#because i had like $95 and they expire so if i didn’t use them i’d built all of that up for nothing

[gobbluthbutagirl]

will you ever go back to the target (like if they paid you a million dollars a day or something)

i mean in a hypothetical situation where they paid me a million dollars a day, yeah sure why not. but in real life they pay $17.75 an hour(up 50 cents from when i quit a year and a half ago!) and there’s another target a mile away that’s within west hollywood city limits and therefore pays $19.50 an hour. and even the second-closest target(in the same zip code as the infamous one) pays $18.25 an hour. so even if i did go back to target, it wouldn’t be that one. but here’s the thing: i will never go back to target

[frangipanidownunder]

100 degrees of separation: fic

For @perplexistan who requested: M and S at the UH, where there is no air conditioning, and it is a record-setting, sweltering summer day. Set post season 11? Rated T, I guess.

By lunch-time it was 95 degrees and the temperature was still creeping higher. The ceiling fan whumped pitifully, simply spreading the misery around the kitchen. Even with the blind firmly closed, the heat wedged itself against the window and permeated everything. The clock on the wall titched slowly, as though the minutes were being squeezed through molasses to tick on.

Mulder peeled his forearms from the table and brought the sports pages with him. Scully puffed a wisp of stray hair from her forehead, smiling at his grapple with the newsprint. As she leaned across to help him, his attention was trapped by the bead of sweat trickling down her cleavage, weaving over the spray of rose freckles, and all his irritation at the humidity evaporated, as he watched it disappear into the V of her tank-top. He licked his lips.

“Thirsty?” she murmured, in a tone that suggested she knew exactly what had caught his eye. “We need to stay hydrated.”

“Kinda,” he said, finally removing the last of the newspaper.

“I know you love the game, Mulder but you didn’t need to tattoo it on your skin. She took his hand and twisted his arm over. “Look at that,” she said, her voice perkier, “Yankees beat the Red Sox 11 to 1.”

He read the print that had marked the heel of his thumb and along the grooves of his wrist. “Severino finished 13 and 2. Not too shabby, Scully.”

“Whatever you say, Mulder. I’m going to make iced tea. Care for some?”

“Sure. Price finished 9 and 6. But I can’t make out the Washington scores.” He rummaged through the ripped paper but ended up flinging strips into the air where they wafted momentarily on the rising heat like ticker-tape before settling willy-nilly over the table and floor. Scully sighed and he couldn’t make out if it was because she was standing in front of the open refrigerator or if it was a precursor to her snapping at him to clean up his mess. Taking no chances, he set about gathering the remnants of the pages and scrunching them into a ball.

“Don’t even think about throwing that at me,” Scully said from deep inside the ice box.

His mother used to say something about women having eyes in the backs of their heads and as a small boy it used to creep him out enough to stop him sleeping. When his sister was born, he turned her over just to check. Scully let the door shut and turned just as he closed the gap between them. He gathered her in his arms and welcomed her cool front.

“Ice, ice baby,” he sang, rocking his hips side to side with hers. She played along for a moment before shrugging away from him and setting the ice cube tray on the table.

“Grab that for me,” she asked, nodding at the ornate mason jar on the side. “I’ve added mint and lemon. Should be really refreshing. My mom used to make this recipe for us…” She looked up at him, eyes a little wetter than before and he tossed the paper ball into the trash can, nodding his understanding at her. It still cut her. It cut him too, their cumulative losses over the decades. If he had learned anything from their experiences, it was that they were each the only person in the world who truly understood the other. Love was nothing to do with it, though it helped. For the most part, anyway. 

He watched her drop ice into the jar, took the brewed tea and poured it over the cubes so they crackled and split a little. The lemon slices rose up the sides along with the mint sprigs and the aroma put him in mind of midsummer evenings in the Red Stag’s beer garden listening to Wimbledon commentary as the Pimms pitcher sloshed on the rickety, silvered table-top.

Like the smell, however, the cool action of the drink dissipated far too quickly and after ten minutes, they were both sweating again.

“Hyperhidrosis,” she mused, pressing a wet wad of paper towel to her forehead and chest.

“If that’s your medical diagnosis,” he said, unsticking each thigh from the chair, “how does one combat its symptoms?”

She scoffed and flopped back, angling her arms at 45 degrees, circling her wrists back and forth. “Someone tell Mother Nature to dial it back in a little. She’s being a bitch.”

“She’s a bit pissed at our inability to address the climate situation and I’d say she’s got fair cause.”

“But humidity at over 90 per cent, Mulder, that’s more than a bit pissed, that’s white-hot rage.”

“Hm-mm,” he said, turning over his cell. “If it gets to 100 degrees, I’ll expire. How do Aussies live like this?”

“They have a/c everywhere,” she said.

“Uh-huh, they probably even have it in their refrigerators.” He tried to laugh at his own joke but the heat stole it from his mouth.

“More people die from the cold in Australia than the heat. Their housing isn’t built for the winters. Temperatures in the south of the country are low outside of the three months of summer. And you won’t expire, Mulder. Not on my watch.”

There it was again. That understanding, that support. Her answer about deaths in Australia didn’t really surprise him. Housing in England was similarly deficient, just for the heat, not the cold. Radiators and terraces and wall to wall carpets helped heat homes during winters, but he remembered nights in Oxford where July humidity kept him awake, tossing and turning in his bedsit while the beat of a rave rose and fell from the neighbouring farmland. He wasn’t sure about the mortality rate but it always felt like Death was laughing at the poor souls crushed into tiny living quarters.

“What’s the hottest you’ve ever been, Scully? Aside from that time you wore that sleek black skirt suit where I could see the outline of your stocking top.” He chuckled at her mock-offended expression.

“Rescuing you from Arecibo is pretty high on the list of Times Dana Scully Nearly Melted.”

“You didn’t rescue me.”

“What would you call it, then, Mr George ‘Proof of Contact’ Hale?” Her voice rose up the scale of indignation a notch.

“I didn’t ask you to come. We weren’t even partners then. You just…invited yourself. And, by the way, I got us out of there like a Hollywood stunt driver.”

“I had to have months of physio to straighten my spine after that little trip to the rainforest. Jesus, Mulder.”

“You drive like that all the time,” he countered.

“Do not,” she snipped, and pushed her chair back. “And invited myself? Really?”

She disappeared for a bit and he lay his head down on the table but a pool of warm sweat gathered on his skin so that his forehead slipped away, juddering across the surface. He looked up as Scully came back into the kitchen and blinked away the droplets that ran into his eyes. “Are you putting linen in the freezer?”

“Yes. And no, I’m not mad. You’ll thank me later.”

She disappeared again and when she returned the next time, she was carrying a scalpel and a pair of surgical scissors.

“You are mad,” he said, rubbing a hand over his chin. “Just not the insane kind. What have I done, Scully?”

“Nothing yet. Get me two empty water bottles.” He did and she nodded to the scalpel. “Puncture holes in them at regular intervals and then cut the bottoms off.” When he’d finished, she’d come back with a ball of string. He watched as she tied the bottles, upside down, to the back of the fan, looping the string through the holes and around the grating.

“I take it back,” he said, “this is a work of genius.”

She grinned, hair plastered to her face, skin sheen with sweat and in a flash, it took him back to that graveyard in Bellefleur. “I’ll get the ice.”

“And some salt. And pour more water in the ice tray,” she called after him.

Side by side, they sat cross-legged in front of the fan as the cool air blasted them. His cell registered 100 degrees and he flashed it to her.

“You saved me,” he said.

“Again,” she said, smugly.

“Who’s keeping score?”

“You are.” She batted his hand away and let her head hang back, the curls of her frizzed hair straightening when the fan blew over her. Her nipples protruded tantalisingly and he shifted on his seat.

“What’s the coldest you’ve ever been? Icy Cape? Antarctica?”

She turned to him. “No,” she said, tilting her head. “It was when you let Agent Fowley back on the scene.”

“Ouch,” he said. “No anaesthetic for your surgical barbs.”

“Shut up, Mulder. I’m getting cool.”

“Hmmm, you’ve always been cool, Scully.”

Her giggle was girlish and his temperature rose despite her makeshift air conditioner. “Any chance of a…?”

“In this heat? Absolutely none,” she declared, but he could always melt her icy edges so he closed his eyes, held his silence and bade his time. Their deep understanding would get him past her 100 degrees of separation.

[prorevenge]

High School Bully Fired and Arrested 6 Years Later

[TL;DR at the bottom]

[Backstory] I went to school in a predominantly white area and being white myself I had it pretty easy, parents who cared for me and my activities, friends who respected each other, and all around a 'normal' HS experience. (not really important, just want to paint the picture) Like all High Schools, I was bullied, not a big surprise, I'm your generic nerdy white boy with glasses. I had a small friend group and generally never caused problems.

Now, you know I wouldn't be posting here if we never met again... little did I know it would be 6 YEARS later!

[The Encounter] Time went on, years went by, I secured a job with a Security company after my Associate's Degree, and make decent money. I mainly deal with truck drivers 95% of the time and have only written 3 major incident reports in the 4 years I've worked there. Day was normal, no problems, until "Enter Chad." I didn't know at the moment he came in, but it was him, 100%. I found out after he handed me his license, I knew because he had this one for 3 years (obviously expired) and I remembered his putrid, disgusting, bile face. The memories came back, I hadn't thought about Chad in YEARS, tbh I forgot he even existed, until that day. He came in, didn't recognize me and I took care of him like anyone else, except he has to come back to me when he leaves with his outbound trailer, so I planned, I thought of what I could do to make him remember me, to make him hurt like I did... Now I graduated with a degree for Criminal Justice, so I have a pretty good understanding about laws and regulations in my state, and since his license is expired I thought I could use that to my advantage. So I basically told Chad what trailer to pick up and where it was, he went and grabbed it and brought it back to me, I said "Heyyy, sorry... but I gave you the wrong trailer, we are using that one later to fill a load and the Site Manager just called me about it." He gave me one of those, 'really? God you are wasting my time' looks that I get all the time but said this, "Look man, I'm almost out hours and I need to get out of here, can't they just reassign it?" Me: "No, unfortunately once a trailer is assigned... blah blah security talk" I told him he needed to go get a different one instead. {This was true and not part of my plan, but I rolled with it} He kept nagging about how it will get him fired if he doesn't take his break on time and that he is already on his dispatcher's "watch list"... I loved when he told me this, I was going to do whatever I could to make him waste as much time as possible, so, I called our 'yard dog'(YD) (a driver on site who moves trailers in and out of dock doors) and told him a driver was refusing to drop their trailer and that he needs to be escorted off the property. The YD came and stopped in front of his tractor so he couldn't move forward and told him to unhook immediately. For a second he waited outside of his truck yelling obscenities and stuff, eventually the YD and myself went into the guard shack in case he got violent. He said. "F\*k this!" *Big mistake** Chad jumped back in his truck, drove around the YD's when he was in my guard shack, and left as fast as he could, I was already on the phone with my supervisor and he told me to call the police. (Trailer theft is a felony in my state) So I did, told them the Tractor number, his name, and a description, along with the trailer he had and his general direction of travel. About an hour went by before I had a police cruiser show up and asking for me. He questioned me on the whole who, what, when, where, and how. He told me that he was caught up to eventually and was arrested! They needed me as a witness and to make a statement for their report, so I made sure to mention myself noticing his expired license and everything else. To the best of my knowledge Chad will be getting at least a year of prison time (as felonies are a 1 year minimum) and fired from his trucking company.

Granted, I technically just did my job, but I made sure to be as detailed as possible and make sure he pays for what he did to me all those years ago.

​

[TL;DR] Bully from school beat me up, I see him at my job 6 years later, he breaks the law, and is now in prison.

Thank you for everyone who read this, hope some of you got a kick out of my experience, and remember: If someone's job is to tell you what to do, just do it.

I hope to have updates when the trial comes around (if it ever happens) but the Officer told me for the most part my statements should be enough for them and I might not even have to go to court. But I sincerely hope I get to, I'd love to see his face when the judge slaps a sentence and remind him of the past and what he did to me.

PS: Who's the cumstain now Chad?

(source) story by (/u/What_I_Wonder)

[girlwithglasses1245]

Um so yeah.

I got a new chromebook which is legit one of the best investments I’ve made in quite a while. One problem, I don’t remember my newer tumblr password and email I had set up for my happy new account. So I am stuck here with an older tumblr I made years upon years ago. I was browsing through some of the archive posts and ugh was I whiny little pain in the butt complaining about such stupid things. Anyways! I thought it might be kinda fun perhaps to do a survey that I did in 2013, yes 2013 oh my that seems ages ago. My plan is to have my original answer on top followed by the 2019 answer below it. Because why not? Here we go!

1: Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? The closet must be closed! Still closed please.

2: Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel? Sometimes. Not as often as I used, because I honestly don’t ever use it. lol

3: Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out? Out? In because that’s how Dan likes it. 

4: Have you ever stolen a street sign before? No. Nope. 

5: Do you like to use post-it notes? Sometimes. Sure, I leave Dan random notes in the morning if I wake up first. 

6: Do you cut out coupons but then never use them? I get coupons but sometimes I don't use them. Haha my above answer tells me two things I wasn’t worried about money in 2013 and I didn’t probably understand the question. So yeah, sometimes that will happen when they expire before I get the chance to use them.

7: Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees? Neither sound great so I guess a big bear sounds more interesting. I’ll agree with my 2013 answer. 

8: Do you have freckles? I have some. Last I checked I am the same girl, so I have some. 

9: Do you always smile for pictures? Usually. Sure, unless I am being told otherwise. 

10: What is your biggest pet peeve? I have two major ones, people snapping gum and not messaging someone back. Snapping gum is still up there and people slurping soup obnoxiously. 

11: Do you ever count your steps when you walk? Not really. Um not physically, but my phone does. Thanks Google Fit!

12: Have you ever peed in the woods? Nope. Still no.

13: What about pooped in the woods? Again nope. Still no lol.

14: Do you ever dance even if there’s no music playing? Yeah. Of course!

15: Do you chew your pens and pencils? Not usually, but sometimes I'll chew on a pen. Still sometimes I will chew a pen. 

16: How many people have you slept with this week? Zero. One.

17: What size is your bed? Queen. Queen, but now I share it with Dan. 

18: What is your Song of the week? Runaway- iio. Goodness I have no idea. 

19: Is it okay for guys to wear pink? Yeah.  Since when are certain colors unacceptable for certain people? I like that answer. Good job 2013 Christina. :)

20: Do you still watch cartoons? I don’t really watch a lot of TV. Nope. 

21: Whats your least favorite movie? I am not really big on the Hunger Games. Still accurate or scary movies would be an accurate answer. 

22: Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some? Wait…why would I want to bury hidden treasure. Dan’s safe?

23: If you’re a girl, bra size? If you’re a guy, pants size? 34 B 32-34 B depends on the bra. lol

24: What do you dip a chicken nugget in? Plain or honey mustard. I like those previous answers, but I do sometimes like BBQ. 

25: What is your favorite food? Some type of chicken with a bread coating. Chicken and dumplings from Cracker Barrel with carrots and green beans! 

26: What movies could you watch over and over and still love? Love and Other Drugs, Crazy Stupid Love, Easy A, Something Borrowed. So chick flicks I guess. Crazy Stupid Love is still in my top favorite movies ever. 

27: Last person you kissed/kissed you? Jeffrey. Eww I am sorry 2013 Christina that sucks. Anyways, Dan!

28: Were you ever a boy/girl scout? I was girl scout back in the day. Still a true statement. 

29: Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine? Eh I don't know. I am no model, so no.  30: When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper? On paper?  A while ago. I write Dan little notes in the mornings sometimes. Does that count? 31: Can you change the oil on a car? Nope. Still nope.  32: Ever gotten a speeding ticket? Surprisingly no. Warning, yes. lol 33: Ever ran out of gas? Close, but no. Nope!

34: Favorite kind of sandwich? Turkey and swiss with spinach toasted.  Grilled cheese!

35: Best thing to eat for breakfast? French Toast or Waffles. French Toast sounds lovely. 

36: What is your usual bedtime? Unpredictable. Still accurate, but now it depends on if Dan is around or not.  37: Are you lazy? More than some would think. I can be.  38: When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween? I don’t even know. Probably a princess.  39: What is your Chinese astrological sign? I believe I am a sheep. Correct.  40: Are you horny? No. Not really.  41: Do you have any magazine subscriptions? No. Yep, Cosmo. And it’s annoying they send out the following month way too early all the time.  42: Which are better legos or lincoln logs? I could care less. Still true. 

43: Are you stubborn? I some ways. Kinda.  44: Who is better…Leno or Letterman? Letterman. Still true hence why Letterman is still on the air? 45: Ever watch soap operas? Sometimes Spanish ones with Rach and her roommates. Nope. 46: Are you afraid of heights? Not as much. What kinda of answer was that back then? lol. Anyways, no height fear really.    47: Do you sing in the car? All the time. Duh, gotta keep it fun.  48: Do you sing in the shower? Not really. I hum though. Still true.  49: Do you dance in the car? Yeah. That’s probably not safe… Hahaha still guilty of that.  50: Ever used a gun? Nope, I want to do it sometime though just to say I shot a gun. Hahaha 2013 would never have thought I’d say I am pretty fucking accurate with an AR-15.  51: Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? Does summer count? Jen took my picture. Christmas of 2015 lol. 52: Do you think musicals are cheesy? Some can be. Usually.  53: Is Christmas stressful? Not really, but this year I’ll be working the holiday season so we shall reassess. Nope. I love Christmas.  54: Ever eat a pierogi? Had to look that up.  Yes, I have I think my friend Elly introduced me to them. Yeah, not my type of thing.  55: Favorite type of fruit pie? Cherry or Dutch Apple.  56: Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? Teacher. I don’t know anymore and I am 27. Oops.  57: Do you believe in ghosts? Eh debatable. Sure. 58: Ever have a Deja-vu feeling? Many times. I had one just the other day. Yeah I had one the other day. Wait that’s funny that was my reply before.  59: Take a vitamin daily? I take multivitamins. I still do, but currently out. lol 60: Wear slippers? Nah. Barefoot is preferred.  61: Wear a bath robe? Rarely. Unless I am super cold. Nah. 62: What do you wear to bed? Yoga pants and a t-shirt. T-shirt and panties. lol 63: First concert? Paramore. Still true. 

64: Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart? Target, but Wal-Mart is closer. Target.  65: Nike or Adidas? I don’t care. Under Amour? 66: Cheetos Or Fritos? Eh…neither. Haha still good answer.  67: Peanuts or Sunflower seeds? Sunflower seeds since I can’t do peanuts. Neither. 

68: Ever hear of the group Tres Bien? No? What? 69: Ever take dance lessons? I did a few times. Did I? Hmm sure okay. I did in the past.  70: Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing? Lawyer. Business owner.

71: Can you curl your tongue? Yes. Yep! 72: Ever won a spelling bee? Never participated. Nope I am not very good at spelling complicated stuff.  73: Have you ever cried because you were so happy? It has happened on occasion. Sure. 74: Own any record albums? No. Nope. 75: Own a record player? No. Nope. 76: Regularly burn incense? No. Nope. 77: Ever been in love? Yes. Yes.  78: Who would you like to see in concert? Matchbox Twenty, Google Dolls, Drake, Justin Timberlake, The Weekend, Linkin Park, The XX, and many more. I know weird mix there. Drake? 79: What was the last concert you saw? Grad night, Paramore. Same.  80: Hot tea or cold tea? I prefer cold tea. Ice tea!  81: Tea or coffee? Coffee, but I do like tea on occasion. Coffee 99% of the time.  82: Sugar or snickerdoodles? Yummy both please. Don’t make chose.  83: Can you swim well? Eh debatable. I’ve gotten better. lol 84: Can you hold your breath without holding your nose? Yes. Yes.  85: Are you patient? Most of the time. 50-50 depends on what.  86: DJ or band, at a wedding? Either would be fine, but a live band would be awesome. DJ, Cheaper, duh lol. 87: Ever won a contest? A few times. Yep! 88: Ever have plastic surgery? I am 22 so no. Nah, I am good.  89: Which are better black or green olives? Eww no thanks. *pukes* No no no. 90: Can you knit or crochet? My mom tried teaching me how to crochet. Still wanting to learn one day either one.  91: Best room for a fireplace? A living room? Still going to go with living room.  92: Do you want to get married? I don’t know anymore, I hope so. I do, lol. 93: If married, how long have you been married? (Not applicable) Same lol 94: Who was your HS crush? Mark fucking Andrew. Ugh that’s still true. But here’s a plot twist though he married someone I know and I see his picture on FB all the time because she posts pictures of them. I am not phased anymore. So victory? For me at least. 95: Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way? No. But I have though before though. Haha apparently.  96: Do you have kids? No. Nope.  97: Do you want kids? I would be ok not having kids for a while. No thanks. 98: Whats your favorite color? Purple! Purple!!! 99: Do you miss anyone right now? Yeah extremely. Yes. 

