October 2019 Real World Travel, Budget, Deal, and Life Hacking
We have a goal of financial independence, retire early (FI/RE) and long term travel, which means we’re hard at work making sure it happens. We have many travel, budget, deal, and life hacks in our tool box and are always on the lookout for new ones. Check out what we did last month, hopefully it inspires you!
This is a recurring series where we talk about our travel, budget, deal, and life hacking for the month. We share with you in hopes that you’ll find a few takeaways to implement yourself.
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As a digital nomad couple pursuing financial independence, retire early (FI/RE) we’re often asked how we keep our budget and expenses so low.
Being minimalists and frugal helps, but there’s a bit more to it than that. We’re able to get exponential savings and benefits with travel hacking, stacking deals and offers, house sitting, strategically using miles and points, and being flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities as they come up!
Quick Links
If you’re wondering how to travel internationally, or simply vacation nearby and not spend a fortune on airfare or hotels, then we’d like to welcome you to the world of ‘travel hacking’. See what credit cards we carry, and how we take full advantage of the points and miles we’ve earned.
Amex Offers - fuboTV
We checked our Amex Offers this month and found that our Hilton Surpass credit card was giving us $20.00 back on our next bill for fuboTV!
We attached the offer to our eligible credit card and made sure we paid the bill with it.
“We saved $20.00, which is nearly a 45% savings on our monthly fuboTV bill.”
Tip: Take your savings to the next level by using the ‘right’ card that offers the highest category multiplier, i.e. 4x at office stores.
Don’t miss our Ultimate Gear and Packing Lists! Whether you’re traveling long-term or going on a short vacation, we'll show you how to travel with a single carry-on. We share our packing lists (his and hers!), packing tips, and our favorite gear. Plus, we discuss what we don’t carry and why!
Be sure to use the best credit card you have for the specific category you’re spending in (travel, restaurant, office supplies, etc.) to maximize savings/points further.
In the case of Lyft, credit card transactions code as ‘travel’ so you’ll want you be sure and use the best card (highest multiplier) in that category. Cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on travel), Wells Fargo Propel (3x on travel), Citi Premier (3x on travel), etc.
The exception to using the card with the best travel multiplier is when you’re trying to hit a minimum spend to get a bonus on a specific credit card.
Price shop all ride sharing services: Uber, Lyft, Juno, etc. Also, you can use the Bellhop app to compare services.
Review ride sharing reward programs to find the program that best suits your riding habits.
If possible, avoid surge pricing. Prices increase in situations where demand is especially high for rides, like rush hour or when it’s raining.
When using a ride sharing service that offers reward points or miles on other reward programs, be sure to connect the appropriate accounts. For example, Hilton, and Delta accounts should be connected to your Lyft account.
Freebird for Lyft and Uber
Use Freebird with Lyft or Uber and earn cash back and points with all of your rides!
Download the Freebird app (App Store or Google Play) and connect it to Lyft or Uber. For every ride you take you’ll earn points that you can redeem for rewards or cash. Take it a step further and use Freebird when going to participating business and get cash back on your ride.
Thank you to u/xSaito on Reddit for bringing Freebird to our attention!
Lyft - Business Rewards
For every five Lyft business rides completed (at a minimum of $10.00) a $5.00 ride credit is added to your personal account.
Shannon rides frequently with Lyft for work so she accumulates more $5.00 personal Lyft ride credits than we can use. The only downside to this reward perk is that you can’t combine credits on a ride. Meaning, only one $5.00 personal Lyft ride credit can be used per ride. Sadly, $5.00 doesn’t get us very far in NYC!
“We saved $55.00 with ride credits on Lyft this month!”
Lyft - Hilton Honors Reward Points
Every dollar you spend on Lyft rides (economy, luxury, and extra seats) earn three Hilton Honors points! If you’re taking advantage of Shared Lyft rides then you’ll be earning two points per dollar spent.
We earned 2,166 Hilton Honors points thanks to Lyft business rides this month.
“Per our own valuation of $0.006 cents per point, we earned $13.00 in Hilton Honors points!”
Lyft - Delta SkyMiles
Link your Delta SkyMiles account to Lyft and get one mile for every dollar spent on Lyft rides. Plus, get two miles for every airport ride!
This month we earned a total of 1,048 Delta SkyMiles by using Lyft to get around town and go to and from the airport for business!
“Per our own valuation of $0.02 a mile, we earned $20.96 in Delta SkyMiles!”
World Elite MasterCard Credit Cards and Lyft
World Elite credit card holders receive a $10 credit after taking five Lyft rides in a calendar month. The credit is automatically applied to your next ride and is capped at one credit per month.
This was the first month we earned this credit and it certainly came in handy. On the day we made our way to our next house sit it was pouring down rain. We used our $10.00 Lyft credit to get a free ride to the subway and stayed nice and dry!
“By using our World Elite MasterCard Card to pay for five rides with Lyft, we saved $10!”
Tip: The World Elite MasterCard bonus is only triggered by taking five personal rides (not business rides) and once earned the $10.00 credit is applied to your next personal ride.
Our tool box is full of resources! From travel hacking to house sitting, digital nomad jobs to privacy and security, financially independent retire early (FI/RE) to entertainment, plus travel hacking (credit cards, miles, points, and rewards), and much much more…
Signup Bonus on Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card
Last month we were approved for the Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card with a bonus offer of 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards (after a $5,000 spend in three months). The card carries a $95 annual fee, but when we weigh the bonus points along with 3X bonus points in travel, shipping purchases, internet/cable/phone services, and advertising purchases with social media and search engines, we believe it’s well worth it!
