The tax refund did arrive as expected. It is currently in our savings account marked as Big Goal money!! I decided to act like it didn't exist in some ways. We were never expecting a refund, so spending it didn't exactly seem right. If we need an additional $1900 we can take it from our other savings or cash flow it.
I earned enough Swagbucks to redeem for a $25 Amazon gift card. I used it to buy cabin and engine filters for our two vehicles. Those arrived yesterday.
We learned this past week that the University our older daughter goes to overestimated her VA benefits for the semester. Once they received actual payment, they notified us we owe $595 by April 12. Our plan is to use her ESA to pay this. Her benefits were lower this semester, so this was the plan all along, we just know the amount we need to take out now.
Our girls arrive here today to spend their spring break with us. My husband took the week off, so we can do some more exploring of our new town with them. This likely means some meals out and money spent on entertainment.
I learned recently that American Express waives their annual fees for active duty military. I haven't taken action on that as I think we only have one card of theirs with an annual fee. This may give us an opportunity to use some of their other cards with higher annual fees and better benefits. I have more looking to do on this. Anyone have experience with this? If so which card do you use? Yes, we use credit cards, but do not carry a balance, nor pay any interest. Credit cards a financial tool that can be beneficial if used wisely.
Cash In, Cash Out
March 17th, 2019 at 01:36 pm
March 17th, 2019 at 07:42 pm 1552851756
I like the American Express Blue Cash Preferred ($95 annual fee) for its 6% back on US grocery stores (note that the big box stores like CostCo or Walmart do not count as groceries; you only get 1% there). There's also 3% on gasoline. There's a sign-on bonus offer--what shows up on the page now is $200 cash back after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months but if you look around you can find $350 cash back for spending $2,000 in the first 3 months. I use this card strictly for groceries and gasoline and even with the high annual fee, it's to my benefit (it's the *only* card I have that has an annual fee). With the annual fee waived, so much the better!
March 18th, 2019 at 12:02 am 1552867331
March 18th, 2019 at 02:33 pm 1552919606
Sorry about the extra college expense, but at least you had planned for it and had the money available.
Glad you got a good tax refund and I think you are wise to put it in savings.
March 19th, 2019 at 01:55 am 1552960523
March 19th, 2019 at 05:44 am 1552974241
March 19th, 2019 at 07:02 pm 1553022171