I finally got one and it is awesome! I've wanted one for awhile but I just couldn't drop the money for it. It's been at the top of my wishlist since one of my friends got one about three months ago. I knew if I waited awhile, I would probably be able to get a better deal once the new 3G Iphones came out.

I could have just whipped out the credit card and dropped the money but things have changed. I am no longer a victim of "instant gratification". I set aside money in a special savings account to save up the money to purchase an Iphone.

My friend, who is not so good at delaying instant gratification, decided he just had to have the new 3G Iphone. Yeah, this is the same friend who just bought his Iphone three months ago. I told him since he'd already purchased the new Iphone, I would take the old one off of his hands. About an hour later, I was the proud owner of an Iphone. and it only cost me $250. Considering the 2nd Generation Iphones are still selling for $400+ on Ebay, I got an awesome deal. All it took was a little patience.

Setting up the service was pretty easy since I was already an AT&T customer. I just switched the Sim card from my old phone, put it in my new phone and setup the service on Itunes and I was ready to go. I was able to get the $20 Iphone data plan instead of the required $30 data plan with the Iphone 3G.

I know alot of people will say spending that amount of money on a phone is ridiculous but we all have our vices. If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know that my weakness is electronics. Some people like spending money on clothing, shoes, spa treatments, etc. I prefer getting a new electronic gagdet and I am happy as can be.

What are your thoughts on the phone?

Image Credit: dan taylor

Now I know why I don't have kids yet. I just don't have the patience. Don't get me wrong; I love kids and I want some of my own someday. It's just that right now, I am thankful that I don't have any. Due to some issues with a close family member, I've ended up with 3 kids (ages 15, 9 and 7) for a couple of weeks. I need to stop being so dang nice. Those of you that do have kids, my hat goes off to you. Being a parent is HARD!

Right now, I am hiding out in my home office while they are all sleeping. I figure now is a good time to do a roundup of the week while I still can.

I participated in the 162nd Carnival of Personal Finance: Baseball Edition hosted my Taking Charge. Emily included my post, "If I Had Known Then What I Know Now".

From my Feedreader, I enjoyed:

• Citibank WANTS me to use their money to make more money! @ CleverDude.
• Procrastination is Gonna Cost Me This Time @ Fabulous Financials.
• Putting the Brakes on Debt Repayment to Rebuild the Emergency Fund @ Frugal Dad.
• A Look at 2008 Goal Progress @ Lazy Man and Money.
• Start an Emergency Fund or Payoff Debt @ Moolanomy.
• Friends Encourage Friends to Be Frugal @ My Two Dollars.
• The Ups and Downs of Buying a Home @ Being Frugal.
• Five Ways to Get Back on Track @ Paid Twice

I'm off to enjoy a few more minutes of quiet time before the kids wake up. Once they wake up, we will have a frugal day of entertainment at the local park.

(7-25-2008 3:06pm The free subscription has been taken.)

Hello SingleGuyMoney Readers:

I just received the renewal form for my Money Magazine subscription. I've been a Money reader for years so they are offering me a FREE 1-year gift subscription for a friend.

Most of my friends are not into personal finance so none of them would want it. Instead of throwing it away, I figure I would give it to one lucky SingleGuyMoney reader.

There is no contest for the free subscription and there are no strings attached. It is on a first come, first serve basis. The first person to contact me at my email address with their name and address will get the subscription.

Your name and address is required because I will need to include your information on the renewal form so you can get your subscription started. I will not keep any of your information!

Thanks to budget billing. I signed up for budget billing about 2 months ago with my power company (Georgia Power). I hated getting to get those huge electric bills in the summer months when my electricity usage was 2-3 times higher than my winter usage. For those of you that don't live in or have never been to the deep South, summers here can be brutally hot and humid. I usually run my A/C around 75 in the summer because don't like the heat. I sweat really bad and if I am outside for too long, it looks like someone has thrown water on me.

This past month, my power bill was over $250 but I only had to pay $111 thanks to budget billing. Essentially, it works like this: The power company takes the average of your power bills from the last 12 months and this amount becomes the monthly amount due.

On your monthly bill, even though you only pay budget billing amount, they itemize your actual usage and the actual dollar amount of your bill for that month. They keep a running tally of how much you have accumulated over or under your average bill amount. At the end of 12 months, the shortage or overage is recalculated and your bill is adjusted higher or lower for the next 12 months.

