Gmoney's Side Hustles & Credit Card Hacking

01/12/2025

Shop at your favorite websites and get cash back plus $30!

I use Rakuten for my shopping and you should too! Join and get $30.*

11/16/2024

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10/05/2024

Save money everytime you get gas for your car with the Upside app. Use the link below along with promo code GREG46467 to get an additional $10 bonus on your first purchase.

Earn up to 25¢/gal cash back on gas at stations across the United States – including all the big brands -- PLUS up to 15% on groceries and up to 35% at restaurants.

08/12/2024

WHAT’S IN MY WALLET 3RD QUARTER: CASH BACK

The key to maximizing cash back from credit cards is to keep track of what cash back categories each credit card offers. These categories vary from card to card. Some cards have categories that change each quarter and have to be “activated” in order to take advantage of them. I’ll talk about that shortly. Other cards have categories that remain the same from month to month. To get the most cash back, we need to determine what credit cards we will use (and for what categories) before the beginning of every quarter to get the most bang for our buck.

“Categories” are what type of transactions the credit cards with pay cash back for. For example: restaurants, groceries, gas, utilities, etc.

“Activating” the quarterly cash back categories is simple. Just log in to your credit card’s website and navigate to the cash back category section/page and follow the instructions. In most cases, the cash back percentage offered for these quarterly categories is 5%…meaning for every dollar you spend, the credit card company will give you 5% back. If you don’t activate the categories, you will only get 1% cash back. Why leave money on the table? Free money for spending you were going to do anyway.

That being said, please don’t overspend. Don’t spend money just to get cash back. Only spend money you would normally spend anyway even without cash back. The cash back game can be profitable (and even fun) but only if you are responsible with your spending.

Here is what I am getting cash back for from July 1st thru September 30th:

CHASE FREEDOM FLEX: 9% for Gasoline

DISCOVER IT: 5% for Walmart/Groceries and 6% for Restaurants

CITI CUSTOMER CASH: 5% for Drug Stores

US BANK CASH PLUS: 5% for Utilities, Internet, Streaming, Cell.

Bank of America Customized Cash: 3% for online purchases

Bank of America Unlimited Cash: 1.5 % for other (doesn’t fit into any of the other categories)

If you have any questions or comments or suggestions, please leave them in the comment section below or email me directly at [email protected]. If you like this content, please hit the like/thumbs up button and share it with others who may be interested in this topic. Thank you so much! See ya next time.

03/07/2024

PASSIVE INCOME: CHECKING ACCOUNT BONUSES

What is “passive income”? Basically it’s money you don’t have to work for or you have to do very little to get it. Free money by following just a few steps. Very legal! One of my favorite passive income sources is opening online checking accounts. Online banks want your business. In order to attract more customers, they offer cash bonuses…usually between $200 and $300. In most cases (not all) you have to set up direct deposit (from your job, social security, etc.) to your new bank account. The amount and length of time varies depending on the bank. Here’s a typical example: Bank ABC offers $300 bonus if you direct deposit $500 a month into your new account for 3 months. After you meet these requirements, they deposit $300 into your account to spend however you like. No strings.

Fast forward 3 to 4 months later (it may take 30 days to receive your bonus). You now wonder: what do I do with this new account that I really don’t want (you only opened it to get the free cash)? You don’t have to use it but I would keep it open for awhile. If you are constantly opening and closing bank accounts every couple of months, it may raise some red flags---ie if you try to do it again, your next bank may reject your attempt to open yet another account.

Other questions you may have:

1)Do I have to keep the direct deposit going? That varies from bank to bank. Some banks may charge a monthly fee if you either don’t keep a certain balance in the account every month or you aren’t making deposits of a certain amount every month. In many cases, it doesn’t have to be an official direct deposit (after you get your bonus). Just transferring money into the account will satisfy the requirement most of the time. You can set up automatic transfers from one of your other bank accounts. Also, there is no rule saying you have to keep the money in the account. I transfer money into my accounts and a few days later, transfer all but $5 back to my original account. The monthly deposit is satisfied but I’m not forced to keep money in an account I don’t want it to sit in. Some banks don’t require anything (don’t charge you any monthly fees) after you get your bonus. I did this with a Capital One account. Followed the steps. Got my money and canceled the deposits. Haven’t touched the account since.

2)Can I keep my regular checking account? Yes. I believe most jobs let your have direct deposits going to multiple checking accounts. My job allows 3 different checking accounts.

It probably sounds like a lot of steps but it’s fairly easy. Plus it's so worth it. Who doesn’t want free money? Since the beginning of last year, I’ve done this 3 times (Chase, Capital One, Wells Fargo) and currently working on #4 (Citi Bank).

If you have any questions, please put them in the comments below or email me directly if you prefer ([email protected]). Please hit the like button if you enjoy the content. Feel free to hit the share button if you think other people may enjoy this content. Thanks for your time.

NEXT POST: CREDIT CARD BONUSES

02/18/2024

02/11/2024

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02/07/2024

TRACK YOUR EXPENSES

One of the keys to gaining control of your financial situation is to track your expenses. I do it on a monthly basis on a spreadsheet. How often you do it and in what format is up to you. But you have to record every expense, every purchase, every dollar. It will be eye opening. It may be overwhelming. But it’s a must do. You will only get a true idea where your money is going by “writing” it down. Once you see everything in print, then you can analyze it…which of these expenses is unnecessary and can be eliminated, which can be reduced, which can be replaced with cheaper alternatives. All of us at one time or another have spent money on stuff that either is a waste of money or there are cheaper alternatives out there. But we tend to stay in the same pattern..the same behaviors day after day, week after week, month after month. We complain about never having any money but never do anything to see…maybe, just maybe…if there are other options out there. News flash…there are options. But they aren’t going to seek you out. That’s your job.

Here’s an example from my life. I paid for cable tv for many, many years. For a long time, there weren’t any alternatives. Now there are. In January 2020, I “cut the cord”. Goodbye cable tv. If I didn’t make that change in January 2020, my next bill for tv, internet, and home phone would have been $222. Yikes. In the years since then, I’ve kept my eyes and ears open for options that would have given me what I wanted but kept the price as low as I could get it. I’ve made tweaks to my setup here and there. Today I pay a total of $72.99 a month for tv and internet. I get tv service from YouTube Tv. If you are interested, see link below.

https://tv.youtube.com/referral/r3uachpng14k3t

If you have any questions or comments or suggestions, please leave them in the comment section below or email me directly at [email protected]. Thanks for your time and interest. Much appreciated.