American Express Green Card

Image courtesy of American Express

Ah yes, the classic, the iconic, the original American Express Card. Now known as the Green card, it is the quintessential Amex but sadly isn’t held in as high esteem as its pricier brethren. However, the Green card is, in my opinion, a very underrated card and, for the annual fee of $150, one of the best.

This is my original Amex, too, and a story I like to tell.

In 2007, a younger Adrian got his first charge card and changed his financial life. Not only was he fascinate with credit and charge cards alike, American Express was more than just “another bank.” There was a touch of prestige, a great history to the company, and valuable financial services that came along with it. 

A good portion of all purchases made by Adrian went through his Green card. Everything from camera equipment to travel, cell phone bills and groceries, if the merchant took American Express, it was likely the card he used.

Three hundred thousand points later, Adrian has since evolved his Amex spending to a Gold and Platinum card but he will reminisce about the Green card as “something missing” from his wallet.

Switching away from the third person, I do actually miss my Green card. Perhaps it was because it was my first charge card (they aren’t technically charge cards anymore) but it is also a great card to have. The account still exists since 2007 but I have upgraded it to the Gold card.

If you hop into a room with a bunch of credit card aficionados, many will tell you how “bad” or “unappealing” the Green card is but I disagree. It has some of the broader rewards with 3x points on a lot of every day spending and travel—travel being so broad that it can be said that if you don’t own it and it has wheels, wings, or a bed, you probably get 3x points.

I can go through all the point earning, offers, and more, but the American Express has a website for that. I’d rather give you the context of why it is valuable as a broad urban living, travel, young professional’s card.

Story time… you’re going on a week long trip to Denver. You are flying, staying in an AirBnB, will mostly be eating out, and taking transit or ride shares. There will be other purchases and spending along the way but let’s look at the broad categories and use some nice round numbers.

The Trip
Flight: $500
Lodging: $1400 ($200/night)
Dining: $350
Transit: $200

The Points
Green: 3x on all categories
Gold: 3x flights, 1x lodging, 4x dining, 1x transit (but $10 credit for Uber)
Platinum: 5x flights, 1x lodging (AirBnB, 1x dining, 1x transit ($15 for Uber)

Category	Green Card	Gold Card	Platinum Card
Flight	1500	1500	2500
Lodging	4200	1400	1400
Dining	1050	1400	350
Transit	600	200	200
Total	7350	4500	4450

Wow! Didn't expect that!

This is just one example and is a very Millennial travel itinerary with AirBnB and all. If you were to stay at a hotel like Hilton, you can add 5600 points to the Platinum Card (5x on hotels) and might also have a couple hundred dollars in hotel credits too but the value for someone who isn’t using the “traditional” lodging option of AirBnB is clear.

Once back home, the Green card can definitely be valuable for most purchases. The Gold card has an advantage with 4x on dining and grocery stores, but the Green would still win over the revered Platinum Card.

The point isn’t to shoot down other cards. As will all things, “the right tool for the right job” would be the mantra and the Green card might be the right card for many. I mostly use my Platinum card for everything except groceries and dining (Gold card) but that also means I have to work with two cards. Having one single every day card that covers most things well sounds really a lot easier.

If one isn’t the kinda to play the “chasing points game,” and having a different card optimized for each category of spending is too much trouble, with only $150 annual membership fee, the Green card’s power and simplicity is a great choice.

I no longer have my Green card but if it sounds like the right card for you, check out the link below. Some pretty good signup bonuses right not. Worth the spend.

Also, don’t forget to Shop Small.

Happy World Backup Day!

Image courtesy of NASA
@nasa

Today is World Backup Day!

It is absolutely important to backup your data. It won’t hurt until it happens but the sinking feeling you get when something important is lost to the digital abyss is not something one wants to experience. Backup solutions are usually inexpensive and easy to use—most also need very little of your attention on a regular basis, happening automatically.

A wiseman once said, “There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who have lost data and those who will lose data.”

Setup your backup today, March 31, 2022, so tomorrow you’re not an April Fool!

RESOURCES

How to Backup Your Mac
How to Backup Your Windows PC
How to Backup your iPhone, iPhone, iPod Touch
How to Backup your Apple Watch
How to Backup your Android Phone
How to Backup your Nintendo Switch

RECOMMENDATIONS

iCloud Storage (50GB, 200GB, 2TB options)
Lacie Rugged Hard Drives
Sandisk Memory Cards
Dropbox
Google Drive

Check out what my team and I posted to our Apple Support YouTube Channel about using Time Machine to restore files!

Public — Social Media meets Investing

If you know the stock market, you can make some serious bank. But for many of us, it is challenging because we DON’T know the market. Where does one start? What is a good stock? How much money should be invested? These questions are endless and, I’d wager, prevent people from taking the first steps into the market. After all, only a fool would bet what little they have only to lose it all.

Public is a social media app for stocks, crypto, and ETFs, that I’ve become quite fond if. On the surface, it is for buying/selling stocks but a little deeper one will find a community of people—beginners and pros alike.

Like a Twitter for investing, one can follow other investors, they can follow you back, and you can join groups to discuss things like # cheapstocks which is a personal favorite of mine. As you work your investments, every sell or buy can be posted into a feed, giving both insight to what you and others are investing. See what is hot, what has been most generous in daily gains or see what stocks are dropping (Buy the dip!).

Websites like E*TRADE are very complicated and impossible to navigate. That can be the different between making a lot of money and losing a lot of money. Quick buys and sells are sometimes vital if one day trades (careful!) and an app like Public gives you all the power of a general investing platform with the simplicity of a social media app.

Once the setup of an account is complete, linking a debit card or bank account allows for easy cashing out or transferring money in for investing. This money is available to invest immediately and all the traditional functions are available like buy market price, limits, and so forth.

I’m not a financial advisor so I probably need to preface this by saying, this article is for demonstration and entertainment purposes only. I’ve been successful overall in making a few dollars using Public and generally think it is a good way to get into the marketplace. You can start with a single dollar if you want and get your feet wet. To help, my referral link below will get you free stock. Free money!

And if you’re curious about what stocks invest in, feel free to follow me on Public! I mostly dabble in penny stocks on Public—speed is very important to making money as penny stocks can be very volatile so Public is a great platform for me.

Check out Public and start investing.