Rewards Cards

Long before I started travelling and collecting travel rewards, I used a cash back credit card for my everyday spending. I loved to collect cold-hard cash back on every purchase and then use the rewards to fund a short-term goal, like a family vacation or a weekend away with my wife. My go-to card for…

Our emotions have a funny way of making decisions for us. Somehow, they find their way into our finances and can get us into trouble, either through credit card debt, applying for a credit card that turns out quite useless to you, or getting tricked by marketing tactics. A good credit card is a necessity…

Collecting credit card points is one of my favourite things to do and over the years I’ve decided to take things to the next level by really understanding how most of the rewards programs work. I’m not referring to Aeroplan or Air Miles which are both totally different beasts, but rather, I’ve recently dived deep…

KOHO is a prepaid, reloadable VISA card, plus an app that can be used to access full feature banking services to help manage your finances right from your mobile device. While a prepaid credit card doesn’t sound all that special, KOHO takes it to the next level (and then some) with a product that is…

Years ago when I first began collecting credit card rewards, cash back was king. I liked getting back something tangible to help subsidize our budget. Plus, I didn’t even want to think about getting on an airplane with a baby or a couple of toddlers. Travel rewards could wait. But now that our kids are…

Being married to a personal finance blogger can’t be easy. My better half must feel like every spending decision will be scrutinized and every transaction put under the microscope. Adding to her money anxiety is the fact that, as a stay-at-home partner, she doesn’t have her own income to spend on whatever she wants. Even…

This post is sponsored by RBC. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words. Like many Canadians, I belong to a lot of loyalty programs and have collected a ton of rewards points over the years. One knock against many of these programs is that it can take months, or even years, to save…

Amazon.ca Rewards Visa and Marriott Rewards Premier Visa cardholders recently received a letter from their card issuer, Chase Canada, advising that these cards will be deactivated as of March 15th, 2018. It’s a disappointing, but not surprising exit for Chase, which sold its Sears MasterCard portfolio and related credit card operations; including a call centre,…

This post is sponsored by RBC and Petro-Canada. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words. In the classic Seinfeld episode, The Implant, George Costanza gets into an argument at a funeral reception with his girlfriend’s brother, Timmy, when accused of double dipping a chip. “Did you just double-dip that chip?” “Excuse me?” “You…

This post reviews the new American Express Cobalt Card. Canadians love credit card rewards programs but finding the best one to suit our needs can be a challenge. A family of four with two working spouses might see the bulk of their budget go towards groceries and gas, but a metro millennial might spend more…