I like know exactly what my power bill will be and it makes it alot easier to budget. For the next 10 months, I know exactly how much my power bill will be, no matter how much electricity I use. I have to be careful about using my electricity too freely because even though my bill will be the same for the next 10 months, I'll have to pay for those increases once my bill is recalculated.

Have you signed up or are considering signing up for budget billing?

Image Credit: Elsie esq.'s

Thursday, July 24, 2008 Talkback Question:

How did you find the SingleGuyMoney blog and how long have you been reading the blog?

I'd like to know how my readers are finding my blog. If you could please take a second to let me know, I'd greatly appreciate it.

If you are new here, please subscribe to SingleGuyMoney.

How's your credit? Find out now with MyFico. 20% off all 3 of your Fico Scores.

This is a guest post from Ron at The Wisdom Journal where he writes about personal finance, business, and life in general. Visit his site and consider subscribing to his blog.

If you haven't subscribed to SingleGuyMoney yet, you can do so here.

Please don’t cheap out on your health, it just isn’t worth it. But you can be much more cost-conscious about how your health dollars are spent.

Here are 10 tips to help stretch your healthcare dollar:

1. Take good care of yourself on the front end! Eat healthy, well-balanced, colorful meals. Exercise regularly and get plenty of rest. All these are common sense items, but they are the first steps to avoiding having to spend those health care dollars in the first place.

2. Stay in your insurer’s network. Only use doctors, hospitals, specialists, and other health care providers inside your insurer’s network unless it’s an emergency. This one decision could save you thousands of dollars in medical bills, since your in-network providers are reimbursed to you at higher rates than out-of-network providers. Visit a non-network provider for a non-emergency and you’ll probably need a defibrillator. But if you have a real emergency, use whatever health care provider you can get to first.

3. Negotiate those prices. Just a couple of decades ago, doctors might be paid with livestock or garden vegetables, but while you probably can’t pay for a procedure with a new-born calf, price negotiation is often an effective technique for lowering your prices with a doctor or a dentist. The key is information, so find out how much your insurer is willing to cover for your procedure, and relay that information to your doctor to see whether the price will change. Doctors can be more flexible than you’d think because “a fast nickel is better than a slow dime” and insurers are notoriously slow in repayment.

4. Ask about procedures that don’t make sense. You need to stay informed about your health and what your doctor is thinking. If you’ve been scheduled for a procedure that doesn’t make sense, ask why. You’re not challenging the doctor; you just want to stay informed. It also helps to ask, “How much will that cost?” Many times, doctors schedule services only to cover themselves in case of lawsuit. If you sense this is the case, get a second opinion.

5. Ask for an itemized bill and check it. I once was charged $24 for a Tylenol tablet. Since I had asked for an itemized bill, I asked the hospital’s business manager if I could sell them a couple of bottles. “Isn’t $24 for a single tablet a little high?” I asked. She changed it to $1.25. Now, I had insurance to cover it, but this was ridiculous. How many times had the hospital gotten away with it before (and after) me?

6. Take generic medications if your doctor approves. Ask your doctor to prescribe generic versions of the medications you need since they are exactly the same as the name brand products, only much cheaper. If generics aren’t available for your needed medication, request a less expensive, but comparable, prescription if it’s available. Sometimes, a pharmacist is better able to tell you what is comparable and will call your doctor on your behalf. Just ask!

7. Let the Post Office do the driving. Most health insurance drug plans now offer prescriptions by mail for medications that you buy over and over. These generally cost less than buying at a pharmacy and many times you can get a 3 month supply rather than a 30 day supply but you lose that personal touch that your pharmacist can provide. I prefer to buy my medications from a local pharmacy, but that’s just me.

8. Buy wholesale. Wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam’s Club, and discount retailers such as Wal-Mart, offer reduced-price prescription drugs. Many grocery stores with pharmacies are offering the same prices as the big boys, so check. Also, you might ask your local pharmacist if he or she can match those prices.

9. They still look good!. As long as your eyeglass frames are in good shape, when it’s time to change your prescription, keep those frames and have new lenses added.

10. Find prescription discounts online. You can utilize sites such as OptomizeRx, which offers rebates and coupons to help reduce the cost of individual prescriptions by as much as $70. But be careful. There are many scams when it comes to online prescriptions.

Health care costs are projected to continue rising ahead of the inflation rate, so we have to constantly stay on top of ways to reduce your costs and stretch your health care dollar.

If you are new here, please take a moment to subscribe to SingleGuyMoney.

