Making the Most of Your Credit Card Rewards

  Motoko Haney Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate Buying a Car When You Have an Upside-Down Loan Owing more on a car loan than the car is worth—called being “upside down” on a loan—can make buying a new vehicle difficult. The negative equity can mean getting less for your old car at trade-in, or coming up with the extra money to pay off the old debt. Cars depreciate quickly, so the urge to switch to a new car after a few years can leave you with an older car that’s worth less than the loan. There are still ways to buy a car when you have an upside-down loan; however, they’re not too appealing. First, you’ll need to know how much your car is worth. If you owe $20,000 on a car that’s now valued at $15,000, you have $5,000 in negative equity, which means that you’re upside-down on the loan. You can find the current value of your car at a site such as Kelley Blue Book, or even ask a dealer to give you an estimate. If a dealer gives you $15,000 on a trade-in, you’ll h...

Motoko Haney Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate Best Ways to Use Credit Card Concierge Somewhere on your credit card statement—or maybe even on the back of the card—is contact information for a credit card concierge. The service is usually free, and while it isn’t available on all credit cards, many travel rewards cards offer it as a way to have someone do some tasks for you. Requests can be made over the phone or by filling out an online form. Here are some of the best ways to use a concierge service offered through your credit card: Sports Tickets Is that hockey game you want to go to sold out? Is the game in two days and you really want to go? A credit card concierge can check resale markets for you, and should have a number of price ranges for you within a few hours. Restaurant Reservations If the OpenTable app or calling a restaurant directly doesn’t get you a dinner reservation at the time you want, try the concierge. They may be able to find availability that ...

  Motoko Haney Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate What to Know Before Giving Your Kid a Debit Card Teaching your child about money by giving them a piggy bank or having them earn an allowance by doing household chores is a great start to learning about how to earn and save money. Spending wisely, however, is another lesson. And it will probably come away from home and without adult supervision. A debit card—usually linked to a parent’s checking account—or a prepaid debit card can help children learn how to manage money jointly with their parents. Their spending can be monitored, such as through a phone app from their bank in a joint account that the parent puts money into only for this purpose. Before giving their child a debit card, here are some things parents should know and discuss with their children: Age limits:  Most banks don’t allow minors to have a debit card in their own name until they’re 16. Some allow it at age 13, though a joint account with a...

Making the Most of Your Credit Card Rewards Using a credit card to earn rewards is pretty simple. Just use the card to buy things and you’ll get cash back or reward points from your credit card company. Getting that free money of 5 percent or even more on every purchase is easy, but there are some things you should pay attention to if you want to get the most rewards possible. Register for Bonus Categories To get the most out of a cash-back credit card, look for a card that gives bonus rewards on certain purchases. While 1 percent cash back is common on all purchases, some cards offer a 4 percent bonus for a total of 5 percent for buying from certain types of merchants. These can include restaurants, travel, grocery stores, gas stations, airfare or hotels. The categories may change every quarter, with airline purchases earning 5 percent back for three months, then changing to movie theatre purchases for the next three months, for example. The category may even have a cash back limit. T...