DW surprised me the other day and mentioned she signed up for a a Chase Freedom card with $200 bonus after spending $500! I had mentioned it two months ago to her, but thought she forgot, but she surprised me! How the spend went down in one weekend:

1. $110 in medical expenses. 100% reimbursed from employer, already received the checks and deposited.

2. $55 auto maintenance. Oil change and NYS yearly inspection for DW's car.

3. $210 for a book for one of my classes. The other class book was purchased last semester and is used again. 100% reimbursable from my employer under tuition reimbursement.

4. Now we came across an App a couple weeks ago called Boxed. It is very similar to our Sam's Club, BJ's, but we never renewed our Sam's club membership as we only went twice a year for bulk paper goods, and I hated how you had to pay a membership fee and could not use a our Visa Card as credit, only debit. Well Boxed doesn't have everything as the Sam's Club, prices are pretty much identical, but has everything we need or would buy, plus it is a new App, adding items almost daily. We figured we were really low on all those items so we gave it a try. We figured we had no other large regular expenses coming up to use the card, so we put together a $200.05 order. With that being said, we effectively paid $0.05 for the whole order, most likely none as the other items above will equal more than $0.05 in rewards! In addition, it was free shipping on orders over $75, and will be arriving in two business days!

Of course once the statement closes and points are awarded, we will take the $200 statement credit and pay the remainder in full!

DW got her Chase Sapphire Preferred card statement with the bonus points. Also sent in the auto insurance policy net difference with it, so, $700 total went to the auto loan.

$3,664.42 remaining.

$500 will be sent toward the end of the month when my other Chase CC sign-up bonus hits.

In addition, the regular September 2013 payment will put it under $3,000 by end of month!

DW received her Chase Sapphire Preferred over the weekend and activated it. Today I paid my tuition and 2 medical bills (all 3 totaling $3,050.09) to reach the $3,000 minimum spend. All of which is being 100% reimbursed by my employer! Therefore, we literally made $400 on the deal!

I just realized that the title I came up with appears to be a gateway phrase to a scam! Haha!

Has anyone ever signed up for one of these cards ever to get the sign-up bonus?

I live in the United States of America, where anyone can be in business for themselves, i.e. Sole Proprietorship.

This goes along with my last post regarding me recently being hospitalized and how my employer reimburses us the deductible and co-insurance (confusing the way it was negotiated, but whatever). Well, I just received yet another bill from the hospital and this one is for $4,500, in which we will be reimbursed 100%.

The Chase Ink Plus Business Card is offering 50,000 sign-up bonus points ($500 statement credit or $625 travel rewards) after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months.

I figured, we could easily spend $500 additional to make the minimum by purchasing already budgeted gas, groceries and some of our Christmas allowances with the card.

With DW signing up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card for the other reimbursable medical bills and tuition we could potentially be making $900 total if I could successfully get approved for the Chase In Plus Business Card.

Worth a shot, and nothing to lose I guess!

I had my wife apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred today for the $400 bonus cash after $3,000 spend in 3 months.

If she is approved, we will be able to reach the requirements in one day, get this, on items we will be reimbursed for anyway!

The health insurance through my job opted for a high deductible insurance plan, but reimburses us the deductible. It is confusing the way Administration negotiated with the Union, but whatever, that could be a whole other 5 posts! Haha!

So I was in the hospital mid-July and we have finally gotten bills and explanation of benefits so I can begin to process everything.

So far we have the following bills to be paid:

$675 Medical Bill (100% reimbursable [Already have check actually]
$1,975 Medical Bill (100% reimbursable)
$635 Tuition and Book (100% reimbursable) [I knew there was a reason I was waiting to pay that!]

= $3,285

A quick easy way to make $400+!

The $400 would either go to Auto Loan or Christmas savings.

I have accumulated a couple cards within the last year or so due to sign-up bonuses etc. and it is time to close all but the Chase Freedom.

The List:

1. Chase Sapphire
2. Chase Freedom
3. Sears (VISA)
4. Sears (Master Card)
5. Sears (Store Card)
6. J.C. Penny (store Card)
7. Best Buy (Store Card)

The Chase Sapphire was closed the other day to make sure the yearly fee didn't kick in and I was sure to transfer all my points to my Chase Freedom before doing so.

All of them except for the two Chase cards remained in our lock box, and quite frankly, I am not sure if they are all activated.

Closing all except for the Chase Freedom will be removing $22,800 in available credit. May effect our credit score slightly, but it is not like we are looking to apply for any loans in the next few months anyway.

