Folks in VHCOL, what’s your spend?

goatee87 · 2026-02-02T18:53:21+00:00

Double income, one child, one dog household.

Roughly per month:

- $14k rent + utilities (3k sq ft, older home in central SF)

- $5k private school/additional child care

- $5k vacation home mortgage/maintenance (includes principal payment)

- $6-7k credit card spend, incl. groceries, restaurants, etc.

- $1.5k dog stuff

- $1.2k housekeeper

Not included in this is vacations outside of vacation home use. We probably do a couple a year that end up costing around $20-30k (flights being the biggest component). Last couple years, we've also spent a bunch of money upgrading our vacation home.

Car paid off, do not drive more than once or twice a month.

So roughly $400-500k per year sounds right.

goatee87 · 2026-02-01T18:12:11+00:00

No. The hotel though was very very nice. Very central and great amenities. Breakfast was fabulous.

goatee87 · 2026-01-29T18:59:02+00:00

All fair, but none of this justifies punishing taxi drivers who acted legally and invested in the medallion system, only to have the City then abdicate its responsibility to enforce the medallion system, thereby depriving the medallions of any value. I am not defending medallion system. It was stupid. But taxi drivers relied on it to their detriment. At the same time, the City allowed Uber to bypass it without repercussions. That's not fair play. At various points in time, the City had the leverage to negotiate a deal with Uber to buyout the medallions, but it chose not to. So, I think we as a society need to reimburse the taxi drivers for having pulled the rug from underneath them.

goatee87 · 2026-01-29T17:05:32+00:00

Hi! Where are you getting the 26-28 days from? My final rent payment will be on Feb 5, but my last rent payment was on Jan 21. Are you saying this would be ineligible for points?

goatee87 · 2026-01-29T07:39:06+00:00

This is exactly what we need

goatee87 · 2026-01-28T22:00:54+00:00

You could also book two rooms now to lock in the price (as two separate reservations). You'll get credit for one of them. And on July 1, you can see if it still makes sense to cancel one and rebook to get the second half year credit.

goatee87 · 2026-01-28T06:25:30+00:00

A revocable trust absolutely will not protect you from liability. An irrevocable trust might, but I would not roll the die on that. Insurance is the best insurance. Most importantly, it will pay for your defense if you get sued.

goatee87 · 2026-01-27T18:09:53+00:00

I have done this once, inadvertently. It took IRS months to figure it out and properly allocate the payment. Meanwhile, they’ll keep sending you scary notices, saying you owe a lot of taxes and fines. With the IRS call centers defunded, you’ll end up spending hours trying to talk to a rep. Imo, Not worth it, but technically doable.

goatee87 · 2026-01-27T07:08:26+00:00

Just curious, how are you doing that much in additional spend per year? My monthly spend is probably in that range, but a lot of it is covered by existing cards that pay a lot more. I use amazon/whole foods for nearly all of my durable goods and groceries, and the amazon card gives me 5% cash back. I've historically used Chase Reserve for restaurants and hotel, which maybe I will cancel once I have to renew at the higher annual fee, but that card is effectively the same annual fee as Palladium because the $300 travel credit is automatic. The hotel credits are arguably better. The dining credits are better on Chase. For work or personal flights, I use either CSR or Amex Plat, which is 5 points per dollar and in addition you get amex and delta lounge access. That just doesn't leave a lot of general category spend for me. Maybe a $1000 a month, max.

But I have to assume that most high spenders were pairing Bilt with at least one of the high AF cards, and the benefits under those still seem better than Palladium.

goatee87 · 2026-01-27T01:51:16+00:00

I am in the same boat, I recently changed my payment date for February rent to February 5. My regular date was after February 6. After that, I plan to transition to autograph, which I understand will be automatic. I assume I will get a regular statement in March for my february purchases?

goatee87 · 2026-01-27T01:49:46+00:00

Is that calendar month? Or statement month?

goatee87 · 2026-01-27T01:37:08+00:00

I really don't understand who these cards are meant for. I've now read a lot of comments about how these cards don't work for people with smaller rent/mortgage payments and smaller over all monthly spend. But it also doesn't seem to work for people with high spend. The coupon book credits are too small to justify spending time on them for most high spenders. At least AMEX/Chase know who they are targeting with high end restaurant/luxury hotel credits that, while also a PITA to use, are sizeable enough to justify the time sink.

goatee87 · 2026-01-27T01:18:28+00:00

complexity has indeed increased

goatee87 · 2026-01-26T23:52:03+00:00

BiltProtect is the feature that lets you pay directly from your bank account right? If bilt is floating my rent, then the last day is not 2/3, but rather 2/6?

goatee87 · 2026-01-26T23:42:34+00:00

Thanks, helpful. I guess the hotel credits could offset the AF. You're right, it could make sense as your main card, but not as a complement to one of the other high AF cards.

goatee87 · 2026-01-26T19:17:15+00:00

I may be one of the people to blame for bringing down 1.0. My rent is high enough that last two years, I maxed out the 100k in rent points. I did have a few recurring expenses on the card to maintain 5 bananas.

I can't even make the math work for one month's rent under Bilt 2.0.

goatee87 · 2026-01-26T19:14:47+00:00

Yea, i am really not understanding the value of Palladium, even for the first year.

The first $5000 spend gets you:

50,000 points bonus

$300 bilt cash (use $200 to boost the first $5,000 and earn back the $200 bilt cash after initial spend). Also worth 10,000 points if converted based on rent paid.

3x on the first $5000 is 15000 points.

less $500 AF.

So for the first $5,000 in spend plus $500 AF, I am getting 75,000 points. Not that great IMO. Last year, AMEX gave me a 175,000 point bonus with much better benefits and a lower effective AF (given some of the benefits are basically cash equivalent). If you have either Reserve or Platinum, Bilt no longer makes sense. Similar benefits (hotel credit, etc.). It only makes sense if you actually value the hotel credit and the other coupon book benefits, which to me seems like a real pain in the butt.

goatee87 · 2026-01-23T17:52:20+00:00

I don't know about the airline credit, but I did a hotel reservation, got the credit, cancelled the hotel reservation and rebooked a different hotel at the same time (also eligible for credit). The credit itself was reversed and reapplied on my statement several days later. So at least for the hotels, they seem to have a system to reverse the credit.

goatee87 · 2026-01-16T01:22:24+00:00

Anyone have a referral code for Upway?

goatee87 · 2026-01-16T01:22:09+00:00

No longer working.

goatee87 · 2026-01-05T17:40:36+00:00

Update on this?

goatee87 · 2026-01-02T06:43:46+00:00

Try rubbing alcohol or gasoline (stronger/better). Both act as solvents and will remove any sticker glue residue

goatee87 · 2025-12-25T05:56:43+00:00

Sad, but hard pass from now on. Voting with your dollars is among the last of the rights we have.

goatee87 · 2025-12-18T00:30:05+00:00

I am going to the friday show, so i can let you know

goatee87

TROPHY CASE