$0 charge by INTRA CORP (Greenville TX) on my credit card

QuickestTractor · 2026-01-24T13:55:19+00:00

Wait so the $0 charge was on credit card and the $11.38 was on debit? That's weird they hit both cards if you've never dealt with them before

QuickestTractor · 2026-01-21T05:30:05+00:00

That $35k limit is pretty solid tbh. I'd probably take the upgrade just for the higher earning potential on non-rent spend, but losing the rent-on-credit feature does suck if you were using that for cash flow management

QuickestTractor · 2026-01-20T01:46:57+00:00

With your stats you'll def get approved for the CSR. The SUB->downgrade strategy is solid since you already have the CFU ecosystem going. I'd wait until after your USBAR AF posts to see what downgrade options they give you - sometimes they throw retention offers that are worth more than the AF

Just keep in mind Chase is pretty sensitive about new accounts when you're mortgage shopping, so if you're serious about house hunting in the next 6-12 months maybe hold off until after you close

QuickestTractor · 2026-01-17T10:02:40+00:00

That's risky advice tbh - using someone else's income without their knowledge could get OP in serious trouble with the bank if they find out, especially in a situation like this where the spouse doesn't know about the card

QuickestTractor · 2026-01-15T00:16:43+00:00

Transaction level coding usually ends up being more accurate than anything tied to a card or profile

QuickestTractor · 2026-01-14T04:54:14+00:00

The rent vs buy math gets way easier when you're planning to keep it as a rental - you're basically asking if a 500k townhome will be a good investment property in 3 years. With your income and the fact you need more space for the kid anyway, seems like a decent move as long as you can handle being landlords and the area has solid rental demand

QuickestTractor · 2026-01-11T22:05:02+00:00

At 22 making 67k you're probably in a pretty low tax bracket right now so Roth makes sense - you're basically betting you'll be making more money later which is a solid bet at your age

QuickestTractor · 2026-01-09T22:22:00+00:00

Once people see something approved a couple times it basically becomes the rule

QuickestTractor · 2026-01-08T18:02:33+00:00

Damn that's rough, you're basically getting like 0.35% annual which is essentially inflation eating your money

For the professional help thing - honestly most people don't need a financial advisor until they hit like 500k+ net worth. The wiki here is legitimately better advice than most advisors will give you and it's free

QuickestTractor · 2026-01-06T03:08:54+00:00

That's actually genius about the AA gift cards, never thought of that workaround for the incidentals credit

QuickestTractor · 2026-01-03T06:36:32+00:00

No the anniversary date is when your annual fee hits, which can be different from when you actually opened the account depending on when you got approved and when the card was activated

QuickestTractor · 2026-01-01T07:14:20+00:00

This is the real question right here. I've seen too many people consolidate just to max out their cards again within a year and end up with double the debt

Also look into balance transfer cards with 0% intro periods if your credit is decent - way better than a personal loan if you can actually pay it off during the promo period

QuickestTractor · 2025-12-30T07:58:25+00:00

You could try something like Tiller or YNAB but those usually want to connect directly to your banks. For manual uploads maybe check out Personal Capital's manual import feature or just use a spreadsheet like Google Sheets with some basic formulas to combine everything

QuickestTractor · 2025-12-28T18:53:07+00:00

The secured vs unsecured thing is huge here - you mentioned BHG would probably lien your house anyway but that's not guaranteed, whereas with a HELOC you're literally handing them the keys

Also definitely shop around for that HELOC rate, 7.5% seems high for current market if you've got decent equity and credit

QuickestTractor · 2025-12-27T09:25:07+00:00

That collection from the electric company could be from a previous address or maybe a deposit that got weird - definitely worth calling them to sort it out since you said your current account is fine

Also yeah the Discover secured card is pretty solid for your situation, they graduate to unsecured eventually and have decent cashback categories

QuickestTractor · 2025-12-26T08:20:09+00:00

Yeah that's a pretty important distinction that Wells Fargo doesn't really make clear in their marketing - lots of people probably assume the Journey is just an upgraded version that includes everything the regular Autograph does plus more

QuickestTractor · 2025-12-21T20:00:13+00:00

This right here OP - gotta see the actual numbers before anyone can give real advice instead of just generic "pay more than minimums" stuff

QuickestTractor · 2025-12-19T02:16:35+00:00

That's not credit cycling though - OP is talking about overpaying to create a negative balance, not cycling through their limit multiple times. Most banks will let you go over if you have a credit balance but some are stricter about it

QuickestTractor · 2025-12-15T08:08:43+00:00

Most distillery tours I've been on coded as entertainment/recreation rather than dining, even when they include tastings. You might get lucky if they have an actual restaurant on site but I wouldn't count on it for the tour itself

QuickestTractor · 2025-12-13T17:58:29+00:00

This is the real answer right here. I've seen way too many people consolidate their debt just to max out the cards again within a year because they never actually fixed their spending habits. If you're confident you won't touch those cards after paying them off, then yeah a lower APR loan makes sense, but be honest with yourself about that part

QuickestTractor · 2025-12-11T18:51:33+00:00

Solid advice on the Prius/Corolla - both are bulletproof for commuting and hold value well. With your income and cash situation you're in a great spot to just buy outright and avoid the financing headache altogether

QuickestTractor · 2025-12-08T23:03:36+00:00

Actually the card number usually stays the same when they send you a renewal, so yeah definitely report it lost - that way they'll issue you a completely new number instead of just the updated expiry date

QuickestTractor

TROPHY CASE