AOR (app-o-rama) with Business Credit Cards

In the past few weeks I have applied for 3 business cards, one through Advanta ($10k credit line, but only $5k can be used for balance trasnfers), Bank of America ($20k credit limit, but only $10k can be used for balance transfers, and Chase ($20k credit limit/balance transfer limit). Among these 3 cards I took out respectively $4500, $10000, and $17500, so a total of $32000, which I have deposited into a high yeild savings account offering 5.30%. All of these balance transfers carry a 0% APR for 12 months, except for the Advanata card which is for 15 months. Each card had a 3% balance trasfer fee capped at $75 except for the Advanta card. Overall I am aiming to make nearly $130/month. This will vary with the min payments that are due for the cards, but that shouldn't change my initial earning by much. Bad part is that this income will have to be reported on my taxes, but hopefully my CPA will suggest some things that I can consider to be deductible.

An advantage to using business cards is that the credit line is not reported to credit agencies, thus it hardly effects one's scores. The main credit hit takes place when applying for the card. Hopefully the impact is not much, but then again I am not looking to make a major purchase or finance anything in the near future.

Finally Refinanced!

As mentioned before I went through Bank of America to refinance my home mortgage. The whole process was wonderful and easy! I looked into Bank of America after coming across an ad on their site. I applied, was instantly approved, and the next day a rep called me. For about 3 days the rep and I went back and forth as I was trying to negotiate a good rate. I used examples of rates that other web sites/banks had offered me. Eventually I got a rate I was looking for. For the next process, during the next 2 weeks I was working with another rep who worked with me to get my home insurance information, payoff statements for my current mortgage, and anything else needed. My current mortgage company was not cooperating, which I sort of expected since they were not timely in providing a payoff statement. Luckily I could get this from their web site. Right before closing, the 2nd rep passed my mortgage info to the underwriter who approved everything. In order to close within the 30 days, Bank of America sent me all of my documents via FedEx overnight. I went to a local Bank of America branch, signed the documents, had the needed documents notarized, and then sent everything back via a prepaid FedEx overnight envelope. All communication was done via email and a few phone calls. With emails I would get an immediate response or a response within an hour. Not bad. Overall this has been a good experience.

$19.99/month Service Plan for A/C, Heater, and Water Heater

The other day my dad was telling me about a service plan that my local utility offers which covers the a/c, water heater, and heater in one's home. My father has has this plan, which is added to his monthly gas and electric bill, but he was suggesting that i should maybe get it as well. This got me thinking whether or not if this was actually worth it. Instead maybe I should save that $20 and put it into a high yield savings account as an emergency fund in case if anything went wrong with my a/c, water heater, or heater. Annually this is roughly $240 that I could save or that I could pay a company. The gas and electric company's service contract covers pretty much anything that happens to any of the mentioned equipment. This does sound like a tempting deal, especially since installation, labor, or parts for these items could be costly, but then again my house isn't too old yet either. I am still debating this issue, but if I do decide to get this service contract, I won't sign up for it until it is a little closer to the winter months.

Starbucks at Target Coupon

I came across a coupon for a Buying 1 Grande size Starbucks beverage and getting another free when I was checking out this site: http://afullcup.com/upload/cmps_index.php?page=coupon_generator

The coupon is currently the eighth coupon on the list. I know for a financial related blog it may be contradictory for me to promote buying beverages at Starbucks, especially since their prices just went up, but hey at least your wallet will thank you when you are craving a Starbucks drink. Plus it may come in handy if you are with someone and you both want a beverage from Starbucks. Either treat the other person or split the total cost.

Insurance Update

Yesterday my insurance agent's secretary emailed me the application that I had to sign for my auto and home insurance policies. I immediately read over the documents and signed what needed to be signed. The bad part was that the agent wanted the original signed documents and I couldn't just email or fax them back. This morning I stopped by my agent's office and dropped my paper work off as well. Actually I really like the insurance company that I am working with and the agent is great! In the past when I was under my parent's policy, this agent has always provided great service and rates. Since I am refinancing my mortgage as well, the mortgage company needs proof that I have gotten the new insurance, so my agent's secretary is supposed to fax the bank a copy with documents to verify my new policy. I will probably call my mortgage agent to ensure that she received the documents. Another big thing in saving some money on my insurance was that if I pay the costs for my automobile insurance upfront rather than in quarterly installments, I save roughly $150. I was considering on paying them quarterly, but keep the reserved funds in one of my online bank accounts that offer a high interest, but in the end this would not save me money. Anyways I am paying for to automobile policy upfront.