I always pay at the counter, but I’m also lucky that counters these days have chip readers.
I use gas cards. They give me a small discount, can’t be used anywhere besides a gas station(that I know of) and the limit is small, just a few hundred dollars.
I think where you get gas is also a major part of this. I am a costco member pretty much only for the gas! It means going out of my way and waiting in lines (when i don’t get gas first thing in the morning). However, their attendants are not in some room or booth. They are out there with the customers and regularly…
Funny this was written, I literally just went through this with Discover. I only use it for 5% categories (right now, it’s gas stations), so guess which card suddenly had random $100 transactions appearing on it from gas stations and pharmacies I’d never been to....
Bonus tip (a.k.a. here’s what I did and that makes it the “right way”): Before setting up auto payments call and adjust WHEN each bill is due with the company/provider/credit card co etc. I had all of mine sync up to the same due date (alternately you could stagger them if you wanted). It can take a cycle or two to…
So I have the Amex Blue Cash Preferred. It’s 6% back on groceries. I just started buying Gas station gift cards there. I beat the skimmers and get 6% cash back.
I get my gas at a military base using an exchange (PX) credit card. The base is more or less secure and the card is useless elsewhere.
I’m lucky in that I live in Massachusetts in a pretty densely populated area. I use the cardless payment options from two different stations. One has an app on my phone and one has a membership card that works with a PIN and they both link to my checking account that I set up with a password. At first I was pretty…
A couple of other things that can help. Look for a card skimmer app for your phone. iOS and Android both have options that look for errant or unsigned Bluetooth signals. Also, always, always, always, pull a bit on the card terminal. If the part where you put the card in comes off, it has a skimmer. Last one, look at…
I’ve had to get these several times. In Los Angeles, Bank Of America has a policy not to give them. Other companies I've encountered will only do it if you are transferring to them. It was very annoying.
This might make sense for service based subscriptions but for other things (loan repayments / bills based on usage [Power - Water - Gas]) it doesn’t really make much sense. You’re not going to be able to haggle pricing with your utilities provider or with your loan servicer.
Some states make it pretty hard, unless the name change is part of a marriage. Sometimes you have to pay to publish a notice in a newspaper first (thus outing yourself publicly), pay a court fee, and then appear in front of a judge, who can deny you the name change for arbitrary reasons even if you meet all the…
Personally, this is a PITA and I think it’s a stall tactic to keep your 401(k) funds in the hands of an institution with high service fees. I’ve only had to have a Medallion Signature once and I hope it never happens again.
I’m sure its a simple database on mastercards side to translate the names true to legal (thus requiring you to prove you are who you say you are). the issue is when proving you are the true card holder as stated in the article.
I mean as a cashier we were trained to ask for ID in some cases and if it didn’t match the…
Have a CFA or similar look at their 401k program. Many are heavy with up-front fees, poor performance, and end up losing a lot of money. I’ve avoided some plans because of this. One company I worked at had a 401k that was completely dependent on the performance of a life insurance company none of us ever heard of.…
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