Between the Chase Freedom and my local credit union credit card (oldest card), $15,000 total available credit between the two is enough, not that it matters to us anyway.

Our central air was installed last Friday and works great. It is nice to have the whole house cool and dehumidified rather than just the immediate room as with a window air conditioner.

Speaking of the window air conditioner, we listed it on Craigslist and sold it last night for $175. I will deposit that tonight and put that toward the principal on the car loan so that it will be below $5K after regular payment hits June 24. I will be sure to blog that milestone separate as well! Haha!

DW bday is June 26, so she asked for a Fitbit One, so they were on sale for $10 off. We purchased at Best Buy and they guy asked if we were using a Best Buy credit card. We said we didn't have one, and asked if we wanted to sign up. I asked if there was any incentive and it was $20 off current purchase if approved. So after we were approved, we walked out spending $75 after tax on a $99 purchase before tax! Plus, we didn't need to use that card to pay for it! Now, just another card with a ridiculous amount of credit for a retail store I need to cancel. Haha!

Speaking of credit cards, the remaining $2,000 balance of the central air was able to be charged to my Chase Freedom card. We will have no problems paying that before it is due by July 12 or so. I will use my existing $65 in rewards as a statement credit so only really $1,935 will really be due!

I need to renew my NYS drivers license by June 14 as it expires this year, which is $80.50. Again, no issue paying that, but those little things like that tick me off sometimes!

Thanks to all who had commented on my previous post regarding credit card sign-up bonuses!

So we got an updated price on getting central air installed.

2011 Price = $2,430
2013 Price = $2,870

An increase of $440 in 2 years!

Oh well, the quote was for a Lennox Merit 13ACX (13 SEER, 2 Ton system) w/ Condensate Pump installed etc. I wrote out the 30% check yesterday when I met with the sales person. They will be installing it next Friday (May 31, 2013). There isn't really much time to get DW to sign up for a reward CC, so we will use my Chase Freedom card for 1%. Come to think of it, I should have asked if they even accept credit cards.

I am already adding ways to subsidize the cost of it:

$200 from sale of window a/c, $65 in rewards on my Chase Freedom card already I can cash out for a check, and $150 from sale of home entertainment receiver system I have laying around that is well worth that cost! So, hopefully looking at about $2,455 total spent in the end. Not bad, and slightly less if I can charge the remaining $2,000 on my Chase Freedom Card, plus, it won't be due until mid-July and be able to cash flow with-out touching EF!

We are looking to possibly subsidize our Central Air purchase with a decent sign-up bonus credit card. Anyone know of any decent ones?

I already have Chase Sapphire ($400 back after $3,000 spend in 3 months) and Chase Freedom ($300 back after $500 spend in 3 months [the good offer!]).

My wife has yet to sign up for any, but Chase Freedom changed their bonus to $100 + 0% On balance Transfers for 15 months and 0% on Purchases for 15 months after $500 spend in 3 months.

The central air quotes back on 6/2011 for the install of central air were $2,100 - $2,350 depending on the manufacturer of the unit, so I am hoping they are still around those numbers. I will know when I meet with the company tomorrow on how much prices have changed in 2 years. A Chase Freedom card in DW's name might work for this.

The Chase Freedom card, unless there is another someone can recommend (looking for cash bonus mostly), sounds like it is top choice. Unfortunately, at least $1,000 of the EF would be used for this if we purchased outright and the EF currently sits at $6,000. However, being the Chase Freedom card is offering 0% for 15 months on purchases, we could float a month or two and cash flow the purchase until July 2013 since there would be no interest. Knowing me, I would just pay in full anyway and be done with it, but I do like to see the EF stay consistent.

Any thoughts?

I finally was able to get the window company at the house again so we could order Phase IV of V. This order will be a total of $3,797. This will be the largest bill for the windows being it includes the large picture window in the living room area. I signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card being they were offering $400 bonus cash after spending $3,000 in 90 days. I put the required 30% down which was $1,137 on that card. The remaining $2,660 will be placed on there when installed probably around beginning of October. This card has a yearly fee after year 1 and will be closed after we get our $400+ check!

I submitted our defensive driving certificates that we finally received in the mail to the insurance company. The 10%+ reduction should be returned to us in a couple weeks being we pay the premium in full. We won't have to renew that for another 3 years.

This Friday will be our "extra pay check" for August. I will send the $1,850 (Disney/ Universal Tickets) on our Chase Freedom card as well as the $1,137 on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card this Friday.