Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)

[grubb]

I think there is no reason to bash him for using so many cards. There are people who manage to use credit/debit cards and earn substantial rewards, all without getting in trouble over the interest and late pmts.

http://theweek.com/article/index/246411/...-obsession

He might have the last laugh in the end

[opmi]

I hate paperwork. That's why only have 2 cards.
Keep life simple.

[mobo]

I think any of such so called credit card money making stunts should be measured against the opportunity costs of time. The time taken to keep track, research, administer, call up ask for waiver etc. can be quite costly!

I'm sure there's money to be made by crawling the net for the latest promotion/rebate/points for all the cards out there and devising a strategy of spending and credit transfer to effect maximum benefits, but important thing is - is it worth it?

For me whatever I do, I benchmark myself against teaching tuition for 1 kid an hour a week that will make me ~$250. Any stunt that requires similar time commitment/effort and makes me less thant that, I don't bother. Different people have different opportunity cost benchmarks also.

[opmi]

Credit cards rewards no fight against USA extreme couponing.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P-BsjPjm2bo...-BsjPjm2bo

[Trader88]

I hate paperwork. That's why only have 2 cards.
Keep life simple.

Like you, I hate managing monthly statements and tracking purchases. It is better to consolidate all purchases into 1 or 2 cards to maximise the rewards.

[etan]

Fully agree with you on this.

More time should be spent 'looking outwards' for real investments rather than focusing inwards on how much you can get from credit/debit cards. The rewards that you can get from these cards is nothing to shout about. Ultimately, we just want solid $ from real investments.

Maybe this is just a 'passing cloud' stage for young investors without too much money to put into meaningful investments? Give him some time, and when he gets more matured and has more money, he will move on to better investments choices.

lol, I think eventually he will get into trouble with credit cards
young kids nowadays are trying too much to act smart

growing wealth shouldn't be that complex, just
earn, save & invest

---

Unfortunately, we don't have such couponings here.

It's incredible how much savings some housewives can save just on household items from supermarkets from weekly coupons.

Credit cards rewards no fight against USA extreme couponing.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P-BsjPjm2bo...-BsjPjm2bo

[KopiKat]

I dun quite understand when he mentioned about since different cards have different payment dTs, he just switched among them. Is he referring to rolling over?

I think he is merely saying that the credit card due payments on diff dates of the month. Eg. Credit card A will have to pay on the1st, Card B is on the 11th C, is on 15 and D is on 27th and not all at one go on the end of the month

Playing with due dates only for cash flow mgt only.

I was doing something similar in my younger days....

In my case, it was Cash Flow Mgmt, as stated by 'opmi'. Back then, I'd used up my all my cash (got some stocks but mkt was in severe correction) for my stay-in property (got cash debts also). While I wait for my salary (plus selling stocks only at better valuations) to get credited in every month, I was "managing my cash flow" with my credit cards purchases for furnitures, lights, appliances, paints,.... Yes, different credit cards have different payment due dates, with some recognising your purchases later even...

Looking bad, it seemed quite fun... Started with a small bedroom, painting, buying and installing lights, curtains, getting a basic mattress so that I could start staying in.... before proceeding to the living room, kitchen, other rooms,... Took me more than 6mths before I could finally afford to get the whole place fully done up and furnished... For me, it was a good lesson in budgeting, cash flow management, setting priorities,...

[specuvestor]

I think any of such so called credit card money making stunts should be measured against the opportunity costs of time. The time taken to keep track, research, administer, call up ask for waiver etc. can be quite costly!

I'm sure there's money to be made by crawling the net for the latest promotion/rebate/points for all the cards out there and devising a strategy of spending and credit transfer to effect maximum benefits, but important thing is - is it worth it?

For me whatever I do, I benchmark myself against teaching tuition for 1 kid an hour a week that will make me ~$250. Any stunt that requires similar time commitment/effort and makes me less thant that, I don't bother. Different people have different opportunity cost benchmarks also.

Totally agree... people CHOOSE to omit opportunity cost because only you and God knows. PnL everyone can see. I used to walk around Sim Lim Square for 2 hours to save $1. Easy to tell people that I got the best deal in town but nobody knows what a dope I am in terms of opportunity cost.

[Devil]

The benefits for the student credits cards are not comparable to the typical credits cards for 30K income earner.

