Pennies add up: high(er) yielding cash deposits

TL;DR

  • Rates have gone up and cash can now earn decent yield (5.25% as of Aug 2023)
  • FDIC insurance is critical given SVB and other bank failures
  • Raisin offers a easy to use platform to maximize cash yield on FDIC insured accounts
  • All earnings are taxable on your 1099-INT
  • Took me about 2 minutes to open up the account and receive $25 bonus with a $5,000 deposit ($750/hour)
  • referral: Get started at Raisin with code warrenp012362. Select the bank you want to deposit funds to and it will start the registration process
  • monitor rates using: yieldalarm.com ($6.99/year)

Why keep so much cash?

$50,000 is a lot of money, but could be the right number for a emergency cushion if you have a household annual spend of $100,000+. This means 6 months of highly liquid funds for emergencies. Some guidance from investment professionals here.

Is it worth the effort?

$25 sign up bonus for 2 minutes of time and $5k earning higher yield is about $750/hour, so from an effort basis, the answer is a yes for me!

On a longer term basis, the best rate is 5.25% and previously, I was using Betterment which is at 4.75%. By being a bit more active in managing these savings, the difference can be meaningful. If you’re cash is with a major bank, the difference will be even more extreme.

Principal4.75%5.25%Difference
$5,000238$263$25
$25,000$1,188$1,313$125
$50,000$2,375$2,625$250
$100,000$4,750$5,250$500
$250,000$11,875$13,125$1,250

Any more effort required?

Raisin is still a pretty early stage company and not all features are there. There is no rebalancing or alerting function. Fortunately, someone’s build a basic site that monitors rates.

https://yieldalarm.com costs $6.99/year, but you can see a small difference will make a meaningful difference

What else to consider?

This is fairly light touch to manage, but as rates change, it will require regular rebalancing which will take a few minutes each time you do it. I understand you need to move money out of Raisin to your regular bank account and then transfer it to the new financial institution via Raisin.

The financial institutions that are offering the higher rates are not the strongest, but FDIC insurance should effectively mitigate this.

I personally have enough confidence in the omnibus account structure, but it adds complexity.

Overall, I’m comfortable enough to move my cash reserves and those of my extended family, but you should do your own due diligence. I started with $5,000 on August 3, 2023 and will update after I’ve the bonus hits.

Show me the (almost free) money: Auto Loan from DCU

TL;DR

  • As of March 29, 1.74% for EVs and 1.99% for non-EVs with Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU)
  • Same great rates for new car loan and refi
  • Easy to become a member with a one time $10 donation (or more)
  • Best rates if you’re willing to move your direct deposit over to them
  • Referral bonus usually available for the checking account – System upgrade in progress
  • 6.17% savings account on balance of up to $1000

After waiting for MONTHS, delivery day was approaching for our Tesla Model Y! Interested in taking advantage of low cost financing, the Tesla forums pointed me in the direction “DCU” or as i would soon learn, Digital Federal Credit Union.

The rates seems too good to be true (1.24% APR when I applied, right before a Fed rate rise. Currently 1.74%), but all the reviews seemed positive!

Signing up for the account was easy. You make the donation to qualify as a member during the application and there was a spot to enter the referral code. However, once set up, i had several questions that you may have too:

My current status is Member, how will i make sure I get the fully discounted rated when my Direct Deposit hasn’t happened yet?When applying via the agent on the phone, I told them I had moved by payroll direct deposit over and they gave me the lowest rate. Your membership status will change at month end after you’ve made a deposit
Should i apply online or via phone?Phone! The agent advised that the phone would offer a real time decision and would be faster than online
How will Tesla receive the funds?DCU does not send funds via ACH. They will mail Tesla a check. I had no issues with the process. Same day, DCU sent me a scan of the check + overnight Fedex tracking number. Within a few days, the online account showed Tesla receiving payment. i called and reconfirmed!

I called in and had a helpful agent process my loan application.  Ironically, she said that decisions via phone were potentially instantaneous, but online could take a couple days.