100. What do you hear right now? My Drake station on Pandora playing a Lil Wayne song. No Limit- G Easy ft Cardi B and A$AP Rocky

[jrangermachine-blog]

Tales From the Checkout Line

TALES FROM THE CHECK OUT LINE

By JR

 Chapter 1:

This Job was an Escape Hatch…It Led to Another Trap

           Two years ago, I hated my job. I had a genius idea: quit it and go work my old grocery store gig from college. At the time looked at the experience as a fond return. I didn’t like internet marketing much either and in my mind I was leaving the corporate world to return to my youth and perhaps find my roots. I’d worked at this grocery store while I was in college (though at a different college, not the one near the store) and it had been wonderful….or perhaps that was how I remembered it. I liked the physical labor and I’d enjoyed my regulars the people who always came in. The store wasn’t far from a section 8 building and I found the customers who walked to the store from there were interesting and funny and made an otherwise mundane experience, relatively enjoyable. These were some of the realest people I knew during my time there.

           So, when I returned in the summer of 2017 I was looking forward to more of the same. My situation was such that I  could work part time and concentrate on my fiction writing. I foresaw a magical rebirth of past experiences, old memories coming alive again. It was summertime and I would be happy again. Everything would be different in the warm weather. The time would be slower, and the pace of the city could be more conducive to the pace my mind runs at. I could stock bags and ring up people in exchange for this.

           There were good people when I first came back. I enjoyed being there. I wouldn’t say they were the most productive group of people, but they were great to be around. There was Frank in the deli. He was this hilarious guy who always wore a comb in his hair and used to sing rap songs while we were closing. There was Sara, this heavyset tall woman with long black hair. She worked in the deli too and occasionally did some work in the back room.

           I remember there was this one night when Frank had a hip hop show in town and I went to it. Afterwards we all went out for drinks in the city and just shot the shit for several hours. At this point, I didn’t even feel like I was at work. I only came in a few days a week. It was great.

           Then about a year ago I had a genius idea to start working 5 days a week there….well 6 days initially. I made A LOT more money and become  A HELL OF A LOT more miserable. There was a direct correlation between the hours I worked and the unhappiness I felt.

           I’ve been doing this for about a year now. I don’t enjoy it and I’m actively looking for a  new job right now….these are my observations about working here over the years.

 Chapter 2:

The Illogical Cash Register Policy

           One of the things that drives me nuts about working here is the non-committal approach to EVERYTHING. Our policies are one thing on Tuesday and something completely different by Friday. There’s no reason to it. One of the areas I notice this is at the cash register.

           During the day, it’s essentially a non-issue  because there isn’t as much business as there is at night. We only need one cashier to handle the traffic at that time. Occasionally there might be a long line but provided something crazy isn’t going on in the back room, we can usually have a person open up to cover the spill over traffic.

           At night though…that’s when shit becomes infuriating, specifically on Friday night. So, the thing is it’s a family owned grocery store. The owner only works during the day and at night he’s at home. He’s at home, but that isn’t to say he isn’t watching things. About a year ago, they had cameras and microphones installed in the store so they could spy on the employees. Nico, the manager who I work with day to day, claimed they were for security. The point he stressed was that these cameras would be vital to everyone’s safety. I’ve got issues with this claim and with surveillance in general, but ignoring that, I think everyone knew that the installation of cameras would implicitly give them the ability to spy on anything and anyone at any time…and who’s in the store longer and more often than the employees?

           So, cut back to Friday nights at the store. Statistically, it’s a busy time for us. It’s the time when we do the most sales and it makes sense. It’s the weekend and these college kids want to get drunk. We supply the beer and they come buy it. So, the store wants us up by the registers most of the time when this is going on. They specifically want two cashiers if there is a line of more than two people. Gretchen, an older lady who works a second job, more or less sits on the primary register. She stays up front. As the back up cashier, my job is to maintain the aisles and stock/fix shelves if they become depleted. In the event that there’s a line I’m expected to open up immediately. The assumption is always that the owner could be watching at any time. Of course, he could be sitting outside enjoying the sunset or appreciating the life that his 50 plus years in the business have afforded him. But, he chooses to log in to his computer and watch what we do. So, if anything is going on that he doesn’t like, he’s not the least bit shy about calling his son Nico and asking him to bitch at us. So, I have to operate with the expectation that any moment this man is watching the camera and may be displeased.

           As part of my shelf facing/store maintenance duties that I do in addition to running the register, I also need to check dates on things sometimes. When things expire it puts us at risk just as much as it does the people who might by them. If a health inspector comes in and sees something out of date we could get in trouble. Checking the dates on these things is important and I believe in doing right so I take my time, I pull things out from the shelf completely to make sure nothing with a different date is hiding in the back. Unbeknownst to me, a line might be building in the front and all of the sudden I’m needed. I have no idea that this is happening and now I have to stop whatever I’m doing and go take care of these people, even if I’m right in the middle of it. Sometimes, I take care of the customers for like 20 minutes and then I’ll go back to what I was doing and find that one of the managers has put all the items back on the shelf! So, I need to start all over again! This has happened multiple times AND IT’S INFURIATING!

           As an added treat to my Friday routine, the owner of the store will sometimes be watching the surveillance cameras from his house. If he happens to see there’s a line by the register and that I’m not there IMMEDIAETLY, he calls the store to complain about it. So more or less, I have to remain by the register in order to satisfy his desire that nobody waits ever.

           So, what follows is the owner and his son Nico come in the next day, Saturday now, and they’re upset that the shelves weren’t faced as much or they’re mad because a bunch of things expired. The thing is you can’t have it both ways. They completely overlook the fact that for most of the evening I was covering the register and collecting cash for them. It leaves me feeling rather frustrated. If you’re going to have someone find things that are expired and face the shelves well then hire another person or ask someone else to fill in on the shift to augment the staff.

           In fairness to them, it’s a small store. They aren’t a chain or anything. Its family run and they’ve only got so much money. They’ve got competition from people who buy online and at bigger stores in the area which are chains. It makes sense that there isn’t a pool full of money waiting around to be poured into. BUT, they’ve done a lot of work to renovate the store and make changes to it. They should have planned for that expense instead of banking on people to simply tolerate these kinds of working conditions. I’ve been at good companies and bad companies and the places that do the best work generally had happier employees who cared about the store. It’s leaderships responsibility to set the pace of how things will go. If you work in a company where the leaders are realistic and are prepared to take care of their employees and make the place a good environment, you get a really good company where people do good work. If you get shitty, entitled leaders who don’t understand the challenges their employees face fully, you can expect lousy results.

           95% of the reason I don’t want to be here anymore, is because of how I feel about the people who own the store. I guess I thought that would change magically because I’m an adult and no longer a teenager…or maybe I just told myself it would be worth it because there were other aspects of the job I enjoyed….only…….what are those other aspects again?

  Chapter 3:

The Dreaded Section 8 People and How Their Petty Theft is What’s Secretly Killing Our Business. (Duhn Duhn Duhn!)

           As I’ve mentioned previously, our store isn’t far from Section 8 housing. The building is used to house the disabled and old people. Some of them have mental and financial issues and they don’t always conduct themselves in a way that the pretty white people of this rich college town would like. Sometimes they come into the store drunk or high. Some of them yell or curse for no reason. Occasionally some of them steal things.

           About six months ago I got a text in the morning from Nico, my boss. I wasn’t due at work for another four hours, but he decided it couldn’t wait. It was a video clip of a guy walking into the store and stealing a can of beer out of the cooler. He tucked it in his jacket and walked out of the store. I recognized the man in the video. He’d stolen from us once before and my boss had made quite the show of it.

           I came into the store later on that day and my boss called me back into the office.

           “I want you to see something,” he said.

He hadn’t looked at me yet. He was gazing at the computer and fondling the mouse. He clicked open to the video, but this time it was at a different angle. At this angle, you could see that I was in the shot. The video was from the previous night. In the video, you could see I was hunched over some products trying to pull them forward. The guy was in the same aisle as me, maybe ten feet down. He looked at me to see if I was watching, stuck the beer in his pocket and walked out.

“How does that happen?” Nico said.  “How does he feel comfortable enough that he can just take the beer can and walk out with it….you weren’t watching him.”

“I was facing your shelves,” I said.

“Well it doesn’t matter we need to…”

What followed was a speech about how I need to play security guard and profile people based on how they look and whether or not I can read their mind and determine they’re about to steal something.

“I hate to say it JR, but we need to start profiling people…” he said.

“I don’t think that guy who stole you from…” I started to say.

“That NIGGER. You mean that nigger that just stole from me?”

I was quiet after that because some things you just don’t have a response to.

           Let’s leave the racism aside for a moment, although it’s difficult to do that since the people who own and run this business tie almost everything wrong with the store back to race stereotypes. Now granted, I don’t condone stealing. It’s wrong and the business owners have every right to be upset. After all, they paid money for the products and when people take them it’s not good thing. Theoretically, it could cut into our profits if it happened enough. I get that.

           But let’s do some math here, since at the end of the day that’s all determining your profits is about, doing math. We probably get 50 boxes at least of perishable items like produce  twice a week. Each case is probably worth $20 low end. So that’s $1,000 twice a week. So, $2,000 on produce right there. Of those 50 boxes we probably have to throw out or not use 5 of them each week. So, $100 a week are just thrown out or not used. 52 weeks in a year, that’s $5,200 thrown in the fucking trash.

           Flip side, we’ve got the occasional theft. Let’s allow that it happens, I don’t know three times a month, I’m being generous here, I don’t think it happens even that much. Let’s say it’s a $10 loss each time. So, $30 a month gone. That’s $360 a year.

           $360 a year lost to theft versus $5,200 a year lost because the owner doesn’t want to eliminate some of the produce….and the $5,200 was only for the produce, that’s not counting the boxes of cookies and crackers and cartons of yogurt and milk that expire. So, even when I’m liberal with the amount of money people steal and conservative with the amount of money we lose of our own accord, the difference is still staggering.

           So, given this, why has my boss spent an hour talking to the police on multiple occasions, to stop a $30 a month problem, but he hasn’t spent time trying to figure out which grocery products he should eliminate. How does he rationalize this fixation on the petty theft by homeless and mentally disabled people?

           Ah, and now we can bring race in. The most frequent claim by my bosses is that it’s the blacks who are stealing. They’ve actually had me, or my coworkers stop what we’re doing and spy on black people, which is extremely uncomfortable and also a monumental waste of time. I’ve paid attention to who steals, and the common denominator isn’t race at all. It’s social and financial circumstances. It’s the people who live in that building who are poor and whose brains work differently than the average person’s. These aren’t black people specifically. These are desperate people with disabilities.

So, when my boss says to me things like “JR, we need to start profiling people,”  what I want say in response is “How? How do you read somebody’s mind and tell they’re desperate? Do you want me to go up to everyone in the store with slightly baggy clothing and a tan and accost them?” Hmmm, as a matter of fact, I think that’s  EXACTLY what they want me to do!

I’m not asking the store owners to finance people’s criminal activities. I’m not suggesting they shouldn’t confront people who ACTUALLY steal. But I think they should be realistic about it. It’s not exclusively black people and the frequency with which it happens doesn’t even begin to justify the energy we exhaust chasing people down these blind alleys. We have more vital things to focus on. The other day I was working at the register and I saw two of my coworkers carrying out 30 boxes of these weird off brand cookies that never sell. The boss had purchased them hoping they would. They were expired, every last one.

The next time they ask me to spy on a black person I’m tying my fucking shoelaces…

[smilingsection]

Tagged @teekapoa

1. DO YOU SLEEP WITH YOUR CLOSET DOORS OPEN OR CLOSED?

Closed

2. DO YOU TAKE THE SHAMPOOS AND CONDITIONER BOTTLES FROM HOTELS?

No, I use what i need and leave the rest where it was.

3. DO YOU SLEEP WITH YOUR SHEETS TUCKED IN OR OUT?

In! 

4. HAVE YOU STOLEN A STREET SIGN BEFORE?

What? No. Why would i do that?

5. DO YOU LIKE TO USE POST-IT NOTES?

I love them! They’re so versatile, i use them for everything!

6. DO YOU CUT OUT COUPONS BUT THEN NEVER USE THEM?

Hum...sometimes yeah. Last time it was a discount on a conditioner but i had already bought two bottles so i never used it and it expired.

7. WOULD YOU RATHER BE ATTACKED BY A BIG BEAR OR A SWARM OF BEES?

Ah jeez...the bees i guess? ‘cause it would hurt less?

8. DO YOU HAVE FRECKLES?

Some tiny ones on my nose and on my cheeks near my eyes but i don’t think you can call them freckles, they’re so tiny

9. DO YOU ALWAYS SMILE FOR PICTURES?

Yeah, i think so.

10. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE?

People who chew with their mouths open and make that sound *shudders* also rude and disrespectful people.

11. DO YOU EVER COUNT YOUR STEPS WHEN YOU WALK?

I used to do that a lot when i was little. Less so now but from time to time yes.

12. HAVE YOU PEED IN THE WOODS?

I have, yes.

13. HAVE YOU EVER POOPED IN THE WOODS?

No, never.

14. DO YOU EVER DANCE EVEN IF THERE’S NO MUSIC PLAYING?

Yeah, sometimes i have a song in my head and i can’t help but dance to it.

15. DO YOU CHEW YOUR PENS AND PENCILS?

No and i hate it when people do that to my pens and pencils.

16. HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE YOU SLEPT WITH THIS WEEK?

None

17. WHAT SIZE IS YOUR BED?

Queen sized

18. WHAT IS YOUR SONG OF THE WEEK?

How Far I’ll Go from Moana

19. IS IT OK FOR GUYS TO WEAR PINK?

Yeah, of course! It’s a colour like any other and it’s my favourite as well ;)

20. DO YOU STILL WATCH CARTOONS?

No (unless you count anime then yes, i just recently started watching Attack on Titan and i’m obcessed)

21. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE MOVIE?

Least favourite? Well i watched Sausage party last year and i hated it so i’m gonna go with that

22. WHERE WOULD YOU BURY HIDDEN TREASURE IF YOU HAD SOME?

Idk, probably on a mountain.

23. WHAT DO YOU DRINK WITH DINNER?

I don’t usually drink with my meals unless it’s a special dinner. In that case either water, juice or wine (but only a specific wine)

24. WHAT DO YOU DIP A CHICKEN NUGGET IN?

Nothing, i don’t like it

25. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOD?

Strawberries!

26. WHAT MOVIES COULD YOU WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND STILL LOVE?

Titanic, The Lion King, Pacific Rim, Moana

27. LAST PERSON, YOU KISSED/KISSED YOU?

My grandma a few minutes ago to say goodbye

28. WERE YOU EVER A BOY/GIRL SCOUT?

Never

29. WOULD YOU EVER STRIP OR POSE NUDE IN A MAGAZINE?

I don’t think so, no. I’m not comfortable enough.

30. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WROTE A LETTER TO SOMEONE ON PAPER?

In elementary school where we wrote letters to children from other cities

31. CAN YOU CHANGE THE OIL ON A CAR?

Maybe? No, probably not. I suck with car stuff.

32. EVER GOTTEN A SPEEDING TICKET?

Never, i always respect speed limits

33. EVER RAN OUT OF GAS?

No but my stepfather has more than once xD

34. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE KIND OF SANDWICH?

I like it with butter and ham

35. BEST THING TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST?

I eat either french toast or cereal

36. WHAT IS YOUR USUAL BEDTIME?

Usually between 22:30 and 23:00

37. ARE YOU LAZY?

Sometimes i am but if i have something to do, i do it first thing.

38. WHEN YOU WERE A KID, WHAT DID YOU DRESS UP AS FOR HALLOWEEN?

We didn’t really celebrate Halloween then...

39. WHAT IS YOUR CHINESE ASTROLOGICAL SIGN?

Rooster it seems

40. HOW MANY LANGUAGES CAN YOU SPEAK?

English, Spanish and Portuguese fluently. French and Italian less fluently. I can understand everything people say to me but sometimes i lack some words.

41. DO YOU HAVE ANY MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS?

None

42. WHICH ARE BETTER: LEGOS OR LINCOLN LOGS?

Legos. I don’t know what the other one is.

43. ARE YOU STUBBORN?

Yeah, i am

44. WHO IS BETTER: LENO OR LETTERMAN?

I don’t know, never watched neither of them

45. EVER WATCH SOAP OPERAS?

No

46. ARE YOU AFRAID OF HEIGHTS?

Not really

47. DO YOU SING IN THE CAR?

Yes 

48. DO YOU SING IN THE SHOWER?

Sometimes

49. DO YOU DANCE IN THE CAR?

Sometimes

50. EVER USED A GUN?

I’ve used one of those big hunting guns.

51. LAST TIME YOU GOT A PORTRAIT TAKEN BY A PHOTOGRAPHER?

Elementary school i think

52. DO YOU THINK MUSICALS ARE CHEESY?

Some of them but they are fun!

53. IS CHRISTMAS STRESSFUL?

For me yes, there’s always a thousand things to do

54. EVER EAT A PIEROGI?

I don’t know what that is 

55. FAVORITE TYPE OF FRUIT PIE?

Apple i guess?

56. OCCUPATIONS YOU WANTED TO BE WHEN YOU WERE A KID?

Veterinarian

57. DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?

No

58. EVER HAVE A DEJA-VU FEELING?

Hum...maybe? I don’t recall

59. DO YOU TAKE A VITAMIN DAILY?

Like pills? No but I eat lots of vegetables and fruits every day

60. DO YOU WEAR SLIPPERS?

Yes

61. DO YOU WEAR A BATH ROBE?

I do

62. WHAT DO YOU WEAR TO BED?

Pajamas.

63. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CONCERT?

It was a small festival, i don’t remember the name now

64. WALMART, TARGET, OR KMART?

I’ve never been to any of them so idk

65. NIKE OR ADIDAS?

Idk, don’t really buy from any of them

66. CHEETOS OR FRITOS?

Cheetos? 

67. PEANUTS OR SUNFLOWER SEEDS?

PEANUTS!!!

68. EVER HEAR OF THE GROUP TRES BIEN?

???Never

69. EVER TAKE DANCE LESSONS?

Yes! They’re really fun!

70. IS THERE A PROFESSION YOU PICTURE YOUR FUTURE SPOUSE DOING?

No, isn’t that a little weird?

71. CAN YOU CURL YOUR TONGUE?

Yeah

72. EVER WON A SPELLING BEE?

A class spelling bee yeah but we don’t really have contests of that, it’s just done in your own class

73. HAVE YOU EVER CRIED BECAUSE YOU WERE SO HAPPY?

...i don’t think so but i’ve laighed so hard i cried. Does that count?

74. OWN ANY RECORD ALBUMS?

No, i don’t

75. OWN A RECORD PLAYER?

No

76. DO YOU REGULARLY BURN INCENSE?

From time to time

77. EVER BEEN IN LOVE?

Yes

78. WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN CONCERT?

I’m not much of a fan of concerts but I’d go see Bastille

79. WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU SAW?

Bastille

80. HOT TEA OR COLD TEA?

Hot

81. TEA OR COFFEE?

Tea

82. SUGAR COOKIES OR SNICKERDOODLES?

...i don’t...sugar cookies, i suppose...

