57.200 of breweries that have been opened for a while that 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:00.400 you know, may not be that good. It's when you've 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:02.520 kind of had these middle of the road breweries that 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:05.359 aren't really crashing it locally, and they're also not big 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:08.600 enough to really you know, work the system and make 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:11.520 it happen from a distribution standpoint, and I think those 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.919 guys are the ones who are dropping out, because there 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:17.000 are a lot of these smaller guys that are starting 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:20.480 out and putting out new, amazing stuff, and you know, 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:22.520 given those guys a run for their money. Yeah, it's 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:24.600 gonna be interesting to see what happens over the next 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:27.960 couple of years, because, um, there's just not room to 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.240 continue to grow at I think it's such a torrid 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:31.760 pace that we've been at, and I think some of 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:34.760 those bigger breweries that some of the national and some 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:39.160 of the regional breweries just got used to growing at 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:43.240 growth rates and that's just not sustainable, especially with all 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:46.720 the competition and how craft beer is getting more localized. 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:50.680 So you know, we've got so many more small, small 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:54.280 craft breweries that we can bike to or a quick drive, 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.440 and so we're just buying a lot more locally. You know, 0:03:57.480 --> 0:03:59.560 you picked up a beer that we're gonna have on 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:03.280 the show hopefully next week that is just from a 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:06.280 brew pub down the street that started canning, and so 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:08.520 that's just that's just kind of the trend right now. 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:09.960 And and I think we're gonna see more of that, 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:13.120 and I think we're gonna see probably some more open 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:17.240 that are all that are neighborhood focused, that are incredibly small, yep, 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:19.560 but that make their presence known in the community. And 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.159 then we're gonna see some of the bigger players, whether 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:26.520 they're regional or national, either just losing steam and losing 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.720 market share or also maybe getting to the point over 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:32.400 over a few years time where they had shuttered their 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:35.800 doors completely. Yeah. I was talking to a buddy over 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:38.320 at Monday night Monday Night brewing, and that's one of 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:40.680 the things he was excited about seeing in the future 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:44.040 is all of these I mean there's small towns across 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:46.920 the country, you know, like across every state, there's these 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.799 all these smaller towns. And even in these smaller towns, 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:52.000 there's breweries that are kind of popping up and they 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:55.760 are becoming sort of like the local brewery that's making 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:58.479 awesome beer. It's like the equivalent of like a farmer's market, 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:00.040 except for its beer, you know, instead of like go 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.040 into your local farmers market and getting fresh samantas and 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:05.640 veggies in the summer or eggs, that's where you're getting 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:07.599 your beer. Now. It's it's sort of following that model. 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:10.960 And that's exciting. Yeah. And I think the key to 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:13.479 the whole thing, and I think it makes complete sense, 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:16.880 is good beer. And I think it doesn't matter whether 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:21.320 you're a big national brewer or you are my next 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:23.400 far group pub. There are a couple of local breweries 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:25.120 that you and I rarely visit just because we don't 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:27.320 really enjoy their beer. We don't think they're making great stuff. 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:29.240 We try to support them and go every once in 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:31.000 a while, but it's just, you know, it's not our 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:33.360 favorite beers. Then there are other places really close to 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:35.800 us that have amazing beers. For instance, the beer we're 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:38.120 about to drink is one of our favorite beers, and 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:41.719 it's this big national brewery. And I think the key 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.520 comes down to if you're making great beers and you're 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.159 making what the public wants, it doesn't matter if you're 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:50.520 distributed in all fifty states or you literally have to 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:52.800 go to the place where it's made to pick it up. 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:55.760 As long as you're making good beer, it's gonna sell. 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:58.440 People are gonna find you. Yeah. And the word of 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.039 mouth in the craft beer scene is is like worth 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:03.360 its weight in gold. And so speaking of beer, we 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:05.800 told you last week Bull of our brewing company UM 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:08.960 out of Kansas City was kind enough to send us 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.520 to awesome bottles of beer, and we had the Grand 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:14.520 Crew last week, which we were amazing, super fond of 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:19.599 good and uh, this week we're cracking Love Child number eight. 