Discover Card is KILLING ME!!!

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

jmfcst, if you're living so frugally, how could you possibly be racking up 7 to 10K in ordinary monthly personal expenses unless you have at least a half-dozen kids?  (Kids can get expensive quickly, but even with the usual two-kid household, I can't see racking up basic personal expenses that large.)

However, it would seem to me that one potential solution to the 12.5K cap would be to have your wife get a card in her own name.

Another is to get a second card from another issuer that also offers a cash back reward.

Since some places don't take Discover (Discover and AmEx both charge merchants more than VISA/MC) it's a good idea to have an non-Discover card anyway.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

However, it would seem to me that one potential solution to the 12.5K cap would be to have your wife get a card in her own name.

a card in her own name?  yeah, only if I can use your name and address for billing purposes!  oh, and also, be sure to review the monthly statement and forward all questions to her...(I can get away with saying that - she doesn't read my posts)

But then it wouldn't be in her name.  Since I don't want to risk breaking up a marriage, I won't ask for her picture and contact info to see if we would both be interested in her having my name.

Another is to get a second card from another issuer that also offers a cash back reward.

I used to have a couple of other visa non-business card, but once the meltdown occured in late 2008, they sent me letters saying they were closing the account!!!

in fact, because of our current credit squeeze, a week ago I dug out our CapitalOne card which we hadn't used for a couple of years and called the number on the back and the account was closed - and I don't think I was the one who closed it.

So, yeah, looks like I going to be looking for an additional card.

Yeah, I make certain I charge something for time to time on my backup card for precisely that reason.  Issuers tend to close inactive accounts even in the good times.


You've got quite a commute with all those gasoline expenses unless some convenience store munchies are part of that gasoline bill. (In which case that's one obvious area to save.) Good luck with the clothing expenses having four females in the family.  Without knowing all the details, it looks like depending on how expensive a restaurant you frequent, the family is dining out two to five times a week, assuming neither you or the wife eat breakfast or lunch at a restaurant.  Eating at home more often would be a way to save, even if it is just prepared stuff like Stouffer's or Birds Eye.  (From scratch would save even more money, but also cost more time, so I'd only recommend that if either you or the wife find cooking to be a pleasure.)

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Creative Christians was a one time stop...my son and I stopped in because it was next door to the Chinese place we were eating in prior to taking him to meet his Scrabble buddies.  He found a $9 book he wanted and I bought my wife a $75 charm bracelet for Valentines’ Day, which was all I got her (no card, no roses, no chocolate, no dinner out).

I'd have skipped the Chinese place and splurged on the dinner myself.  Replacing casual eating out with in-home meals is the quickest way to save some money.  However, taking a kid to play Scrabble boggles the mind.  Are there no kids in your neighborhood that he's friends with?

We're not buying expensive stuff …we're just really not watching what we're spending and it adds up in a hurry.

Are you certain you're not the Federal Government?   Seriously tho, it's the little things that bust budgets, as you're unfortunately noticing.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

we didn't have time to go home, his Scrabble meeting was right after church.  He's one of the best Scrabble players in the country for his age (6th grade) and he has to travel around Houston and play adults in order to find competition.

Makes a little more sense with the added details, and he probably enjoyed it, but spending money (on transportation and eating out) to play competitive Scrabble is hardly frugal.

What costs a lot of money is having kids in activities - it comes with a lot of added costs like having to eat out because of not having time to go home and cook a meal.

Agreed, kids are expensive, but frankly I think kids generally spend too much time (and parents too much time and money) on organized activities these days. Other than the fact that I never got an MLB contract, I can't say I suffered as a child from playing whiffleball in a vacant lot with the neighborhood kids instead of a more organized form of the sport.  How many different activities do you have to take your kids to?  Cutting back on those might be one way to save money.