After approval, i was asked to email the purchase agreement to a processing mailbox and expect a turnaround time of upto 1 day.  The timeline is below

As of Mar 19, 2022 rates are 1.74% for EV + 1.99% for non-EV. When I applied, rates for tesla are 1.24% and non-EVs are 1.49%!

Timeline

  • March 13, 2022
    • Applied online
    • Qualified as a member by making a one time $10 donation
    • Standard online banking set up
  • March 14, 2022
    • 1128am – 30 min call including hold time, application and approval
    • 1201pm – email to the processing box
    • 1221pm – automated reply back requesting the purchase order
    • 1243pm – call back advising i needed the Motor Vehicle PUrchase Agreement uploaded
    • 1248pm – call tesla.  Learned i needed to select finance from 3rd party.  I set it up and waited for the MVPA to auto generate
    • 115pm – uploaded the MVPA to DCU portal
  • March 16 – no contact
  • March 17 – I called DCU.  in 15 minutes, my loan was processed with the following worth knowing:
    • 1.24% APR for the loan! 1.99% headline rate with
      • 0.50% for having my direct deposit with DCU
      • EXTRA 0.25% discount for EV
    • ability to choose repayment date
    • no repayments for up to 60 days
  • March 25 – Delivery day in Plano, TX
    • Scheduled for 4PM but showed up at 330pm
    • Drive up and find you car
    • Pair your phone, unlock car, and drive away!
    • Tesla folks were super helpful in explaining things and help file a repair ticket
    • Full coverage for first 100 miles, so no pressure to find everything on site
  • March 29 – Moved $1000 to the savings account as it has a 6.15% APR interest rate!

Overall, a great experience with DCU. The account has synched well with Mint, but Personal Capital is struggling. I’m sure it will work out.

Referral program was historically $20. Send me a note if you want to see if it’s working!

Show me the money: $700 from Citi

TL;DR

[UPDATE – Citi paid the $700! We’ll have to pay tax on it, but it’s free money!]

Why keep so much cash?

$50,000 is a lot of money, but could be the right number for a emergency cushion if you have a household annual spend of $100,000+. This means 6 months of highly liquid funds for emergencies.

In our case, we are actually building a house with a 6 month construction time frame. While we could roll the dice and put it into the stock market, we are following the conventional financial planning advice that our down payment should be kept in highly liquid, low volatility instruments (i.e. cash)

Why not the $1,500 offer?

It’s asking for about 4x the money for only 2x the reward. It’s also much more than most families would need for a reserve fund. If part of your investment strategy is to have $200,000 cash (lots of good reasons to do so for the right person), you should definitely go for it!

What do I think of the overall Citi package?

Most of us need some form of banking service. You might as well get rewards for doing the basics. Citi offers their own points program called Citi Thank You points that are worth about $0.005 – $0.05 per point. It’s pretty easy to earn 675 points per month ($3-$33) on an ongoing basis via Direct Deposit, Auto Save (move $5 per month to a savings account) and having a Savings/Money Market Account.

Citi also has branches across the company and if you maintain $50k for the Citi Priority Account Package has free checks and waives ATM fees with a solid online banking platform.

Sign up / learn more here from Citi

Battle of the Baby Bottle Brushes: Oxo vs Boon

TL;DR

  • Boon Bottle Brush isn’t the best selling, but I think it’s the best
  • Key is the design which lets all of the brushes dry independently. Bonus is 4 brush types and 3 styles (including brand new Modern style!)
  • Munchkin and OXO have the nipple brush is stored inside the handle, which makes it harder to dry
  • Downside is 3x cost vs Munchkin ($4.99) and 2x vs Oxo ($7.99), but at $15, a worthwhile investment for something I use 3-4x a day!

Battle of the Brushes

I never thought I’d find joy in a bottle brush, but here we are! We did what every new parent does and browsed “best of…”. Bottle brushes aren’t too sophisticated ended up with the Wirecutter recommended OXO Bottle Brush for our son. However, I was always frustrated that the nipple brush was stored in the handle making it hard to dry.

With our daughter, we bought the Boon bottle brush (two styles available: Cacti + Mod)and found it to be, as far a bottle brushes go, a delightful experience!

