December Thoughts

 December 2020 will be the 24th month I have tracked my spending. Two years! And a lot of dollars. 😐

As part of estimating where I will end up for 2020 year end I wanted to look over my December 2019 spend and see what is likely to change.

Savings opportunities I see are approximately $300 in holiday get togethers that won't happen because 2020. About $150 in alcohol purchases for home consumption, I recall this being to load up on Point Pistachio beer not a holiday surge in consumption. I also spent about $150 on work breakfasts and lunches last December, much less opportunity to hit the McDonald's drive thru when there is no commute. 

I also spent $300 on restaurant gift cards last year to claim the holiday bonuses, as of this writing I still have a small balance left on one of those. I will not be buying those this year as I am going out much less and am even less willing to commit cash to a business with a less than stable future. 

Holiday gifting was about $500 last December and for now I am expecting to keep this amount about the same with a few meaningful and useful gifts.

Increased spending is only expected on my association dues, because of a renovation special assessment these are up by $225 over last year for a few more months. It is what it is.

Factor in some increased grocery spend to account for more at home dining and I am going to target a $500 reduction in spend for this month.

December is also when my Chase IHG MasterCard annual fee hits, this is an $89 expense. This is very much a card to have rather than to use so I don't have a comfortable amount of leverage to ask for a fee waiver.  Despite not spending a single night in 2020 at an IHG property I see the free night and other benefits that come with this card as worth the fee. $89 in 2019 will be matched by $89 in 2020.

Nearly year end financial roundup

Another quiet weekend at home. I did some tax estimates and also getting caught up on my financial tracking. I started tracking spending on Jan 1 2019 and have logged every penny since. As of this evening my YTD spend is at 80.6% of my full 2019 spend. I still have a few November bills to pay and the full month of December ahead but look safely on track to be 10% or more below last year's spend.

10% would be a significant savings but I was actually hoping for more at the start of the year. 2019 had unexpected high spend on an auto insurance deductible and I had both paid off my the last of student loans and refinanced my mortgage for a significantly smaller payment. 2020 had a significant one off medical spend which more or less balanced the savings.

A portion of my 10% came from gas and food savings from the move to WFH, construction on my building led to several optional socially distanced office days so savings were not what they could have been. I also reshopped my insurance midyear, both home and auto had premium reductions due to changes in coverage. I probably should have done this earlier but WFH made me more comfortable with the increased risk.

Increased costs came from more groceries and I gave in and signed up for Netflix for some low thinking entertainment. I also surprisingly owed on both my federal and state returns. I do not track payroll tax withholding as an expense, only the settle up payments in the spring so this unbalanced the numbers. This surprise will work out to about 2% of my total 2020 spend.

Travel spending stayed more of less level. I had a winter getaway in February and had purchased several flights that I did not take, and am now holding Delta travel credit. Hopefully this is a more significant category in 2021.

A plane! A plane!

    I took my first COVID era flight a few weeks ago. I was uneasy about it but it was a calculated risk. My preparations began with getting some N95 masks and I drove myself to the airport which is a rarity as I generally take transit or rideshare but wanted to limit my bubble. The pre-security airport experience was cautious, everyone was keeping their distance and appeared to be following all guidelines on masks and personal hygiene. 

    Security was a breeze due to the limited number of travelers and my PreCheck status. I did have to unmask for TSA to verify me identify. There was some confusion on my part, to limit contact boarding passes are self scanned but the TSA still needs to handle the ID. One of these articles will be disposed of by most after the flight and the other carried for years. I still don't get the logic there but alas it is TSA. 

    Post security things became less comforting. Support staff chatting in an empty gate area without masks and a true asshole that thought he did not need a mask as he had the secret idol of a cup of coffee in his hand. No coffee was consumed in the several gates that I had to follow said asshole. I was surprised to see my boarding gate was as full as it was, from the seat map the night before I assumed there would be about 30 passengers on the A320. Many others had the same idea I did, buy basic economy as it fully changeable and there are no middle seats. 

    Coffee asshole turned out to be on my flight a few rows ahead of me. Delta in flight service was a snack bag with a bottle of water and various snacks, the exact selection left to chance. Ideally, there would have been no service. The proffered water resulted in most of the cabin unmasking immediately to consume it. Additional bottles were offered later in the flight. Deplaning was surprisingly done orderly per instructions to depart front to back and wait for those ahead to clear the plane. I was quite happy to get off the plane and out of the airport and demask for fresh air for the first time in 6 hours.

