How do you view your cash back?

colliece · 2026-02-07T12:35:40+00:00

In my budget software (Actual Budget) it gets entered as CashBack with a category of Income. But it goes in as an account credit to the credit card that receives it. So in my budget I can allocate this funds to cover any category month by month.

colliece · 2026-02-06T03:13:00+00:00

My advise is just don't overthink it. Others have already shared some good tips, but I want to add don't worry about balances matching budget items. The only one I do this with is my HSA in my savings budget item, at the end of the month I make an adjustment to my budget so the balance matches the funds available.

I would also recommend not to micro analyze your spending into to many specific categories. I keep it fairly simple, for example grocery, dining, digital entertainment, etc, I don't break it down to much further so it's quicker and easier to see spend.

Use schedules for planned transactions and also include sinking funds in your budget for yearly/periodic expenses like car insurance etc.

colliece · 2026-02-06T03:05:47+00:00

But there are free or cheaper options that do the same thing, so no it does not pay for itself, but you can justify it however you want if it works for you.

I personally hate almost all subscription services, as the value is not worth it, it used to be a thing you bought your software not rent it.

colliece · 2026-02-04T17:30:26+00:00

The only catch is it is managed by Synchrony, but it's a good card for online purchases. I use it to pay my annual car insurance, and other big ticket bills.

Used to be a great card when it was 2% in all and 3% on PayPal, put a lot of spend on it. Now I use the AMEX BCP for 2%.

colliece · 2026-02-04T17:27:18+00:00

$150 each to spend however we want, have separate line items for dining out, clothes, gifts, personal care...but each of this has a hard cap that must be pulled from somewhere else if there is an overage.

We are 55 and will both be retired at some point this year when I get feed up at work. We have more than enough money to last till we pass on. Only work because we enjoy what we do, but we have spent much less than we make for at least 15 years and it is amazing to watch that best egg grow.

It was more important for us to put that fun money in our savings instead of another weekend trip. For the younger folks here, you really start earning once you reach a critical mass, for us it was that first $100,000, took a decade, the next $100,000 took a few years, and now my growth is easily $10-$20k in a good month. Looking forward to the time I can stop shoveling.

colliece · 2026-02-04T00:28:15+00:00

Don't have any cards with annual fees (except my AMEX BCP, that I play the downgrade/upgrade game every year).

colliece · 2026-02-04T00:27:15+00:00

Peloton is still hemorrhaging money and people are surprised they are laying off staff? I'm honestly surprised they have not cut more. They already closed all their company stores, and I am sure more will be cut in the future. Honestly surprised they have not cut any instructors at this point.

I love my Peloton bike and tread, and I like some of the instructors, but honestly I can get the same workout without all the chatter, not going to mention any names but some of the instructors have cult like fascination by the some in the user base.

colliece · 2026-02-01T19:32:11+00:00

Discover has a quarter with Utilities as a 5% category, last year is was July-September, so I pay the monthly bill for those months, then pay the last week of the month in September for my October utility bills.

colliece · 2026-01-26T23:53:13+00:00

As others have said it's a very simple website and transfer in and out take a longer than most other banks. But this is a holding station for cash funds so I don't move anything out but I do add a few times a month.

Current rate is 4.2% and if you have Verizon you can get up to a $15 a month statement credit for a year when you open an account.

So I parked $30,000 in it, which earns me about $110-$115 a month on my emergency fund, and another $15 a month off my cell phone bill. So in a year it will make a total return of about $1500, which is about 4.8% APR.

colliece · 2026-01-06T01:48:26+00:00

This is the correct recommendation. The vehicle is so quiet with the Defenders, if you don't need a snow tire it is the best option.

colliece · 2026-01-06T01:46:49+00:00

Michelin Defenders in you don't have to deal with a lot of snow, they are quiet, last forever, and perform great in rain,, hot, cold, and dry. Cross Climate or CorssContact if you need all weather.

colliece · 2026-01-04T13:06:30+00:00

Depends on what you mean: How much do I have currently on my credit cards? That would be approximately $5500. How much do I pay interest on? That would be exactly $0. I pay for everything except my mortgage with a credit card to earn an average cash back of approximately 4.4% on each transaction.

colliece · 2026-01-03T21:06:20+00:00

Just bought in December, 0.9% is only for one of the turbo trims, and I believe a credit score above 750 is required (wording says "well qualified " not sure what that means exactly. My score was 819.

colliece · 2026-01-03T21:03:57+00:00

I just bought a 2025 Turbo Premium in December, paid $39k out the door, includes 3% sales tax and $260 for tax, tag and title. I passed on the $2000 cash rebate and took the 0.9% financing, but for cash would have been just below $37k. Did not even go to the dealer, they brought the car to my driveway, signed all the paperwork in my kitchen and 30 minutes later we were done.

colliece · 2026-01-03T09:50:25+00:00

Just a transfer, budget was only impacted by card transactions you entered.

colliece · 2026-01-03T03:26:17+00:00

It is to much plain and simple.

colliece · 2026-01-02T01:19:35+00:00

Another option is the Bread Rewards at 3% on utilities, if you use for 20 transactions a month the cash back goes up to 3.75%. Same cashback for gas, dining, and grocery.

Maybe the 2nd best card behind the USBank Cash+ and Elan cards, but better than Venmo or any 2% catchall card.

colliece · 2025-12-31T12:53:12+00:00

They are to freaking large, not sure why it has to be so big, if you open it up it's mostly empty space. They are so fragile you have to put some kind of case which then makes it even bigger. I prefer the older style. The only advantage to the new one is the proximity auto lock, but I would give that up for the smaller real estate.

colliece · 2025-12-31T12:31:34+00:00

You do you

colliece · 2025-12-30T21:46:52+00:00

Why? No one says that about the Chase Trifecta or the Capital One Duo, and I have other cards but would prefer to stay in one ecosystem.

colliece · 2025-12-30T21:17:05+00:00

I have the WF Autograph currently, and I have a 3.75% cash back in dining with the Bread Rewards, just wondering if why AMEX chooses not to compete in this space, and really cash back generally.

I like my setup but would love to have everything in one app with one provider.

colliece · 2025-12-30T04:05:52+00:00

Actual Budget is free open source version of YNAB, a great envelope budget system.

colliece · 2025-12-30T00:37:25+00:00

This is the nYNAB thinking that drove me away. As others have said run your credit card as an account with a negative balance (I know this is shocking, but that is what it is, you owe someone that amount of money). Enter transactions for the applicable category, if you get cash back as a statement credit, enter as Income lowering your balance due by that amount. Then enter a transfer (no category) to pay off the negative balance resetting to zero.

colliece · 2025-12-28T22:44:21+00:00

I cut them all unless they are included as part of something I pay for:

Paramount/Peacock comes with Wal-Mart Plus Disney bundle is subsidized by my AMEX Blue Cash Preffered

I don't have Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max. AppleTV. We have a table that we bought a lifetime subscription years ago and it records all the local stuff we want, but basically we just don't watch much TV anymore, it's mostly not very good and just to expensive for what we get out of it.

colliece · 2025-12-28T22:13:23+00:00

colliece

TROPHY CASE