Guess what? I want to go somewhere. I bet you didn’t see that one coming. My most recent desire is to go to Prague and Budapest. Of course, I want to go as frugally as possible. Lately I have been very inspired by a blog I follow called www.boardingarea.com/onemileatatime . This blog explains the benefits of playing the mileage/points game, for free or inexpensive travel. I understand the benefits of the game and I enjoy playing it. Lucky@onemileatatime explains how you can maximize your miles/points using credit cards. I have taken it a few steps further to maximize them even more.

Today my garbage disposal went out. I went to Von’s grocery store (also known as my home away from home) and I bought gift cards for Home Depot. I used my credit card to get sky mileage. I got 4 times the gas rewards, which equals $.60 off per gallon , up to 25 gallons. I went home and logged into United’s skymall, went to Home Depot and bought the garbage disposal. This gets me 2 miles per $1 spent. I then scheduled to pick it up at the store near me. I told them to text me when it was available. Within 30 min, I got a text telling me it is ready for pick up. The product will be up at the service desk waiting for me. In the long run I saved even more money by not wandering around the store and throwing more items in the cart.

Some may think this was a waste of time. Was it worth it for 500 miles and a $15 savings at the gas pump? I feel it was. I had to go to Von’s anyway. By taking 10 min to order my item online, I saved at least a half hour not wandering around the store. In the 30 minutes I waited for the text, I ate my lunch and wrote this post. I feel I have accomplished quite a bit.

The moral of the post is to maximize your rewards. If you do not know how to do this, just ask me, I would love to help you maximize your rewards.