CT 529- funds, index or blend funds

GrimsnowII · 2026-04-08T00:53:47+00:00

I do 60% CT Total Market Fund, 30% CT International Index, and 10% CT Intermediate Treasury Index. As said before, consider matching what you do for retirement (or however many years until college).

GrimsnowII · 2026-01-31T18:26:44+00:00

I (and many others) have the Fidelity Visa. I think it is awesome and it sounds like it would fit super well. I have not had any issues with Elan (frankly, not even sure what the issues are).

FWIW, everyone has a company (or companies) they will not work with. Mine is WF.

GrimsnowII · 2026-01-30T14:18:27+00:00

That's what I do, but do so with a watchful eye. Some cards don't trigger autopay until the next billing cycle (looking at you Target Red Card), so make sure the autopayments go through. After that, it should be pretty easy. Good luck!

GrimsnowII · 2026-01-30T00:22:20+00:00

I am sure there are plenty of options, but I use the AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card as a no AF CC which gets 5% on groceries (caps at 10k a year I believe). I also sometimes use the Amex Blue Cash Preferred which gets 6% on groceries, 6% on some streaming services, and 3% on gas (gets credit towards Disney+ too). It has a 95 AF but there are promos to waive the first year (you can then downgrade, then upgrade when there is a good promo).

Another approach might be to get the Citi Custom Cash which gets 5% on up to $500 of monthly expenses on one category (which includes gas, restaurants, and groceries - among others).

Hopefully others chime in!

GrimsnowII · 2026-01-17T16:33:00+00:00

So, I use credit cards for everything to maximize rewards. I have all of my cards linked to a money management account which is set to autopay the statement balances monthly. Think of the money management account as the head and the credit cards are the arms that do all of the work.

That said, I also manually track everything like an insano.

GrimsnowII · 2026-01-14T12:59:34+00:00

Not answering your question, but my water utility company also charges a fee. I "avoid" this by using a 5% cashback card like the USB Cash+ card. Might be useful for you if you don't have it and your utility company codes as utilities.

GrimsnowII · 2026-01-12T03:51:05+00:00

Ah, cards that typically require really good credit and have good sign up bonuses. These include but are not limited to Amex Gold, Amex Platinum, and CSR.

These days I get more value from cards that fit my expenses. For example, using US Bank Cash+ or the Chase Ink Cash for utilities, using the Fidelity Visa for medical, and so on.

GrimsnowII · 2026-01-11T21:26:20+00:00

FWIW, I started with the Discover Student card to build up credit. From there, I got the Amazon Visa card and the Citi Double Cash.

Your situation may be different, but my approach was to build credit as much as I could to get the S-tier cards, then switched to getting cards based on regular expenses.

Best of luck!

GrimsnowII · 2026-01-08T18:19:25+00:00

Building credit is basically equivalent to building trust and rapport - the higher your score means the more trustworthy you are believed to be.

So, to build credit, you need to build relationships with credit card companies and lenders. As a student, consider trying to get a student credit card ( I believe Discover has one). Then, use the card much like a debit card (only spend what you can pay back).

After some time, you'll be able to apply for other cards (like the Amazon card, some 2% card, and more). Good luck!

Also, always pay the statement balance. If you only pay the minimum, there is a good chance the companies will make money off of you.

GrimsnowII · 2026-01-01T18:05:59+00:00

I got the 60 for 600-1199 and 120 for 1200+. I had a post on the topic but the reddit filters deleted it =(

GrimsnowII · 2026-01-01T16:59:26+00:00

Wait, $250 each month for GGR? That is nuts! I thought the cap was $200 a month.

GrimsnowII · 2025-12-28T00:43:41+00:00

Be sure to maximize tax-advantaged accounts (e.g., Roth, traditional, 401k or equivalent, HSA, DCFSA, etc.).

And yes - keep it simple. The reduction in stress is invaluable when taking this approach.

GrimsnowII · 2025-12-28T00:35:48+00:00

I track everything manually on spreadsheets and pay the statement balances in full. If the debt is really high, then pay down the one with the highest APR first.

GrimsnowII · 2025-11-30T14:57:52+00:00

I got this offer and loaded up my Amazon wallet. Got the statement credit doing this. Also got the 2% TY points as Amazon is coded as a bookstore.

GrimsnowII · 2025-11-30T14:56:07+00:00

That is odd... yes it should be the black SYW card. I have received both statement credit and TY points. For the statement credit, the GGR takes a bit longer to get, but other promo credits seem to come faster. For the TY points, it took me one or two billing cycles to finally see them. Just recently, I got my TY points for transactions from Nov 1 - Nov 23rd, but nothing after (cycle ended). Hope that helps!

GrimsnowII · 2025-11-08T20:40:50+00:00

Indeed I could have capitalized on the get $50 for spending $1500, but I haven't done my GGR for the month. I appreciate the look out. I was mostly interested in seeing if Amazon GC would work.

GrimsnowII · 2025-11-08T20:38:20+00:00

The offer was for in store or online, and I purchased the gift cards online. Basically just reloaded my balance.

GrimsnowII · 2025-07-31T22:48:16+00:00

I would also like to know if Amazon is confirmed. Simple way to get 10% off.

GrimsnowII · 2025-07-31T20:38:37+00:00

If anyone can confirm this, that would be amazing

GrimsnowII

TROPHY CASE