Earlier this year, I wrote about our decision to sign up for the Chase Freedom credit card.

So far it has been a Smart Financial Decision for our family.

We haven’t changed our spending habits to take advantage of the 5% cash back rewards Chase Freedom offers on rotating categories every quarter. But we have reaped the benefits of switching normal spending from our Fidelity Rewards card, which offers 2% cash back on everything, to our Chase Freedom card when we can earn 5% on purchases we would have made anyways. Chase Freedom offers 1% cash back on purchases that aren’t in the specific spending categories eligible for 5% cash back, so we still use our Fidelity Rewards card for most of our spending.

Since we started using the Chase Freedom card in the spring, our family has received almost $290 in sign up bonuses and cash back! Continue Reading

In today’s edition of Smart Financial Decisions, we’re writing about a simple, but incredibly effective, way to save significant amounts of money.

And almost all of us can find ways to use this skill.

It’s called picking up your phone and making a phone call.

As I’ve gotten more serious about pursuing financial independence and early retirement, I’ve used this skill more and more often.

This year alone I’ve made several phone calls that have saved the ROMT family well over $1,000.

Not a bad return for a couple of hours of “work”!

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