The card is an Associated Banks Visa rewards card and is issued by Citi.  From what I’ve read so far it seems to be pretty easy to get a decent line of credit with a normal credit score i.e. I’ve seen a $15,000 line of credit with a 700 credit score.  Also, for those ambitious out there, this is a perfect card to get if your looking to transfer an outstanding balance simply to earn interest on the outstanding balance.  For an explanation of how this works please check out a post from MY Money Blog.

Here’s a link to all the fine print.  You’ll notice it states there is a 3% balance transfer fee.  However,  there is no fee with the 0.00% APR balance transfer offer described above.

APPLICATION LINK HERE!!

If you are a Bank of America credit card holder you can get $75 free for opening a MyAccess Free Checking Account.  I am not actually a Bank of America credit card holder so I am not able to complete the offer, but it seems pretty straight forward and easy to do.

According the Bank of America website it’s 3 quick easy steps to the $75.

1. Open your new MyAccess Checking^® account online with offer code CH75TAD
2. Fund your new account with $25 within 30 days
3. Receive your $75 within 90 days of account opening

The MyAccess checking account has no minimum balance requirements, no fees and no direct deposit requirements.  It looks like the only stipulation is you must be a Bank of America credit card holder and you must keep the account open for 90 days to get the $75 deposited.  Good luck for those who qualify, you can’t beat FREE MONEY!!!

Click Here to Sign Up

If you are a Chase card holder and are in good standing you may be eligible to receive up to $5 a day for the entire month of July ($155 max).

The Bad News: You will only receive the five dollar bonus on the days you make a purchase.

The Good News: It doesn’t matter how small the purchase is….$.01 would work.

Are you eligible?
First, you must be a Chase credit card holder, second, you must be in good standing and third, you must receive the promotional pamphlet in the mail (see photos below). It looks like only select Chase card holders are receiving this pamphlet in the mail. I have been unable to verify how they are selecting these card holders. If someone is aware of how card holders are being selected please let us know.

Here is what the pamphlet that comes in the mail looks like…..thanks leftnotright

I have also read that some people are getting a $3 per day promotion instead of the $5 per day. If you think you may be part of this promotion or think you should be, it might be worth a 5 minute phone call to Chase (1-800-432-3117).

There is always on unexpected expense that can’t be covered by the monthly budget and forces us to put the charge on the credit card.  Sometimes we just roll it into the 2nd mortgage becuase it’s “tax deductile interest” and we can’t afford not to fix it now.

Although that may be true, I would suggest there are better ways to deal with the unexpected.  As almost any financial planner would tell you, GET AN EMERGENCY FUND.  Even if you have as little as $500 put away for a rainy day it might be what keeps you from starting to dig that hole.

The problem that occurs is in the following month our budget is already busted because of last month’s surprise charge.  So how do we fix it?  We don’t pay one of current bills or simply continue to carry a balance on our credit card telling ourselves that “next month we will be able to pay it off and get back on track.”  As we all know, next month comes along and another “emergency” expense comes up and the credit card balance continues to grow and our debt hole gets deeper and deeper.

How deep is your debt hole?
Here are a few questions to ask yourself to see if maybe your debt hole is a little deeper than you thought.

• Can I pay off my credit card balances each month?
• Do I skip some bills to pay others?
• If I lost my job today, would I have enough in liquid assets to survive for more than a month?
• Do my spouse and I constantly argue about money?
• Do I receive phone call from creditors about overdue bills?
• Have I postponed medical or dental appointments because I can’t afford them right now?
• Am I using an increasing amount of my monthly income to pay down debt?

I know this may not be worth it for some, but I figured I’d throw it out there. An idea would be to open up a Citi Professional Credit Card that gives the $100 gift card bonus. However, in order to qualify for the $100 gift card you must make combined purchases of over $250. Why not trade money for money and pick up an extra $100 in the process.