Auf Wiedersehen Oktoberfest

This week I cancelled another trip due to COVID.

Annually I go Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, the largest Oktoberfest outside of Munich. I have gone every year but one for the past 15 years, 2020 will be the second I miss. As of this posting the event has not officially cancelled but I do not see how it can go off safely. Given how certain I thought I was of my attendance I took advantage of the travel recession in March to book my hotel and flights.

I was able to book my return flight using an AAdvantage web saver at 6,000 miles at the time that trip was pricing just under $200. I was not able to find an acceptable combination of schedule and price mileage itinerary on the outbound but did manage to buy a Delta nonstop at the lowest price I had ever observed on the route. I had also booked the Hilton Netherland Plaza using points about a year out as I refuse to pay Cincinnati's 21% hotel tax. Thanks to dynamic pricing I was able to cancel and rebook the same room this spring at lower pandemic pricing.

Cancelling reservations was a smooth experience. Hilton was well before the cancellation window so going from reservation to available points only took a few clicks. The Delta flight was booked using a gift card I got at Costco last year so I knew there would no refund, only a travel credit. I was able to cancel the American flight via Twitter DM. Miles were redeposited within an hour of the request and a promise the $5.60 security fee will make it back to my credit card. I would have much rather had a safe Oktoberfest experience but under the circumstances I'll take a hassle and penalty free cancellation.

Automate All The Things!

I have a much more complicated financial life than I need to but I want to optimize the small advantages to make something big. This has required being vigilant about balances, transfers, and due dates. I recently had a negative experience with my primary credit union that prompted me to fire them and reexamine how I have things ordered.

This was home to my primary transactional account and changing things was going to be a pain so I wanted to it once and correctly. In my previous post I had shared how I had put the the cell phone and electric bills on auto-pay to credit cards. This eliminated two monthly payments leaving my checking account which both simplified things some and cut my expenses by about $2 per month through credit card rewards. $24 per year saved simply by changing the payment method! I had read elsewhere of the strategy of depositing all money into a savings account and transferring to checking only to cover expenses and decided to implement this. I had a little used Capital One checking account back from the ING Direct days and found that they also were among the higher savings account rates available without jumping through hoops.

I set my paycheck to deposit to the newly created savings account so it would earn interest from the day of deposit and created a timeline of my known due dates to see how much needed to be transferred to checking and when. I then went into all my biller's websites and configured auto-pay from the checking account. This arrangement will net me 0.10% on the checking balance and 1.00% on the savings account, I am forecasting this will increase my earnings by about $35 per year over the prior arrangement through increased interest and delaying payment to due dates. It will also reduce the time required to keep my financial house in order without sacrificing the use of multiple credit cards to maximize the rewards.

Better Matters

Yesterday I shared that I had cancelled my Hilton Surpass Amex based on the uncertain future. I was on the fence about this for some time as there was plenty of potential value but a better card came along to sway me to cancelling it.

The Verizon Visa from Synchrony Bank. I am a Verizon customer, after jumping to several competitors I found that only the Verizon network worked for me. Synchrony released their new Verizon card at exactly the time I would have considered it so I now have it and it has quickly found a place in my wallet. Standard offer is $100 in bill credits over 24 months when Verizon bill is paid with this credit card or $4.17 per month. Not a great signup bonus but this is Synchrony and there is no minimum spend requirement. I signed up with an additional launch bonus, at this time that amount remains a mystery.

Breakdown of rewards:
4% of grocery and gas
3% on dining
2% on Verizon
1% everywhere else

This card really had two selling points to me. First 4% on groceries. I don't have a card that has a grocery category so getting this on a no fee card is a big win in my total rebates. The 3% on dining is nice but I have that with the Citi Costco, The Verizon card does allow for redemption each billing cycle rather than just an annual rebate each spring with Costco. The second attraction is the 2% on Verizon. This was one of two bills that I could not pay on a credit card without a penalty. Verizon offers a discount per line with direct ACH debit that far outweighs any credit card rewards. The branded Visa allows that discount to continue as well as earning a 2% rebate on the monthly bill with immediate turnaround on redemption so having the card effectively reduces cellular expenses by 2% ignoring the signup bonus credit. My Verizon bill is about 2% of my monthly spend so 2% of 2% does eventually add up.

The other bill I could not pay via credit card without penalty was my electric bill. I recently discovered that there was a way to do so via Arcadia Power (Referral Link). In deregulated states I believe they act as a electric broker, it regulated states they offer green wind electric for a slight upcharge or 50% wind for free for using their services. They make their money on these customers through the float on your electric bill but I'll take the credit card rewards over the 30 days interest. For this I have my Citi Double Cash registered so am getting 2% back on electric and cell service.

