Recommendations - Life Before Budget

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First off, thanks for stopping by the website! We appreciate that you are here with us! One thing that I always try to do is optimize my life. I do this by reading new books, tracking and analyzing important information, and saving on goods and services that I would buy anyways.

Each of the recommendations listed below are products or services that I currently use. Some of them offer commissions for referrals, while others don’t. Either way, please be assured that I actually USE these products and think that they are great. Otherwise, I would not be recommending them to YOU!

Credit Cards

As I mention on my travel page, I have saved over $30,000 by using credit card rewards within the past four years. Some of this has been cash and some has been gift cards, but most of it has been in the form of travel.

I have used my credit card reward points to stay in fancy hotels and fly first class. I have also used my reward points to travel to places that I would have went to anyways, but now I can travel to them for free. If my son has a soccer tournament near Toledo, Ohio, my Chase IHG reward points allow me to secure a nice hotel room for free! When my wife and I spent an overnight, anniversary date in downtown Detroit, Michigan, my Capital One points made it cost $0!

I love getting rewards from credit cards because they allow me to save on trips and retailers that I would have done anyways. They also allow me to afford some trips that may be out of my current financial reach like our upcoming trip to Hawaii.

I have partnered with a company called CardRatings to help bring you the best and most up to date credit card offers. One card that you may want to check out is the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Currently, the introductory bonus is worth $750 in travel with Chase Ultimate Rewards after you meet the minimum spend requirements.

Enjoy all of your cash back and free travel!

Life Before Budget Credit Card Recommendations are now at CardRatings.com

Shopping

Amazon

I have an affiliate relationship with Amazon, which means that I earn from qualifying purchases if you click through from this Amazon link to their website.

Ebates

Ebates is a cash-back shopping website where you use their website to click through to major retailers. For instance, I just bought a pair of Rollerblades as a gift for my son. Instead of going directly to the online retailer, I went to Ebates.com and then clicked through to the retailer. This allowed me to save 2% on the purchase in the form of cash back from Ebates.

Typical cash back amounts range from 1-10%. You get these cash back amounts every three months through a check or PayPal deposit.

Before signing up for this website, I kind of though that it was a scam or that it would be too difficult to use. However, the website is very easy to use and it has an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau.

No matter what, you get a $10 bonus just for signing up and spending $25 on Ebates. So, at the very least, you got paid $10 for reading this and signing up through my affiliate link!

Investing: Fidelity

Although many other personal finance bloggers use Vanguard* for their investments, I have always enjoyed using Fidelity*. For me, their customer service is incredible, as I can always get on the phone and talk to a knowledgeable representative. They also have branches where I can drop in if I need to talk to them about an issue.

Whether using Fidelity or Vanguard, take advantage of their low-cost index funds. Currently, my fees for most of my index funds are 0.02%! If fees for another fund are 1% per year, this means that I save $980 for every $100,000 invested, every single year! This can add up to incredible savings throughout your life. No matter which investment company you choose, be sure to invest in low-cost index funds.

Saving: Capital One 360 Money Market Account

Like Fidelity, Capital One 360 (formerly ING Direct) is a company that I have been using for many years (as far back as college).

Currently (as of December 2018), they are offering sign-up bonuses of $25 for depositing at least $250 or $100 for depositing at least $10,000 if you sign up through my affiliate link.

I have found that it is really easy to open multiple savings accounts to save in a variety of categories. Currently, however, I just have one savings account because I earn a better interest rate on individual savings account values above $10,000. There also are checking account options.

I initially opened this account for the great savings rates (which are currently at 2.0% per year). Of course, I could earn a lot more by investing in index funds, but I use this for short-term savings and for our emergency fund. I also recently opened up some savings account for my kids. We were frustrated by the 0.01% rate that we were getting at a local bank. After doing some searching, I found that I could open kid’s accounts that are linked to my current account. They only pay 1.00%, but that is a significant improvement from the local bank.