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.

  • When Should You Book Your Flight?

    When Should You Book Your Flight?

    While setting off on a vacation is typically a relaxing experience, booking travel can actually be quite stressful. Among the many reasons for this revolves around the ever-changing prices of airline tickets. Unlike most retail situations where items go on sale, return to normal price, and eventually come back down (or sell out), if you…

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  • Video Creators: Don’t Let YouTube’s Monetization Changes Get You Down

    Video Creators: Don’t Let YouTube’s Monetization Changes Get You Down

    Earlier this week, YouTube dropped a bombshell on small channels and would-be creators. Starting next month, the terms of the YouTube Partner Program will change to only include channels with more than 1,000 subscribers and over 4,000 hours of watch time in the past year.

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  • What Happens When You Need a Refund on Uber?

    What Happens When You Need a Refund on Uber?

    Last weekend, I got the surprise pleasure of heading out to Orlando and getting to spend a bit of time at Walt Disney World. Naturally, since I flew out and have still not rented a car in my life, my brief visit consisted of quite a few Uber rides (gotta get that 2% cash back!). As…

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  • Great Gift Ideas for the International Traveler in Your Life

    Great Gift Ideas for the International Traveler in Your Life

    For those who love to travel, any gift that either makes their trip easier or allows them to do more on their adventures is a win. Although the main gift-giving holidays may be over for this year, these ideas are evergreen and something to keep in mind for future birthdays, anniversaries, or just because.

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  • Curious About Crypto? Invest Your (Digital) Spare Change

    Curious About Crypto? Invest Your (Digital) Spare Change

    Another day, another flood of Bitcoin headlines. Yes, it seems like 2017 has been the year of cryptocurrencies, despite that fact that most of us are likely still in need of a 101 class on the basics of blockchain and Bitcoin. While the space has certainly had its ups and downs throughout the year (or,…

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  • Practical Holiday Gifts to Add to Your Wish List

    Practical Holiday Gifts to Add to Your Wish List

    When I was a bit younger, the item at the top of my Christmas list each was cash. For many years, it was the only thing on my list (although few actually fulfilled my request). Alas, as I grew up, I decided to try going a different route with my wish list: offer no ideas…

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  • What You Need to Know About Apple Pay Cash

    What You Need to Know About Apple Pay Cash

    More than two months after Apple debuted iOS 11, one the features teased for the update has finally rolled out: Apple Pay Cash. This peer to peer payment service — akin to Square Cash or Venmo — allows users to send money via iMessage (or even ask Siri to do it) and store money in…

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  • Why I’m Doing All of My Holiday Shopping Online

    Why I’m Doing All of My Holiday Shopping Online

    Look, I feel bad for brick and mortar stores — I really do. But there’s no denying that online shopping just makes more sense for completing my holiday shopping. Between the saved shipping costs, the availability of online coupons along with price comparison tools, and the added perks my reward credit cards offer, rest assured…

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  • PSA: Don’t Forget About Small Business Saturday

    PSA: Don’t Forget About Small Business Saturday

    It’s here — at some point last night, the 2017 holiday shopping season officially arrived, sending deal seekers to malls, big box stores, and Internet-equipped devices everywhere. While I’d say that Black Friday is pretty overrated on the whole, it is understandable why so many consumers might get excited about the annual retail tradition. But did you…

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  • Earn Easy Cash Back as Dosh App Continues to Expand

    Earn Easy Cash Back as Dosh App Continues to Expand

    A few months ago, I was alerted to an app called Dosh that allowed you to earn cash back on certain purchases. After signing up to join the beta, downloading the app, and gleefully linking my first card (an act for which I earned a bonus $5), I ran into a problem: there were no…

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  • How Does Opening a New Credit Card Affect Your Scores?

    How Does Opening a New Credit Card Affect Your Scores?

    You’ve probably heard it said that applying for a new credit card can have some negative effects on your scores. In addition to the “hard pull” credit inquiry that will likely result in a small score penalty, the age of your credit can be dragged down by a new account. Well, this week, I got…

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  • Now That You’ve Frozen Your Credit, How Do You Thaw It?

    Now That You’ve Frozen Your Credit, How Do You Thaw It?

    Following the massive Equifax breach, many Americans are placing freezes on their credit to prevent hackers and identity thieves from opening new accounts in their names. Not only did I recently discuss the option of freezing your credit but also went ahead and did it myself. In my state, this process cost me a total…

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Featured Articles
My Wife Just Discovered the Magic of Bank Bonuses
One of the reasons why my wife and I have enjoyed such a successful marriage is that we were quick to get on the same page about money. However, while we agree on how we spend and save our money, when it comes to credit card rewards, my wife's been more apprehensive than me. It's...
The Internet is Going Wild for This Lucrative Offer from Paze
You may not have heard of Paze — but there's a good reason why you'll want to familiarize yourself with it now. This week, the digital wallet (which comes from the same company behind Zelle) launched an offer that could be worth $100 or more. Currently, when customers use Paze to pay at qualifying online...
Travel Tuesday: When is the Best Time to Book a Hotel Room?
I don't know about you, but for me, one of the most stressful parts of booking a trip is finding the right time to make my purchase. While part of me wants to lock my plans in as I make them, another part of me knows that being a bit more strategic can yield good...
How Chase Just Got Me to Keep My Sapphire Preferred Card
A couple of weeks ago, my wife received replacement cards for our Chase Sapphire Preferred in the mail. This served as our reminder that, if we did want to downgrade the card as we'd been talking about for years, now would be the time. See, I'd convinced her to get the card while it was...