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:22.880 So this is a sour beer that they make annually 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:24.960 or or twice a year. Yeah, I think they do 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:26.800 it once a year and it's a sour So it's 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:29.719 a I mean literally in the complete opposite direction, the 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:34.159 other end of the spectrum when it comes to beer light, sour, tart, acidic, 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:36.839 you know, all the different sort of qualities that you 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:40.120 typically don't find. And a stout blended with a quad 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:42.720 which is what what we had by them last week. 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:45.520 I think I've I started drinking this particular beer back 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:48.720 when it was Love Shot number five. I think the 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:50.520 Love Shot number five was the first one I've had, 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:53.480 and then six, and I don't know if I had seven. 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.240 So well, this I love to read the labels and 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.480 and see what kind of quirkiness comes out there. This 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:02.000 one's awesome because what's to say specifically, because it's a 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:04.680 sour beer and it's got multiple different strains in it. 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:07.839 Let go Bacsilus and Bretton to miacies. It says these 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.680 may change over time because these beers do develop in 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:13.160 the bottle, So this is uh, these may change over time. 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:15.520 But don't we all it's so true Bolivart. I mean, 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:19.240 I agree, I'm not the same man that I was yesterday. Yeah, 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:22.280 I mean it brings a level of humanity to their beers. 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:25.880 That's like, hey, just be patient, all right. But let's 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:32.080 I love that sound, man, I know, there's not not 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:34.560 much better than that. This one is pouring and beautiful 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:37.320 golden color. I'm just gonna put it all on my glass. 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:40.760 What color is that? It's just almost like a nice 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:44.720 olden amber, you know. It's like a murky, murky golden color. 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:47.440 It's got a great nose to it. So this is 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:49.400 why I'm super excited about this. I remember the love 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:54.120 Shots always being pretty aggressive with their acidity levels, which 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:56.960 is one of the things I love. Yep, just had 0:07:57.000 --> 0:08:01.040 a taste still is that's great. It's really at like, um, 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:04.120 it's like a clean version of a goose, almost like 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:05.880 a much cleaner It's still got a little funk to it, 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:08.040 but a little bit of funk, little bit of sweetness 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:10.360 just the right amount of sweetness for me. Man. That is, 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:15.040 I really like delicious, some a nice funk factor to 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.440 the beer. And on the back too. I mentioned the 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:21.920 label they describe that it's got some funk, a fair 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:24.080 amount of sour, and a little bit of fruit notes. 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:26.160 So yeah, I kind of like those like scales like 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:28.280 that kind of help you understand what you're getting into 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.400 when you pop the top. Super tasty alright, Matt, So 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:33.559 the first rule of using credit cards like a pro, 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.120 pay them off every month. We're gonna touch on some 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:40.600 things that can help people that don't carry credit card debt, 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:42.640 how to use their credit cards better, how to make 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:44.959 wise decisions when it comes to you know, what credit 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:47.120 cards they get and how to utilize them. But the 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:49.280 first rule, the very first thing you have to talk about. 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.040 If you are listening to this and you don't pay 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:54.559 off your credit card balance every month, that is your 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:59.160 first and really most glaring goal that you need to accomplish. 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:01.839 You want to sure that your credit card is getting 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:05.400 paid off and that you're not accruing crazy amounts of interest. Yeah, man, 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:07.640 that's step one. Like, that's the very first thing you 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:09.000 need to need to do, Like before we get into 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:10.959 the little nuance and the tips or whatever. I mean, 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.280 if you're carrying a balance and you're you're paying interest, 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:16.240 you are not using a credit card like a pro, 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:20.360 and you need to like go back and do that first. Yeah, 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:22.960 that's essentially one on one maybe even just like a 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:26.280 remedial class you need to take. Uh. And I know 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:27.560 that you know, there are a lot of people that 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.079 have struggled with taking