Just when I thought Murphy was gone on an extended vacation, he comes back to visit me. I received a call from my tenant stating the sink is leaking underneath. I was hoping it was only a minor repair and that maybe a washer had gone bad in the faucet. If I only needed to replace a faucet, I would be out of pocket for less than $100.

I had my handyman take a look at it and it was a little worse than I thought. Looks like not only will the faucet need to be replaced, the sink basin will also need to be replaced. The old sink can't be used since the holes that were bored for that sink have rotted and there is no material for the fasteners underneath to hold on to.

I received a quote to repair the sink for around $800 which includes the labor and materials needed to complete the repair. This quote was from the handyman I've used for a couple of years and I'm pretty sure I can trust him. He does all the work on my rental property and he's also done some work for me at my primary home (tiling my kitchen and crown molding). I usually glance at the estimate he gives me and either say ok or if I feel the labor costs are out of line, we discuss it a little further. I don't know what he was thinking on this one because he went with the highest quality sink and faucet. Of the total $800 estimate, materials consisted of $600. I knew the materials costs were out of line for a sink and faucet so I headed down to the home repair store. After I finished shopping for the materials, I was able to trim the total cost of the repair down to less than $500 while still using quality materials.

It's funny about the timing. I just finished fully funding my rental property savings account thanks to an additional paycheck this month. It's like Murphy was peeking into my bank account. Just like the last repair I had to do for the rental property, it was a minor inconvenience and not the end of the world. Thanks to me saving money in a separate account for times like this, I didn't have to sweat the repair and wonder where I would find the money.

If you don't have an Emergency Fund, START TODAY! (Hint: ING Direct is a great place to start a savings account). Murphy is always lurking around the corner just waiting to cause you a little financial stress. Be prepared and you can tell Murphy to go pound salt.

This was originally posted last year. I've submitted an update because the loan was finally paid off today! I checked the mail today and there was my $75. I LOVE it when I get unexpected money.

I have a friend who was going through some pretty rough financial times about 2 years ago. My friend asked me to borrow $200. I said no at first but something inside me told me to do it this one time.
We agreed that I would be paid back $50/month for 4 months. First month, I got the first $50 with no problem. Second month....nothing. Third month I received another $50. Fourth - Twenty fourth month...nothing. I decided after the fourth month that I probably would not get the rest of the money back and took it as a loss. Well today I get my mail and I have a letter from my friend. I thought that was odd as we usually speak on the phone every few months or so. I open the letter and what do I find?????? A check for $25!!!!!! Granted, the balance is $75 but as the letter explained he is getting better with his finances and he wanted to pay me back for helping him.

He advised I should look for another check next month. Will I hold my breath for it? No...I just hope his check doesn't bounce.

Thursday, July 17, 2008 Talkback Question:

How much have you lost (or gained) in your investment accounts?

* Year to date, I've lost 12.7% of my 401k and 18.59% of my taxable brokerage account.

I want to hear from you. Be sure to leave a comment with your answer.

Subscribe to SingleGuyMoney.

Two weeks ago, I posted about the mailer I received from Chase with a pretty sweet incentive to use my credit card. I've been a cardmember for a year or two and I have two different Chase credit cards. I only used the cards for a couple of months and they've since been locked in my junk drawer along with all the other credit cards I don't use.

The offer of a $5 statement credit per day to use the card during the month of July is a pretty good deal and I've certainly taken advantage of it. I have only been using the card for purchases I had already planned to make and the balance will be paid in full next month. The offer stated the statement credits would be posted within 6-8 weeks from the date the promotion ends. As you can see from the image below (click to see it bigger), they've already starting applying the statement credits which makes the deal even sweeter.


Yesterday, I received another offer for the other Chase credit card I have and don't use. This offer is a little different and not nearly as tempting. They are offering a free $25 gas card for using the credit card. This time though, I need to spend at least $100 each month between July 1 and September 1.

I like that I don't have to make daily purchases to get the bonus. I don't like that I have to wait up to 6 months (3 months for the promotion to end and then 2-3 months for the card to arrive) before I receive the gas card. I haven't decided whether I will take advantage of this promotion or not. Maybe if I continue to not use the card, they will send an even sweeter promotion??

Have you received any offers/incentives to use your Chase card?

If you are new here, please subscribe to SingleGuyMoney.

I'm sure mostly all of you have heard the phrase, "If I had known then what I know now". This phrase can be applied to many areas of your life but being that this is a personal finance blog, I am only talking about how it applies to your money.