  • Design allows for each brush to dry properly
  • Stand for easy storage
  • 4 brush heads for a range of uses (both the standard bottle and the various pump parts)
  • Now, a cool new stylish “Mod” design that I like a lot better than the Cacti design (new for 2021!)

I am the primary bottle / pump / haakkaa cleaner in our household and as someone who uses the bottle brush 3-4 times a day right now, I find that the extra price to be totally worth it!

See all of my tried and tested baby/kids stuff here

Morning JOLT: Game changing grind and Brew coffee machine

TL;DR

  • I used to live in an NYC apartment which was directly connected to a Starbucks
  • COVID life in Texas meant I needed a commute free solution – both a French Press and Brew were too messy (the grinds really)
  • $59.99 BLACK+DECKER 12-Cup Mill and Brew Coffeemaker, Black, CM5000B is a winner! Less than 90 seconds a day to prep and clean!
  • DO NOT DUMP THE GRINDS IN THE SINK – I only learned that while writing this blog post

Why it works for me

  • Grinding beans was too messy (and I’ve convinced myself that pre-ground beans would taste bad – with zero evidence)
  • I’ve tried a couple grinders and it was messy transferring from grinder to French Press or coffee machine
  • I prefer drip vs espresso based drinks for every day drinking
  • BLACK+DECKER 12-Cup Mill and Brew Coffeemaker has built in grinder with no filter making for an insanely easy prep and clean experience. I probably spend no more than 90 seconds a day doing the following:
    • Night before / AM – pour in beans and water
    • During the day – throw the grinds away, rinse and dry
  • A measuring cup by the machine to not overpour – we use 1 cup of beans for 12 cups of water
  • DO NOT DUMP THE GRINDS IN THE SINK. Honestly, that was my go to approach until i researched it for this blog post. Pretty much every article in the interwebs will tell you it’s a bad idea as the fine grinds get clumped up over time and will clog your sink
  • Some pictures of the BLACK+DECKER 12-Cup Mill and Brew Coffeemaker in action!

Listen for it: 20-30% Sonos savings / discounts

TL;DR

  • Sonos is a fantastic product for getting the whole home connected, but hard to find on sale / discounts / coupons
  • 15% – find a student friend in your network, Sonos has a student program!
  • 25% – Amazon Warehouse offers another awesome alternative for open box items
  • Don’t forget to get your cashback – I tried Lemoney for the first time – 7.2% cash back – let’s see if it works with the student discount!
  • Supercharged with Credit Card rewards, I saved 22% on the Sonos Amp (x2) + 29% on a Sonos Port!

Student discount

Sonos partners with Unidays to offer 15% off and it’s advertised right on the website! It’s easy to login and you get a single use Sonos savings coupon!

It is limited to a $2,500 of equipment, but that should be enough for most homes!

Amazon Warehouse

For a longer post, but Amazon Warehouse offers amazing discounts on pre-owned, used, and open box items. Depending on the item, I’m comfortable using the service. Sonos as a solid state electronic equipment definitely fits this item. It also includes Amazon’s 30 day FREE returns!

I needed a Sonos Port to connect my home theater to the rest of the Sonos network. It retails for $449 and the Amazon Warehouse price was 25% lower at $335.45. I took a chance that the “acceptable” condition really referred to the box, as how can you really damage the physical device?

Pictures below + a successful audio test shows a successful Amazon Warehouse Port experience!

Cashback!

It’s often worth worth testing a cashback portal when spending a bunch of money! I have www.cashbackmonitor.com bookmarked (see screenshot below) so I can see the latest rates. I usually default to Rakuten, but with $1,000+ purchase, I figured it was worth signing up and I gave Lemoney a shot, but these sites are never 100% when using coupons (the Sonos student discount is a coupon code).

