Friday, December 27, 2013

The Price of Credit Cards

I have been an advocate of using credit cards as a means to earn a little back. However, upon returning from holiday travel, I opened up a credit card statement online only to discover that someone charged $1020 on my credit card to purchase airfare on American Airline and an additional $7 charge using Expedia. Having just started my staycation, I am on the phone together with my husband to combat credit card fraud. It was bad enough that Target's database had been breached, and I was not sure whether we had made any visits to Target during that period of time. Now, part of my vacation is wasted on making sure that we are not responsible for this latest credit card fraud. In fact, just a few months ago, we fought three online purchases from a high-end bicycle shop with Discover Card, and this even threw off someone auto-payments using the old number. There have been times when the credit card company automatically shuts our card down as a preventative measure. So, I am starting to wonder whether this whole game is worth playing. On the other hand, nobody buys a TV online without a credit card; that seems foolish. Well, there is a great price to pay with credit card. And I pay in full every month. The question to myself is at what point will I be fed up.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

If You Are Going To Shop Online, Then Please Read About Ebates

How many of us are too lazy to shop at a store after a long day of work. Instead, you want to watch your favorite television program and see what is out there. You have a list of recipients and now the shopping begins. Well, you can do it better online. I learned from my Black Friday sales through Ebates that I saved even more than the people those people who skipped Thanksgiving hoping for a doorbuster deal.What I received was doorbuster sale prices + Ebates (that would vest at a certain day in the future, for me February 15, 2014) + coupon code discount. I also learned that even with the coupon code used, I am earning a rebate on the original price rather than the sale's price. So, an item at Origin which was $38 before the $10 off and free shipping deal became the base to calculate my 12% rebate on Cyber-Monday. So, I saved $10, and I was informed that the rebate would be $4.56. On Cyber-Monday, I purchase 2 Entertainment Books, the first for $20 and the second one for $15. This was already a great deal, but then the rebate was a whopping 45 percent. So, although I paid $35 for these two books, they would just cost me $19.25 after my rebate. This is a great deal, since eating out a couple of times with my family and I will have recouped my investment in the Entertainment Books. I have a sense that the same deals will be available after Christmas.

I also picked up a $5 referral bonus for recruiting someone to sign up and make a first purchase. 

There is a promotion right now that if you sign up 2 individuals who then make purchases through Ebates, you will be eligible for a $50 referral bonus. As a blogger, I can make additional bonuses. So, if you have never used Ebates, there is no harm signing up to start your savings. I urge you to use my referral code (http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=pAs%2F2bGlRETQkLFE1DExpg%3D%3D) before December 31, 2013. Soon, you want to make your own referrals. Well, Happy Shopping.