While sitting in traffic the other day, I had plenty of time to think about this. What would my financial life look like had I made better financial decisions in my past? I know you can't change the past but you can certainly change the future.

I thought about all of the bad financial decisions I'd made in my past and thought it would be a good idea to make a list.

Some of the decisions I've made in my past that I regret are:

• Student Loans. There is no doubt that I would not have been able to attend college without taking out student loans. The government was very generous when it came to giving me money for college. They not only gave me money for tuition and books but they also gave me money to live on. I wish that I had not taken the maximum amount of aid that I was given and maybe I would not owe a small fortune in student loans right now. I did not put the extra money to good use and can't even remember how much I spent on "liquid" entertainment.


• Cars. I had to have a new car. I bought my first new car my senior year in college and then bought a new one every two years after that. I never put any money down and rolled in the negative equity into my next purchase. I bought my last new car in 2006 and paid it off in full this year. I plan to keep this car until the wheels fall off. If I do buy a car prior to the wheels falling off, I plan to save and pay cash. I've gotten a taste of what it's like to not have a car payment and I don't want to be chained to an automobile finance company again.


• Credit Cards. If I could only get back 10% of the finance charges I've paid to the credit card companies, I could probably payoff my student loans. Now that I've finally paid them off, any purchases made on my credit cards is promptly paid in full the next month.


• Keeping up with the Joneses. If I had not tried to keep up with everyone else, I probably would not have taken on as much debt as I did. I was trying to live like people who were in a much better financial position than me. Alot of my friends in college were living off of Daddy's money. I didn't have that so I was living off of Citibank's money.

I can't change the past but I am certainly changing the future. If I had known then what I know now, my financial picture would be much, much better. My net worth would probably be over six figures.

If you are just starting out in your finances, don't make the same financial mistakes I made. Don't try and live like the Joneses. Your self worth is not determined by "things". I can't remember where I heard the saying but someone once said, "Once you have self worth, you can have net worth".

If you are new here, please consider subscribing to SingleGuyMoney.

I'm totally kidding. I used to be a Starbucks addict. I used to go at least five times a week without fail. Sometimes, I would even go on the weekend. I was spending over $30 a week for my caffeine fix. When I put it into perspective how much this addiction was costing me, I made steps to break the habit. My mother bought me a coffee pot for Christmas and I started making my own coffee at home for alot less money.

Yesterday, I ran out of creamer so I made a return visit to Starbucks. This time, it actually hurt to drop over $4 for a cup of coffee. I thought about how much money I'd spent during my Starbucks addiction and thought about how this money would have helped me reduce debt or boost my savings.

I'm glad I broke the Starbucks habit. It looks like more people may be breaking the Starbucks habit. According to Yahoo Finance, the company is closing 600 underperforming stores in the United States.

Related Posts:

My Cheaper Alternative to Starbucks
My Bad Habits Are Costing Me

Image Credit: re-ality

If you are new here, please take a moment to subscribe to SingleGuyMoney.

Just like gas and food, my health plan will be following the trend of increasing costs. Human Resources sent out a brief note today notifying us that there are some changes coming to our health plan.

We are going to be switching to a new provider in January. The reason for the switch is to lower costs. Unfortunately, the savings will most likely be for the company and not for the employees. Like most large companies, the company pays part of the premium for insurance. Our company makes sure we know how much they are paying because they put the amount they paid on our paystub.

Currently, we have numerous options for our health insurance. The plans range from a 100% plan with no deductible (most expensive) to a 60% plan with a high deductible of $2500 (least expensive). I currently have a 90/10 plan which costs $36 per paycheck. I elected to have a $500 deductible to lower the monthly cost. Currently, once my deductible is met for the year, my insurance then pays 90% of the bill and I kick in the remaining 10%.

The new plan is supposed to have a larger network of doctors and is supposed to be more flexible. That's the good news of the new plan. The bad news is that there is only one choice - 80/20. I'm not sure at this point what deductibles will be offered and what the cost will be.

We should be getting all the details in a presentation next week and I will give you the details. I plan to increase the amount of money I put aside in my personal flexible savings account to cover the 10% increase is the amount I am required to pay.

Image Credit: Paul Keleher

Thursday, July 10, 2008 Talkback Question:

What is/are your major financial concern(s) right now?

*My major financial concerns are: economy getting worse; mainly with bigger decreases in the stock market and the increasing cost of gas and food.

I want to hear from you. Be sure to leave a comment with your answer.

Don't forget to subscribe to SingleGuyMoney.

