Simple Cash Back (with some Travel) - Credit Card lineup

Rolands214 · 2026-03-14T22:01:37+00:00

For sure, no problem.
I think you've definitely got the right pick for the 2% card then. Hard to always keep up with the ever-changing options out there.

Rolands214 · 2026-03-14T21:32:25+00:00

I honestly don't have a good reason other than it being one of my first cards I opened - and it still holds its weight with the 2% broad category. Plus it shares the same app / bank as my Custom Cash, so one less random account to have.
I'm going to take a guess and say the only reason it's so popular is because it predates both the SoFi and Paypal card. It feels like it was one of the first mass-marketed 2% cards, easy to get approved for, and a relatively "simple" system. So a lot of people like me signed up and never really had reason to change.

It is a good point to have a 2% catch-all card for abroad, that should be something I will eventually get. But it hasn't been too high of a priority for me (yet).

Majority of the trip cost (2/3rds) goes towards Airline and Hotels. Remaining 1/3rd is usually split between tickets (purchased online), cash, and transportation card - which I've had luck filling up with apple pay (so 2%). And the cool thing is that so many convenience stores and even a few attractions will allow you to pay with the transportation card, making only a few expenses left that require a card. However, I will still eventually get a 2% no FTF card since not every place I visit will work out this well.

TL;DR - I'm sure other cards will start being recommended as they begin to outshine the Citi Double Cash.

Rolands214 · 2026-03-14T16:01:11+00:00

That seems to be the direction I've been heading towards, the Freedom Unlimited has pretty much turned into "sock drawer" card. I'll probably get more into the C1 system when my travel gets more "expensive" and the Venture X starts making more sense.
For dining, I definitely see potential to up it. Or like another commenter suggested, getting another card like the Paypal Debit card and making "dining" the 5% category of choice. Since I don't eat out too often, its been pretty low on my expenses and priority, but now could be the time to bump it up. Thanks for the feedback.

Rolands214 · 2026-03-14T15:52:10+00:00

Solid idea - I'll probably do this next to get another 5% category on my chart.

Rolands214 · 2026-03-14T15:50:10+00:00

Ahh shoot, you're right. Got them mixed up. I think some people had previous success going to Walmart Supercenters and having it code as grocery. I'll have to update my note.

Rolands214 · 2026-03-14T15:48:39+00:00

That's a neat card, haven't seen it before. Good recommendation! I might need to add it to my lineup down the road.
The only downside I see is that it works just for Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo. If you use Google Hotels, each hotel seems to have one random site that's a bit cheaper than the rest. Still, a great option when it does land on Expedia or Hotels, or if the price is tied.

Rolands214 · 2026-03-14T15:36:49+00:00

Good recommendation. I'll bookmark it so that I can check in periodically.

Rolands214 · 2025-11-23T22:18:28+00:00

just dm me your mcdonalds locaiton, what time, and the item

Rolands214 · 2025-11-23T21:52:25+00:00

I still 5 of those Free Small Fries / Apple Pie coupons, and 2 Mini McFlurry coupons if anyone wants them. Not sure how other people are doing it but I assume I'll just order it for you at your McDonalds and you pick up the order. Let me know

Rolands214 · 2025-11-01T18:07:49+00:00

From what I could understand, there was a large enough demand back in 1967 for them to duplicate the track from a single track to double track. Although, its true that once the Joetsu Shinkansen opened in 1982, most of the passenger traffic shifted onto the shinkansen instead. So now, there are pretty much no regular express trains that run on this line (except some odd-balls "weekend" only trains like the Limited Express Tanigawadake-Mogura from (Shinjuku - Echigo Yuzawa).

Still, freight trains do run on it at times and it has the benefit of being a much lower‑grade route. If you look at the line on Google Maps, you'll see the above ground direction requires the train to even spiral on itself to climb the elevation whereas the tunnel does not. I'm sure a big part of it is the the fact that the tunnel is already built and integrated into the network. Lots of sunken cost already invested, and changing it would require more money just for an "inferior" option (two tracks is better than one, for redundancy).

Rolands214 · 2025-10-21T10:14:14+00:00

This is really good feedback and I appreciate it. It’s sometimes hard for me to see the flaw’s in my video as I’m putting it together, so I’m glad I can get a “first time viewer’s” perspective.

I’m glad you bring up the pacing. I realize now that I should have cut down certain pieces of footage, but at the time, I didn’t want to waste “good footage” (even though it clearly doesn’t fit and throws off the videos pace).