Credit Card Shuffle

Like most of the world's population my travel and even excursions from my home have been greatly curtailed this year. This did not stop the wanderlust but practicalities quickly tampered those thoughts. The grounded version of wanderlust is considering how to travel the most for the least dollars when it is again safe to do so.

At the beginning of the year I held three travel credit cards with annual fees and thought I was getting value above the fee from each. Home for me is MSP, Delta's second largest hub (suck it Detroit!), and nonstops have become increasing valuable to me over the absolute cheapest fare so the Delta and the SkyMiles American Express card made sense for me for the free bags alone. Earlier boarding makes basic economy a more attractive option and this year's revision of refunding the annual fee via Delta gift card if $10,000 was spent made it even sweeter. I generally use this card for purchases that I don't have a higher earnings rate for as I consider one SkyMile to be worth slightly more than one penny.

I have also been a Holiday Inn/IHG points slut for over a decade now. Each year they are by far my most frequented chain due to the lower price points and simple number of locations. I have had an IHG card for several years, last year I opted to upgrade to the Premier as I found the fourth award night free a greater value than the 10% points rebate. The card comes with an annual free night good at most properties, effectively all for my travel patterns. I have yet to stay at an IHG property in 2020 but this card will be a keeper for years to come even though I don't really spend on it outside of my stays. This is a card to have, not to use.

The third travel card I began the year with was the Hilton Surpass American Express. Hilton has become my second hotel chain and the appeal of free breakfast and the limited PriorityPass membership made this card very useful. Hilton has received all of my non work travel to date in 2020. The annual fee came due last month and I decided that it was time for some belt-tighting. The only time I used this card was for Hilton hotel stays and the odd convenience store purchase where the card was at front of wallet during those hotel stays. There was no offer of a retention bonus due to the low spend so I closed out this card. $95 stays in my wallet in exchange for loss of uncertain future perks, I think I will be keeping the gold status the card granted through early 2022 though. Closing a card did give me an excuse to consider a new card to replace it. More on that next time.

Shopping Insurance

COVID had gotten me more motivated to shape up financially in case the impact expanded to my employment. To date I have not been negatively impacted financially but others around me have been.

Telecommute has been extended a few weeks at a time, the most recent extension takes me through September. I was not surprised by this and at current rate don't see any sort of partial return to the office before Thanksgiving. This resurfaced the thought of how little I am driving. My mileage was already comparatively low but with telecommute I am only using the car one or two days a week. I have driven a total of 3,000 miles in the past six months due to working from home. The slight premium rebate the insurers provided in the spring was a nice gesture but in the grand scheme of things a drop in the bucket.

I started by calling my current insurer, Progressive, and asking to rework the assumptions about my driving habits. This request was repeatedly interpreted as wanting to change my coverage which I strongly disagreed with. I spent about an hour after this unsuccessful call shopping auto insurance. I found that in an apples to apples comparison I already had the best price I could find mostly due to a minor fender bender I had last year. What I did discover is that Progressive has collision and comprehensive deductible options other insurers don't. I had not wanted to change coverage but the deductible pricing made it attractive.

When I started this shopping quest I had a $500 deductible on both comprehensive and collision. I found that by increasing my deductible by $250, to $750, my six month premium would drop by $73 or approximately a third of the additional liability I would be assuming. I haven't had a history of filing claims every 18 months so I am likely well ahead on this change. I had also priced the $1000 deductibles and found that the premium reductions for this $250 jump were significantly less than the first $250 increase. Annualized savings of $146 for taking the $750 deductible. I will likely eventually be increasing the deductible to $1000 but want to build up a separate savings to cover this deductible so if I need to claim, it won't be such a financial speed bump.

What's in My Wallet?

What credit cards are in my wallet and why?


Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express Card my link My home airport is MSP, Delta dominates, and I like having the freedom to check a bag without a fee. Until this year I would have said it was a card to have but not to use. New features include 2x miles on dining and groceries as well as $100 Delta gift card when $10,000 is spent in a calendar year.

Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier my link Truthfully, this card isn't often in my wallet. It is very much a card to have but rarely use. I use this on IHG stays and nowhere else. Perks of the card include IHG Platinum status which gets you 50% more points and upgrades such as they are at IHG. This card also rebates the fourth night on award bookings which makes it very valuable to me. Ignoring that benefit there is also an annual free night which alone offsets the $89 fee. The card also offers Global Entry/TSA Pre reimbursement, I have yet to use this benefit but will be making use of it next year at GE renewal.

