Category: Quick Tips

Every Friday I post a new Quick Tip covering a wide range of topics, including ways to save money, travel tips, personal products/services I find interesting, and more.

inside a parking garage
When Trying to Save Money Backfires: My Parking Fail
I like to consider myself a fairly frugal person. While I've been known to spend on a few splurgy items and like to have nice things, most of the time, I try to save money when possible or cut out expenses that aren't a priority for me. Alas, this week, my money-saving ways came back...
MacBook Air display
Another Open Box Win And Other Ways I Saved on My New Laptop
Last week, unexpected tragedy struck. Okay, before you worry, it's not real tragedy — it's just that my laptop decided to stop working. Out of nowhere, in the middle of a mundane task, it just froze up. Then, upon starting it back up, I got an error indicating something was wrong with my startup disk....
Capital One Venture X Travel Rewards Card
My Thoughts on the Capital One Venture X Card
I know I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I feel like I need to discuss the recently-released Capital One Venture X card — lest I lose what little credit card enthusiast cred I have. Following months of rumors that Capital One would be getting into the premium travel card game,...
Cash App Mega Boost offer
My Cash App 99% Off Win — And Why I Still Love My Cash Card
As someone who used to love but has since learned to (mostly) loathe Twitter, there are very few accounts that I have push notifications activated for. In fact, I can only think of two: @NWSSpringfield and @CashApp. Why the latter account? Exclusively for weeks such as this one. One of the star features of Cash...
Discover Card and Amazon gift logos
Discover's 2022 Cashback Bonus Calendar Includes Exciting Changes
You're surely just as shocked as I am that it is somehow already November. Not that I'm complaining, but this year has really flown by. And, as the new year approaches, Discover has released its 5% Cashback Bonus Calendar for 2022, featuring a few changes from this year's category line-up. For those unfamiliar, select Discover credit cards...
illustration of a woman sitting with a ghostly shadow overhead
Something Scare You? Try Learning More About It
Ever since we moved to the midwest, I've been paying far more attention to the weather than I ever have before. That's because, there's something called "tornadoes" that are a bit more frequent around here than, say, Los Angeles. So, little by little, I started to learn a bit more about severe weather and what...
How Using an Amazon Hub Locker Saved Me Money in Vegas
Have you ever considered buying an item for a trip or arrived at your destination only to realize that you forgot something useful? In the event that the item in question isn't easily found at local retailers, you might consider ordering off Amazon and having the package delivered to your hotel. While this may be...
T-Mobile Tuesdays logo
An Ode to T-Mobile Tuesdays
It's now been two and a half years since my wife and I decided to move to T-Mobile. In that time, I'm talked a lot about some of their auxiliary perks such as T-Mobile Money and, um, data breaches? Setting that latter one aside, one benefit I haven't really talked about much is T-Mobile Tuesdays....
American Express Platinum and Walmart+ logos
Your Amex Platinum Now Comes with Walmart+. Yes, Really.
Back in July, the Platinum Card from American Express underwent a revamp that saw the card increase its annual fee from $550 to $695 per year while adding a number of credits to offset that cost. If you'll recall, that trade-off ended up being a win for me as the incoming credits more than made...
Air Canada tickets and credit card
Air Canada is Currently Status Matching U.S. Frequent Flyers
Do you have elite status on American Airlines, Delta, Alaskan, JetBlue, Southwest, or Hawaiian? Would you like to use said status to achieve similar elite-ness with Air Canada? Well, thanks to a new Destination Canada -sponsored promotion, you can! For a limited time, U.S. Aeroplan members can match their status for free and enjoy the...
Robinhood Crypto Wallet
Robinhood is Finally Adding Crypto Wallets (Soon)
Ever since the stock trading app Robinhood added crypto trading in 2018, they've stated that the ability to transfer funds to an external wallet was coming "soon." Well, it looks like "soon" is now actually, um, soon. Earlier this week, the company announced that wallets were indeed coming while also opening a waitlist of interested...
woman and a U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Card
U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve: The Next Credit Card I Have My Eye On
If you've followed this site for any length of time, you've seen my interest in credit cards grow significantly. Over the past five years, the amount of plastic (and metal) in my wallet has slowly swelled — and yet, with each new card I get, I pronounce that it's likely the last. With that, right...
Featured Articles
Travel Tuesday: The Club ATL Grab & Go Pantry Lounge Review
Last week, I set off for San Francisco from my home in Springfield, Missouri. But, since I was flying Delta, I of course needed to make a stop in Atlanta before my flight back in the correct direction. Over the years, I've spent plenty of time at ATL, so when something new pops up, I...
4 Daily Games I Play That Somehow Make Me Feel Smart
Remember a few years ago when Wordle took the world by storm? Well, after that, it seemed that several other daily games popped up as well. Over time, the lineup of games I actually bother to play daily has evolved — but there are a few that I keep returning to. That's probably because, even...
Hotel Vandivort Review: Springfield, Missouri's Four Diamond Boutique Hotel
When it comes to my Travel Tuesday hotel review series, I often wonder what travels might be featured in my latest installment. That's when it hit me that: instead of looking to other cities for adventure, I could feature a property found right here in Springfield, Missouri.  Hotel Vandivort is a unique boutique hotel we’d...
I'm 40 and Finally Figured Out How to Properly Shave My Face
For a good portion of my mid to late 20s, I made my living pretending to be in high school for television. As it turns out, part of the reason why I could pass for younger is that I can't grow a beard to save my life. Unfortunately, this lack of growth also means that,...