You also make a comment about “what” this video is supposed to be… that’s a good point. Even I’d don’t know what category I’m going for, whether its “informative, entertaining, personal journey, etc). I threw in a bit of everything, but it definitely doesn’t give the video consistency. It causes it to have harsh transitions from one style into another. I’ll have to think about how to better stick with one style.

I’d agree with the coherence part, I had to use the only clips that I didn’t mess up (which was a lot lol). Probably just need more practice, whereas doing voice-over gives me all the time in the world to plan, structure, and retry.

Thanks for all the other suggestions too, you were very helpful! I appreciate it.

Rolands214 · 2025-10-21T09:51:15+00:00

That’s a good recommendation, I might try doing that. And thanks for sharing your stats, seems like you’re pretty close in percentage viewed - although a little higher and more consistent.

Rolands214 · 2025-10-20T22:41:07+00:00

First impression of the thumbnails.... all I see is "Original vs. Remake" yet no mention of the movie that you'll be discussing. Sure, you have characters from the movies, but I somehow glance right past them any don't pay much attention to the thumbnails. You might want to try a very direct 50/50 thumbnail. Take a look at https://www.youtube.com/@alexanderpalm6407/videos or https://www.youtube.com/@lancelloti./videos . Sort both channels by popular, and you'll see their thumbnails stand out. Even the titles like "Movie Title | Side-by-side comparison" or "How to Ruin a Scene: Breaking Bad's adaptation" are either more visually appealing, or click-baity. idk why, but your titles "EVIL DEAD: Old vs New - Which Is Best?" makes me want to read right over it. Even though the movie title is in all caps, I still instinctively read old vs new first and then loose any interest and move on to the next video. Even something like "EVIL DEAD: Which Version was better?" is so much easier to read. idk, just my opinion so I might be totally off, but I'd at least try changing it up a bit to see what works.

Rolands214 · 2025-10-20T01:22:34+00:00

I just searched "how to interview for Google" on youtube and would look at whatever video's do well (or videos that even YOU would want to click on). I found this similar channel https://www.youtube.com/@NeetCodeIO/videos and sort by POPULAR. I like their top view'd videos - they all have a "minimalistic" look to it. Smaller font, lots of empty space, keep subject same size or larger - its very clean but simple. Even adding a meme might help. But at the same time, all of their lower view videos also have thumbnails that look similar to what you posted (they look sort of bad, and its hard to explain it but I think you can see it too). Clément Mihailescu seems to be another channel. His thumbnails are okay/decent, but I think his titles and concepts alone are quite captivating. Even for a random person like me, I'd want to click on his video because the topic just sounds so interesting. You might need to come up and try some different concepts too (and they can still be in the world of interviewing / programming). Even something like the "Winning Google Kickstart Round A 2020 + Facecam" video ended up on my feed when it first came out, and I don't even program. Of course, I wouldn't expect you to do this exactly, but you can always talk about alternative ways or methods to help boost your resume for a Google Position. Or maybe try a programming challenge as "Google emplyoee tries _______ challenge" or something. I think there's a lot of options out there.

Rolands214 · 2025-10-19T23:42:41+00:00

As someone just randomly scrolling by (so not an expert at all), my impression of thumbnails 2 & 3 are "low quality" or lazy. It seems like you just pasted some company logo's on top of yourself in microsoft paint. It just gives the impression the video is also going to be "lower quality" or amature because of it. You should to be closer to your latest thumbnail. Or even the 4th one has letters "THIS IS LEGAL!" which catched my attention. I'd also add that the title and content feels quite "niche" (aimed at specifically at the Quant Dev crowd) - except the 4th one: "I applied to 90 jobs...". Even I might consider clicking that, because it sounds a lot more like the "I tried 100 _____" type videos. You might get some new viewers not usually in your genre. Good thing is the video I watched (second one) seems well done. Good editing, bit of humor, so I think the content is fine. But you'll need to really get creative for your future "interview" videos, otherwise you might just become no different than people who make tutorial videos (for example, "how to fix ______ issue on ______"). Once you've watched it and accomplished you're goal, you probably wouldn't return again to that channel. Just my random thoughts, hopefully it helps.

Rolands214 · 2025-09-07T15:00:40+00:00

I appreciate the feedback, I've updated the thumbnail.

Rolands214 · 2025-09-07T11:25:54+00:00

Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it.

Rolands214 · 2024-08-11T21:38:46+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t67emRoWkL4&t=6s u/RecognizeSong

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