Citibank Costco Visa I surprisingly love Costco despite not being a fit for Sam's Club, very different product mix. I picked this up initially because at the time I joined Costco my wallet ran on Mastercard. This card gets heavy use for the 4% back in gas and 3% in travel in and dining. My Costco spend also goes on it as I don't have a card that can do better than 2% at Costco and my membership info is printed on the card so one less thing to carry. I would consider this the best no annual fee travel card out there. The downside is cash out only happens annually and must be done at Costco.

Citibank Double Cash This is actually my oldest credit card, it was opened as an AAdvantage card and product changed to avoid the annual fee. Likely due to product changing into this card it is a WorldElite card giving some additional MasterCard sponsored benefits, I have only benefited from the Lyft and Fandango credits. 2% on everything is a nice catch all card when I decide a SkyMile isn't worth that much.

Synchrony Verizon Visa This is the newest card to my lineup, it only makes sense if you intend to be a loyal Verizon Wireless post paid customer. I have the Verizon bill setup to charge to this card as I get the autopay discount and a 2% rebate on that spend. Like the Costco card this also offers 3% on dining and 4% on gas, the main difference being this card allows monthly redemption and only to Verizon Dollars. The benefit that got my attention with this card was 4% on grocery stores, 4% in quasi-cash has more value to me than 2 Delta miles or IHG points.


Chase and American Express links contain referrals, there may be better signup offers available.

Weekend Escape to the Eau C

I have a single trip since COVID stay at home and I wish it were in happier circumstances. I am based in the urban core of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, not the most tranquil of urban environments this year. In the immediate aftermath of the George Floyd tragedy I knew eventually there would be a march on the capital and that it was very likely to have an impact on my work from home productivity. After dealing with helicopter noise for an hour straight I decided it was time to relocate for a long weekend.

This lead to hastily searching what hotels were actually open within driving range and were in a location somewhere other than an interstate exit as I intended on enjoying my off hours outdoors. I settled on the Hampton Inn in Eau Claire as I was somewhat familiar with the city and the hotel is located on the edge of a commercial strip with access to walking trails. I dug out my disused Hilton Amex and made the booking, hastily packed for three days and made the leisurely drive east. Travel in late May was still way down, I counted less than 20 cars in the parking lot on the first night and slightly more the second night.

The front desk was separated from the lobby by what appeared to be a shower curtain, effective but unsightly. I was quite diligent about keeping my distance and all went well. I inquired about breakfast and was told that it was grab and go bags. I entered the room and began my own disinfecting on top of the cleaning the hotel had done. The following morning I discovered this consisted of a wrapped apple, cereal bar, and Spunkmeyer muffin. Coffee was available on request and distributed by gloved staff hands. I opted to take the coffee and apple but otherwise had decided the McDonald's next door was going to offer a healthier breakfast. Hearing that Wisconsin had opened restaurants for take out I walked over to find that the operation was actually dive thru only. I returned the the hotel room to collect car keys and was successful in obtaining breakfast on the third attempt. I returned to my room to eat and a day of remote telework, the desk setup was a bit smaller than I would have desired but it was functional for an 8 hour day on the laptop and conference calls.

After work I went downtown and explored the trails through downtown and Carson Park. I was surprised to see how much of the city is actually on the riverfront and how well kept the park was. I easily got my 10,000 steps and more in the sun and had got some local beer and takeout dinner for another meal back in the hotel room. The second morning went much the same as the first, McBreakfast in the room and another day of exploring in the sun and keeping current on the news of home. On checkout the front desk remembered why I was there and sincerely inquired on the status of the protests.

Overall the COVID roadtrip was not as much of the foreign experience I expected.

COVID Reincarnation

COVID restrictions have foiled several travel plans, I have more nonrefundable airline credit than I would really like thanks to using Southwest WGA refare credits and Delta gift cards from the Costco Christmas sale. I also have a surprising high amount of vacation days left and it has been 5 months since I have been on a plane.

As I cancelled the latest optimistically booked trip I recalled I did have this long dormant blog and more time to occupy at home so I am back. Apparently people actually have read it according to the stats.

I did have one travel experience during the safer at home period, I'll address that soon. Looking ahead, I have been taking steps toward a financial streamlining so going forward this will be split between travel and finance entries.