This guest post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who is an industry critic on the subject of AT&T Rewards. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.

Now more than ever people are trying to save money on their utilities and anything else they can. This sort of panic sets in any time we’re in a recession. It’s vital that we look to every avenue possible to cut corners. This doesn’t mean we’re being cheap; it means we’re being smart. Why fork over more money to the big companies when we don’t have to. When it comes to your utility bill there are countless ways you can shave off a few dollars here and a few dollars there. Here are five great ways you can get started and see a few more bucks in your wallet after you’ve paid your next bill:

Get a smart thermostat. If you and your spouse or roommates all are at work at about the same time or if you live alone you can get a thermostat where you program what times you want your heating or cooling system to kick into high gear. There’s no use in wasting the energy when you’re not home; this isn’t good for your heating bill nor is it good for the earth. This is a perfect solution for killing two birds with one stone.

Hug a tree. Plant trees in strategic points around your house or find your next apartment with plenty of trees around. By having trees covering up large portions of your house, you’ll keep your place much cooler in the summer and cut down on the need to jack up the air conditioner all day.

Change over your light bulbs. If you’re used to using incandescent light bulbs then get ready to ditch them. Switch to compact fluorescent bulbs. They may not be as bright as what you’re used but if you shop around you can find some decent ones out there and they emit much less heat than the incandescent bulbs which is another you can cut down on the air conditioner use.

Seal your windows and doors. If you had a hole in your wall wouldn’t you patch it up and keep the elements of the outdoors out of your living room? Well so many of us dismiss the cracks around our doors and windows. These are major sources of energy loss. Simply weather strip your cracks and you’ll see a fairly dramatic increase in savings.

Clog your toilet tank. We’re not saying do anything stupid here, but by putting a sturdy container in your tank will displace some of the water in your tank. Consequently, you’ll use less water. You want to tinker with this project as having too little water in the tank isn’t a good idea either.

My Net Worth for June ended up in the red. I managed to spend less than I earned and increase my cash position but due to a drop in the market, I had an overall decrease for the month. I don't expect the market to experience any huge gains anytime soon so I need to take steps to save as much cash as possible to try and makeup for any losses in my investments.

I usually manage my monthly budget and cash flow using a self-created Excel spreadsheet. This method works great but I am a reports and graphs kind of guy. The biggest drawback of using my spreadsheets is that I'm not been able to create detailed reports in just a few clicks as I would with a financial software program. I heard about Quicken Online and decided it to give it a try.

What do I like about the program so far?

• Brand Name. No offense to the other online financial programs out there but Quicken has certainly been around awhile. This is certainly important for a program that will be downloading transactions from your bank account. Quickens maintains your financial data in-house and does not subcontract aggregation to a third party.
• Automatic Downloads. Once you input all of your banking information, all of your transactions are downloaded automatically. Quicken Online is connected with over 5,000 banks and credit unions so there's a good chance your bank is connected.
• Ease of Use. If you are new to financial software programs, the program is pretty self explanatory. If you want to see where your income came from for the month, just click on the Income box. You are also able to view your checking, savings and credit card accounts all on one screen.
• Security. Quicken Online uses 128-bit encryption to protect your privacy. This is the same technology used by most major financial institutions in the world.
• Bill Alerts and Reminders. The service offers bill reminders via text message or via email to help you remember your bill due dates.

What don't I like about the program so far?

• Fees. Quicken Online is free for 60 days and then $2.99 thereafter. I haven't used the service long enough to determine if I am willing to pay the fee but even so, $36 a year is not outrageous. These days, most people spend alot more than that on just a tank of gas. You are required to enter your credit card information during the free trial sign-up but you are not billed until after the trial period ends. Once you sign up, your trial end date is displayed. Make sure you make a note of this date if you plan to cancel after the trial period ends.

Here are a couple of screenshots from the program (click picture to see them bigger):

Here is the main screen once you log in:

Bill Reminder Screen:

If you are looking to get better control over your cash flow and your finances overall, consider signing up for Quicken Online. If anything, take advantage of the free trial to see where your money goes.

Reminder: If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to SingleGuyMoney.

SingleGuyMoney has a new theme! The new theme is cleaner and easier to read. I really like it and hope you do too. Check it out here.

I'd like to thank everyone who sent traffic my way in the month of June. If you've referred traffic to me, linked to an article or sent traffic to me in any way, I thank you and it is sincerely appreciated. I'm not able to mention everyone here but even if your site isn't mentioned, I still thank you.

