The one about free money

I've mentioned on my blog a few times that I'm an entrepreneur at heart. My mind is always trying to turn hobbies into profit. I am an avid saver and love that feeling when you earn a little bit extra on the side from something else you do, with that being said I know that nothing comes easy and money doesn't just grow on trees!

When I financed my car last fall my bank offered me a rewards debit card. For a $25 yearly fee I was a little hesitant (I wasn't interested in airline miles, all I've heard are horror stories!) The girl explained it all to me and I was like 'eh sure why not'. I sort of forgot about it until the past week when I received my monthly rewards statement.

I logged on to see what I could get with a little over 8,000 points. Expecting to see a cheap handheld fan or a magazine subscription to Puppies Monthly, I was quite surprised to see pages upon pages of gift cards, home goods, electronics, everything you could possibly want.

Sure, I couldn't afford a iTouch or anything like that, but $50 Target gift cards were 5000 points, $25 Best Buy gift card were 2500 points and so on. I then noticed I could "pay myself back", for the same amount as a $50 gift card, I could put $50 back into my account. Add. to. shopping cart! Go ahead and throw in another $25 please!

So basically you're telling me just because I used my debit card all year long on everyday purchases (gas, food, shopping, etc) I get a bonus $75. COUNT ME IN!


I'm not getting anything from Chase for saying this, and I'm sure a lot of banks offer it I'm just new to the "rewards" scene and found this exciting! I understand I spent all the money and the points are nowhere near the amount I've spent, but I would have spent that amount regardless of if I was getting points or not!

Do you use any rewards debit cards? Cash back credit cards? Are you one of the few who has actually mastered the art of airline miles?