Spending Smarter

Credit Card Numbers Auto Update

Not sure if you're aware of this or not (I wasn't) but if you are issued a new credit card number the credit card company will automatically update your number to companies that auto charge your account. I recently had a fraudulent charge on my credit card and was issued a new card number (still waiting for the card to arrive) and was surprised to see subscription charges show up now that I have a new card number. They claim that VISA and Mastercard are the ones that do this. My questions is wha...

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SpiceSorcerer

1 minute ago 1 Share

Mint mobile deal on now

Hah, that sounds like an advertisement. But I've been stalling on purchasing a MintMobile plan for a few months. I just bought one today... and they're having a 50% off deal on their unlimited plan - so it's as cheap as their lowest plan - at $15/month per line. So if you've been waiting on it, now might be a great time to lock in that price for 3, 6, or 12 months. You can always switch to a lower plan after that time (which is what I plan to do).

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Jessica Anthony

1 minute ago 9 Share

How do you think about donating?

I am curious how you all balance the "Math of FI" / Die with Zero approach to life with the "Ethics of Giving." I made a pledge at Giving What We Can to set aside 10% of my income - is that enough? Should I try to donate more? Thanks for any help from this wonderful community!

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espamer

1 minute ago 17 Share

Fetch

Have any of you had success using Fetch? I’ve always kept receipts, but just taking photos of my receipts has earned me points toward gift cards to places I already shop. It’s definitely incremental… and worth it. Also - I’m new to the FI community, but not to the idea of FI. I look forward to learning!

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Anonymous

1 minute ago 12 Share

Best Budgeting App?

I feel like I'm in the stone age! Ive been using spreadsheets forever and just feel a bit behind the ball. What is everyone's favorite budgeting app? And im talking budgeting specifically. Ive used Empower to track my networth my but it seems to lack true budgeting capabilities.

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Zach Bremer

1 minute ago 48 Share

Planning App

Does anyone have an app recommendation that I can use to pull in all my accounts AND will provide me a breakdown of how much dividends per month I receive, interest/growth income. I use my CC for spending and pay it off monthly so I'd also like to be able to pull that in to see categorically what I spend in. This may be too much detailed info but I like seeing that level of granularity.

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n0_tori_0us

1 minute ago 9 Share

FIRE - doesn't it have to change based on expenses, inflation, and other factors?

If my expenses this year are X, and then double next year to be 2x, and so on in future years, and then mix in the inflation effect over 20, 30, or more years, how does the FIRE calculation take those changes into consideration?

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Vincent Sullivan

1 minute ago 13 Share

Best cell phone plan as internet

We currently have a Verizon unlimited family plan with multiple lines split amongst family throughout the country. I'm interested in looking for a cheaper plan like Visible but the main thing that has me concerned is many family members use their cell phone as their only internet due to living in rural areas where broadband is not an option and something like Starlink is too expensive. Does anyone have first hand experience with the unlimited data plans from the second tier providers? Both for u...

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bleve

1 minute ago 17 Share

Where do I start my baby’s savings?!

Hey everyone! This may sound silly, but you guys get it! My 9 month old just got his first $10 from grandma & grandpa in a cute little Valentine’s Day card and it got me thinking… Where do I start a savings of some sort for the little guy? Certainly there is a better way to save his gifts than in a piggy bank! We don’t want it tied up in a 529. Other than that, what are our options? Keeping in mind we want to teach him about saving/budgeting and all that good stuff once’s he’s old enough to...

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lmann58

1 minute ago 15 Share

Just a plug for utilizing standard warranties!

I know that purchasing extended warranties isn't recommended. That said, many products come with warranties, and while it can be a pain to keep track of them and even to take advantage of them I wanted to share 2 recent wins. 1. We have a pair of Nikon Monarch M5 binoculars purchased in 2023 from REI for about $250. I dropped them at some point and while they didn't immediately break, over time the eye piece stopped working. We recently submitted through the Nikon warranty portal for repair and...

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CailinS

1 minute ago 2 Share

The Hidden Value Of Your Credit Card Benefits

Premium cards like the **Capital One Venture and Chase Sapphire** come with protections that can quietly save you money long after you swipe. ✅ **Price Protection** Some card benefits can reimburse you if an item you bought drops in price after purchase (up to 120 days), meaning less buyer’s remorse and more confidence hitting “buy.” Last week I bought new wicker chairs on Wayfair for $400, the next day, they were the deal of the day for $300. Thank you, price protection, and Mastercard sent me...