83. CAN YOU SWIM WELL?

Yeah

84. CAN YOU HOLD YOUR BREATH WITHOUT HOLDING YOUR NOSE?

Yeah

85. ARE YOU PATIENT?

I am

86. DJ OR BAND AT A WEDDING?

I don’t know? A DJ, i suppose...

87. EVER WON A CONTEST?

Yes

88. HAVE YOU EVER HAD PLASTIC SURGERY?

No

89. WHICH ARE BETTER: BLACK OR GREEN OLIVES?

I don’t really eat olives that much but let’s go with black

90. CAN YOU KNIT OR CROCHET?

Yes i can crochet some

91. BEST ROOM FOR A FIREPLACE?

living room, obviously

92. DO YOU WANT TO GET MARRIED?

Yes

93. IF MARRIED, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MARRIED?

I’m not

94. WHO WAS YOUR HIGH SCHOOL CRUSH?

A boy

95. DO YOU CRY AND THROW A FIT UNTIL YOU GET YOUR OWN WAY?

No

96. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?

No

97. DO YOU WANT KIDS?

Yes, two

98. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?

Pink, blue and white

99. DO YOU MISS ANYONE RIGHT NOW?

A friend

100. WHO ARE YOU GOING TO TAG TO DO THIS TAG NEXT?

Anyone who wants to do it

[hatsuneniko]

Niko rambles about the nba playoffs

Okay so, every NBA playoff series has officially played a game now, and I’m apparently unable to keep my opinions to myself on this, so I wrote up a big ol’ thing about it. I realize this is tumblr so I’ll spare y’all and put it under the cut, but if for some reason you wanted to listen to me ramble about sports, slam that read more button. I actually used punctuation and capitalization on this post so you know it’s a rare occasion.

Indiana Pacers (7) L @ W Cleveland Cavaliers (2)

[108-109]

Okay, so the big thing in this series is that Lebron James is the best human being at playing basketball and that everyone else in this series isn’t Lebron James, and therefore, are not the best human beings at playing basketball. Despite that, Cleveland only won this by a point after C.J. Miles missed a shot at the buzzer. This is mostly because Paul George can sometimes look like he’s as good as Lebron if you kinda squint your eyes (especially when they wear the hickory throwbacks that could pass for Cavalier colors). Also, Lance Stephenson is playing on the Pacers again and he’s the only person fool enough to think to drive down the lane at James. Somehow that still works for him though and he was pretty visibly the second best player on the court for Indiana in this game. The second best player for Cleveland was probably Kyrie Irving but it’s largely irrelevant because if that’s the second best performance Cleveland can get from a player they have a very realistic shot of not making the finals. Play defense someone, anyone. 

Anyway the big post-game narrative thing from this was Paul George saying that he was annoyed that C.J. Miles took the last shot, because that’s gotta be him taking that shot. He is the superstar of the team after all, and if anyone should cost the Pacers the game it’s him. I mean, you could argue that he did exactly that when he passed to Miles, ignoring Lance Stephenson standing completely alone beneath the basket with less than ten seconds in the game, but I digress. In the future, I’d expect George (who has missed all 15 of his game-winner attempts in his career) to be getting those shots in the future, and I do expect those shots to show up in this series if Cleveland can’t get above average play from anyone besides King James.

Milwaukee Bucks (6) W @ L Toronto Raptors (3)

[97-83]

Okay so there were a lot of kind of quirky, weird stats and narratives going into this game. The Bucks had been dreadful in Toronto recently, losing something like 11 straight games up North, but that streak ran headfirst into Toronto’s bizarre ineptitude in the opening games of playoff series. The Raptors have only won a single Game 1 in franchise history, and they’ve never done it as the home team. For what it’s worth, the Raps pretty much always lay an egg in the first game of a series so it’s hard to necessarily read too much into what happened in this game. Which is good, because if you were to do that, you would not like the Raptors chances in this series. First off, Kyle Lowry played pretty miserably, which is understandable since he’s been working back from an injury, but still a problem. Secondly, the Raptors just had no answer for Giannis Antetokounmpo when he got the ball in transition, which happened a lot because the Raptors could not direct passes around the long-limbed Milwaukee defenders.

I sort of figured going into this series that the Raptors would be forced to tweak their offense a little bit, since Giannis, Khris Middleton, Malcom Brogdon, and Matthew Dellavedova meant the Bucks had enough pesky perimeter defenders to make things hard on the Raptors guards. What I didn’t anticipate was that the Raptors would have zero answer for Greg Monroe, who had one of the better two-way performances I’ve ever seen out of the big man in his first career playoff game (Monroe had previously held the active streak for most regular season games without a playoff appearance, so good for him). On top of that, Thon Maker, who’s largely just played as a figurehead starter at the beginning of halves actually had several nice defensive plays. I don’t know if banking on a skinny 19 year-old rookie to sustain that over a series is realistic, but if he can develop that it will look like another shrewd draft pick by the Bucks.

Memphis Grizzlies (7) L @ San Antonio Spurs (2) W

[82 - 111]

This was actually a close game for about a half, with Marc Gasol actually setting the Grizzlies’ franchise record in the playoffs for points scored in a half. He then proceeded to score in single digits the rest of the way as the Spurs pulled ahead. I like both of these teams and admire the way they both have just sort of stuck their styles despite the league trying to move in certain directions. The problem for Memphis is that the Spurs have Kawhi Leonard, who’s the best defender and scorer in this series by a kind of alarming margin.

There really isn’t a whole lot to discuss from this game that isn’t kind of clear from looking at the score. The Spurs are a better team, a fact that only became clearer once both teams pulled their starters once the outcome was no longer in doubt. The bottom of the Spurs bench seemed to have zero difficulty with the bottom of the Grizzlies depth chart, scoring, blocking, and dunking with relative ease. It still wouldn’t shock me if the Grizzlies won a game at home during this anyway because they do that every season.

Utah Jazz (5) W @ Los Angeles Clippers (4) W

[97-95]

I’m a Clippers fan so this one wasn’t very fun for me. Rudy Gobert went down with a knee injury about 10 seconds into this game after he bonked kneecaps with Luc Mbah a Moute. Despite that, the Jazz pulled out the win when Joe Johnson scored a tough shot as time expired. Joe was big for the Jazz for the whole of this game, as he got a lot of minutes, both filling in for Gobert and because his floor-stretching helped take Blake Griffin away from crashing the boards. Even so, early on the Clippers were dominating the glass, pulling down offensive rebounds and drawing fouls inside like crazy, and Blake rolled up a monster first half. But, it’s Blake Griffin, so he scored two points in the 4th quarter (hitting zero field goals in the quarter). Chris Paul went off in this one, because Chris Paul is a very good player, especially in the playoffs, despite his reputation in the postseason. In fact, down the stretch he was pretty much the only thing that looked good for the Clippers, with the exception of Marreese Speights playing decently.

The Clippers missed Austin Rivers in this one, as J.J. Reddick struggled mightily against Joe Ingles’ pesky defense, causing the LA shooting guard to have a borderline meltdown with back-to-back turnovers sandwiching a couple of horrible defensive lapses in the 2nd quarter. Doc bolstered the bench unit by leaving Blake and Mbah a Moute out for long stretches but when Griffin grows passive, they could really use someone like Rivers to drive to the rim, and perhaps shake them out of their weird habit of firing up contested jumpers and refusing to move towards the basket.

Anyway, as for the Jazz, Joe was the star as Gordon Hayward was frequently bottled up by Luc Mbah a Moute. The Clippers would often switch Luc and Chris Paul onto Hayward in pick and roll situations which clearly left the Jazz forward frustrated as he wasn’t able to get past either man. Of course, they still ran this switch when Paul sat in favor of Raymond Felton, at which point it immediately stopped working. Did I mention the Clippers missed Austin Rivers? Down the stretch of this one, Doc Rivers was turning to Raymond Felton in his “defensive” lineups, which is one of those things that pretty much everyone in the world can see is a problem. I realize Wesley Johnson, Alan Anderson, and the rest of the depth guys have sort of lost Rivers’ faith this season but surely one of them can defend wings better than Raymond Felton.

Atlanta Hawks (5) L @ Washington Wizards (4) W

[107-114]

I’m probably gonna keep this one short because I’m not actually sure how much I can take from this game that I really believe about the teams. I do think the Wizards are probably the better team, so the results do seem to support that, but given the bizarre way the Hawks have worked all season, they could win the series after going down 3-0 and I wouldn’t really be that shocked. Paul Millsap noted after this one that the Wizards were playing a much more physical game than the Hawks. This is true, but it also makes no sense based on the way these teams are composed. With the exception of the guards, I think the Hawks own a physicality advantage at virtually every position, especially with Millsap and Dwight Howard inside. So naturally Marcin Gortat, obliterated Millsap on a dunk.

I don’t really have enough faith in either team to expect them to be entirely consistent through this series. Washington is good, but Atlanta has a knack for inexplicably winning games, and I still expect at least one game of Tim Hardaway Jr. going off and at least a few classic Dwight Howard shenanigans. If nothing else, I’d think someone in Atlanta would remember that Kent Bazemore and Thabo Sefalosha (when healthy) can really bother people on the perimeter with physical play. And maybe the Hawks can stop letting a 33 year-old Gortat put them on posters?

Portland Trailblazers (8) L @ Golden State Warriors (1) W

[109-121]

I’ve realized the NBA is a lot more entertaining when I pretend the Warriors don’t exist. I’m hoping Jusuf Nurkic gets healthy in time to play in this series (not sure if he will) because it will get a couple of Draymond Green’s inevitable flagrant fouls out of the way early when he unsurprisingly kicks another big white dude in the balls. Next.

Chicago Bulls (8) W @ Boston Celtics (1) L

[106-102]

On one hand I am really glad the Bulls won, even though I think they’re actually a fairly bad team because it’s incredibly fitting that they would preserve their TNT Broadcast winning streak. With that said, I do feel for Isaiah Thomas, who lost his sister in a single-driver accident the night before the game and was visibly emotional during it. The crowd’s response to him hitting a 3-pointer early in the game was a genuine, touching moment and it’s a bit of a bummer that it’s going to be overshadowed by the fact that the Celtics lost this game.

It’s not necessarily surprising that Chicago plays Boston well (although their regular season matchup where the Bulls literally forgot how to score a basketball means there’s at least some surprise here). The Celtics are a bad rebounding team and one of the only things Chicago does well is crash the glass. Robin Lopez and Bobby Portis played well in this one, meaning that Chicago’s mess of a front office actually managed to win a trade where they sent Derrick Rose away to get back Robin Lopez. Thank heaven for small victories. 

Anyway, Jimmy Butler is better than any other player in this game and the Celtics are likely regretting the fact that they didn’t manage to acquire him back at the trade deadline. For what it’s worth, the Bulls did get quite a few contributions from other players, including Rajon Rondo. I like that because Rajon Rondo playing well emboldens Rajon Rondo to do some really weird shit, which is usually fun. I think Chicago could genuinely have a chance to win this series, but there’s also a pretty good chance they play Dwayne Wade major minutes because of his name, a move that makes them a lot worse and requires Jimmy Butler to make up for even more mistakes. Free this poor man.

Oklahoma City Thunder (6) L @ Houston Rockets (3) W

[87-118]

This was the MVP matchup that everyone got really excited for until it actually happened and we all remembered that Houston is a much better basketball team. This game was still weird though, as the typically inept shooting of Oklahoma City was replaced instead by a remarkably hot start from 3-point land, while the Houston Rockets airballed 3-pointers and had to stay in the game by crashing the glass and generating points in the paint. In short, the tow teams somehow swapped styles. The only problem was that apparently Nene and Clint Capela are completely unstoppable. I’m not really sure that can possibly be true, especially given that Oklahoma City actually has a decent frontcourt and plays above-average rebounders at all five positions. James Harden and Russell Westbrook, the MVP candidates in question got off to slow starts, but eventually started scoring, and as has been the case for most of the season, James Harden did a much better job, with Russ’s usage rate capsizing his efficiency as he chucked up ill-advised shots and turned the ball over 9 times amid Patrick Beverly’s terrorizing defense.

Speaking of Patrick Beverly, the Rockets guard was arguably the most impressive player in the whole game (at least until James Harden did this) as he outplayed Russell Westbrook on defense while making big play after big play on offense. He also ran into Steven Adams so hard that he had to check out of the game for a little while (after hitting a few three pointers and setting the crowd into a frenzy). The spotlight was always going to be on Harden and Westbrook, but I think there’s going to be a few more #2 jerseys in the crowd by the time this series ends.

As for the star performers, James Harden never really got going from deep, but managed to drive to the basket with so much ease that it looked like OKC just forgot that was a thing people do in basketball. Russell Westbrook probably has the MVP award locked up after his nutty stats this year, and he arguably has been more important in the sense that the team asks him to do about 99% of the entire team’s workload, but James Harden’s played better this year, and did so once again in this one. I do wonder exactly what would happen if you removed James Harden from the Rockets, because I have a sneaking suspicion they’d be just as bad as the Thunder sans-Russ. I realize their on/off court numbers don’t back that up but I have a feeling a lot of that stems from the ways the two teams deploy their bench, as Billy Donovan uses the Thunder reserves to try to bide time while Westbrook sits whereas Mike D’Antoni uses the Rockets bench players to do their best to replicate the production they lose when Harden sits.

Anyway, going forward in this series, I would think Donovan should consider turning to Domantas Sabonis at some point, as the rookie big’s willingness to shoot 3′s might at least drag one of Houston’s big men away from the rim, enabling someone on the Thunder to rebound, because if Houston keeps beating them on the glass like this I’m not sure we’re even going to get a full seven games out of this highly-anticipated series.

[iamnotaprepper]

GO KITS!

I’ve been looking forward to writing this entry, because it’s way more fun than water storage.  In a nutshell, the Go Kit (Kit, Bug-Out Bag, 72-Hour Kit, Go Bag, etc) is intended to keep you alive for 72 hours post-disaster, and it should be portable in case evacuation is required.  You may be evacuating to a local shelter, or you may be leaving town by car or foot.  Either way it’ll be handy to have supplies.  And if evacuation isn’t required and you can stay at home or nearby, the Go Kit can serve to get you through the first few days, even if you’ve done nothing else to prepare for a disaster.  As discussed in the last post, it’s not unreasonable to think that after three days there will be some assistance available, so let’s focus on surviving that long.

A few notes:

1)      Two good lists for very good, very basic kits are at the Red Cross and Ready.gov.  What I’ve outlined in this post is for a more involved kit.   Here’s a link for my own checklist as a Word document.  Please download a copy and edit away for your own needs.

2)      Everything here applies to kids and adults (more on that below).  Infants and toddlers have special needs, and probably necessitate a separate kit.  This is way, way out of my wheelhouse, but the California Department of Health has a website with a ton of links for more information.

3)      The Go Kit is for basic (very basic) survival, not comfort.  We’ll get more into the comfort zone when we talk about hunkering down (rather than evacuation) in later posts.  Think about your Go Kit as the worst case scenario.

4)      Most of the stuff that goes in your Go Kit you already have around the house.  HOWEVER, don’t load up your bag with stuff you use all the time.  DO NOT USE THE STUFF IN YOUR GO KIT IF IT’S NOT AN EMERGENCY.  I promise, you’ll forget to put the flashlight back and then you’ll be sorry.  Basically, you’re going to need duplicate materials for your kit.

5)      Wikipedia has a pretty good entry on survival kits, including a fascinating list of names for these kits.  I prefer not to call it an “Emergency Kit” or “Emergency Bag” because that’s confusing with all the other emergency supplies you’re going to have on hand.  I use Go Kit and Kit interchangeably.

6)      I’m not going to write about guns or other weaponry.  The internet can be a strange and dark place, and many of the sites with information on this topic are filled with post-apocalyptic fantasies involving all-out civilian warfare.  These tend to have names like “Real Man Survival Guide” and talk a lot about how much spare ammunition you should keep in your kit.  Apparently, allegedly “real men” will need all this ammunition to keep their women-folk safe from… whatever.  I went there so you don’t have to.  I’ll save the post-disaster community discussion for another post, but for now let’s just say that there’s not actually any evidence, based on other natural disasters in the US and around the world, that you need a gun in your Go Kit (or at all), so I’m skipping it.

Buy or Build

As stated above, most of the stuff in a Go Kit you already have around the house.  However, I am lazy and so I just purchased a kit off the internet.  [Actually it’s worse than that, I’m so lazy I asked my mom to get me one for my birthday one year.  Thanks Mom!] I’ve since slowly added to my kit and replaced the items that aren’t right for us.

When I first got my kit, I was in a stage of my life when I was starting to worry about emergency preparedness but it was too big and scary a topic to spend much time thinking about. I had thought about building my own bag, but I’d get overwhelmed really fast and give it up.  Having a pre-made kit gave me some peace of mind while getting me 95% of the way to being prepared.  If you’re just starting with earthquake prep, I highly recommend purchasing a kit, to the point where if you actually know me I’ve probably told you at least twice to just go online and buy it already.

This is what our kit looks like:

It’s a 2-person, 3-day “Elite” kit from a company called Guardian Survival Gear.  There are a lot of pockets because pockets are appealing.  You’ll also notice there are lots of straps, which, since I’m from the Pacific Northwest, make me feel like I could attach all kinds of necessary but as-of-yet unforeseen things to the outside.

Kits seem to range from $50 to about $150.  Make sure that you’ve got stuff for every member of the family, either in individual or combined kits.

If you’ve already got a kit, I’d skim this post and think about what you’ve already got.  It might be worth switching things out or high-grading some essential items.

How Many Kits to Have

You should have enough material, in easy to transport bags (backpacks or duffels) for 3 days for every member of your family.  We’ve got 1 kit that’s sufficient for 2 people for 3 days.  The backpack is such that either one of us could carry it.  We’ve also got a smaller, less extensive kit that lives in our car.  That way, if we’re separated, both of us are likely to have access to one or the other kit.

As usual, when planning for an emergency, don’t forget about your kids  (actually, probably just best to never forget that you have kids).  It would absolutely work to count kids as adults and have the adult carry/manage a joint kit.  For instance, a family of 4 with 2 parents and 2 children could just buy a couple of 2 person/3 day kits and plan on the adults carrying them.  Make sure things like gloves and face masks are fitted for kids.

However, in this era extreme divisiveness in the American population, the one thing we can all agree on is that kids’ backpacks are freaking adorable.  Less importantly, building a kit specifically for your kids, with their help, can be a fun and age-appropriate way to discuss emergency preparedness and your family plan.  Having their own kit can give kids a sense of control in an uncertain situation.  How Does She and Life As Mom (ugh, mommy blogs, I know.  But again, we’re outside of my wheelhouse here) both have great tips on building kits for kids.

Organizing Your Go Kit

Everything in our kit came in giant zip-lock baggies, and I’ve kept that method as I’ve traded stuff out. Things will stay dry even in the rain, and it makes it easy to search for items very quickly, rather than digging through a bunch of random stuff (if you read this whole post, you’ll see there’s a lot of random stuff to pack).  Also, I imagine the baggies could come in useful for other stuff.

What Goes in a Go Kit

Water.  I’m so glad you took last month’s post to heart and filled gallons and gallons of water that are now safely stored away in case of an emergency!

But that’s not actually going to help in an evacuation situation.  If we’re evacuating by private vehicle, you can probably load up those containers.  But it’s not hard to imagine a situation where you’ll have to leave your stored water behind.  For the Go Kit, I just bought water that’s rated for 5 year storage.  Water bottles don’t stack or pack very well, but can be resealed (potentially a big plus).  Our kit has juice-box style water, with 17 oz per person per day. It’s less than ideal, but remember, it’s basic survival.

I’d also recommend some kind of water purification in case additional water is available.  Again, lots of details in the last post. Boiling is not ideal because then you need to carry fuel, and you want to keep things as simple (and light weight) as possible.  We keep our Steri-Pen in the Go Kit.

Food.  Full disclosure: Although I love to eat, I don’t actually cook, plan meals, or grocery shop, so I’ve got the least advice for this section.  Our kit came with these gems:

I call this stuff People-Suet because that’s basically what it is.  Two of these bars will give you minimum caloric intake for one day (12 bars total in the kit) and require no food or additional water.  They’re small, don’t weigh much, and don’t require much. I’ve been curious to taste test, and since they’re nearing their 5-year expiration date, we opened a pack.  I was prepared to be completely repulsed, but they’re… not bad?  Sure, I’d rather eat cake, but I can now state with authority that these are way better than starving.  They’ve got kind of an oily texture and are a bit sweet, so I’d probably pair with a dry German Riesling, or a Brut Champagne if you’re feeling a bit fancier.

Now that we’ve opened these, I need to replace with equivalent calories.  There are lots of food options out there- MREs, camping food, etc.  Think carefully about what you would need to consume those things in terms of fuel, extra water, etc.  Canned food is very heavy for less nutritional payout.  The Suet is potentially the least satisfying option in terms of flavor and volume, but it’s certainly the simplest and most space/weight effective, so I’ll probably get the same or similar product as a replacement. Others have informed me that they’d never eat the People-Suet and so have MREs.  It’s your kit, so choose your own adventure.

Staying Warm and Dry.  Since this is a worst-case scenario, think about the winter in Portland.  It’s cold and wet, and you can’t guarantee what you’ll have on you when the earthquake strikes.  I’d recommend ponchos and space blankets, since they’re easy and you won’t be tempted to raid your kit for them.  Our kit also came with a very basic tent (essentially a fancy tarp), which is nice and could be useful.

There’s a lot of information on the internet about what clothing to pack in your Go Kit.  I disagree with this a bit, since I’m not worried about having clean pants for each day of my 3-day use of the kit.  I made a skivvy roll with wool socks and a thermal layer and that’s all I’m including for extra clothing.

First Aid.  It’s safe to say that everyone should have a first aid kit as part of their Go Kit.  Think about the things you’re most likely to need- bandages of all sizes, pain killers, etc. After opening things up to write this post, I decided I didn’t really like the kit that came with my bag- the hard case makes it bulky, and didn’t seem to have that much stuff in it.  I switched it out for a smaller, soft case with more in it and added some extras, especially bandages and sterile gauze.  Think about what you’re comfortable using and high-grade your kit.  Also, we’re discussing a potentially low-water situation, so that no-water hand sanitizer is a very appropriate thing to keep in your kit.

It’s also important to keep extras of any prescription medication.  Really, really important.  I sometimes have asthma problems, and I keep an extra inhaler in my Go Kit.  With all the dirt that’s going to be in the air, plus all the stress, there’s a high likelihood that I could need it and it’s the worst situation to be without it if I need it.  Do you take anti-depressants?  The post-disaster uncertainty and chaos is NOT the time to go off them. Even going off oral BC for a week or two can mess up your hormones in a way that could make it harder to function in a stressful situation.  

Remember, you’re going to keep your Go Kit somewhere you’re likely to be able to get at it, even if you can’t get into your medicine cabinet because the house has collapsed. This can get tricky for a number of reasons, mainly:

1)      Medication can have Goldilocks storage requirements (not too hot, not too cold) and a shorter shelf life than the other items in your kit.

2)      Many insurance companies are dedicated to making sure you’re not stockpiling your medication and will only pay for enough to keep you going.

If you can get an extra dose/week/month of your prescription, or if it’s something you only need once in a while, rotate your newest batch into your kit and take out the older stuff to use in your house.  You’ll probably still be going through it before any expiration date, but it’ll ensure that in case of an emergency, what’s in your kit is fresh enough.

For the second obstacle, you could call your insurance company and explain why you need an extra few weeks of your medication, and I’m sure they’ll help you out [HAHA!  That was a joke.  Good luck with that.]  In reality, it’s worth asking your doctor for free samples of medications for your emergency kit.  They may be able to give you something that’s off brand or close to your actual prescription that can do in a literal emergency, especially if you’re having trouble getting expensive medications.  I don’t know how true this is across the medical profession, but a couple of specialists I’ve seen have been really helpful for this.

Safety Equipment.  After an earthquake, there’s likely to be a lot of broken glass around. Leather gloves (or at least gardening gloves) will save you a lot of grief.  Make sure there’s a pair for everyone your kit is providing for.  The pair that came with my kit is way too big for me, so I high-graded to a nicer pair in my size.

Along the same lines as gloves, my kit came with respiratory masks and safety goggles, for obvious reasons. Neither of these items are expensive at any local hardware store so I’d throw them in.

Flashlight.  Batteries have shelf lives, so they’re not really designed to be stuck in your kit and forgotten for years.  Also, they’ve got limited life once you start using them, so you need to think about sticking replacements in your bag, too.

The obvious solution is to forget about batteries.  There are many flashlight options these days that don’t require batteries.  I personally like the hand-squeeze flashlights so much that when I found the one in my kit, I went online and bought a bunch of them to replace the regular flashlights in our house and car.  They can be ignored forever and then they’ll work forever once you need them, and they’re not expensive.

Radio.  Remember, cell phones aren’t going work and the power will be out.  A little hand-held radio, either hand-crank or with extra batteries (see above), will help you to get information about the state of things and where resources are being gathered.  

Lots of people keep walkie-talkies or simple 2-way radios in their Go Kits.  Again with the batteries, but I think this is a pretty good idea. They generally don’t have a huge geographic range, but it’ll be better than nothing when cell phones don’t work. Decide on a channel for your family to use before packing it all up.

Documentation.  Most lists recommend keeping photocopies of identification (DL or passports) for all family members.  This could a) help prove you are who you are if you lose your wallet in the earthquake; b) help to track down missing family members.  I keep these, and other documents, in a waterproof document package (expensive versions of this exist, but no shame in using a Ziploc baggie).

Copies of any essential medical information are important to keep.

Do you know the phone numbers for the people you’ll need to contact after an emergency?  Me neither, and once my cell phone is out of battery, I’m out of luck.  Write down those phone numbers and stick them in your kit.

Also recommended are copies of the deed to your house and insurance policies.  I think this may be a holdover from pre-internet days, and I haven’t bothered doing this for our kit.  However, it is important to know where to find those documents online. Since we’re talking about a regional disaster (not a planet-wide apocalypse) I’ve made sure this stuff is in a [relatively] secure place on the Cloud.

Cash.  Without power and internet, cash will be king and may not be readily accessible from your bank.  I don’t keep our cash (or personal documentation) in the kit, but in another location we’d be able to get to it. It’s not a long term investment strategy, but it could help to stash something aside.

Miscellaneous.  Here’s some random stuff it’ll be useful to have:

Pocket knife and/or multi tool.  This is pretty self-explanatory.

Cord or Rope.   Rope is always useful.  Make sure your knife is up to cutting it.

Matches.  Essential for any survivalist fantasy.

Tissues and/or Toilet Paper.  My kit came with about a billion little packets of tissues.  I’d recommend this and/or a roll of toilet paper.

All-purpose camping soap.  Good for hand washing, dish washing, showering, shampoo, etc.  It’s not the best at any one of those things but it’s non-toxic and does the job.

Miscellaneous 2: Here’s random stuff that came in my kit that I find confusing.

Sewing Kit. My kit has a mini-sewing kit.  I have no idea why.  I don’t even know how to sew on a button or hem pants, so I have no clue what the hell to do with this stuff after an earthquake.  The needle/thread aren’t even appropriate for surgical stitches, but I guess needles can be generally useful anyway.

Toiletry Kit. My kit came with a little toiletry kit, complete with toothbrush, wash cloth, hotel soap, and a razor.  I’m into the toothbrush and paste, since dental hygiene is very important to me. I even traded out the toothbrush for one I like better, because I am a diva.  I don’t see myself using the razor, ever.

Deck of Cards.  All the lists seem to recommend this.  I never play card games in my normal life, but maybe I’ll turn out to be a poker shark after the earthquake and I’ll use it to win essentials like fuel for my camp stove.

And that’s everything I know about building a Go Kit.  Remember, it doesn’t all have to be completed in one sitting!  Don’t Panic! Start with the most important things and work your way up to a complete kit you can be confident in.

[intimatevoid]

*casuallys steals yet another one from @notfinlandjosswhedon*

1. Did the last type of shoes you wore have laces? They sure did. 2. How much money did you spend yesterday? None. I’m broke. 3. Are you CPR certified? Used to be, but it expired. 4. What genre is your favorite movie? Hard to say. I don’t really watch many movies. Maybe action, or comedy if it’s genuinely funny. 5. Are you messaging anybody right now? Sorta on and off, one person.

6. Do you like the picture on your license/I.D. card? It’s not a bad photo, for once.

7. What’s your favorite thing to snack on while watching a movie? I don’t really snack while watching movies. 8. When was the last time somebody hit on you? Oof, it would have been a long time ago. Maybe when Seb and I started getting involved with each other. Not many people hit on me. 9. What was the gender of the last person you met? I met several people together, of at least three different genders. 10. Which one of your friends do you feel most comfortable around? All-time, Dusty and Chloe. IRL, Sage and Ruin. I don’t do “one”s when it comes to friends. 11. Do you own a map of the world? Only on my phone. 12. What brand is your underwear? Just cheap kmart underwear.

13. Is the light on in the room you’re in? Yeah. 14. Who did you last spoon with? That would be Ash. 15. Are you currently watching TV? I don’t own a TV. 16. Have you ever had surgery or stitches? Yeah. Most recently, I had some small benign cysts cut out from my corners of my eyes. The stitches I got from that looked fucking cool. 17. Do you own any clothing that has animal print? Nope.

18. Does your family eat dinner together? Usually Ash and I eat dinner together, but sometimes we fend for ourselves. 19. Where do you work? I don’t work right now. 20. Are you in high school? Hell no, thank the lord. 21. Do you have a TV in your room? I don’t have a TV at all. 22. Are any of your electronics charging right now? My phone.

23. What was the last video game you played? That would be Warframe.

24. What did you last put on a piece of toast? Butter, cheese, and egg.

25. What did you put in your last smoothie? I’ve never, ever made a smoothie.

26. What stores would you say you buy from the most? Probably Aldi. I don’t have a great deal of money to spend.

27. What’re some TV shows that you would like to get into? There are so many things on my netflix list.

28. Is there a movie you’d like to see? The Void. Apparently it’s a fun eldritch horror.

29. What’s the most recent email in your inbox? I keep my inbox clear. Couldn’t tell you what came in last.

30. What’s the last thing you Googled? "how to propagate mint”

31. What was the last thing you watched on Netflix or Hulu? The Good Place.

32. Do you follow any celebrities on Twitter? No, just some friends.

33. What was the last flavor of pudding or yogurt you ate? I legit have no idea. It’s been way too long for me to remember.

34. What color are your shirt and pants? My shirt is red, my trackies are grey.

35. What color were the last pair of shoes you wore? Black and green.

36. Anything exciting coming up? Sage is coming to stay at mine on Tuesday. It’s not for a happy reason, but it’ll be nice to see you.

37. What numbers does your password on here have? How about get fucked

38. This time tomorrow, what will you be doing? Probably sleeping.

39. Would you rather get money or gift cards for your birthday? Money, for sure. 40. Have you ever texted a landline phone by accident? No idea. 41. Have you ever spoken to a detective before? Yeah, briefly, after the 2011 floods. 42. What colour is your garage? I don’t have a garage. 43. Have you ever played laser tag? No, just paintball. 44. Do you pick out your outfits for the next day the night before or the AM? If I’m preparing for something the following morning, then I always lay my clothes out the night before. I’ve been doing it since school. It’s the only thing that helps manage my executive dysfunction. 45. Do you wear earrings? Even better, I wear tunnels. 46. Is your wifi protected? Yes because this is not 2007. 47. What did you have for lunch today? Noodles. 48. Does your phone have a cover on it? Just a thin plastic covers. 49. What colour was your swim suit this year? I don’t own a swim suit. I haven’t ever felt safe owning a swim suit before. Lotta personal history blocking me there. 50. How many bedrooms does your house have? 2. 51. Do you have any pictures of you and your friends in your bedroom? A couple, I think.

52. Did you and your family go on many road trips when you were younger? Not really. Doing anything as a group with a family of 13 is a difficult task, let alone moving them anywhere for a purpose, let alone moving them for its own sake.

53. Do you own any Funko Pop! figurines? Hell fucking no.

54. How many cats and dogs have you had as pets in your lifetime? My family’s owned 3 cats, 1 of which was mine. And 4 dogs, none of which were miine.

55. Can your mom and/or dad play any instruments, or how about anyone else in your family? Nobody in my family has ever been musically inclined. Clare played flute in high school and Tina played a little guitar, but I’m the only person who’s ever stuck with music. And even then, barely.

56. What’s your favorite colour and what items do you own in that colour? My favourite colour is purple and I own no purple clothes. 57. What brand or designer is your purse and/or wallet? It’s just a cheap no-name brand that I got second hand. 58. Can you crack crab legs without a tool? I’ve never eaten crab legs before. 59. How many light sources are in the room you’re in? One lightbulb, my mouse, and my computer screen.

Before (first line) and After (second line), 2 years ago; Today

60. How old is the last person you kissed? 24. 35.

61. What is the last movie you watched? Pfft, as if I remember that. I watched Arrival last night.

62. Are you happy? *noncommittal shrug* With myself, yes. With my world, no.

63. What’s one thing that you really want to do? Continue my transition. Move to a bigger house.

64. Is your cell phone right by you? It usually sat on the arm of my couch. It’s almost always within arm’s reach.

65. What are you wearing on your feet? How fucking good do you think my memory from 2 years ago is? Nothing.

66. Did you ever waste too much time during the day? I get up, I work, I go home, I sleep. No time to waste. Define “waste”. Fuck you.

67. Do you like cuddling? Yes. I need it like I need air.

68. Do you sleep with one leg out from under the covers? Depends on the weather Usually, yes

69. Where’d you get the shirt your wearing now? I don’t know what I was wearing 2 years ago. Online from some derby fan store.

70. Did you get at least eight hours of sleep last night? Usually I made sure I did, so that I wasn’t too tired for work. Yes.

71. When is your next long road trip? *shrugs* I have no road trips planned.

72. Ever kissed someone who’s the first name starts with an “A” or “C”? Yes and yes. Still yes and yes. A couple of new A’s but no new C’s.

Just regular questions again:

73. Do you have a common first name? Fairly common.

74. Do you like your middle name or your first name more? I like both equally. ‘S why I picked them. ^_^

75. What year would/did you turn 21? 2013.

76. Can you see your veins through your skin? Yeah, I’m white as they come.

77. Would you rather live in an apartment or a duplex? I’ve only ever lived in apartments. I quite like them.

78. Do you like spicy chips? Not particularly.

79. Do you wear more pink or yellow? I don’t think I own any clothing of either colour.

80. What’s the last thing you bought besides food/drink? I think it would have been some bin bags.

81. Who scheduled your last doctor visit? Me.

82. What’s the last funny movie you watched? Probably the K-On!! movie. Although that was more cute than funny.

83. Can you remember your parents’ birthdays? Pfft, I barely remember my OWN birthday.

84. What is the design on your shirt? A kitty wearing a helmet and roller skates, with the worsds “roller derby cathletes”.

85. What is the origin of your last name? I took it after someone I care dearly about.

86. What piercing do you like most on the people you are attracted to? Tongue for sure. Gods, that one just slays me.

87. What country do you live in? Australia.

88. Did/do you ride the bus to and from school? In high school, yeah.

89. What band would you stand in line for 24 hours to see? Literally none of them.

90. If you were in a band, which role would you be? Probably guitar, but I’d love to learn drums.

91. Would you ever consider prostitution as an occupation? I think I’d be pretty awful at it, since I don’t like sex.

92. If you could relive one year of your life, which would it be? None of them. That’s literally my worst nightmare.

93. What makes your heart beat faster? Attractive people getting close to me

94. Are you a one night stand or serious relationship type person? I’m not really a one night stand person at all, given my disinterest in sex. But my sense of a “seriously relationship” is highly subjective and customisable based on the person it’s with. So, the latter, but it depends.

95. What is the one thing that you need to do to die happy? For me, it’s more something I need to continue doing, and it would be

96. What’s the riskiest thing you’ve ever done? I drove home one morning after a party, and while I didn’t realise it at the time, in hindsight, I think I was still drunk from the night before. That was probably pretty risky.

97. What’s your standard excuse for not doing something? I don’t feel like it. On the other hand, because of my mental illness, there is a major difference between me not wanting to do something and me not being ABLE to do something. Don’t get them confused.

98. What is one moment you wish you could have taken a picture of? Pretty much all the good bruises I got from my time playing roller derby.

99. What place holds the most memories for you? Sadly, my old workplace. And they’re not good memories at all, not in the slightest.

100. Who was your first date? My first actual date was Ash, about two and a half years ago.

101. What’s the best trip you’ve ever been on? Couldn’t tell you. I can’t afford to go on many trips.

102. What languages do you speak? English and Japanese. 英語と日本語。

103. How many ex’s do you have? Anywhere between 2 and 4, depending on what you call “ex”.

104. Do you swear? How much? I swear a great fucking deal.

105. Have you ever had food poisoning? I think I’ve had it once. Not sure if it was actual real food poisoning, but it was still pretty fucking bad.

106. Do you like snakes? I love them with all my heart.

107. Do you gossip? Yeah, though I try to make a point of only gossiping about things which won’t harm people.

108. Do you like to party? With the right people? Hell yes.

[sanerontheinside]

how not to spend a weekend

aka: what’s so bad about a ‘manageable’ chronic disease?

relying on something outside yourself, and not being able to do fuckall if it’s lost, stolen, or broken. it’s bad enough when you fuck up, and you occasionally do - it’s unavoidable. but when it’s… not something you could prevent?

Adventures of Saner:

So this stars simple enough.

There are two entrances into my complex. One is a kinda sharpish turn, the other is pretty smooth. In both cases, you’re turning through opposing traffic and hoping you get a clear way. Sometimes it can be a bit quick.

So, yours truly, on the way home I nearly get cut off by a mofo. I hit the brakes not too hard, hear stuff sliding around in the seat behind me. ‘k, I decide, we’re checking under the seat for things when I get home.

I park, I get my stuff out the back where it’s been scattered. Most of everything is still on the seat.

Except?

Of course. The med kit. With the controller to my insulin pump. Which, btw, has a built-in blood sugar meter. So, to recap: now my insulin pump is delivering an hourly rate of insulin, and I have a CGM (constant glucose monitoring system) that estimates my blood sugar every five minutes, but needs to be recalibrated with real-life data because after 6-12 hours of running on its own it can be as many as 20 mg/dL off the mark. (Let me tell you, the difference between 95 and 75 mg/dL is not a joke.)

Also, because our bodies have their own rhythms and ideas, I need to cut the insulin hourly rate around 50% at night. This is a fairly recent pattern for me, I never got around to programming it into the pump controls because - well, I can just do it manually before falling asleep.

Now, mind you, if you’re doing shit right you have a backup of the old two insulin system: long term insulin for whatever your body breaks down in glycogen over the course of the day, and short term, fast-acting insulin for the food you consume. But it can be complicated switching back. (Especially since my longterm form turned out to be expired. Well, shit.)

Hmmm. Ok. Not panicking yet. Let’s try under the seats.

Nope.

Fine. Well: logically, I know I had it in my hand when I left class this morning, and I know I sat down for all of about a minute and rearranged everything I was holding - a notebook, a purse, the kit, and a pen - before the person I was waiting for got out herself.

I don’t remember if I had it in the car. So I, logically, assumed I’d left it on the bench.

Here comes the fun part. I drive back to the school. I check the bench. The library, the public safety building, the admissions office (logical places to bring lost items to). And then, after the lovely ladies in the office sent out emails and posted to the Facebook group, I left and checked the library again.

The ladies upstairs were awesome and managed my runaway detail-oriented brain and actually suggested I call the company for a replacement. Ok, good, I’ll do that when I get home.

I check the seats again, this time with a flashlight. Although a flashlight in broad daylight is - eh, not so helpful. But - still no sign.

So I head home, where I call the company. Now here’s the fun bit, warranty does not cover lost or stolen items. Haaaahahaa. $500, please and thank you, and $20 for overnight shipping.

But overnight, I think. Only one night of sitting here, wide awake, watching my blood sugar tank, with the option of pulling out the fucking pump and just dealing until the delivery on Saturday. Time. Safety net. Good.

Drink copious amounts of coffee, and eat some food - without giving insulin for it, because we can’t, not without the controller. Nothing happens for a few hours. I dig out my spare blood sugar meter, test it, find that it works.

I then chill, chat with fumbles and meggory and baskets and we reschedule the podcast because fumbles’ sister unexpectedly had a party and there was too much background noise.

Then my parents nudge me into calling the company to see if they’ve mailed the replacement, which is where it turns out I won’t have it til Monday.

Awkward.

Worse: I try to check my blood after the call because it’s dropping (I haven’t had dinner yet, and the mere fact that I have to live, somehow, like this, for a fucking weekend, is leaving me shaking). I want to know just how far it’s dropping.

Just then, naturally, the battery in my spare meter runs out.

If nothing else could break a poor girl, that was fucking just it. Stick a fucking fork in me, I was so fucking done.

So I posted in 2 Facebook groups, basically - if someone found it and picked it up, I’ve already said before that this is time-sensitive, so let me explain - I need to cut my dose in half for six hours starting midnight, otherwise blood sugar drops like a fucking stone. If you’ve found it and thought it could wait for Monday, I say, well, it can’t. But I’m not mad because the people I reordered from did that anyway and they should know better. So, if you’ve found it, kindly pls let me know. Basically, help.

I got a frankly overwhelming response. Someone asked the janitorial staff, someone checked the library. Someone even came through with a spare meter, bless his soul, I interrupted a date actually.

Anyway twenty minutes to midnight my parents show up to take me home and watch me for the night, insisting that I should sleep. Since the package isn’t coming until Monday, I figure, sure, why not.

I unlock the car, dad checks it out, finds nothing.

Then mom does a round just as we’re about to leave. She comes back and gets in with us with the case in hand. Ok, she says, let’s go home.

Turns out physics buggered off for a day. Instead of ending up under the seat, or between the seat and the door, this case - black, the size of an iphone 6+ probably, skitters around the side of the car, along the wall, into the fucking car door space which is black and if I were even looking I wouldn’t see it there.

I invite you to imagine watching the entire 2*16 election crammed into 12 hours. That’s how bad it fucking felt.

This happened last Friday, the day after I wrote the little short piece about breaking the Empire, for a type1diabetic OC. Listen, do you know how much of a slap in the face that was? Sure, don’t associate stray happenings and coincidences blah blah -

- no, listen. Half the time it feels like, because I can manage this as well as I do, it’s not a disease. It’s not a trial. It’s a minor part of my life that’s not much worth note. One night I got so annoyed with the itchiness at the insulin infusion sites - afraid of a new allergy, actually, to the insulin preservatives or maybe the pump adhesive - that I poured out that frustration and it suddenly because part of a story I’ve been working on.

And suddenly it was important, because how do people live like this, how do I live like this? Wouldn’t you want to see that in a book, on a page, wouldn’t you want to see even this nebulous sort of half-suffering, if you lived with it, too? That dependence on something external holding you hostage? The horror of imagining it taken away from you by someone who decided they have the power - or just didn’t care?

I don’t know if what happened the next day was a cosmic joke at me for opening my mouth to complain (cultural conditioning, pardon me) or a reminder that, yes, this is important. I suppose it’s not right to reveal the thought processes behind what you’ve written, because that detracts from it a bit. But all the people I tagged on that original post when I first wrote it - they didn’t get notifications for it. Not for hours at least, and even then I think I fiddled with those tags so much I might have found four different ways to fix this.

And you’ll forgive me if every time some part of this fucking universe shuts me up and steals my voice I fall into silence. Cultural conditioning is not the only thing here. The same way my disease is manageable, the gaslighting in my family is infrequent and they’re not emotionally abusive as a rule. I can’t complain about them. But that they have done it - that’s still true.

Fuck all that shit. I wanted to scream. I still want to scream, and cry. I’m writing Phainé as a type1 diabetic, as decided.

[haise-ghoul]

Post 10 facts about yourself and pass it on to 10 faves 💖✨

omg thank you!!!!!

If I drink an energy drink past like 11am, then there’s a guarantee that I’m gonna be awake without being sleepy until at least 6 or 7am

I’m friendly 95% of the time, the 5% is if someone has bad intentions for me, or my friend

I have never been in a fight despite saying that I would deck some people in the face

My degree goal currently is a Bachelor’s of Arts in Biological Science (Idk what I’d do with it, but I really enjoy bio science)

I have so many social media accounts, idk what to do with them all (I have: Tumblr (ofc), Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, DeviantArt, Skype, Quotev, and others, but I don’t use them enough so I don’t remember them)

I’ve probably mentioned this a bunch of times, but I’ve never been on a date, never had a first kiss, never had a first boyfriend, or anything romantic like that

My motto is: “Be nice, but don’t let people treat you like shit”

I’m constantly on edge and run like fucking hell to my room once I turn off the lights. Like I have a foot past my door frame before I turn off the stairway lights (luckily I can reach the power switch from my door....)

I didn’t like the first job I had. Mostly because they didn’t teach me how to use the register for the longest fucking time and when one of my older co-workers asked me if I could hop on a register (since we were really busy), I had to tell him “no cause no one taught me” Which then led him to have to teach me for like half an hour before leaving me alone (He was pretty pissed no one taught me), with me still confused as all hell cause he had to get on his own register, and I’m the kind of person that asks questions a lot cause I want to do things right, and no one had time to help me so I struggled a lot. The rest of the time I was just putting stuff back up on the shelf since no one else wanted to do it. Also helping people and answering the phone. Which answering the phone led to me asking more questions which everyone ignored me or I couldn’t look something up :) Also I hate talking on the phone with everyone other than my parents and sister. I worked there for 2.5 months (it was seasonal hiring) before being let off since seasonal time expired. (I’m not gonna name the place since it’s kinda a biggish company and I’m afraid) My coworkers there were pretty chill when we weren’t busy and one of them said I was their favorite seasonal worker.

I lowkey but also highkey want to be famous in some way so I can spoil my friends and be a positive role model to a lot of people

[andrewdburton]

The best cash back credit cards of 2019

You know what’s awesome?

Free money.

With a cash back card, you get free money. That’s a hard deal to beat.

Take your current spending and pretend someone cut you a check for 1-5% of that spending. You don’t have to lift a finger or do anything, the check magically shows up in your account automatically. That’s what it’s like having a cash back card.

There’s really no catch either.

As long as you already pay your credit cards off every month, there’s no downside. To be honest, you shouldn’t be using credit cards if you don’t pay off your balance each month anyway. Every credit card is a terrible deal if you don’t.

For those of you that do pay off your cards every month, a cash back credit card is one of the best deals in personal finance.

Before breaking down the best cash back cards, let’s make sure a cash back card is the right type of credit card for you.

There are two types of rewards credit cards: travel cards and cash back cards.

We go into a lot of detail on how they differ from each other in our best rewards credit cards guide. The quick summary:

Get a travel credit card if you want to maximize the value of your rewards and perks

Get a cash back card if you want to maximize simplicity or your don’t travel

So what are the best cash back cards?

The best cash back cards

After scouring all the cash back offers out there, we’ve found these cards to be the best options:

Citi Double Cash

Chase Freedom

Chase Freedom Unlimited

Blue Cash Preferred Amex

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards

Discover it Cash Back

Capital One SavorOne

How we evaluate cash back cards

For a card to make it on our list of best cards, we evaluated it using this criteria.

Bonus value

We don’t put much weight on the signup bonus. In fact, we ignore them for the most part.

Yes, the bonuses are great. Always take advantage of them.

But I never pick my credit cards based on the bonus itself. Since I never chase credit card promos or point hack by rotating credit cards quickly, I stick with the same set of cards for years. The rewards program, perks, and fees will all outlast the bonus. In the end, the bonus is a minor benefit.

Pick the card you want without worrying about the signup bonus.

Cash back system

This is the most important part of your cash back card. Sweat the details here.

Lots of cash back cards advertise amazing cash back rewards (get 5% cash back!) and then severely limit it with spend limits, rotating categories, or other nonsense.

As a general rule, the simpler the cash back program, the better. I’d much rather get 80% of the potential cash back if it means I never have to think about anything.

That said, if you’re trying to push your cash back rewards to the limit and are willing to take on the extra complexity, playing these games is the key to maximizing your rewards. It’s not how I personally want to spend my time, but if you do, all the power to you.

Fees

Keep a close eye on foreign transaction fees with cash back cards.

The best travel credit cards usually don’t have foreign transaction fees. That makes since they target travelers.

But cash back cards aren’t as generous. Many of them do have foreign transaction fees. This is a 1-3% fee on top of every transaction from a foreign bank. If you travel once per year, you could easily negate all your cash back rewards by paying hefty foreign transaction fees on your whole trip.

Otherwise, cash back cards don’t have many fees, and almost all of them don’t have an annual fee.

As long as you’re paying your card off every month (which you absolutely should be doing), you’ll be able to get your cash back rewards without ever having to pay a single fee.

Simplicity

As you pick your cards, keep an eye on how many banks you’re using.

Managing 2-3 logins across different banks isn’t a big deal but having a dozen or more logins starts to be a real headache. With a spouse and family, it’s surprisingly easy for bank accounts to get out of hand.

Whenever you’re trying to decide between two cards with similar offers, picking the option with a bank that you already use will help keep things simple. Not everything is about optimizing for every last dollar, simplicity and fewer headaches go a long way.

Bank reputation

At I Will Teach You To Be Rich, we have zero tolerance for banks that gouge customers on fees or treat customers poorly. Having a reliable bank is too important to put up with horrible treatment.

Unfortunately, Wells Fargo and Bank of America both have long histories of doing terrible things to their customers. We recommend avoiding them entirely. In fact, we didn’t even consider any cash back cards from either bank.

The best cash back credit cards

Here are all the cash back cards that you should consider.

Citi Double Cash

Highest cash back rewards that are super simple

Earn 2% cash back on purchases: 1% when you buy and 1% as you make payments for those purchases

To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 15.74%-25.74% based on your creditworthiness

Balance transfers do not earn cash back

Click ‘Apply Now’ to see the applicable balance transfer fee and how making a balance transfer impacts interest on purchases

No categories to track, no caps on cash back, no annual fee

This is our favorite overall cash back card.

You get 2% cash back on everything, which is a very good rewards rate. There aren’t any rotating categories or spend limits either. It’s truly as simple as it gets.

The only downside is the 3% foreign transaction fee. So definitely avoid using this card when traveling internationally.

Chase Freedom

The best card for those willing to use rotating categories 

Earn a $150 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening

Earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate. Enjoy new 5% categories each quarter!

Unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases — it’s automatic

0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 17.24-25.99%

3% intro balance transfer fee when you transfer a balance during the first 60 days your account is open, with a minimum of $5

No annual fee

Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open. And there is no minimum to redeem for cash back

Free credit score, updated weekly with Credit Journey℠

The 5% cash back is impressive. Each quarter, you’ll have a new spending category that gets the 5% cash back up to a certain limit. One quarter might be groceries, the next might be Amazon.com and Walmart.com. Everything else gets 1% cash back.

I prefer to avoid rotating categories, I don’t want to spend the mental energy keeping track of this stuff.

But if you were trying to maximize the rewards from your cash back cards, having one rotating category card could be worth it. You’d only have one set of rotating rewards to worry about. That would give you a few simple rules for spending:

Check the new category once per quarter to see what gets the 5% bonus

Use the Chase Freedom card for that category

Use your default cash back card for all other spending

As long as you remember to check the rewards category each quarter, this is still a simple system to follow. I’m not going to do it, but I totally understand if you want to.

The 5% cash back does have a quarterly spending limit, usually about $1,500. So the cash back will be limited to about $75 per quarter.

This is very similar to the Discover it card, which we’ve included below. It’s basically the same offer. We recommend the Chase Freedom instead because it’s a Visa, which means it’s accepted at a lot more businesses than a Discover card.

Only consider this card if you’re willing to deal with the rotating categories.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

A great card for the first year, then an average card after that

New Offer! Double Cash Back: Earn 3% cash back on all purchases in your first year up to $20,000 spent. After that earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases

0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 17.24-25.99%. Balance transfer fee is 3% of the amount transferred, $5 minimum

No minimum to redeem for cash back

Cash back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open

Free credit score, updated weekly with Credit Journey℠

No annual fee

3% cash back up to $20,000 in card spending for the first year, then 1.5% after that.

No annual fee and no other complexities to worry about either.

This would be an amazing card if the 3% cash back on the first $20,000 in spending happened every year. But it doesn’t, you only get 3% during the first year.

It’s best to treat the 3% like a signup bonus and consider this card like a normal 1.5% cash back card. 1.5% is nice, but other cards have higher rates.

I’d look at other cards.

Blue Cash Preferred Amex

An excellent secondary card to maximize specific spending categories

Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $1,000 in purchases on your new card within the first 3 months

NEW 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions

NEW 3% cash back on transit including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more

6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%) 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations. 1% cash back on other purchases

You spoke, we listened. Over 1.6 million more places in the U.S. started accepting American Express® Cards in 2018

Low intro APR: 0% for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable rate, currently 15.24% to 26.24%

$95 annual fee

Terms apply

If I had two cash back cards, this would be one of them.

I’d use my Blue Cash Preferred Amex on all my transit, supermarket, gas station, and streaming subscriptions. That would allow me to get 3-6% cash back on all that spending. For everything else, I’d use a card like the Citi Double Cash which would then give me 2% cash back on everything else.

That’s a good way to maximize cash back rewards and still have a very simple set of credit cards.

The annual fee makes this card a bit more complicated though. Not only do we need to earn enough cash back to cover the fee, we also need to earn enough cash back to outweigh the standard 1-2% cash back rewards from any other card.

We could build a super fancy spreadsheet with rewards projections based on your annual budgets. Let’s skip all that. There’s a simple way to find out if Blue Cash Preferred Amex is worth it for you.

I’m going to assume that you spend about:

$50/month in streaming subscriptions. That’s $36/year cash back.

$100/month in taxis and other transit. That’s $36/year cash back.

$100/month in gas. That’s $36/year cash back.

Combined, you’ll get $108/year cash back which covers the annual fee.

Now, if you max out the 6% supermarket category with $6,000 in annual spending, you’ll get another $360 in cash back. That easily covers the opportunity cost of sticking with a straight 2% cash back card.

In other words, if you spend over $100/week at the grocery store, it’s worth getting this card as your second cash back card. You’ll max out the grocery benefit if you average $115/week in spending.

And if you spend more than $100/month in taxis or gas, this card gets even more valuable. 

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards

The best cash back card for travelers

One-time $150 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening

Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day

No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus, cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn

0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that; 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months

Pay no annual fee or foreign transaction fees

See if you qualify for a better offer with Capital One

One thing to watch for on cash back cards is the foreign transaction fees. A lot of them have it, which adds 1-3% to any foreign transaction. If you travel internationally at all, you’ll want a card that doesn’t have it.

If you want to use a cash back card while traveling, the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards is a great option. You get all the benefits of having a super simple cash back rewards program, an easy 1.5% cash back on everything, and no foreign transaction fees to worry about.

This also makes an excellent second card when paired with the Citi Double Cash card. Use the Citi Double Cash when in the U.S. to get 2% cash back on everything. Then use the Capital One Quicksilver when traveling to get 1.5% cash back and avoid foreign transaction fees.

Discover it Cash Back

Only a good option if you want rotating categories and a Discover card

INTRO OFFER: Discover will match ALL the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year, automatically. There’s no signing up. And no limit to how much is matched

Earn 5% cash back at different places each quarter like gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, Amazon.com and more, up to the quarterly maximum, each time you activate

Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases — automatically

Redeem cash back in any amount, any time. Rewards never expire

Use your rewards at Amazon.com checkout

Get an alert if we find your Social Security number on any of thousands of Dark Web sites. Activate for free

No annual fee

Full disclosure: I’m not a huge fan of Discover cards.

They get rejected at stores and restaurants all the time. I hate dealing with that hassle.

Not only is it a Discover card, it also has rotating categories. Like other rotating cash back cards, certain spending categories get 5% cash back while everything else gets 1%. And the categories rotate each quarter.

If you’re a big fan of Discover and want a card with rotating categories, this could be a good option.

But I wouldn’t choose this card myself. Dealing with Discover and the extra headaches or rotating categories is too much hassle for me. I’d choose any of the other cards on this list.

Capital One SavorOne

The best cash back card for dining and entertainment purchases

Earn a one-time $150 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening

Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% at grocery stores and 1% on all other purchases

No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn

0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that; 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months

No foreign transaction fee

No annual fee

With the 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, this card makes a great option as a secondary card to maximize your returns in that category.

If you eat out a lot or attend a lot of events, it’s definitely worth considering this card.

It also makes a great backup card for when you’re traveling, since it doesn’t have any foreign transaction fees.

How to use multiple cash back cards to maximize your rewards

Honestly, you can get 80% of the potential cash back value from getting a single cash back card and using that card for everything.

To maximize simplicity, sticking to a single card really is a great move.

But what if you really want to get a couple of cards to maximize your cash back benefits? What does that system look like?

I’m going to walk you through a three-step system on how to build your cash back machine using multiple cards.

You will have to pay attention to a few spending categories and the rules will be a bit more complicated. But if you’re looking to maximize your cash back rewards, this is the simplest way to do it.

Step 1: Pick your default cash back card

Even if you plan on having multiple cards from the get-go, you want to start with your “default” card. This is the cash back card you’ll use for all purchases that don’t fall into any of the spending categories that we’re using other cards for.

For most folks, we highly recommend the Citi Double Cash card as your default cash back card.

The only downside is that the Citi Double Cash does have a 3% foreign transaction fee, which is pretty high.

If you travel regularly and don’t want a travel rewards card, consider using the Capital One Quicksilver as your default card. There’s no foreign transaction fee, and you’ll get 1.5% cash back on everything. It’s not quite as high as the 2% from the Citi Double Cash, but avoiding foreign transaction fees will easily cover the gap.

Step 2: Pick one maximization card

Now we get to have some fun.

It’s time to pick your maximization card. You’ll use this card only when you make purchases that take advantage of the increased cash back rewards in the categories for that card. For everything else, you’ll use your default card that you already picked during step one.

Depending on your personal spending, you have a few options.

Option 1: Blue Cash Preferred Amex for groceries and gas

If you spend $100/week on groceries, you’ll easily max out the benefits of this card. Start using it for your groceries, streaming, transit, and gas. Even with the annual fee, it’s a fantastic card for anyone that spends regularly in these categories.

Option 2: Capital One SavorOne for dining and entertainment

You’ll get 3% cash back on all dining and entertainment. I tend to eat out a lot, so this is a great fit for me. It also has a 2% cash back on groceries, but that doesn’t really matter if you get the Citi Double Cash as your default. You’ll already be getting 2% on every purchase.

Option 3: Chase Freedom for maxing returns with rotating categories

If you really want to maximize your cash back, you’ll need to get a card with rotating categories. This gets you a 5% cash back, but you have to deal with the headaches of remembering which categories are active. I would never do this myself, it’s too much trouble. But if you don’t mind remembering which categories have the 5% bonus, you’ll be able to maximize your cash back. 

Also remember to watch the foreign transaction fees on cash back cards

When getting a second cash back card, try to get one card without foreign transaction fees. Then you’ll be covered whenever you travel internationally. The Capital SavorOne is a great option for this. You can use it for the 3% cash back on dining and entertainment when stateside, then use it for everything to get 1% cash back and avoid foreign transaction fees when traveling.

Step 3: Optional second maximization card

If you’re looking at the list of maximization cards above and having trouble picking between two of them because they both fit your spending really well, consider grabbing them both.

This would give you a total of three cash back cards. One is your default, the other two are maximization cards.

For example, let’s say that I spend hundreds of dollars every month on groceries, gas, dining, and entertainment. There would be a strong case for me getting three cash back cards:

Citi Double Cash as my default card

Blue Cash Amex for my groceries and gas

Capital One SavorOne for dining and entertainment

This setup would allow me to maximize my cash back across several spending categories. I’d have 2% cash back as my default and 3-6% across a few categories. That’s a really nice return with a cash back machine that’s still simple enough to remember.

Should you ever consider more than three cash back cards?

I strongly advise against it.

You could get more than three and it won’t hurt you. 

But I consider it completely unnecessary.

After three cards, any additional cards will have diminishing returns. They become more trouble than they’re worth.

Definitely get a default cash back card, get a second if you want to bump your returns, consider a third if your personal spending fits multiple cards, and don’t go past that.

The best cash back credit cards of 2019 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/best-cash-back-credit-cards/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[kennethherrerablog]

The best cash back credit cards of 2019

You know what’s awesome?

Free money.

With a cash back card, you get free money. That’s a hard deal to beat.

Take your current spending and pretend someone cut you a check for 1-5% of that spending. You don’t have to lift a finger or do anything, the check magically shows up in your account automatically. That’s what it’s like having a cash back card.

There’s really no catch either.

As long as you already pay your credit cards off every month, there’s no downside. To be honest, you shouldn’t be using credit cards if you don’t pay off your balance each month anyway. Every credit card is a terrible deal if you don’t.

For those of you that do pay off your cards every month, a cash back credit card is one of the best deals in personal finance.

Before breaking down the best cash back cards, let’s make sure a cash back card is the right type of credit card for you.

There are two types of rewards credit cards: travel cards and cash back cards.

We go into a lot of detail on how they differ from each other in our best rewards credit cards guide. The quick summary:

Get a travel credit card if you want to maximize the value of your rewards and perks

Get a cash back card if you want to maximize simplicity or your don’t travel

So what are the best cash back cards?

The best cash back cards

After scouring all the cash back offers out there, we’ve found these cards to be the best options:

Citi Double Cash

Chase Freedom

Chase Freedom Unlimited

Blue Cash Preferred Amex

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards

Discover it Cash Back

Capital One SavorOne

How we evaluate cash back cards

For a card to make it on our list of best cards, we evaluated it using this criteria.

Bonus value

We don’t put much weight on the signup bonus. In fact, we ignore them for the most part.

Yes, the bonuses are great. Always take advantage of them.

But I never pick my credit cards based on the bonus itself. Since I never chase credit card promos or point hack by rotating credit cards quickly, I stick with the same set of cards for years. The rewards program, perks, and fees will all outlast the bonus. In the end, the bonus is a minor benefit.

Pick the card you want without worrying about the signup bonus.

Cash back system

This is the most important part of your cash back card. Sweat the details here.

Lots of cash back cards advertise amazing cash back rewards (get 5% cash back!) and then severely limit it with spend limits, rotating categories, or other nonsense.

As a general rule, the simpler the cash back program, the better. I’d much rather get 80% of the potential cash back if it means I never have to think about anything.

That said, if you’re trying to push your cash back rewards to the limit and are willing to take on the extra complexity, playing these games is the key to maximizing your rewards. It’s not how I personally want to spend my time, but if you do, all the power to you.

Fees

Keep a close eye on foreign transaction fees with cash back cards.

The best travel credit cards usually don’t have foreign transaction fees. That makes since they target travelers.

But cash back cards aren’t as generous. Many of them do have foreign transaction fees. This is a 1-3% fee on top of every transaction from a foreign bank. If you travel once per year, you could easily negate all your cash back rewards by paying hefty foreign transaction fees on your whole trip.

Otherwise, cash back cards don’t have many fees, and almost all of them don’t have an annual fee.

As long as you’re paying your card off every month (which you absolutely should be doing), you’ll be able to get your cash back rewards without ever having to pay a single fee.

Simplicity

As you pick your cards, keep an eye on how many banks you’re using.

Managing 2-3 logins across different banks isn’t a big deal but having a dozen or more logins starts to be a real headache. With a spouse and family, it’s surprisingly easy for bank accounts to get out of hand.

Whenever you’re trying to decide between two cards with similar offers, picking the option with a bank that you already use will help keep things simple. Not everything is about optimizing for every last dollar, simplicity and fewer headaches go a long way.

Bank reputation

At I Will Teach You To Be Rich, we have zero tolerance for banks that gouge customers on fees or treat customers poorly. Having a reliable bank is too important to put up with horrible treatment.

Unfortunately, Wells Fargo and Bank of America both have long histories of doing terrible things to their customers. We recommend avoiding them entirely. In fact, we didn’t even consider any cash back cards from either bank.

The best cash back credit cards

Here are all the cash back cards that you should consider.

Citi Double Cash

Highest cash back rewards that are super simple

Earn 2% cash back on purchases: 1% when you buy and 1% as you make payments for those purchases

To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 15.74%-25.74% based on your creditworthiness

Balance transfers do not earn cash back

Click ‘Apply Now’ to see the applicable balance transfer fee and how making a balance transfer impacts interest on purchases

No categories to track, no caps on cash back, no annual fee

This is our favorite overall cash back card.

You get 2% cash back on everything, which is a very good rewards rate. There aren’t any rotating categories or spend limits either. It’s truly as simple as it gets.

The only downside is the 3% foreign transaction fee. So definitely avoid using this card when traveling internationally.

Chase Freedom

The best card for those willing to use rotating categories 

Earn a $150 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening

Earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate. Enjoy new 5% categories each quarter!

Unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases — it’s automatic

0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 17.24-25.99%

3% intro balance transfer fee when you transfer a balance during the first 60 days your account is open, with a minimum of $5

No annual fee

Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open. And there is no minimum to redeem for cash back

Free credit score, updated weekly with Credit Journey℠

The 5% cash back is impressive. Each quarter, you’ll have a new spending category that gets the 5% cash back up to a certain limit. One quarter might be groceries, the next might be Amazon.com and Walmart.com. Everything else gets 1% cash back.

I prefer to avoid rotating categories, I don’t want to spend the mental energy keeping track of this stuff.

But if you were trying to maximize the rewards from your cash back cards, having one rotating category card could be worth it. You’d only have one set of rotating rewards to worry about. That would give you a few simple rules for spending:

Check the new category once per quarter to see what gets the 5% bonus

Use the Chase Freedom card for that category

Use your default cash back card for all other spending

As long as you remember to check the rewards category each quarter, this is still a simple system to follow. I’m not going to do it, but I totally understand if you want to.

The 5% cash back does have a quarterly spending limit, usually about $1,500. So the cash back will be limited to about $75 per quarter.

This is very similar to the Discover it card, which we’ve included below. It’s basically the same offer. We recommend the Chase Freedom instead because it’s a Visa, which means it’s accepted at a lot more businesses than a Discover card.

Only consider this card if you’re willing to deal with the rotating categories.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

A great card for the first year, then an average card after that

New Offer! Double Cash Back: Earn 3% cash back on all purchases in your first year up to $20,000 spent. After that earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases

0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 17.24-25.99%. Balance transfer fee is 3% of the amount transferred, $5 minimum

No minimum to redeem for cash back

Cash back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open

Free credit score, updated weekly with Credit Journey℠

No annual fee

3% cash back up to $20,000 in card spending for the first year, then 1.5% after that.

No annual fee and no other complexities to worry about either.

This would be an amazing card if the 3% cash back on the first $20,000 in spending happened every year. But it doesn’t, you only get 3% during the first year.

It’s best to treat the 3% like a signup bonus and consider this card like a normal 1.5% cash back card. 1.5% is nice, but other cards have higher rates.

I’d look at other cards.

Blue Cash Preferred Amex

An excellent secondary card to maximize specific spending categories

Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $1,000 in purchases on your new card within the first 3 months

NEW 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions

NEW 3% cash back on transit including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more

6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%) 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations. 1% cash back on other purchases

You spoke, we listened. Over 1.6 million more places in the U.S. started accepting American Express® Cards in 2018

Low intro APR: 0% for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable rate, currently 15.24% to 26.24%

$95 annual fee

Terms apply

If I had two cash back cards, this would be one of them.

I’d use my Blue Cash Preferred Amex on all my transit, supermarket, gas station, and streaming subscriptions. That would allow me to get 3-6% cash back on all that spending. For everything else, I’d use a card like the Citi Double Cash which would then give me 2% cash back on everything else.

That’s a good way to maximize cash back rewards and still have a very simple set of credit cards.

The annual fee makes this card a bit more complicated though. Not only do we need to earn enough cash back to cover the fee, we also need to earn enough cash back to outweigh the standard 1-2% cash back rewards from any other card.

We could build a super fancy spreadsheet with rewards projections based on your annual budgets. Let’s skip all that. There’s a simple way to find out if Blue Cash Preferred Amex is worth it for you.

I’m going to assume that you spend about:

$50/month in streaming subscriptions. That’s $36/year cash back.

$100/month in taxis and other transit. That’s $36/year cash back.

$100/month in gas. That’s $36/year cash back.

Combined, you’ll get $108/year cash back which covers the annual fee.

Now, if you max out the 6% supermarket category with $6,000 in annual spending, you’ll get another $360 in cash back. That easily covers the opportunity cost of sticking with a straight 2% cash back card.

In other words, if you spend over $100/week at the grocery store, it’s worth getting this card as your second cash back card. You’ll max out the grocery benefit if you average $115/week in spending.

And if you spend more than $100/month in taxis or gas, this card gets even more valuable. 

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards

The best cash back card for travelers

One-time $150 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening

Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day

No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus, cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn

0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that; 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months

Pay no annual fee or foreign transaction fees

See if you qualify for a better offer with Capital One

One thing to watch for on cash back cards is the foreign transaction fees. A lot of them have it, which adds 1-3% to any foreign transaction. If you travel internationally at all, you’ll want a card that doesn’t have it.

If you want to use a cash back card while traveling, the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards is a great option. You get all the benefits of having a super simple cash back rewards program, an easy 1.5% cash back on everything, and no foreign transaction fees to worry about.

This also makes an excellent second card when paired with the Citi Double Cash card. Use the Citi Double Cash when in the U.S. to get 2% cash back on everything. Then use the Capital One Quicksilver when traveling to get 1.5% cash back and avoid foreign transaction fees.

Discover it Cash Back

Only a good option if you want rotating categories and a Discover card

INTRO OFFER: Discover will match ALL the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year, automatically. There’s no signing up. And no limit to how much is matched

Earn 5% cash back at different places each quarter like gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, Amazon.com and more, up to the quarterly maximum, each time you activate

Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases — automatically

Redeem cash back in any amount, any time. Rewards never expire

Use your rewards at Amazon.com checkout

Get an alert if we find your Social Security number on any of thousands of Dark Web sites. Activate for free

No annual fee

Full disclosure: I’m not a huge fan of Discover cards.

They get rejected at stores and restaurants all the time. I hate dealing with that hassle.

Not only is it a Discover card, it also has rotating categories. Like other rotating cash back cards, certain spending categories get 5% cash back while everything else gets 1%. And the categories rotate each quarter.

If you’re a big fan of Discover and want a card with rotating categories, this could be a good option.

But I wouldn’t choose this card myself. Dealing with Discover and the extra headaches or rotating categories is too much hassle for me. I’d choose any of the other cards on this list.

Capital One SavorOne

The best cash back card for dining and entertainment purchases

Earn a one-time $150 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening

Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% at grocery stores and 1% on all other purchases

No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn

0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that; 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months

No foreign transaction fee

No annual fee

With the 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, this card makes a great option as a secondary card to maximize your returns in that category.

If you eat out a lot or attend a lot of events, it’s definitely worth considering this card.

It also makes a great backup card for when you’re traveling, since it doesn’t have any foreign transaction fees.

How to use multiple cash back cards to maximize your rewards

Honestly, you can get 80% of the potential cash back value from getting a single cash back card and using that card for everything.

To maximize simplicity, sticking to a single card really is a great move.

But what if you really want to get a couple of cards to maximize your cash back benefits? What does that system look like?

I’m going to walk you through a three-step system on how to build your cash back machine using multiple cards.

You will have to pay attention to a few spending categories and the rules will be a bit more complicated. But if you’re looking to maximize your cash back rewards, this is the simplest way to do it.

Step 1: Pick your default cash back card

Even if you plan on having multiple cards from the get-go, you want to start with your “default” card. This is the cash back card you’ll use for all purchases that don’t fall into any of the spending categories that we’re using other cards for.

For most folks, we highly recommend the Citi Double Cash card as your default cash back card.

The only downside is that the Citi Double Cash does have a 3% foreign transaction fee, which is pretty high.

If you travel regularly and don’t want a travel rewards card, consider using the Capital One Quicksilver as your default card. There’s no foreign transaction fee, and you’ll get 1.5% cash back on everything. It’s not quite as high as the 2% from the Citi Double Cash, but avoiding foreign transaction fees will easily cover the gap.

Step 2: Pick one maximization card

Now we get to have some fun.

It’s time to pick your maximization card. You’ll use this card only when you make purchases that take advantage of the increased cash back rewards in the categories for that card. For everything else, you’ll use your default card that you already picked during step one.

Depending on your personal spending, you have a few options.

Option 1: Blue Cash Preferred Amex for groceries and gas

If you spend $100/week on groceries, you’ll easily max out the benefits of this card. Start using it for your groceries, streaming, transit, and gas. Even with the annual fee, it’s a fantastic card for anyone that spends regularly in these categories.

Option 2: Capital One SavorOne for dining and entertainment

You’ll get 3% cash back on all dining and entertainment. I tend to eat out a lot, so this is a great fit for me. It also has a 2% cash back on groceries, but that doesn’t really matter if you get the Citi Double Cash as your default. You’ll already be getting 2% on every purchase.

Option 3: Chase Freedom for maxing returns with rotating categories

If you really want to maximize your cash back, you’ll need to get a card with rotating categories. This gets you a 5% cash back, but you have to deal with the headaches of remembering which categories are active. I would never do this myself, it’s too much trouble. But if you don’t mind remembering which categories have the 5% bonus, you’ll be able to maximize your cash back. 

Also remember to watch the foreign transaction fees on cash back cards

When getting a second cash back card, try to get one card without foreign transaction fees. Then you’ll be covered whenever you travel internationally. The Capital SavorOne is a great option for this. You can use it for the 3% cash back on dining and entertainment when stateside, then use it for everything to get 1% cash back and avoid foreign transaction fees when traveling.

Step 3: Optional second maximization card

If you’re looking at the list of maximization cards above and having trouble picking between two of them because they both fit your spending really well, consider grabbing them both.

This would give you a total of three cash back cards. One is your default, the other two are maximization cards.

For example, let’s say that I spend hundreds of dollars every month on groceries, gas, dining, and entertainment. There would be a strong case for me getting three cash back cards:

Citi Double Cash as my default card

Blue Cash Amex for my groceries and gas

Capital One SavorOne for dining and entertainment

This setup would allow me to maximize my cash back across several spending categories. I’d have 2% cash back as my default and 3-6% across a few categories. That’s a really nice return with a cash back machine that’s still simple enough to remember.

Should you ever consider more than three cash back cards?

I strongly advise against it.

You could get more than three and it won’t hurt you. 

But I consider it completely unnecessary.

After three cards, any additional cards will have diminishing returns. They become more trouble than they’re worth.

Definitely get a default cash back card, get a second if you want to bump your returns, consider a third if your personal spending fits multiple cards, and don’t go past that.

The best cash back credit cards of 2019 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

The best cash back credit cards of 2019 published first on https://justinbetreviews.tumblr.com/

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The best cash back credit cards of 2019

You know what’s awesome?

Free money.

With a cash back card, you get free money. That’s a hard deal to beat.

Take your current spending and pretend someone cut you a check for 1-5% of that spending. You don’t have to lift a finger or do anything, the check magically shows up in your account automatically. That’s what it’s like having a cash back card.

There’s really no catch either.

As long as you already pay your credit cards off every month, there’s no downside. To be honest, you shouldn’t be using credit cards if you don’t pay off your balance each month anyway. Every credit card is a terrible deal if you don’t.

For those of you that do pay off your cards every month, a cash back credit card is one of the best deals in personal finance.

Before breaking down the best cash back cards, let’s make sure a cash back card is the right type of credit card for you.

There are two types of rewards credit cards: travel cards and cash back cards.

We go into a lot of detail on how they differ from each other in our best rewards credit cards guide. The quick summary:

Get a travel credit card if you want to maximize the value of your rewards and perks

Get a cash back card if you want to maximize simplicity or your don’t travel

So what are the best cash back cards?

The best cash back cards

After scouring all the cash back offers out there, we’ve found these cards to be the best options:

Citi Double Cash

Chase Freedom

Chase Freedom Unlimited

Blue Cash Preferred Amex

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards

Discover it Cash Back

Capital One SavorOne

How we evaluate cash back cards

For a card to make it on our list of best cards, we evaluated it using this criteria.

Bonus value

We don’t put much weight on the signup bonus. In fact, we ignore them for the most part.

Yes, the bonuses are great. Always take advantage of them.

But I never pick my credit cards based on the bonus itself. Since I never chase credit card promos or point hack by rotating credit cards quickly, I stick with the same set of cards for years. The rewards program, perks, and fees will all outlast the bonus. In the end, the bonus is a minor benefit.

Pick the card you want without worrying about the signup bonus.

Cash back system

This is the most important part of your cash back card. Sweat the details here.

Lots of cash back cards advertise amazing cash back rewards (get 5% cash back!) and then severely limit it with spend limits, rotating categories, or other nonsense.

As a general rule, the simpler the cash back program, the better. I’d much rather get 80% of the potential cash back if it means I never have to think about anything.

That said, if you’re trying to push your cash back rewards to the limit and are willing to take on the extra complexity, playing these games is the key to maximizing your rewards. It’s not how I personally want to spend my time, but if you do, all the power to you.

Fees

Keep a close eye on foreign transaction fees with cash back cards.

The best travel credit cards usually don’t have foreign transaction fees. That makes since they target travelers.

But cash back cards aren’t as generous. Many of them do have foreign transaction fees. This is a 1-3% fee on top of every transaction from a foreign bank. If you travel once per year, you could easily negate all your cash back rewards by paying hefty foreign transaction fees on your whole trip.

Otherwise, cash back cards don’t have many fees, and almost all of them don’t have an annual fee.

As long as you’re paying your card off every month (which you absolutely should be doing), you’ll be able to get your cash back rewards without ever having to pay a single fee.

Simplicity

As you pick your cards, keep an eye on how many banks you’re using.

Managing 2-3 logins across different banks isn’t a big deal but having a dozen or more logins starts to be a real headache. With a spouse and family, it’s surprisingly easy for bank accounts to get out of hand.

Whenever you’re trying to decide between two cards with similar offers, picking the option with a bank that you already use will help keep things simple. Not everything is about optimizing for every last dollar, simplicity and fewer headaches go a long way.

Bank reputation

At I Will Teach You To Be Rich, we have zero tolerance for banks that gouge customers on fees or treat customers poorly. Having a reliable bank is too important to put up with horrible treatment.

Unfortunately, Wells Fargo and Bank of America both have long histories of doing terrible things to their customers. We recommend avoiding them entirely. In fact, we didn’t even consider any cash back cards from either bank.

The best cash back credit cards

Here are all the cash back cards that you should consider.

Citi Double Cash

Highest cash back rewards that are super simple

Earn 2% cash back on purchases: 1% when you buy and 1% as you make payments for those purchases

To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 15.74%-25.74% based on your creditworthiness

Balance transfers do not earn cash back

Click ‘Apply Now’ to see the applicable balance transfer fee and how making a balance transfer impacts interest on purchases

No categories to track, no caps on cash back, no annual fee

This is our favorite overall cash back card.

You get 2% cash back on everything, which is a very good rewards rate. There aren’t any rotating categories or spend limits either. It’s truly as simple as it gets.

The only downside is the 3% foreign transaction fee. So definitely avoid using this card when traveling internationally.

Chase Freedom

The best card for those willing to use rotating categories 

Earn a $150 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening

Earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate. Enjoy new 5% categories each quarter!

Unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases — it’s automatic

0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 17.24-25.99%

3% intro balance transfer fee when you transfer a balance during the first 60 days your account is open, with a minimum of $5

No annual fee

Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open. And there is no minimum to redeem for cash back

Free credit score, updated weekly with Credit Journey℠

The 5% cash back is impressive. Each quarter, you’ll have a new spending category that gets the 5% cash back up to a certain limit. One quarter might be groceries, the next might be Amazon.com and Walmart.com. Everything else gets 1% cash back.

I prefer to avoid rotating categories, I don’t want to spend the mental energy keeping track of this stuff.

But if you were trying to maximize the rewards from your cash back cards, having one rotating category card could be worth it. You’d only have one set of rotating rewards to worry about. That would give you a few simple rules for spending:

Check the new category once per quarter to see what gets the 5% bonus

Use the Chase Freedom card for that category

Use your default cash back card for all other spending

As long as you remember to check the rewards category each quarter, this is still a simple system to follow. I’m not going to do it, but I totally understand if you want to.

The 5% cash back does have a quarterly spending limit, usually about $1,500. So the cash back will be limited to about $75 per quarter.

This is very similar to the Discover it card, which we’ve included below. It’s basically the same offer. We recommend the Chase Freedom instead because it’s a Visa, which means it’s accepted at a lot more businesses than a Discover card.

Only consider this card if you’re willing to deal with the rotating categories.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

A great card for the first year, then an average card after that

New Offer! Double Cash Back: Earn 3% cash back on all purchases in your first year up to $20,000 spent. After that earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases

0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 17.24-25.99%. Balance transfer fee is 3% of the amount transferred, $5 minimum

No minimum to redeem for cash back

Cash back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open

Free credit score, updated weekly with Credit Journey℠

No annual fee

3% cash back up to $20,000 in card spending for the first year, then 1.5% after that.

No annual fee and no other complexities to worry about either.

This would be an amazing card if the 3% cash back on the first $20,000 in spending happened every year. But it doesn’t, you only get 3% during the first year.

It’s best to treat the 3% like a signup bonus and consider this card like a normal 1.5% cash back card. 1.5% is nice, but other cards have higher rates.

I’d look at other cards.

Blue Cash Preferred Amex

An excellent secondary card to maximize specific spending categories

Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $1,000 in purchases on your new card within the first 3 months

NEW 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions

NEW 3% cash back on transit including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more

6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%) 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations. 1% cash back on other purchases

You spoke, we listened. Over 1.6 million more places in the U.S. started accepting American Express® Cards in 2018

Low intro APR: 0% for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable rate, currently 15.24% to 26.24%

$95 annual fee

Terms apply

If I had two cash back cards, this would be one of them.

I’d use my Blue Cash Preferred Amex on all my transit, supermarket, gas station, and streaming subscriptions. That would allow me to get 3-6% cash back on all that spending. For everything else, I’d use a card like the Citi Double Cash which would then give me 2% cash back on everything else.

That’s a good way to maximize cash back rewards and still have a very simple set of credit cards.

The annual fee makes this card a bit more complicated though. Not only do we need to earn enough cash back to cover the fee, we also need to earn enough cash back to outweigh the standard 1-2% cash back rewards from any other card.

We could build a super fancy spreadsheet with rewards projections based on your annual budgets. Let’s skip all that. There’s a simple way to find out if Blue Cash Preferred Amex is worth it for you.

I’m going to assume that you spend about:

$50/month in streaming subscriptions. That’s $36/year cash back.

$100/month in taxis and other transit. That’s $36/year cash back.

$100/month in gas. That’s $36/year cash back.

Combined, you’ll get $108/year cash back which covers the annual fee.

Now, if you max out the 6% supermarket category with $6,000 in annual spending, you’ll get another $360 in cash back. That easily covers the opportunity cost of sticking with a straight 2% cash back card.

In other words, if you spend over $100/week at the grocery store, it’s worth getting this card as your second cash back card. You’ll max out the grocery benefit if you average $115/week in spending.

And if you spend more than $100/month in taxis or gas, this card gets even more valuable. 

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards

The best cash back card for travelers

One-time $150 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening

Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day

No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus, cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn

0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that; 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months

Pay no annual fee or foreign transaction fees

See if you qualify for a better offer with Capital One

One thing to watch for on cash back cards is the foreign transaction fees. A lot of them have it, which adds 1-3% to any foreign transaction. If you travel internationally at all, you’ll want a card that doesn’t have it.

If you want to use a cash back card while traveling, the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards is a great option. You get all the benefits of having a super simple cash back rewards program, an easy 1.5% cash back on everything, and no foreign transaction fees to worry about.

This also makes an excellent second card when paired with the Citi Double Cash card. Use the Citi Double Cash when in the U.S. to get 2% cash back on everything. Then use the Capital One Quicksilver when traveling to get 1.5% cash back and avoid foreign transaction fees.

Discover it Cash Back

Only a good option if you want rotating categories and a Discover card

INTRO OFFER: Discover will match ALL the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year, automatically. There’s no signing up. And no limit to how much is matched

Earn 5% cash back at different places each quarter like gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, Amazon.com and more, up to the quarterly maximum, each time you activate

Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases — automatically

Redeem cash back in any amount, any time. Rewards never expire

Use your rewards at Amazon.com checkout

Get an alert if we find your Social Security number on any of thousands of Dark Web sites. Activate for free

No annual fee

Full disclosure: I’m not a huge fan of Discover cards.

They get rejected at stores and restaurants all the time. I hate dealing with that hassle.

Not only is it a Discover card, it also has rotating categories. Like other rotating cash back cards, certain spending categories get 5% cash back while everything else gets 1%. And the categories rotate each quarter.

If you’re a big fan of Discover and want a card with rotating categories, this could be a good option.

But I wouldn’t choose this card myself. Dealing with Discover and the extra headaches or rotating categories is too much hassle for me. I’d choose any of the other cards on this list.

Capital One SavorOne

The best cash back card for dining and entertainment purchases

Earn a one-time $150 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening

Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% at grocery stores and 1% on all other purchases

No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn

0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that; 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months

No foreign transaction fee

No annual fee

With the 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, this card makes a great option as a secondary card to maximize your returns in that category.

If you eat out a lot or attend a lot of events, it’s definitely worth considering this card.

It also makes a great backup card for when you’re traveling, since it doesn’t have any foreign transaction fees.

How to use multiple cash back cards to maximize your rewards

Honestly, you can get 80% of the potential cash back value from getting a single cash back card and using that card for everything.

To maximize simplicity, sticking to a single card really is a great move.

But what if you really want to get a couple of cards to maximize your cash back benefits? What does that system look like?

I’m going to walk you through a three-step system on how to build your cash back machine using multiple cards.

You will have to pay attention to a few spending categories and the rules will be a bit more complicated. But if you’re looking to maximize your cash back rewards, this is the simplest way to do it.

Step 1: Pick your default cash back card

Even if you plan on having multiple cards from the get-go, you want to start with your “default” card. This is the cash back card you’ll use for all purchases that don’t fall into any of the spending categories that we’re using other cards for.

For most folks, we highly recommend the Citi Double Cash card as your default cash back card.

The only downside is that the Citi Double Cash does have a 3% foreign transaction fee, which is pretty high.

If you travel regularly and don’t want a travel rewards card, consider using the Capital One Quicksilver as your default card. There’s no foreign transaction fee, and you’ll get 1.5% cash back on everything. It’s not quite as high as the 2% from the Citi Double Cash, but avoiding foreign transaction fees will easily cover the gap.

Step 2: Pick one maximization card

Now we get to have some fun.

It’s time to pick your maximization card. You’ll use this card only when you make purchases that take advantage of the increased cash back rewards in the categories for that card. For everything else, you’ll use your default card that you already picked during step one.

Depending on your personal spending, you have a few options.

Option 1: Blue Cash Preferred Amex for groceries and gas

If you spend $100/week on groceries, you’ll easily max out the benefits of this card. Start using it for your groceries, streaming, transit, and gas. Even with the annual fee, it’s a fantastic card for anyone that spends regularly in these categories.

Option 2: Capital One SavorOne for dining and entertainment

You’ll get 3% cash back on all dining and entertainment. I tend to eat out a lot, so this is a great fit for me. It also has a 2% cash back on groceries, but that doesn’t really matter if you get the Citi Double Cash as your default. You’ll already be getting 2% on every purchase.

Option 3: Chase Freedom for maxing returns with rotating categories

If you really want to maximize your cash back, you’ll need to get a card with rotating categories. This gets you a 5% cash back, but you have to deal with the headaches of remembering which categories are active. I would never do this myself, it’s too much trouble. But if you don’t mind remembering which categories have the 5% bonus, you’ll be able to maximize your cash back. 

Also remember to watch the foreign transaction fees on cash back cards

When getting a second cash back card, try to get one card without foreign transaction fees. Then you’ll be covered whenever you travel internationally. The Capital SavorOne is a great option for this. You can use it for the 3% cash back on dining and entertainment when stateside, then use it for everything to get 1% cash back and avoid foreign transaction fees when traveling.

Step 3: Optional second maximization card

If you’re looking at the list of maximization cards above and having trouble picking between two of them because they both fit your spending really well, consider grabbing them both.

This would give you a total of three cash back cards. One is your default, the other two are maximization cards.

For example, let’s say that I spend hundreds of dollars every month on groceries, gas, dining, and entertainment. There would be a strong case for me getting three cash back cards:

Citi Double Cash as my default card

Blue Cash Amex for my groceries and gas

Capital One SavorOne for dining and entertainment

This setup would allow me to maximize my cash back across several spending categories. I’d have 2% cash back as my default and 3-6% across a few categories. That’s a really nice return with a cash back machine that’s still simple enough to remember.

Should you ever consider more than three cash back cards?

I strongly advise against it.

You could get more than three and it won’t hurt you. 

But I consider it completely unnecessary.

After three cards, any additional cards will have diminishing returns. They become more trouble than they’re worth.

Definitely get a default cash back card, get a second if you want to bump your returns, consider a third if your personal spending fits multiple cards, and don’t go past that.

The best cash back credit cards of 2019 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/best-cash-back-credit-cards/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[paulckrueger]

The best cash back credit cards of 2019

You know what’s awesome?

Free money.

With a cash back card, you get free money. That’s a hard deal to beat.

Take your current spending and pretend someone cut you a check for 1-5% of that spending. You don’t have to lift a finger or do anything, the check magically shows up in your account automatically. That’s what it’s like having a cash back card.

There’s really no catch either.

As long as you already pay your credit cards off every month, there’s no downside. To be honest, you shouldn’t be using credit cards if you don’t pay off your balance each month anyway. Every credit card is a terrible deal if you don’t.

For those of you that do pay off your cards every month, a cash back credit card is one of the best deals in personal finance.

Before breaking down the best cash back cards, let’s make sure a cash back card is the right type of credit card for you.

There are two types of rewards credit cards: travel cards and cash back cards.

We go into a lot of detail on how they differ from each other in our best rewards credit cards guide. The quick summary:

Get a travel credit card if you want to maximize the value of your rewards and perks

Get a cash back card if you want to maximize simplicity or your don’t travel

So what are the best cash back cards?

The best cash back cards

After scouring all the cash back offers out there, we’ve found these cards to be the best options:

Citi Double Cash

Chase Freedom

Chase Freedom Unlimited

Blue Cash Preferred Amex

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards

Discover it Cash Back

Capital One SavorOne

How we evaluate cash back cards

For a card to make it on our list of best cards, we evaluated it using this criteria.

Bonus value

We don’t put much weight on the signup bonus. In fact, we ignore them for the most part.

Yes, the bonuses are great. Always take advantage of them.

But I never pick my credit cards based on the bonus itself. Since I never chase credit card promos or point hack by rotating credit cards quickly, I stick with the same set of cards for years. The rewards program, perks, and fees will all outlast the bonus. In the end, the bonus is a minor benefit.

Pick the card you want without worrying about the signup bonus.

Cash back system

This is the most important part of your cash back card. Sweat the details here.

Lots of cash back cards advertise amazing cash back rewards (get 5% cash back!) and then severely limit it with spend limits, rotating categories, or other nonsense.

As a general rule, the simpler the cash back program, the better. I’d much rather get 80% of the potential cash back if it means I never have to think about anything.

That said, if you’re trying to push your cash back rewards to the limit and are willing to take on the extra complexity, playing these games is the key to maximizing your rewards. It’s not how I personally want to spend my time, but if you do, all the power to you.

Fees

Keep a close eye on foreign transaction fees with cash back cards.

The best travel credit cards usually don’t have foreign transaction fees. That makes since they target travelers.

But cash back cards aren’t as generous. Many of them do have foreign transaction fees. This is a 1-3% fee on top of every transaction from a foreign bank. If you travel once per year, you could easily negate all your cash back rewards by paying hefty foreign transaction fees on your whole trip.

Otherwise, cash back cards don’t have many fees, and almost all of them don’t have an annual fee.

As long as you’re paying your card off every month (which you absolutely should be doing), you’ll be able to get your cash back rewards without ever having to pay a single fee.

Simplicity

As you pick your cards, keep an eye on how many banks you’re using.

Managing 2-3 logins across different banks isn’t a big deal but having a dozen or more logins starts to be a real headache. With a spouse and family, it’s surprisingly easy for bank accounts to get out of hand.

Whenever you’re trying to decide between two cards with similar offers, picking the option with a bank that you already use will help keep things simple. Not everything is about optimizing for every last dollar, simplicity and fewer headaches go a long way.

Bank reputation

At I Will Teach You To Be Rich, we have zero tolerance for banks that gouge customers on fees or treat customers poorly. Having a reliable bank is too important to put up with horrible treatment.

Unfortunately, Wells Fargo and Bank of America both have long histories of doing terrible things to their customers. We recommend avoiding them entirely. In fact, we didn’t even consider any cash back cards from either bank.

The best cash back credit cards

Here are all the cash back cards that you should consider.

Citi Double Cash

Highest cash back rewards that are super simple

Earn 2% cash back on purchases: 1% when you buy and 1% as you make payments for those purchases

To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 15.74%-25.74% based on your creditworthiness

Balance transfers do not earn cash back

Click ‘Apply Now’ to see the applicable balance transfer fee and how making a balance transfer impacts interest on purchases

No categories to track, no caps on cash back, no annual fee

This is our favorite overall cash back card.

You get 2% cash back on everything, which is a very good rewards rate. There aren’t any rotating categories or spend limits either. It’s truly as simple as it gets.

The only downside is the 3% foreign transaction fee. So definitely avoid using this card when traveling internationally.

Chase Freedom

The best card for those willing to use rotating categories 

Earn a $150 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening

Earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate. Enjoy new 5% categories each quarter!

Unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases — it’s automatic

0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 17.24-25.99%

3% intro balance transfer fee when you transfer a balance during the first 60 days your account is open, with a minimum of $5

No annual fee

Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open. And there is no minimum to redeem for cash back

Free credit score, updated weekly with Credit Journey℠

The 5% cash back is impressive. Each quarter, you’ll have a new spending category that gets the 5% cash back up to a certain limit. One quarter might be groceries, the next might be Amazon.com and Walmart.com. Everything else gets 1% cash back.

I prefer to avoid rotating categories, I don’t want to spend the mental energy keeping track of this stuff.

But if you were trying to maximize the rewards from your cash back cards, having one rotating category card could be worth it. You’d only have one set of rotating rewards to worry about. That would give you a few simple rules for spending:

Check the new category once per quarter to see what gets the 5% bonus

Use the Chase Freedom card for that category

Use your default cash back card for all other spending

As long as you remember to check the rewards category each quarter, this is still a simple system to follow. I’m not going to do it, but I totally understand if you want to.

The 5% cash back does have a quarterly spending limit, usually about $1,500. So the cash back will be limited to about $75 per quarter.

This is very similar to the Discover it card, which we’ve included below. It’s basically the same offer. We recommend the Chase Freedom instead because it’s a Visa, which means it’s accepted at a lot more businesses than a Discover card.

Only consider this card if you’re willing to deal with the rotating categories.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

A great card for the first year, then an average card after that

New Offer! Double Cash Back: Earn 3% cash back on all purchases in your first year up to $20,000 spent. After that earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases

0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 17.24-25.99%. Balance transfer fee is 3% of the amount transferred, $5 minimum

No minimum to redeem for cash back

Cash back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open

Free credit score, updated weekly with Credit Journey℠

No annual fee

3% cash back up to $20,000 in card spending for the first year, then 1.5% after that.

No annual fee and no other complexities to worry about either.

This would be an amazing card if the 3% cash back on the first $20,000 in spending happened every year. But it doesn’t, you only get 3% during the first year.

It’s best to treat the 3% like a signup bonus and consider this card like a normal 1.5% cash back card. 1.5% is nice, but other cards have higher rates.

I’d look at other cards.

Blue Cash Preferred Amex

An excellent secondary card to maximize specific spending categories

Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $1,000 in purchases on your new card within the first 3 months

NEW 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions

NEW 3% cash back on transit including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more

6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%) 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations. 1% cash back on other purchases

You spoke, we listened. Over 1.6 million more places in the U.S. started accepting American Express® Cards in 2018

Low intro APR: 0% for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable rate, currently 15.24% to 26.24%

$95 annual fee

Terms apply

If I had two cash back cards, this would be one of them.

I’d use my Blue Cash Preferred Amex on all my transit, supermarket, gas station, and streaming subscriptions. That would allow me to get 3-6% cash back on all that spending. For everything else, I’d use a card like the Citi Double Cash which would then give me 2% cash back on everything else.

That’s a good way to maximize cash back rewards and still have a very simple set of credit cards.

The annual fee makes this card a bit more complicated though. Not only do we need to earn enough cash back to cover the fee, we also need to earn enough cash back to outweigh the standard 1-2% cash back rewards from any other card.

We could build a super fancy spreadsheet with rewards projections based on your annual budgets. Let’s skip all that. There’s a simple way to find out if Blue Cash Preferred Amex is worth it for you.

I’m going to assume that you spend about:

$50/month in streaming subscriptions. That’s $36/year cash back.

$100/month in taxis and other transit. That’s $36/year cash back.

$100/month in gas. That’s $36/year cash back.

Combined, you’ll get $108/year cash back which covers the annual fee.

Now, if you max out the 6% supermarket category with $6,000 in annual spending, you’ll get another $360 in cash back. That easily covers the opportunity cost of sticking with a straight 2% cash back card.

In other words, if you spend over $100/week at the grocery store, it’s worth getting this card as your second cash back card. You’ll max out the grocery benefit if you average $115/week in spending.

And if you spend more than $100/month in taxis or gas, this card gets even more valuable. 

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards

The best cash back card for travelers

One-time $150 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening

Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day

No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus, cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn

0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that; 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months

Pay no annual fee or foreign transaction fees

See if you qualify for a better offer with Capital One

One thing to watch for on cash back cards is the foreign transaction fees. A lot of them have it, which adds 1-3% to any foreign transaction. If you travel internationally at all, you’ll want a card that doesn’t have it.

If you want to use a cash back card while traveling, the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards is a great option. You get all the benefits of having a super simple cash back rewards program, an easy 1.5% cash back on everything, and no foreign transaction fees to worry about.

This also makes an excellent second card when paired with the Citi Double Cash card. Use the Citi Double Cash when in the U.S. to get 2% cash back on everything. Then use the Capital One Quicksilver when traveling to get 1.5% cash back and avoid foreign transaction fees.

