#sorry about the formatting AGAIN i think this one might be worse hooray

[crinoline-gurl]

🃏♠️more casino cups headcanons but it’s just mugman bc he’s my favorite♠️🃏

- he was that perpetually sick kid I think

• victorian child with tuberculosis coded

• “take me to see the garden one last time” headass

• but he gets the flu every year and is absolutely bedridden

- it would definitely be worse now that he’s doing all this calix animi business

- but that doesn’t stop him

- bro is still pulling all-nighters with a debilitating headache

- which only makes his flu worse haha dumb idiot

- latches onto father figures like hella

• THATS WHY HES SO LIKE ATTACHED TO DICE YALL SEE IT TOO RIGHT⁉️⁉️

- genuinely arrogant

- MANSPLAINER‼️‼️‼️

• it’s the autism womp womp

- someone says “aw I only got six hours of sleep” and mugs is like “OH YOU GOT SLEEP? THATS NICE”

- his playlist (what Mugboy would to (like in the modern day not in 1933 obviously))

• mitski

• tv girl

• hot take but like… he’d like the smiths and listen to some mcafferty and Radiohead he’s so male manipulator coded I need you to listen to me

• lemon demon

• dear evan hansen and hamilton probably 💀

• queen and the beatles like a nerd

[themoneybuff-blog]

The New Starbucks Visa Rewards Card Is Exactly What's Wrong With America

When it comes to the often-careless ways Americans spend their money, hardly anything surprises me anymore. After all, theaverage new car loanin our beloved country is over $500 per month, and theaverage credit card debt among households carrying a balanceis over $9,000. Worse, this goes on while more than half of American households have less than $1,000 saved, and American retirement accounts are woefully underfunded. Lets face it: America is increasingly the land of $1,000 smartphones, kids sports that cost more than a mortgage, and triple-digit cable bills, whether we can afford them or not. And boy do we pay for our decisions. Still, a bit of news will sporadically come along to make me realize just how doomed we are. Enter the new Starbucks Rewards Visa Card a new rewards card that pretty much embodies everything thats wrong with Americans finances. The new Starbucks credit card combines the worst of our consumerism with substandard rewards I can barely fathom. Should you sign up? It really depends on your goals and whether you prefer coffee to cash. Keep reading to learn more details so you can decide.

Photo: Noel Reinhold Starbucks Rewards Visa Card Details The Starbucks Rewards Visa Card promises to reward you for all your purchases not just purchases made in Starbucks stores. Over all, this is good news, since you can use this card anywhere Visa is accepted to make any purchase you want. Unfortunately, the Starbucks card chose to go with a convoluted rewards scheme instead of offering straight-up cash back. As it stands now, the rewards youll earn follow this format: Earn 1 star for every $4 you spend outside Starbucks stores.Earn up to 3 stars for every $1 you spend at Starbucks, including a star for loading your app with your new credit card and 2 stars for making the purchase.Earn 2,500 bonus stars after you use your card for $500 in purchases within three months of account opening.Earn 250 bonus stars the first time you use your new Starbucks credit card to digitally load money into your Starbucks app.Earn 8 barista picks coffees per year.Get automatic Starbucks Gold Status. Please say it isnt so. This card doesnt offer any cash back, but instead doles out stars for behavior deemed worthy. What is this? Grade school? In all seriousness, the earning structure on this card is pretty laughable. I think Starbucks must already know this since they didnt even try to calculate the value of their rewards in their very own yearly rewards example. On their website, they basically say that, if you spend $500 anywhere and $25 at Starbucks each month, youll end up with 48 rewards after 12 months. They reach this figure based on the fact that every 125 stars you earn can be used for a drink or food item. Color me unimpressed.