Source: http://www.cashbackmonitor.com

Bottom Line

Sonos PortSonos Amp
Retail Price$449.00$649.00
Discount($113.55)($97.35)
Credit Card($16.77)($5.52)
Cashbackna($39.72)
Net price$318.68$506.41
Savings29%22%

Port Discount: Amazon Warehouse Savings + 5% Amazon Visa cash back

Amp Discount: Student Discount + 1% Amex Platinum reward + Lemoney

Take a seat: great budget office chair for $150

TL;DR

  • I’ve been fortunate to have had fancy chairs at work (e.g. Herman Miller Aeron) and wanted something much more affordable for the home office
  • I find the WorkPro® 1000 Series Mesh Mid-Back Task Chair looks pretty good and works just as well for me for $150 (almost always on sale, never actually sells for $269.99)
  • 4.6 stars with 85% 4 + 5 star reviews (the distribution matters!) at Office Depot
  • I’m no professional chair reviewer, but I liked it so much we’ve bought 2 – my home office and my wife’s home office

WorkPro® 1000 Series Mesh Mid-Back Task Chair, Black Item

Working from out of the in-law’s house during COVID-19, my wife and I quickly realized the need for a solid office chair.

It was nearly impossible to find a meaningful review site that offered a review that resonated. NY Times Wirecutter had a budget recommendation (The HON Ignition 2.0) that is currently $300+!

My wife first bought a “well rated” chair on wayfair and I immediately started searching for a replacement. It was hard to parse through the wall of reviews and quite frankly, we got lucky, but I now own two and recommend to everyone: WorkPro® 1000 Series Mesh Mid-Back Task Chair. I bought ours at OfficeDepot recommend you buy local in case you find a dud (chairs are a pain to ship). It’s almost always on sale and and even better value with:

If you want to do your own desktop research, you can review the reviews. I like to:

  • review the ratings distribution – impressive at 85% 4+5 stars.
  • read the 1 star reviews – seemed like bad inventory and if it’s not the right fit for you, you can return it!
  • Always buy with a credit card that offers an extra layer of protection (like the Amex Platinum)
Review distribution as of January 31, 2021 on officedepot.com

Let me know if you buy it and what you think!

Monetize your credit score: playing the credit card game

TL;DR

  • Your credit score, above a certain number is a vanity metric and WAY better to get a card every few months
  • A portfolio of credit cards offers 100%+ returns in benefits and features versus time spent and annual fees
  • Three main categories I keep:
    • Ultra-premium: $500+ in annual fees, but awesome benefits
    • Hotel cards: Free night justifies the annual cost. Getting $200-500 a night hotels for $49-$95
    • No-fee: Good for credit longevity and opportunistic perks
  • Return on time is >$500/hour given most of these cards take under 5 minutes to apply and have huge sign on bonuses
  • All of the above assumes you have no problems paying off the balance in full each month.

What’s in my wallet

Churning credit cards is profitable, but it does create cognitive load and stress. Below are the keepers that I find worth having in my wallet year after year. The hotel cards worked great for up to 1 kid, but we’ll have to see if they continue make sense with a family of 4.

CategoryCardAnnual FeeWhy I keep it
Ultra PremiumAmerican Express Platinum (my referral link, as of 3/14/21 and amazing 75k + 10x on key categories)$550– Amex Lounge
– Priority Pass
– Delta Lounge
– 5x earnings
-$200 Uber credit
– $200 Airline fee credit
– $100 Saks
Lots of amazing short term bonuses during COVID phase to keep loyalty too:
– $100 best buy
– $100 Home Depot
– $30/month for 6 months on paypal purchases
– $20 off cell bills etc.
Hotel CardsMarriott Bonvoy Amex (no longer available – Chase Bonvoy Boundless is close)$95– 1 free night up to 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points
Hotel CardsWorld of Hyatt Credit Card$95– 1 free night at Hyatt Category 1-4
Hotel CardsIHG Rewards Club Select Mastercard (now: IHG Rewards Club Premier Card – $89)$49– Free night for up to 40,000 IHG points
No-feeAmazon Prime Reward Visa Signature Card$0– 5% back on all Amazon / Wholefoods purchases
No-feeChase Freedom$0– rotating 5x categories including gas, amazon, paypal, etc
OtherChase Ink Business$95– enables 1:1 points transfers to frequent flier programs. Star Alliance for business class is our plan. it worked great on our honeymoon and we hope to do it again when the kids are older!
This table is really focused on the annual benefit I get value out of, there’s a lot more on some cards!