The top 10 blogs that sent the most traffic to SingleGuyMoney in June are:

1. Frugal Dad
2. Fabulous Financials
3. Paid Twice
4. Moolanomy
5. Being Frugal
6. BeachGirls Budget Blog
7. NCN Blog
8. Mrs Micah
9. Gather Little by Little
10. Cash Money Life

Total Site Visitors in June: 10,084

RSS Subscribers as of June 30, 2008: 641


Top 5 Most Popular Articles in June:

1. Most Reliable Used Cars
2. 6 Gas Saving Myths
3. M-Network Vacation Guide - Vacation Savings Account
4. How Are Gas Prices Determined
5. Paid Off A Past Financial Mistake - The Car Loan

Thanks again to everyone who refers traffic, visits and comments on SingleGuyMoney. Please visit often and tell all of your friends.

Happy 4th of July Everyone! Everyone have a safe and fun-filled holiday. I'm headed to the lake for the weekend. While I'm gone, be sure to check out some of the past posts here at SingleGuyMoney. Regular posting will resume on Monday and make sure you are subscribed to be notified of the latest posts.

Carnivals:
I participated in two personal finance carnivals this week:
My Good Cents hosted the Carnival of Money Stories Edition #66 and included my post, "My Employer is Responding to High Gas Prices".

Greener Pastures: Personal Finance hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance #159: The First Zero-Emissions City and included my post, "Paid Off Debt and Credit Score Decreased".

From the Archives:

• 2008 Financial Goals - The Complete List
• The Breakup
• Paying Off Debt Makes You Feel......
• I DID IT!!!!!
• Save Money on Auto Insurance
• I Just Can't Look Anymore

Assets:

• Primary Home - $196,000.00
• Rental Property - $137,000.00
• Car - $19,000.00
• Retirement - $41,432.76
• Cash (checking, savings) - $20,683.08
• Brokerage - $2142.64

Total Assets: $426,796.78, decrease of (-.40%)

Liabilities:

• Primary Home Mortgage - $181,796.82
• Rental Property Mortgage - $148,375.11
• Student Loans - $22,500.00
• Credit Card - $38.85

Total Liabilities: $352,710.78, decrease of (-.10)

Net Worth: $74,086, decrease of (-1.84%)

Monthly Recap:

• June Net Worth took a nosedive due to the drop in the stock market at the end of the month.
• Major Expenses: My Umbrella Policy and my Auto Insurance policies both renew this month. I've already saved for these expenses in my Flexible Savings Account.
• July should be a great month for my cash position. I should be receiving my stimulus check and an extra paycheck.

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway for one of two free gas cards. The contest closed last night @ 11:59pm. I used a random number generator on the comments to determine the winners.

The winner of the $75 gas card is......Kathy Shifflet!!!

The winner of the $25 gas card is.....Ms. Jackson!!!

Please contact me at singleguymoney (at) gmail.com so I can get your gas cards in the mail!!

I will be having another giveaway in a few weeks so be sure to subscribe to SingleGuyMoney to be notified of the next contest.

Looks like I am going to be digging my Chase Card out of the depths of my sock drawer. I received a mailer today for an offer I can't refuse. Usually, I get balance transfer checks from them that all end up in the same place...the shredder. The interest rates vary from 4.99% until the balance is paid in full or 0.99% for a limited number of months. I probably would take advantage of the balance transfer offers if they offered a zero percent interest rate and no balance transfer fees. Of course, I'd deposit the money in savings and payoff the balance before the intro period expired.

This offer was a little bit different. They are offering $5 statement credit each day I use my card during the month of July for a maximum of $155. Since I currently have a zero balance on the account and will pay any charges off in full, I am actually making a little extra money.

Frequently Asked Questions from the Flyer:

What do I have to do to receive a $5 statement credit? $5 will be credited to your account for each day you make a single purchase with your card regardless of the dollar amount or number of purchases you make in a day.

Who qualifies for this offer? As long as your Chase Card is in good standing, open and not in default when the credit is posted, you qualify. Note: The offer only applies to the account that received the offer. The last four digits of the card number is posted on the inside of the flyer in the upper right corner.

When will I receive my statement credit? The credit will be reflected within 6 to 8 weeks following the last calendar day in which the credit was earned.

I haven't quite decided what I will purchase but it will be something small since there is no minimum purchase. I may end up buying a pack a gum each day!!

Did you receive this offer? What do you plan to buy?

Get your own Chase Credit Card: