When I first started using “the PayPal axis,” it was for a very specific reason. I had just signed up for the Softcard (then Isis) Serve card, and I saw that in addition to being able to load $1500 a month automatically using a credit card, I could also do the same with a debit […]
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The Coward’s Game: That Old Standby
My central thesis in this series is that it is much wiser for investors to focus on the avoidance of losing money, rather than on making extra money in the market. The first thing to say is exactly how not to do this. Which is to say, “whatever you do, don’t follow your gut.” While […]
So Pseudo
Today we get to the crux of the matter. If manufactured spending is alchemy, turning credit card spending into cash, then the transformational step is certainly the loading of your pseudo-checking account. where the magic happens… So what is a pseudo checking account? A pseudo checking account is a prepaid card that can be loaded […]
On the Wisdom of Cowardice
Warren Buffett has so many great quotes. There’s the one about how idiots eventually run good companies. There’s that other one about today’s shade coming from a tree planted long ago. He’s a folksy guy and damned smart, so his quotes are like little Yogi Berra gems without all of the unintentional irony. But of all of his […]
Reloaders
When we last spoke, I waxed poetic about the ins and outs of purchasing Visa gift cards to manufacture spending. We talked about the psychological and practical barriers to purchasing the gift cards, and important factors to consider when choosing your weapons. Today we will talk about a corollary to the pursuit of Visa gift […]
Stamping Your Visa
To start the glorious chain of events that results in manufactured spending, begin with the mundane. It all starts with “A” We simply take our new credit card to a store (or online) and buy a Visa gift card (Or a reload card, or a PayPal card, but we will discuss those products on another […]
Everything you need to know to manufacture spending
I’ve discussed credit card churns and flexibility, and reconsideration calls and keeping your newly approved cards organized…. On to the fun world of spending lots of money without spending much money at all: otherwise known as manufactured spending. 1. What is Manufactured Spending? Before covering the specifics of how to manufacture spending, it’s probably useful to start with […]
The Chosen One
Before I ever cared about early retirement, before I ever churned my first credit card, before I had ever gone to medical school, or college, or high school, hell, before I even liked girls, before any of this, I loved baseball and the San Francisco Giants. I dressed up in homemade Giants uniforms, sweat pants […]
Execution
The miles game really is a very simple series of steps. No more skills are required to get this outsized value than the ability to do a little bit of Internet research, a smattering of computer data entry, and a touch of organization. In my last post in this series we discussed planning for your first […]
Deep Risk
I’m reading a fascinating book lately that has me thinking a lot about risk. (There will be a more in-depth discussion of said book at a later date.) Risk is such a fascinating and tricky concept. One problem with risk, is that by its very definition it is unpredictable. What we usually try to do […]
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