This is a post i aspire to update over time. Let’s see!

Make $2,340 per hour: how to get a couple sign on bonuses and 5% off everything at Target + Amazon

TL;DR

  • This is really for the peoples who shop a lot at Target and/or Amazon (with Prime membership)
  • Sign up for the right cards and you can earn 5% off everything you buy at Target and Amazon, including Whole Foods
  • <5 minutes to apply for each card
  • Amazon Prime Visa card has a $100 sign up offer
  • Target Red Card offers come and go ($40 from Nov 1 – Dec 26, 2020)
  • Value of savings if you spend $5k a year at those two stores = $250 + $100 (Amazon sign up) + $40 (Target Sign up) = $390
  • $390 / 10 min = $2,340 per hour – it was worth my time!
  • Plastic overload is a problem – you don’t need to carry either card to get full value!

The deal

A significant portion of our family spend goes to Target and Amazon. By signing up for the right piece of plastic, you can save 5% on pretty much everything you buy there. As an extra bonus, there can be a sign up bonus for each card

Amazon

Assuming find an Amazon Prime membership worthwhile, the Amazon Prime Visa card is a no brainer.

  • $0 annual fee
  • $100 Amazon Gift Card on sign up (As of Dec 15, 2020)
  • 5% cash back on everything at Amazon and Whole Food
  • Occasionally massive bonuses (e.g. 20% off)
  • Add to your Amazon.com account for online purchases and Apple Pay to use in store at Whole Foods

The key caveat is if you are an active player in the credit card game. It’s issued by Chase and subject to their 5/24 rule which limits you to 5 new personal credit cards opened in the past 24 months.

Below shows that this really doesn’t make sense without Amazon Prime

Comparison of two Amazon credit cards on Dec 15, 2020

Target

Target offers a choice of a Red Card as a debit card or credit card. Assuming you can manage the variable spend of transactions posting to your checking account, I recommend the debit card. I only sign up for credit cards that offer significant sign up bonuses or value. At Target, there’s no incremental value in having their credit card.

  • Debit card recommended
  • Occasional $40 sign on bonus – currently active from 11/01/2020 – 12/26/2020
  • Free 2 day shipping with no minimums
  • Extra 30 days for returns
  • Can be used directly from the Target.com app

Travel light – you don’t need to carry these cards

Highly specialized cards can make your wallet a lot thicker very quickly. The good news is that both of these cards can be used card-free

Amazon Prime Visa card– Add to Amazon.com account
– Add to Apple Wallet
Target Red Card– Use via Target app

Conclusion

Can you spend 10 minutes to save yourself hundreds of dollars doing what you were going to do anyways? In the past 12 months, this saved me >$725 with zero effort.

Living in NYC, we pretty bought the majority of our items and groceries at Amazon. I convert these points into cash and it goes straight into my bank account. Final note – although they give you the option, I wouldn’t “shop” with them on Amazon as I don’t get the 5% discount. Move the cash into your checking account / pay off the balance and put the new spend directly on the card.

12 months of rewards on the Amazon Prime Credit card. Probably 70-80% of our household spend is on a combination of Amazon and Whole Foods.

Tetris is a life skill: packing for a cross country move

TL;DR

  • EVERYTHING should be packed in a box when moving
  • Buying boxes will save time and money
  • Home Depot / Lowes are great for standard size boxes and you will need a few Heavy Duty boxes
  • U-Haul is great for specialty boxes, but not standard size (too weak)
  • Make you own boxes for funny shaped items
  • Movers Wrap, AmazonBasics Tape, Newsprint, and bubble wrap are value add investments

How I pack and why

When my wife I first moved in together, we were both living in New York City. She was coming from Murray Hill and I was coming from the UWS and we were starting the serious phase of our lives together in the West Village. It was one of those moments where you realized that two people can have really different world views. I packed everything in boxes while she had an assortment of odds and ends including several of those large blue IKEA bags. 2 moves later (to Brooklyn and most recently Texas), she’s now also on team BOX everything!

The cost of boxes will be more than offset by less money spent on movers and less stress. When moving long distances where cubic feet count, this really matters!

