Discussion Just Earned Me 'Nother Quick $100

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Nov 17, 2019
13,395
7,898
136
They usually require a minimum of six months before you close an account without penalty. I'm at about six checking accounts and seven or eight credit card accounts. None of them cost me anythng as i make sure there are either no recurring fees or that I can meet their ways to avoid fees (balance, number of transactions, age, etc.).

I try each one for a while doing bill pay or other tasks. I see how the recurring rewards work and how customer service answers or solves any problems that come up. Eventually, I'll go through and close all but what I really need. I figure that if they going to give me a few hundred dollars, I'll give them a fair shot.


Some will let you get another bonus after a year or two.
 
  • Like
Reactions: igor_kavinski
Nov 17, 2019
13,395
7,898
136
Some of these are really easy. Sign up, make a few transactions within X days and get the bonus. I'd had a few pay out in less than a month. Others make you jump through hoops and wait a few months. Two are completed as far as requirements, but they require the account to be open for 90 days before they pay.

There's one available now that will pay $500, but staggers it over a year, $10 for this, $25 for that, $100 for something else. No way I'll do that one.

The one for $500 I mentioned about just wants at least two deposits totaling $6,000 within 60 days. I can make that happen with some rotations between accounts, but I want the bonus in '23 for tax purposes.
 
Nov 17, 2019
13,395
7,898
136
Nope. But got the lower tier $300 bonus.

Working on another $400 from a different bank and a smaller $80 incentive from Fidelity.
 
Nov 17, 2019
13,395
7,898
136
Around $500 in CC bonuses, $800 in bank bonuses.

Anytime I get any kind of significant discount, bonus (like the above), credit or promotion that saves me money I would have otherwise had to spend, I move the equivalent amount to a special savings account. I'm eligible for a Homestead Property Tax Credit every year for example. Another is a discount if I pay my homeowner's or auto insurance in full.

That account has accumulated around $5,000 this year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Shmee
Nov 17, 2019
13,395
7,898
136
The only part that's really income is the bank bonuses. The CC bonuses are rebates/savings off spending and everything else is just savings/discounts/credits off normal spending.
 

Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 13, 2008
8,313
3,177
146
I recently got a Paypal Mastercard and I should get a $150 bonus shortly.
 
Nov 17, 2019
13,395
7,898
136
^^ That one paid faster than expected.

These bank and CC bonuses, plus various other deals and discounts have allowed me to add around $5K to a high interest savings account this year paying around 5%, which has added quite a bit more to the balance.

I also paid off 5 CC accounts in the last couple of days, leaving me owing on only one with a small balance. I plan to pay that one off by the end of January.

Those balances were/were what was left from a few necessary larger purchases (like auto and home insurance) using 0% interest promos. Something like $5 - 6K charged and paid off without incurring a dime of interest.
 
Jul 27, 2020
28,173
19,204
146
These bank and CC bonuses, plus various other deals and discounts have allowed me to add around $5K to a high interest savings account this year paying around 5%, which has added quite a bit more to the balance.
Who is going to be the beneficiary after you are gone? Please don't say no one. I want a happy ending with a happily ever after for someone :p
 
Nov 17, 2019
13,395
7,898
136
That ended up being $1,500 (I found another one for $200) and all of that is confirmed, but hasn't paid out yet. They tell you when you've completed the requirements and it pays out at the end of the waiting period, usually either 60 or 90 days.

Normally I bank it and draw 4% interest or more. This batch will be used for the mini PC and accessories, plus tires on my old 'Hoe.

Buncha' new stuff for no real cost other than a little time.
 
Nov 17, 2019
13,395
7,898
136
I've lost track of these, at least what I've posted here.

Working on two more, one for $450, another for $100 that should pay out in Jan or Feb.
 

Charmonium

Lifer
May 15, 2015
10,618
3,596
136
Once I read step one and then see a set of visually unresolved further steps, I feel the donut glaze creeping across my eyeballs.

Just out of curiosity though, wouldn't you be better off just donating plasma - for cash of course. You may have hit the blood donation lottery with a rare blood type and you wouldn't even know.
 
Nov 17, 2019
13,395
7,898
136
Step one: You put some money in.

Step two: They put some money in.

Step three: You take out more money than you put in.

All with a few mouse clicks.

No needles. No leaking into a bag.

.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,603
3,824
126
Once I read step one and then see a set of visually unresolved further steps, I feel the donut glaze creeping across my eyeballs.

Just out of curiosity though, wouldn't you be better off just donating plasma - for cash of course. You may have hit the blood donation lottery with a rare blood type and you wouldn't even know.
Some of them do require a bit more work but a lot are pretty straight forward. Same for credit card bonuses (assuming you don't carry a balance or buy more than you would otherwise)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Charmonium
Nov 17, 2019
13,395
7,898
136
Should have four of them paying out this week, maybe 10 days for $1,550. Frustrating. The waiting is the hardest part not knowing if the dirty deeds were done right.