Alex Merrick

A Bicycle Story — Crash Replacement Benefit (Canyon) — Part Four

I bought a really amazing race bike last summer. After a very abridged life, that bike was thrashed in a bike accident with a parked car. Luckily homeowners insurance covered all but $2,000 deductible for that bike purchase. I was able to sell the components of that trashed bike to someone building their own…for $2,000! […]

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A Bicycle Story — Purchase Protection Benefit (Visa) — Part Three

There exists an amazing suite benefits that come along with using a credit card. This ranges from supplementary rental auto insurance to bag protection to roadside assistance to extended warranties to purchase protection. That big, bulky book of details that comes when you get a new card? There’s actually some helpful benefits that are worth

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Even I have an occasional bust. OKX’s “Earn up to $50 in BTC with a Buy Streak”

I love a deal. I ABSOLUTELY love freebies. Sometimes something comes up that feels like a sure thing, and then it doesn’t quite work out. Occasionally the wild speculatory market known as “the crypto market” drops off a cliff with impeccably bad timing. And yet, somehow, I’m still likely going to break even. Also another

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A Bicycle Story — Post-Crash Homeowners Insurance Claim (USAA) — Part Two

While typically you’ll hear stories of the big, bad, evil insurance companies denying claims (which I have no doubt is true) this is about the opposite end of the spectrum. Insurance can and does offer some marvelous protection, occasionally in ways wholly unexpected and highly favorable to the insured. Cue my bike crash in August

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Month-end recap: $1,740 in rewards redeemed in January?! Kicking off the year with a sprint.

Despite not even signing up for any new cards or accounts, I scored a pretty solid New Year’s haul. This is broken across true rewards (ex. cash back on cards) with $1,183, offers (ex. promotional discounts for spend) making up $103, and perks (ex. freebies or discounts for card ownership) contributing $454. The single-month amount

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My fun week with covered call sales (and $717.90 in returns!)

I am not generally “active” investing (trading on any frequent basis beyond recurring buys.) Historically, I have had some fun and seen some moderate income from buying and selling low volumes of options contracts. Typically the only space I am willing to throw any meaningful way is occasional covered calls (see Fidelity overview). This most

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