out too much credit card debt 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:33.120 and and they're you know, working on paying it back 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:35.160 and it can be tough. So I just want to 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:37.319 encourage you if you are one of those people struggling 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:39.720 under a weight of credit card debt, like you can 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:42.000 do it, and there are a lot of tools out 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:44.360 there to help you. But also know that it needs 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:46.560 to be almost a singular focus for you to pay 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.199 that off before you really start taking many of these 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:54.760 other financial lessons, financial ideas and under consideration. Because if 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.200 you're paying you know, nineteen interest every month on this 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:00.480 credit card and you're only paying the minimum them or 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:02.240 you're paying more than the minimum, but you find it 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:04.200 hard to really make much of a dent in that balance, 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:07.160 you just need to be putting all of your efforts 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:10.480 into that one area. I mean, unless you've got like 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:13.200 some sort of crazy title loan or something like that, 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:15.920 that's even worse. I mean, this is probably the worst 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:19.120 debt in your life percentage wise, and so all of 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:22.000 your focus needs to be going at that. And I 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:23.400 just encourage you that if you do have a lot 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:26.439 of credit card debt, go at it. You can do it. Uh. 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:28.360 And there's a lot of success stories out there of 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:31.120 people not even making tons of money, but that are 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:32.640 able to pay it on their debt in a quick 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.600 amount of time just by focusing on it intently. Yeah, Joel, 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.679 that's a good word of advice. And and really we 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:42.280 want to encourage folks just to think about sort of 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:44.360 your behaviors and your patterns, like you, like, we want 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:46.199 you to know yourself. And if you know that by 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:49.040 applying for another credit card, that's gonna maybe encourage you 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.960 to go into more debt or maybe even spend more 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:54.080 than you typically would. We'll kind of get into that 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:56.520 later on. But this is this may not be the 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:59.439 episode for you. This may not be sort of the 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:01.720 sort of week or the maybe you know, the sort 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:03.920 of financial life hack that would be great for you 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:06.080 to do, and so it's just important to kind of 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:09.959 know yourself, know what your tendencies are, and take that 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:13.600 into account before you hop onto nerd wallet and start 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.240 looking up all the best credit cards right that offer 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:18.920 sweet bonuses. And so one thing you should consider if 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:20.559 you have credit card debt, whether it's you know, a 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:23.360 large balance or a small balance, and you have good credit, 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:25.600 the only reason we would encourage you to open up 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.120 another credit card is if you could do this one thing, 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:32.040 open up a credit card that has a promotional zero 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:34.720 percent interest rate. So if you've got a credit score 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:36.600 and go back and listen to our episode on credit 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:38.720 scores and now to improve that. But if you have 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:43.120 a good credit score that's typically seven seven forty year above, 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:46.000 if you're in that range, you're likely getting offers in 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:49.560 the mail with zero percent promotional interest rates of twelve, fifteen, 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:52.600 eighteen months. And if you've got a credit card balance, 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:56.079 it would be wise to open up a zero percent 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:59.120 credit card, transfer the balance over and pay that likely 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:01.679 three percent fee to do that, and then essentially give 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:05.080 yourself fifteen eighteen months to tablet as quickly as possible 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.800 where you're not paying any interest on the debt itself. 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:11.200 And so if you have a good credit it's worth 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:13.480 kind of going down that path. And that's the only 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:16.160 real reason that we would consider telling you to open 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:18.480 up another credit card. But again, if it's going to 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:21.720 cause you to to snowball into more and more debt, 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:23.960 it's not worth it. You just need to cut it 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:27.120 off all together, toss them in the freezer, and just 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:29.959 start paying it down with that laser like focus. Yes, 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:32.640 that's definitely more of a route for someone that's like 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.080 turning over new leaf, right if it's if they're like, 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:37.280 you know what, I'm We're done with this, We're done 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:40.360 carrying a balance. We're not gonna have credit card payments anymore. 