Type of moving suppliesExamples
Standard Size
Moving Boxes
– Standard Strength
– Extra Strength		– Extra Small – 15 in. L x 12 in. W x 10 in. ($0.78)
– Small – 16 in. L x 12 in. W x 12 in. D ($0.98/$1.78)
– Medium – 22 in. L x 16 in. W x 15 in. D ($1.44/$2.58)
– Large (28 in. L x 15 in. W x 16 in. D) ($1.78/$3.68)
– Extra Large – 22 in. L x 22 in. W x 21 in. D ($2.48/$4.60)
Specialty
Moving
Boxes		Some examples
– Large Mirror & Picture Box ($6.95)
– Grand Wardrobe Box ($12.95)
– Laydown Wardrobe Box ($5.95)
Moving
Supplies		– 20 in. x 1000 ft. Heavy Duty Stretch Wrap ($36.98)
– AmazonBasics Moving and Storage Packing Tape ($15.41)
– 20 lbs of Unprinted, Clean Newsprint Paper ($30.99)
– Adj. Cardboard Corner Protector ($21.79)
Make Your Own– Combine the boxes above + score edges + tape
Prices as for December 2020

Standard Moving Boxes

There are the staples and used for 90%+ of our packing. U-Haul offeres similar sizes, but we found moving, the U-Haul boxes were too thin. We bought our boxes at Home Depot, but Lowes has pretty much the same boxes

Regular or Extra Strength? In a cross country move, if you have heavy boxes, some of your regular strength boxes will get crushed. If you have a delicate item (e.g lady’s hats) or really heavy items (e.g. books), I’d use extra strength. For the vast majority of items, regular strength is fine

Specialty Moving Boxes

We found U-haul to have picture frame / wardrobe boxes that worked for us. You can be creative in how these boxes are used as well. We used the Grand Wardrobe box to pack a West Elm Marble side table.

We didn’t think it made sense to move our TVs as they were more than 5 years old. All three (U-Haul / Lowes / Home Depot) seem to offer solid TV boxes

Moving Supplies

AmazonBasics Moving and Storage Packing Tape ($15.41)Rule #1 – don’t run out of tape
Rule #2 – quantity over quality
This is 6 rolls, but each roll is 2x a standard size. Removing the mental stress of running out of tape is totally worth it. I’d also rather go over things 2-3x than trust a single piece of “higher” quality tape.
20 in. x 1000 ft. Heavy Duty Stretch Wrap ($36.98)Stretch wrap is amazing for wrapping furniture and odds and ends. I bought a shorter, thinner version and wish I had bought this. We wrapped our sofa, disassembled crib, dressers (this helped keep drawers closed), etc. It can also be used to seal boxes in protective plastic
Pratt Retail Specialties3/16 in. x 12 in. x 250 ft. Clear Perforated Bubble Cushion WrapBubble wrap. Kind of like tape – buy more than you need. This worked for us, but we didn’t have a strong point of view on it.
– 20 lbs of Unprinted, Clean Newsprint Paper ($30.99)I love clean newsprint packing paper to keep valuables safe. This worked well for us. We wrapped plates and filled gaps in boxes to keep things safe.
Adj. Cardboard Corner Protector ($21.79)We were most stressed about packing frames. These combined with the specialty frame box helped make it easy. The cardboard is still fairly thin, so you’ll need to pack around it too.

Make your own

We had a couple items that just didn’t fit any conventional box. This 22″ x 80″ Design Within Reach mirror was our toughest piece. Ultimately, we made our own with 2 overlapping U-Haul Large picture boxes (48-1/4” x 4-5/16” x 32-11/16” each). If you need to shorten a box:
– draw using a straight edge
– score the cardboard with a ball point pen
– fold the cardboard
– reinforce with lots of tape!

Final thoughts

Time is precious, stress is costly and your stuff is worth a lot. It’s far better to have too much in terms of moving supplies and the right tools than not enough. Through intra-city, international and cross country moves, I’ve never regretted investing a little in having the right supplies. Good luck with your move! For details on our move from NYC to Dallas, check out: The Great Migration: How to move from NYC to Texas for under $3,500