Tag Archives: Gift Cards

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Maximize Instacart Savings with $10 / $20 Chase Credits & Discounted Gift Cards

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your weekend is going well. I’ve been a big fan of Instacart ever since Chase added $10 and $20 Instacart credits to many of their cobranded credit cards in May 2025. Before then, I had never used Instacart because I assumed the grocery prices were significantly higher than shopping in-store and I actually enjoyed going to my local grocery stores.  Between my wife and I, we currently have 8 qualifying Chase cobranded credit cards, which provide $80 – $100 in Instacart credits each month. When you combine those credits with discounted Instacart gift cards, it becomes possible to have groceries delivered to your front door for a fraction of the normal cost.

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Breaking Up with My AMEX Coupon Book: No More Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annual, or Yearly Credits

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well. I recently read a great blog post on Frequent Miler about maximizing American Express credits and it made me realize that there are a ton of AMEX credits out there right now with various frequencies (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, and yearly). After reading the blog post, I took a look at my current American Express credit card lineup and it hit me… I don’t have any of those credits anymore and I’m not sad about that.

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How Fast Does the Citi Strata Elite $200 Splurge Credit Post for Best Buy Purchases?

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Last month, both Laura and I applied for the Citi Strata Elite Credit Card because we had a property tax payment due by December 31 (and we were hoping to triple-dip the $300 Annual Hotel Benefit and $200 Splurge Credit). Long story short (and a situation deserving of its own blog post), Citi declined my application but approved Laura’s application.

If you already have the Citi Strata Elite, the $200 Splurge Credit should be very easy to use. I wanted to share our experience and show how quickly you can expect the credit to post.  Laura selected Best Buy as her “Selected Brand” and spent $200 on Best Buy’s website (they offer a wide variety of gift cards available). The purchase posted on December 29 and the $200 statement credit posted 2 days later on December 31.

Since the Splurge Credit resets each calendar year, she was able to use it again in 2026. Laura kept Best Buy as her “Selected Brand” and made another $200 purchase on January 3. Once again, the credit posted quickly, just 2 days later on January 5. We were both pleasantly surprised that the credits posted automatically and without any need to contact Citi.

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By the Numbers: My 10 Most Popular Blog Posts of 2025 (Plus 10 All-Time Favorites)

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Good afternoon everyone, and I hope your new year is off to a great start! With 2025 officially in the books, it’s time to look back at the blog posts you found most helpful, interesting, and worth clicking on throughout the year. Below you’ll find the 10 most popular posts written in 2025, along with the 10 most popular posts written in previous years that continued to draw strong traffic.  If you’re curious, you can also check out the most popular posts from 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

2025’s Most Popular Blog Posts (Written During 2025)

  • No Upcoming Hilton Stay? Turn Your Credit Into a $50 Snack Shopping Spree (10/8/25) – I explain how to use your Hilton Credit even if I don’t have an upcoming hotel stay planned. Instead of letting the credit go to waste, I show how I used it for a $50 snack and convenience shopping spree.  I did this at the end of Q3, at the end of Q4, and will probably do this again sometime in Q1 2026.
  • Should I Transfer All My Amex Points to Hawaiian Airlines? (5/19/25) – I analyzed whether it made sense to transfer all of my American Express Membership Rewards points to Hawaiian Airlines. I weighed the pros, cons, and risks before making what could be a one-way, irreversible decision.  This post is no longer relevant since Hawaiian Airlines is no longer an AMEX transfer partner.

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Stack Your Savings: $50 InKind Referral + Costco Gift Card Deal

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Good afternoon everyone.  I just got an email from InKind with some great news, they’ve doubled the referral bonus from $25 to $50.  If your referral signs up and spends $50 with InKind by October 5, 2025, you’ll earn a $50 bonus. If they miss the deadline, don’t worry, you’ll still receive the standard $25 bonus once they spend $50.

There’s no special referral link for this promotion, so you can keep using your current one. And if you’d like to use my InKind referral link, you’ll get $25 back after spending $50 or more with InKind.

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