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:43.560 It's gonna take someone that is just all about knocking 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:45.760 it out. Yes, So now the rest of this podcast 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:47.760 is dedicated to the people that use credit cards and 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:49.920 pay them off every month. If you're one of the 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:52.400 people doing that, all the rest of these tips are 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:54.840 for you. Yeah, man, So for those folks, a credit 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:57.680 card is essentially a tool. You know, it's just like 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:00.280 a great sort of product that we can sort of 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:02.400 hack and and use in a way that you know, 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:05.720 we essentially are able to work the system kind of 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:09.400 play the game and get some pretty sweet bonuses along 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:11.160 the way. Yeah, and our in our country, we have 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:12.920 a lot of people in credit card debt, and that 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:18.480 actually allows people that use their credit cards wisely to 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:22.520 get some great perks and great cash back rewards. And 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.320 that's essentially because people that are you know, have the 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:27.520 credit card debt and are paying high interest rates or 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:31.120 subsidizing the people that get points, and and they're they're 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.400 subsidizing the rewards that that we get as credit card 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:37.320 users that use it wisely. And man, I kind of 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:40.720 like in this system to In our state, the lottery 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:44.120 ticket sales benefit middle class and upper class families by 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:48.640 providing free pre k and free college. And I personally 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:50.800 benefited from both of those things in this state. Yeah, 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:54.080 same here, And uh, I don't like it. I don't 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:58.240 like the fact that essentially it's a huge, huge transfer 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:00.679 of wealth from the poorts people. It's a crap system. Yeah, 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.560 who can't afford it. I don't think that's a good thing. 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:06.839 But that is the way the system is currently constructed, 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.120 and the credit card system is much the same way, 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.160 and so I don't like it. I don't like that, 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:15.200 you know, the poorest people who can't pay their bills 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.520 are paying exorbitant interest rates. But it does provide an 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:22.560 ability for us to get returns that we otherwise wouldn't 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:25.200 ye ji also for better or worse. That's kind of 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:28.320 one of the biggest benefits of of the credit cards 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:30.680 are the points, like the points in the cash back 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:33.240 or the miles depending on you know, all the different 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:36.240 cards out there have the different reward that they focus on. 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:39.240 And that's the biggest reason why I use the credit 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:41.360 card is is I mean we use it to pay 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:44.760 for everything. I mean, everything that we can possibly pay 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:46.880 for with credit card, we we throw it on the 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:49.520 credit card and we yeah, we get the cash back. 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:51.320 So yeah, man, if you want to use a credit 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:54.680 card like a pro, you're gonna use credit cards that 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:57.680 benefit you the most. And there's a lot of advertising 0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:01.720 in the credit card industry. You know, commercials all the time, NonStop. 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:04.240 When you're web surfing, you know, you'll see ads on 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.400 almost every website. You know, get this credit card, this 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:09.040 one will make it life better. Go travel to Tahiti 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:11.280 if you get this credit card. And I think unless 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.680 you're really, really really into the credit card game, the 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:16.920 easiest and best thing for you to do when getting 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:20.520 a credit card is to maximize cash back because there's 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:22.800 all sorts of loopholes when it comes to booking travel 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:27.160 composed the blackout dates. Yeah, and maybe you think you 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:29.360 want to travel, maybe you didn't realize all the things 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:31.440 that it took to actually redeem those rewards. And so 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.240 I think the easiest thing for people to do is 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:35.320 to get the highest percentage cash back that they can. 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:39.680 And so my favorite two cards are the City Double 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:42.400 Cash Card because you get one percent when you make 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:44.240 the purchase and another one percent when you pay. That's 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:46.400 two percent back. And the card that I use most 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:49.480 of the time is the Fidelity Investments Visa Reward Card, 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:53.640 and that's two percent cash back that I can transfer 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:56.840 into a retirement account. I can open up an investment 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:00.080 account with Fidelity with the rewards, and the great thing 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:02.000 about it is you're getting two percent on your money. 