But the mind-boggling details dont end there. There are so many things wrong with this card, but I think the absolute worst part of the offer is the fact it comes with a $49 annual fee! And no, the annual fee isnt waived the first year. So, if you believe youll earn 48 rewards during the first 12 months, the annual fee ensures youll hand $1 back per reward in the form of a yearly fee just for the privilege of having this card. Then again, you do get automatic Starbucks Gold Status after you sign up for the card. Hooray! Oh, wait. What does that mean exactly? According to Starbucks, you get some serious benefits with this status, including: A Starbucks Gold Card with your name on itDouble stay days that let you earn double the rewardsBonus stars when you buy a featured itemFree refills of brewed coffee or teaA free birthday rewardOpportunities to earn more rewards outside the store In other words, not much unless youre someone who works remotely in a Starbucks and could save big bucks by scoring free refills all day long. Then, and only then, does Gold Status seem like a goal anyone should shoot for. Lets Learn Some Starbucks Math Beyond the fact that you earn stars and not real cash back, this cards earning structure has some serious problems. The fact that you only earn 1 point for every $4 you spend on purchases outside Starbucks stores means they want to reward you for buying their overpriced coffee. Thats fine and all, but that really means this card isnt much of a rewards card when you use it for other purchases. At the $4 per point rate, youd have to spend $500 to earn the 125 stars needed for a free food or beverage item. If you spent that money on a cash back card that earned a flat 2% back, on the other hand, youd rack up $10 in cash instead. A Starbucks latte may be pricey, but its still nowhere near 10 bucks. The other problem with the card is the fact that you cant redeem your points for anything other than Starbucks food and drink. You cant cash in your points for money to spend however you want, nor can you use them for travel. Your choices are fairly limited to things like muffins and cake pops and overpriced frozen coffee drinks. Stars are only useful if youre someone who wants to nosh on Starbucks fare on the regular, and only barely useful then. But it gets worse. Did you know that the Starbucks Rewards Visa Card comes with an APR of 17.24% to 24.24% based on your creditworthiness? If you thought your spiced caramel mocha latte with soy milk was a rip-off before, just wait until you carry a balance and pay interest on it! Skipping the Starbucks Credit Card? Heres What to Do Instead If you like Starbucks and want to earn rewards on all your coffee and breakfast sandwiches purchases, then by all means, sign up for a rewards credit card. Just dont sign up for the Starbucks Rewards Visa Card, since you can do a lot better. While Starbucks apparently hopes your math skills are a little fuzzy, the reality is that there are a ton of cash-back cards with a higher rate of return and no annual fee. One good example is the Chase Freedom Unlimited. This card comes with no annual fee, yet it lets you earn a flat 1.5% back for every dollar you spend. If you spent $525 per month on the card per the Starbucks example, you would earn $94.50 in cash-back rewards per year. And thats after you earned a $150 signup bonus after using your card for $500 in purchases within three months of account opening. Thats $244.50 in cash you could use for anything after 12 months not just calorie-ridden cinnamon rolls and fancy coffees. And remember, this card comes with no annual fee. If youre angling for travel instead, you could also consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. This card doles out an amazing 2 points per $1 spent on travel and dining, which would include Starbucks purchases. This is on top of the signup bonus, which lets you earn 50,000 points after you use your card for $4,000 in purchases within three months of account opening. The signup bonus alone on this card is worth $500 in cash back or gift cards, or $625 in travel although you will have to pay a $95 annual fee after the first year. Last but not least, consider the Uber Visa Card. While this might seem like an unlikely rewards card to make the most of your coffee habit, this no-fee cash-back credit card offers 4% back on dining including Starbucks 3% back on hotels and airfare, 2% back on Uber and certain online purchases, and % back elsewhere. In addition to these card options, its also worth considering whether you should avoid credit cards altogether. While credit card rewards can be lucrative, the points you earn will be nothing if you wind up carrying a balance from month to month. This is especially true with the new Starbucks credit card since it comes with an especially high interest rate that could make paying off debt a struggle. To avoid disaster and high-interest debt that could haunt you for years, dont fall into the rewards trap unless youre ready.If youre struggling with debt, you should probably avoid all credit cards like the plague and pay for your coffee (and everything else) with cash or debit instead. The Bottom Line Only in America would people sign up for a credit card that charges up to 24.24% APR to finance their coffee habit, then relish in the fact they earn stars based on their spending. Theres nothing wrong with splurging on a coffee, but this offer says a lot about American attitudes on consumerism, money, and debt. If youre a Starbucks enthusiast, definitely continue shopping at their store, but please do not sign up for this sorry excuse for a rewards card. There are tons of cash-back cards that will let you accrue a higher rate of rewards without an annual fee. With most options, you can use your cash-back rewards in any wayyou want. Related Articles: Are you going to sign up for the new Starbucks rewards card? Why or why not? Editorial Note: Compensation does not influence our rankings and recommendations. However, we may earn a commission on sales from the companies featured in this post. To view a list of partners, click here. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by our advertisers. Reasonable efforts are made to present accurate info, however all information is presented without warranty. Consult our advertiser's page for terms & conditions. https://www.thesimpledollar.com/new-starbucks-credit-card/