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JoeQ17

1 minute ago 9 Share

Car Mindset Shift Thoughts

Looking for some thoughts or ideas….also, I hope I put this in the right place. Back in December of 2022 I STUPIDLY bought a brand new ID4 at the same time we were coming out of a huge home renovation. The car was bought before all the home renovation bills and refinancing was finalized. Car bought $56k with $1K down, 2.5% interest rate for 72 months for a monthly payment of $732. Bout halfway through the loan right now. While I love the car (except a couple places I go where charging can be a c...

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SeanBOS

2 weeks ago 14 Share

Untitled Thread

I am having medical issues and no one knows what's wrong with me. Thus, I'm jumping around from specialists trying to figure out what's wrong and what happened and how to fix it. I have been healthy my whole life and rarely been to doctors. Because the issue is critical and immediate (I'm unable to work until I get it resolved) I need all the hacks for choosing the cheapest providers and being frugal when visiting doctors ASAP. I don't have time to trawl through all the podcasts and resources. I...

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OolongTea

2 weeks ago 6 Share

Teaching Kids to Win the Long Game with Money — New Blog Series for Parents

Hey ChooseFI friends, After years of coaching high school soccer, I’ve learned something that applies just as much off the field as on it: **you can’t teach advanced skills until the fundamentals become habit.** In soccer, that means building muscle memory through repetition—trapping, passing, spacing—until players can move with purpose automatically. In life, and especially with money, it’s exactly the same. That realization led me to create a new blog series for parents called ***Money on the...

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Coach Holdren

2 weeks ago 0 Share

Current Lesson Learned out of the Government Shutdown: Why Emergency Funds are necessary

I don’t usually post about current events, but this one hits close to home. We’re now 18 days into the government shutdown, and with Congress out of session until at least day 20, it’s looking likely that military members and government employees may not receive a paycheck. For a lot of folks — even those with stable careers — that’s a reality check. According to FRED data, the U.S. personal savings rate is hovering around 3.7%, one of the lowest in decades. And surveys show nearly 40% of Americ...

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Coach Holdren

2 weeks ago 8 Share

Budget app and net worth tracker

So after tracking everything for years on personal capital, empower absorbed them and I’ve lost all my past data. What recommendations are there for good net worth tracking apps?

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Scottyknows

2 weeks ago 16 Share

"Must Spend" v. "Like to Spend" budgets...

After listening to a recent podcast episode, Cody mentioned just how powerful reducing expenses can be when pursuing FI. I'm also using Boldin (aka New Retirement) and they allow a budgeting technique of "Must Spend" and "Like to Spend" and you can calculate the delta in your Monte Carlo Analysis. We went through our budget this morning based on our actual spend and figured we can reduce our annual spending by about $15,000 per year in retirement- all without really sacrificing much at all in th...

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907Hodgeman

2 weeks ago 4 Share

I don't like traveling.

(gasp, shock, clutching of pearls) Anyone have any lifestyle hacks that are optimized for cash back, saving, investments, or anything not related to points or miles? Especially credit cards. I've got a 2% cash back card and a couple of rotating category 5% cards but I can't help but feel like I'm missing something.

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Westie

2 weeks ago 44 Share

Money Diaries?

Anyone here ever read "Money Diaries"? I don't know if they started it, but Refinery29 has a longrunning series of them. My wife loves them. Was thinking about doing one myself, but 1) Seems like it's kind of femme-focused? and 2) not sure where/whether to post it.

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Mahmoud H

2 weeks ago 4 Share

A Happy Car Loan

Check this out! In October, I bought a brand new $40,000 car with $0 down @ 0% interest for the 60 month loan term. Within a matter of 3 months, my NW dropped $40K and is now a little bit higher than it was when I bought the car. I had driven my previous car since I was 18. It was a gift from my parents when I graduated high school. And a gift it was!! It lasted me for 12 years though my 20s. I resisted the urge to upgrade while my friends always had nicer, newer cars. Looking forward to driving...

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Cline

2 weeks ago 2 Share