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.560 If you transfer that money to U qualified Fidelity account, 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:08.360 you could transfer it into a five account for your kids. 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:10.560 There's all sorts of options with that card, but I 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:12.960 think the easiest and best thing to do if you 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:16.400 don't really know exactly what you're spending is like the 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:18.400 two percent is just an easy thing to follow. There's 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:21.360 all sorts of rotating rewards cards where every three months 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:24.200 it's five percent in this category or that category. I 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:26.080 think for most people were too busy, like we don't, 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:28.840 it's hard to track of right. So one of my 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:30.360 cards has that too, where they're like, would you like 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:33.240 to enroll and getting you know, an extra three percent 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:36.640 or whatever on home improvement stores, and it's just like, well, 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:38.480 I mean yeah, because I'm logged in, I'll click yes 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:40.880 because it doesn't require anything, you know, really extra of me. 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.000 But uh yeah, man, I'm totally with you. Like for us, 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:48.680 we've never used credit card for miles. We like to 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:52.240 use it more as additional income as opposed to sort 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.080 of like this bonus where we sort of get this 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:55.680 thing and we kind of have this little prize and 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:57.960 we get to do something with it. And by using 0:16:57.960 --> 0:16:59.640 that additional money to kind of plug back into our 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:02.520 system where we've already sort of predecided what our priorities are, 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:05.000 and then we'll use that to fund travel, or we 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:07.600 might use that to fund you know, at line United 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:09.680 tickets or something else that's fun that we might want 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:12.879 to do. We keep it super simple. And we're totally 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:15.280 with you, like we don't worry about the loopholes and 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:16.919 just everything, all the hoops you need to jump through 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:19.440 in order to make it work. From a mile standpoint, yeah, 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:21.199 I think if you want the set it and forget 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:24.360 it approach, then that's the easiest one to do. If 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:28.320 you don't want to be thinking about fulfilling all these 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:31.080 obligations in order to book to travel, the easiest thing 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.440 is to pull out the two percent cash back card 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:37.640 because likely the one you're using is offering you inferior 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:41.320 rewards than two and so switch to that card and 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:43.520 get better rewards. I will say at different times I've 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.240 I've gotten travel reward cards, and I usually when I 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.600 do that, I go for a specific airline. For instance, 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:51.280 I recently got a Southwest credit card when they had 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:54.399 a special with extra points, so I got sixty instead 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:58.040 of the normal forty, and you know what, that's enough 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:01.680 points for me to book a round trip ticket for 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:04.159 my whole family of four if I wait for a 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:07.280 sale on Southwest across the country. Right. So that's a 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:09.359 sweet deal. But just be careful when you're getting a 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:12.200 credit card that offers you travel rewards points. Know what 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:14.199 you're getting into, know that you'll you want to make 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:16.440 sure you you'll know how to redeem them. Uh, that's 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:18.600 really important when you're considering what cards you're gonna get, 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:20.320 and if you know you're not gonna go through those steps, 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:23.400 just go with simple two percent cash back cards. Yeah. 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:26.440 But yeah, man, the points the cash back and then 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.080 for me, Man, recently the past few years, I've been 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:31.840 really into the sign up bonuses. That's another sort of 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.520 pro that I feel like we've been able to work. 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:38.360 And honestly, just about every three months or so, I'll 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:42.320 apply for a new card that's offering anywhere between three 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:45.399 hundreds of eight hundred dollars for a sign up bonus 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:47.439 if you spend a certain amount of money within you know, 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:49.880 like typically three months or something something like that. Yeah, 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:52.040 So when you're considering what credit card you're gonna get, 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:54.840 consider what the rewards are and whether you're actually gonna 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:56.159 know how to use them, and if you're not going 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:57.960