We met the minimum spend on our Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card this month and received Chase Ultimate Rewards for both the spend and the bonus. In total we earned 86,155 Chase Ultimate Rewards!
“We earned a total of 86,155 Chase Ultimate Rewards. Per our own valuation of $0.02 cents apiece, that’s $1,723.10 in Chase Ultimate Rewards!”
SoFi Money and Invest Account
We made an easy return on our money by participating in Sofi’s referral program. It’s was as simple as opening a SoFi Money account through a referral link and depositing $100. That’s all it took to get a $50 bonus added to Sergio’s account.
Then Shannon turned around and used Sergio’s referral link to open an account, fund it with $100, and also get a $50 bonus. In turn, Sergio got $100 for referring Shannon.
The deal got even sweeter though! We turned around and did the same with a SoFi Invest account and we each got another $50 bonus in free stock for opening the account and then Sergio an additional $50 for referring Shannon.
Tip: The SoFi Money and Invest referral bonuses are still available. We recommend reading Making an Easy $300+ with SoFi Money, Invest, and Loan Referral Program | Make Up to $10,000 for all of the up-to-date details of this deal.
“We made $300 using referral links and opening SoFi Money and SoFi Invest accounts!”
Coupons
We used to do a decent amount (not crazy though!) of couponing. However, it takes quite a bit of time and effort to get amazing deals that get you free stuff. There was a point when our time became more valuable and it wasn’t worth the effort to continue seriously couponing.
The thrill of a good deal never goes away though!
We had a few personal items on our shopping list (toothpaste and shampoo) and instead of just putting them in our shopping basket without a second thought, we decided to see what deals we could get.
“Using our friendly CVS Extrabucks Rewards, we walked out with two tubes of toothpaste and a bottle of shampoo for 50% off!”
Miles Earned by Flights - Delta
This month we also earned miles the old fashioned way, by flying with Delta.
Shannon flew for work this month exclusively on Delta, earning a total of 3,542 Delta SkyMiles. However, a customer service issue resulted in a bonus of 4,500 Delta SkyMiles added to our account, for a total of 8,042 Delta SkyMiles earned this month..
“Per our own valuation of $0.02 a mile we earned $160.84 in Delta SkyMiles!”
IHG Hotel Stays and Credit Card Spend
This summer we were approved for the IHG Rewards Club Premier credit card with not only a 125,000 point sign up bonus, automatic Platinum rewards status, but also 40x points on all purchases at IHG properties.
As you can probably guess, our hotel focus has shifted and most of our upcoming stays will be with IHG. In October we completed only one stay at a Holiday Inn Express for two days, but we still earned 35,387 IHG points!
“We earned a total of 35,387 IHG points. Per our own valuation of $0.006 cents apiece, that’s $212.32 in IHG points!”
Tip: Make the most of your IHG stays by paying with you IHG Rewards Club Premier credit card. You’ll get an additional multiplier on points earned and end up scoring big!
Marriott Platinum Elite Status and Bonvoy Points
Earn Marriott’s Platinum Elite status by staying 50+ nights (including award nights) within a calendar year.
This month we took advantage of the following Marriott Platinum Elite benefits:
Enhanced internet access
50% bonus on earned points
4 pm late checkout
Room upgrades
Free breakfast
Club lounge access
Marriott Platinum Elite Status for 2020
The 40x bonus points promotion on the IHG card caught our attention. So much so that we’ve changed our focus from Marriott hotel stays and Marriott Bonvoy credit card spend to IHG hotel stays and IHG Rewards Club Premier credit card spend.
However, we were only a few nights away from maintaining our Marriott Platinum Elite status for 2020. Since we’re not likely to stay at a Marriott property in the next couple of months we opted to host an ‘event’ for $107.00 at a Marriott hotel and earn 10 elite qualifying nights.
“Our Marriott Platinum Elite status is secured through the end of 2020!”
Marriott Bonvoy Points Earned - Hotel Stays
With our 50% point bonus, quarterly promotions, and points earned by paying for stays with our Marriott Bonvoy credit card, we earned 47,419 Marriott Bonvoy points this month.
“Per our own valuation of $0.01 cents a point, we earned $474.19 in Marriott Bonvoy points!”
Tip: Make the most of your Marriott stays by paying with you Marriott Bonvoy credit card. You’ll get an additional multiplier on points earned and end up scoring big!
London, San Francisco, Paris, New York City, Athens and more?! Trusted Housesitters has allowed us to travel the world on a budget, but more importantly given us an opportunity to make new friends and have cute and cuddly companions along the way. Sign up and start your next great adventure!
House Sitting - Saving on Rent, Mortgage, and Hotels
In November of 2016 we completed our first house sitting job. We loved it so much that we continued traveling (out of one 36-litter backpack each) and house sitting around Europe for the next year. In that first year, we completed 18 house sitting jobs!
After a year in Europe (3 continents, 26 countries, and 60 cities) we came back to North America and chose to keep house sitting full time.
Now, nearly three years after our first house sitting job we’re nearing our 50th house sit! As we’re currently house sitting primarily in New York City, we’re saving a considerable amount of money by not paying rent, a mortgage, or daily hotel/Airbnb costs.
“We spent $6.29 in rent, mortgage, Airbnb, and hotel costs. That’s $0.20 a day!”
Here’s a break down of where we stayed and how much we saved by house sitting in October:
Final Thoughts
Whether it’s making over $1,700 in Chase Ultimate Rewards, using a coupon, or picking up a penny on the street, it all adds up!
Again, hopefully our travel, budget, deal, and life hacks this month have inspired you to implement similar savings and point and mile earnings. Happy hacking!