In the articles, he appears to enjoy the interest free period of credit card. His cost of funding is about 10% since he invests excess funds into REITS. Assuming he is able to cycle his 4 students cards properly, borrowing 2k interest free from the banks whole year round, he earned about $200 from the interest free loan.

earning 1% cashback is quite easy, and from his 12 to 24k annual expenses, he gets 120 to 240 in cashback.

I think any of such so called credit card money making stunts should be measured against the opportunity costs of time. The time taken to keep track, research, administer, call up ask for waiver etc. can be quite costly!

I'm sure there's money to be made by crawling the net for the latest promotion/rebate/points for all the cards out there and devising a strategy of spending and credit transfer to effect maximum benefits, but important thing is - is it worth it?

For me whatever I do, I benchmark myself against teaching tuition for 1 kid an hour a week that will make me ~$250. Any stunt that requires similar time commitment/effort and makes me less thant that, I don't bother. Different people have different opportunity cost benchmarks also.

tuition may not be as lucrative as you think. while the contact time is only 1h, what about travel and preparation?
Assuming 1h of contact time, 2h travel and 1h preparation, total of 4h weekly for perhaps $50 a session? the hourly rate is only $12.5. This rate may or may not be higher than your day job. if it is higher than your day job, perhaps consider being a tutor?

to do tuition, you will need a demand for your service, and a regular commitment to the student, not as ad hoc as 'hobby'.



Trying to penny pinch from credit cards may not be the most lucrative way to spend time, but how often are we also spending our time lucratively? we also enjoy doing 'hobby' and the satisfaction obtained is more than the money obtained. Having penny pinching as a hobby is way better for the wallet compared to other hobbies such as cars, travels or drinking.

I wonder how much is our hourly rate for active investing...

[mobo]

The benefits for the student credits cards are not comparable to the typical credits cards for 30K income earner.

In the articles, he appears to enjoy the interest free period of credit card. His cost of funding is about 10% since he invests excess funds into REITS. Assuming he is able to cycle his 4 students cards properly, borrowing 2k interest free from the banks whole year round, he earned about $200 from the interest free loan.

Erm... that's just pretty typical gapping technic of borrowing to invest in higher yielding stuff by taking on additional market risk. That 10% is just the investment return which happens to be positive, that is not the "cost of funds" and neither is it the profit from his card techniques.

To get an accurate view of how much savings his techniques are delivering, you need to compare against a simple phone call to any instant credit facility which usually yields a EIR of 2-3%. The stunts he's pulling is just saving that 2-3% on the $2000, which works out to be $40-$60 a year. Like I said, sure that's some savings, but is it worth the time?

earning 1% cashback is quite easy, and from his 12 to 24k annual expenses, he gets 120 to 240 in cashback.

This is irrelevant as there are lots of cards offering 1% or more rebates nowadays, it really is just an effortless thing that most people (including me) will enjoy.

tuition may not be as lucrative as you think. while the contact time is only 1h, what about travel and preparation?
Assuming 1h of contact time, 2h travel and 1h preparation, total of 4h weekly for perhaps $50 a session? the hourly rate is only $12.5. This rate may or may not be higher than your day job. if it is higher than your day job, perhaps consider being a tutor?

to do tuition, you will need a demand for your service, and a regular commitment to the student, not as ad hoc as 'hobby'.

Erm you don't need 2h travel time When I was teaching tuition for fun, all my assignments were within 10-15min travelling distance. Also I taught economics which honestly requires no preparation

This is unique to me, I'm sure others will find more productive use of their time somewhere else. What I'm trying to say is all these supposedly complicated techniques to save that pittance amount really don't make sense for most people unless you are an unemployed guy / student who is very free and has nothing to do everyday.

Trying to penny pinch from credit cards may not be the most lucrative way to spend time, but how often are we also spending our time lucratively? we also enjoy doing 'hobby' and the satisfaction obtained is more than the money obtained. Having penny pinching as a hobby is way better for the wallet compared to other hobbies such as cars, travels or drinking.

I wonder how much is our hourly rate for active investing...

Of course hobbies need not be lucrative, but please bear in mind the discussion here is in response to the article in Sunday Times which I'm very sure the subject in question is not performing credit card acrobatics as a hobby. Since it was done with a business purpose in mind, it ought to be measured with a business mindset as well.