Alex Merrick

The easiest $1k I’ve ever made (Fidelity brokerage & IVV S&P500 index fund)

Once upon a time, Fidelity had a $100 bonus for opening an individual personal investing account and funding with $500. In late 2022, I took advantage of this, and funded a total of $1,000 ($500 in December’22, $500 in January’23). I parked almost all of this money in a S&P500 index fund (IVV) and did […]

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WARNING: Extra Schemey — Thanks US Bank for the 380% Cash Back courtesy of your Parkmobile Promotion

When I saw the statement credits for this promotion last week after two months, a big smile came across my face and I chuckled audibly. There was a part of me that wasn’t expecting US Bank to fulfill correctly. And while that’s partly true (I’m missing $10 of credits for 5 transactions), it looks like

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How about a quick and easy discount on all utilities? (US Bank Cash+ 5% category)

Why leave money on the table when paying the pesky utility bill? Everyone uses some combination of electricity, gas, water, and trash. For more than five years, I’ve had the luxury of a very healthy 5% discount on utilities simply for using my US Bank Cash+ card. This has added up to many, many hundreds

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Turns out that there IS such thing as a free lunch, courtesy of AMEX & Resy

Is it still impossible to get something for nothing? Perhaps, as the Cards here do have some pretty hefty annual fees. That said, having a delicious meal for two, and the next day having pending statement credits for the full purchase price is pretty sweet. Let me break it down. Firstly, what is Resy? Resy

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2025 Credit Cards Wrapped — Somehow five new cards is a “light” year of card gaming

I’d be lying if I said every time I enter my information in an application and press “apply” I didn’t secretly have a little rush of adrenaline and anticipation of the hopefully-quick (and positive) outcome. There’s some moderate level of validation I get from banks making the outrageously poor business decision to give me new

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OKX Crypto sign-up bonus — crypto may be a con, but there are still some good deals

DisclaimerI’ll start by saying explicitly this is not an endorsement of legitimacy or the upstanding business of OKX. That’s been a bit of a rocky road for OKX, having been shut down by US regulators due to loose identity verification procedures (hard to believe in the crypto world, right?) This post also absolutely does not

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Sometimes even I surprise myself – AMEX Delta Stays $200 credit NEVER CLAWED BACK after cancellation (!!!)

While I love credit card rewards, I’m also a huge fan of the many perks associated with often high annual fee cards. At worst, these are marketing to get folks to consider the product. At best, these are actually really valuable for cardholders and meaningfully (or fully!) offset the associated card fees. Cue American Express

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There really is such thing as free money — in the form of $1.99 small-balance credits

I’ll start off by saying that this is maybe one of my all-time favorite schemes. While it won’t make you rich, it is a really pretty simple, so long as you can plan and execute accurately. In full disclosure, I have done this primarily at Discover after stumbling upon this a number of years ago.

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