Discover it Cash Back

Only a good option if you want rotating categories and a Discover card

INTRO OFFER: Discover will match ALL the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year, automatically. There’s no signing up. And no limit to how much is matched

Earn 5% cash back at different places each quarter like gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, Amazon.com and more, up to the quarterly maximum, each time you activate

Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases — automatically

Redeem cash back in any amount, any time. Rewards never expire

Use your rewards at Amazon.com checkout

Get an alert if we find your Social Security number on any of thousands of Dark Web sites. Activate for free

No annual fee

Full disclosure: I’m not a huge fan of Discover cards.

They get rejected at stores and restaurants all the time. I hate dealing with that hassle.

Not only is it a Discover card, it also has rotating categories. Like other rotating cash back cards, certain spending categories get 5% cash back while everything else gets 1%. And the categories rotate each quarter.

If you’re a big fan of Discover and want a card with rotating categories, this could be a good option.

But I wouldn’t choose this card myself. Dealing with Discover and the extra headaches or rotating categories is too much hassle for me. I’d choose any of the other cards on this list.

Capital One SavorOne

The best cash back card for dining and entertainment purchases

Earn a one-time $150 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening

Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% at grocery stores and 1% on all other purchases

No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn

0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that; 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months

No foreign transaction fee

No annual fee

With the 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, this card makes a great option as a secondary card to maximize your returns in that category.

If you eat out a lot or attend a lot of events, it’s definitely worth considering this card.

It also makes a great backup card for when you’re traveling, since it doesn’t have any foreign transaction fees.

How to use multiple cash back cards to maximize your rewards

Honestly, you can get 80% of the potential cash back value from getting a single cash back card and using that card for everything.

To maximize simplicity, sticking to a single card really is a great move.

But what if you really want to get a couple of cards to maximize your cash back benefits? What does that system look like?

I’m going to walk you through a three-step system on how to build your cash back machine using multiple cards.

You will have to pay attention to a few spending categories and the rules will be a bit more complicated. But if you’re looking to maximize your cash back rewards, this is the simplest way to do it.

Step 1: Pick your default cash back card

Even if you plan on having multiple cards from the get-go, you want to start with your “default” card. This is the cash back card you’ll use for all purchases that don’t fall into any of the spending categories that we’re using other cards for.

For most folks, we highly recommend the Citi Double Cash card as your default cash back card.

The only downside is that the Citi Double Cash does have a 3% foreign transaction fee, which is pretty high.

If you travel regularly and don’t want a travel rewards card, consider using the Capital One Quicksilver as your default card. There’s no foreign transaction fee, and you’ll get 1.5% cash back on everything. It’s not quite as high as the 2% from the Citi Double Cash, but avoiding foreign transaction fees will easily cover the gap.

Step 2: Pick one maximization card

Now we get to have some fun.

It’s time to pick your maximization card. You’ll use this card only when you make purchases that take advantage of the increased cash back rewards in the categories for that card. For everything else, you’ll use your default card that you already picked during step one.

Depending on your personal spending, you have a few options.

Option 1: Blue Cash Preferred Amex for groceries and gas

If you spend $100/week on groceries, you’ll easily max out the benefits of this card. Start using it for your groceries, streaming, transit, and gas. Even with the annual fee, it’s a fantastic card for anyone that spends regularly in these categories.

Option 2: Capital One SavorOne for dining and entertainment

You’ll get 3% cash back on all dining and entertainment. I tend to eat out a lot, so this is a great fit for me. It also has a 2% cash back on groceries, but that doesn’t really matter if you get the Citi Double Cash as your default. You’ll already be getting 2% on every purchase.

Option 3: Chase Freedom for maxing returns with rotating categories

If you really want to maximize your cash back, you’ll need to get a card with rotating categories. This gets you a 5% cash back, but you have to deal with the headaches of remembering which categories are active. I would never do this myself, it’s too much trouble. But if you don’t mind remembering which categories have the 5% bonus, you’ll be able to maximize your cash back. 

Also remember to watch the foreign transaction fees on cash back cards

When getting a second cash back card, try to get one card without foreign transaction fees. Then you’ll be covered whenever you travel internationally. The Capital SavorOne is a great option for this. You can use it for the 3% cash back on dining and entertainment when stateside, then use it for everything to get 1% cash back and avoid foreign transaction fees when traveling.

Step 3: Optional second maximization card

If you’re looking at the list of maximization cards above and having trouble picking between two of them because they both fit your spending really well, consider grabbing them both.

This would give you a total of three cash back cards. One is your default, the other two are maximization cards.

For example, let’s say that I spend hundreds of dollars every month on groceries, gas, dining, and entertainment. There would be a strong case for me getting three cash back cards:

Citi Double Cash as my default card

Blue Cash Amex for my groceries and gas

Capital One SavorOne for dining and entertainment

This setup would allow me to maximize my cash back across several spending categories. I’d have 2% cash back as my default and 3-6% across a few categories. That’s a really nice return with a cash back machine that’s still simple enough to remember.

Should you ever consider more than three cash back cards?

I strongly advise against it.

You could get more than three and it won’t hurt you. 

But I consider it completely unnecessary.

After three cards, any additional cards will have diminishing returns. They become more trouble than they’re worth.

Definitely get a default cash back card, get a second if you want to bump your returns, consider a third if your personal spending fits multiple cards, and don’t go past that.

The best cash back credit cards of 2019 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Surety Bond Brokers? Business https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/best-cash-back-credit-cards/

[mcjoelcain]

The best cash back credit cards of 2019

You know what’s awesome?

Free money.

With a cash back card, you get free money. That’s a hard deal to beat.

Take your current spending and pretend someone cut you a check for 1-5% of that spending. You don’t have to lift a finger or do anything, the check magically shows up in your account automatically. That’s what it’s like having a cash back card.

There’s really no catch either.

As long as you already pay your credit cards off every month, there’s no downside. To be honest, you shouldn’t be using credit cards if you don’t pay off your balance each month anyway. Every credit card is a terrible deal if you don’t.

For those of you that do pay off your cards every month, a cash back credit card is one of the best deals in personal finance.

Before breaking down the best cash back cards, let’s make sure a cash back card is the right type of credit card for you.

There are two types of rewards credit cards: travel cards and cash back cards.

We go into a lot of detail on how they differ from each other in our best rewards credit cards guide. The quick summary:

Get a travel credit card if you want to maximize the value of your rewards and perks

Get a cash back card if you want to maximize simplicity or your don’t travel

So what are the best cash back cards?

The best cash back cards

After scouring all the cash back offers out there, we’ve found these cards to be the best options:

Citi Double Cash

Chase Freedom

Chase Freedom Unlimited

Blue Cash Preferred Amex

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards

Discover it Cash Back

Capital One SavorOne

How we evaluate cash back cards

For a card to make it on our list of best cards, we evaluated it using this criteria.

Bonus value

We don’t put much weight on the signup bonus. In fact, we ignore them for the most part.

Yes, the bonuses are great. Always take advantage of them.

But I never pick my credit cards based on the bonus itself. Since I never chase credit card promos or point hack by rotating credit cards quickly, I stick with the same set of cards for years. The rewards program, perks, and fees will all outlast the bonus. In the end, the bonus is a minor benefit.

Pick the card you want without worrying about the signup bonus.

Cash back system

This is the most important part of your cash back card. Sweat the details here.

Lots of cash back cards advertise amazing cash back rewards (get 5% cash back!) and then severely limit it with spend limits, rotating categories, or other nonsense.

As a general rule, the simpler the cash back program, the better. I’d much rather get 80% of the potential cash back if it means I never have to think about anything.

That said, if you’re trying to push your cash back rewards to the limit and are willing to take on the extra complexity, playing these games is the key to maximizing your rewards. It’s not how I personally want to spend my time, but if you do, all the power to you.

Fees

Keep a close eye on foreign transaction fees with cash back cards.

The best travel credit cards usually don’t have foreign transaction fees. That makes since they target travelers.

But cash back cards aren’t as generous. Many of them do have foreign transaction fees. This is a 1-3% fee on top of every transaction from a foreign bank. If you travel once per year, you could easily negate all your cash back rewards by paying hefty foreign transaction fees on your whole trip.

Otherwise, cash back cards don’t have many fees, and almost all of them don’t have an annual fee.

As long as you’re paying your card off every month (which you absolutely should be doing), you’ll be able to get your cash back rewards without ever having to pay a single fee.

Simplicity

As you pick your cards, keep an eye on how many banks you’re using.

Managing 2-3 logins across different banks isn’t a big deal but having a dozen or more logins starts to be a real headache. With a spouse and family, it’s surprisingly easy for bank accounts to get out of hand.

Whenever you’re trying to decide between two cards with similar offers, picking the option with a bank that you already use will help keep things simple. Not everything is about optimizing for every last dollar, simplicity and fewer headaches go a long way.

Bank reputation

At I Will Teach You To Be Rich, we have zero tolerance for banks that gouge customers on fees or treat customers poorly. Having a reliable bank is too important to put up with horrible treatment.

Unfortunately, Wells Fargo and Bank of America both have long histories of doing terrible things to their customers. We recommend avoiding them entirely. In fact, we didn’t even consider any cash back cards from either bank.

The best cash back credit cards

Here are all the cash back cards that you should consider.

Citi Double Cash

Highest cash back rewards that are super simple

Earn 2% cash back on purchases: 1% when you buy and 1% as you make payments for those purchases

To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 15.74%-25.74% based on your creditworthiness

Balance transfers do not earn cash back

Click ‘Apply Now’ to see the applicable balance transfer fee and how making a balance transfer impacts interest on purchases

No categories to track, no caps on cash back, no annual fee

This is our favorite overall cash back card.

You get 2% cash back on everything, which is a very good rewards rate. There aren’t any rotating categories or spend limits either. It’s truly as simple as it gets.

The only downside is the 3% foreign transaction fee. So definitely avoid using this card when traveling internationally.

Chase Freedom

The best card for those willing to use rotating categories 

Earn a $150 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening

Earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate. Enjoy new 5% categories each quarter!

Unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases — it’s automatic

0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 17.24-25.99%

3% intro balance transfer fee when you transfer a balance during the first 60 days your account is open, with a minimum of $5

No annual fee

Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open. And there is no minimum to redeem for cash back

Free credit score, updated weekly with Credit Journey℠

The 5% cash back is impressive. Each quarter, you’ll have a new spending category that gets the 5% cash back up to a certain limit. One quarter might be groceries, the next might be Amazon.com and Walmart.com. Everything else gets 1% cash back.

I prefer to avoid rotating categories, I don’t want to spend the mental energy keeping track of this stuff.

But if you were trying to maximize the rewards from your cash back cards, having one rotating category card could be worth it. You’d only have one set of rotating rewards to worry about. That would give you a few simple rules for spending:

Check the new category once per quarter to see what gets the 5% bonus

Use the Chase Freedom card for that category

Use your default cash back card for all other spending

As long as you remember to check the rewards category each quarter, this is still a simple system to follow. I’m not going to do it, but I totally understand if you want to.

The 5% cash back does have a quarterly spending limit, usually about $1,500. So the cash back will be limited to about $75 per quarter.

This is very similar to the Discover it card, which we’ve included below. It’s basically the same offer. We recommend the Chase Freedom instead because it’s a Visa, which means it’s accepted at a lot more businesses than a Discover card.

Only consider this card if you’re willing to deal with the rotating categories.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

A great card for the first year, then an average card after that

New Offer! Double Cash Back: Earn 3% cash back on all purchases in your first year up to $20,000 spent. After that earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases

0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 17.24-25.99%. Balance transfer fee is 3% of the amount transferred, $5 minimum

No minimum to redeem for cash back

Cash back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open

Free credit score, updated weekly with Credit Journey℠

No annual fee

3% cash back up to $20,000 in card spending for the first year, then 1.5% after that.

No annual fee and no other complexities to worry about either.

This would be an amazing card if the 3% cash back on the first $20,000 in spending happened every year. But it doesn’t, you only get 3% during the first year.

It’s best to treat the 3% like a signup bonus and consider this card like a normal 1.5% cash back card. 1.5% is nice, but other cards have higher rates.

I’d look at other cards.

Blue Cash Preferred Amex

An excellent secondary card to maximize specific spending categories

Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $1,000 in purchases on your new card within the first 3 months

NEW 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions

NEW 3% cash back on transit including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more

6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%) 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations. 1% cash back on other purchases

You spoke, we listened. Over 1.6 million more places in the U.S. started accepting American Express® Cards in 2018

Low intro APR: 0% for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable rate, currently 15.24% to 26.24%

$95 annual fee

Terms apply

If I had two cash back cards, this would be one of them.

I’d use my Blue Cash Preferred Amex on all my transit, supermarket, gas station, and streaming subscriptions. That would allow me to get 3-6% cash back on all that spending. For everything else, I’d use a card like the Citi Double Cash which would then give me 2% cash back on everything else.

That’s a good way to maximize cash back rewards and still have a very simple set of credit cards.

The annual fee makes this card a bit more complicated though. Not only do we need to earn enough cash back to cover the fee, we also need to earn enough cash back to outweigh the standard 1-2% cash back rewards from any other card.

We could build a super fancy spreadsheet with rewards projections based on your annual budgets. Let’s skip all that. There’s a simple way to find out if Blue Cash Preferred Amex is worth it for you.

I’m going to assume that you spend about:

$50/month in streaming subscriptions. That’s $36/year cash back.

$100/month in taxis and other transit. That’s $36/year cash back.

$100/month in gas. That’s $36/year cash back.

Combined, you’ll get $108/year cash back which covers the annual fee.

Now, if you max out the 6% supermarket category with $6,000 in annual spending, you’ll get another $360 in cash back. That easily covers the opportunity cost of sticking with a straight 2% cash back card.

In other words, if you spend over $100/week at the grocery store, it’s worth getting this card as your second cash back card. You’ll max out the grocery benefit if you average $115/week in spending.

And if you spend more than $100/month in taxis or gas, this card gets even more valuable. 

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards

The best cash back card for travelers

One-time $150 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening

Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day

No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus, cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn

0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that; 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months

Pay no annual fee or foreign transaction fees

See if you qualify for a better offer with Capital One

One thing to watch for on cash back cards is the foreign transaction fees. A lot of them have it, which adds 1-3% to any foreign transaction. If you travel internationally at all, you’ll want a card that doesn’t have it.

If you want to use a cash back card while traveling, the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards is a great option. You get all the benefits of having a super simple cash back rewards program, an easy 1.5% cash back on everything, and no foreign transaction fees to worry about.

This also makes an excellent second card when paired with the Citi Double Cash card. Use the Citi Double Cash when in the U.S. to get 2% cash back on everything. Then use the Capital One Quicksilver when traveling to get 1.5% cash back and avoid foreign transaction fees.

Discover it Cash Back

Only a good option if you want rotating categories and a Discover card

INTRO OFFER: Discover will match ALL the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year, automatically. There’s no signing up. And no limit to how much is matched

Earn 5% cash back at different places each quarter like gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, Amazon.com and more, up to the quarterly maximum, each time you activate

Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases — automatically

Redeem cash back in any amount, any time. Rewards never expire

Use your rewards at Amazon.com checkout

Get an alert if we find your Social Security number on any of thousands of Dark Web sites. Activate for free

No annual fee

Full disclosure: I’m not a huge fan of Discover cards.

They get rejected at stores and restaurants all the time. I hate dealing with that hassle.

Not only is it a Discover card, it also has rotating categories. Like other rotating cash back cards, certain spending categories get 5% cash back while everything else gets 1%. And the categories rotate each quarter.

If you’re a big fan of Discover and want a card with rotating categories, this could be a good option.

But I wouldn’t choose this card myself. Dealing with Discover and the extra headaches or rotating categories is too much hassle for me. I’d choose any of the other cards on this list.

Capital One SavorOne

The best cash back card for dining and entertainment purchases

Earn a one-time $150 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening

Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% at grocery stores and 1% on all other purchases

No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn

0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that

0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months; 16.24%-26.24% variable APR after that; 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months

No foreign transaction fee

No annual fee

With the 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, this card makes a great option as a secondary card to maximize your returns in that category.

If you eat out a lot or attend a lot of events, it’s definitely worth considering this card.

It also makes a great backup card for when you’re traveling, since it doesn’t have any foreign transaction fees.

How to use multiple cash back cards to maximize your rewards

Honestly, you can get 80% of the potential cash back value from getting a single cash back card and using that card for everything.

To maximize simplicity, sticking to a single card really is a great move.

But what if you really want to get a couple of cards to maximize your cash back benefits? What does that system look like?

I’m going to walk you through a three-step system on how to build your cash back machine using multiple cards.

You will have to pay attention to a few spending categories and the rules will be a bit more complicated. But if you’re looking to maximize your cash back rewards, this is the simplest way to do it.

Step 1: Pick your default cash back card

Even if you plan on having multiple cards from the get-go, you want to start with your “default” card. This is the cash back card you’ll use for all purchases that don’t fall into any of the spending categories that we’re using other cards for.

For most folks, we highly recommend the Citi Double Cash card as your default cash back card.

The only downside is that the Citi Double Cash does have a 3% foreign transaction fee, which is pretty high.

If you travel regularly and don’t want a travel rewards card, consider using the Capital One Quicksilver as your default card. There’s no foreign transaction fee, and you’ll get 1.5% cash back on everything. It’s not quite as high as the 2% from the Citi Double Cash, but avoiding foreign transaction fees will easily cover the gap.

Step 2: Pick one maximization card

Now we get to have some fun.

It’s time to pick your maximization card. You’ll use this card only when you make purchases that take advantage of the increased cash back rewards in the categories for that card. For everything else, you’ll use your default card that you already picked during step one.

Depending on your personal spending, you have a few options.

Option 1: Blue Cash Preferred Amex for groceries and gas

If you spend $100/week on groceries, you’ll easily max out the benefits of this card. Start using it for your groceries, streaming, transit, and gas. Even with the annual fee, it’s a fantastic card for anyone that spends regularly in these categories.

Option 2: Capital One SavorOne for dining and entertainment

You’ll get 3% cash back on all dining and entertainment. I tend to eat out a lot, so this is a great fit for me. It also has a 2% cash back on groceries, but that doesn’t really matter if you get the Citi Double Cash as your default. You’ll already be getting 2% on every purchase.

Option 3: Chase Freedom for maxing returns with rotating categories

If you really want to maximize your cash back, you’ll need to get a card with rotating categories. This gets you a 5% cash back, but you have to deal with the headaches of remembering which categories are active. I would never do this myself, it’s too much trouble. But if you don’t mind remembering which categories have the 5% bonus, you’ll be able to maximize your cash back. 

Also remember to watch the foreign transaction fees on cash back cards

When getting a second cash back card, try to get one card without foreign transaction fees. Then you’ll be covered whenever you travel internationally. The Capital SavorOne is a great option for this. You can use it for the 3% cash back on dining and entertainment when stateside, then use it for everything to get 1% cash back and avoid foreign transaction fees when traveling.

Step 3: Optional second maximization card

If you’re looking at the list of maximization cards above and having trouble picking between two of them because they both fit your spending really well, consider grabbing them both.

This would give you a total of three cash back cards. One is your default, the other two are maximization cards.

For example, let’s say that I spend hundreds of dollars every month on groceries, gas, dining, and entertainment. There would be a strong case for me getting three cash back cards:

Citi Double Cash as my default card

Blue Cash Amex for my groceries and gas

Capital One SavorOne for dining and entertainment

This setup would allow me to maximize my cash back across several spending categories. I’d have 2% cash back as my default and 3-6% across a few categories. That’s a really nice return with a cash back machine that’s still simple enough to remember.

Should you ever consider more than three cash back cards?

I strongly advise against it.

You could get more than three and it won’t hurt you. 

But I consider it completely unnecessary.

After three cards, any additional cards will have diminishing returns. They become more trouble than they’re worth.

Definitely get a default cash back card, get a second if you want to bump your returns, consider a third if your personal spending fits multiple cards, and don’t go past that.

The best cash back credit cards of 2019 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

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