The Top 40

Between Costco and Amex, I pick Amex. They have a superior service culture. Cost co is OK, but it is just the two of us old folks at home anymore. The only thing I buy there regularly that I cannot get in a regular supermarket, is large containers of blueberries when they are out of season around here.

Amex - tried them on for size in the late 80's then kicked them to the curb in 1990 as mostly expensive and useless.

Costco - where you have to spend money in order to spend even more money on things that cost about the same as the astute buyers buy in other places.

Much of life today is fake - "Don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle".

Cold hearted orb that rules the night
removes the colors from our sight
red is gray and yellow white
but we decide which is right
and which is an illusion.

I use my AMEX whenever possible. It's customer service is exceptional. It also trained me to be credit-card debt-free, since the full month's charges are due monthly. With AMEX I pay no interest and accrue no creeping balances that overwhelm so many credit card users.

Costco, like credit cards, requires self-restraint. You can end up throwing away all you're saving in bulk purchases that don't get used. They do have a lot that I get there, especially large pans of Shepherd's Pie, available only in winter. I freeze a few because they don't last long. Yummy!

We have different ideas on what debt-free means.

I got rid of my cards 8 years ago and now use only cash and bank debit cards. I have no debt.

I always buy in bulk, just came back from woodchuck where I bought 20lbs of 85/15 ground chuck for $1.99/lb. Brought it home, divided into 1 lb chunks, wrapped in foil, thrown in the chest freezer. The manager told me they'll have center cut pork chops on sale tomorrow. I told him I'll be back.

Well,ghost, when that $5,000 bogus charge hit my AMEX, one call got it removed & a new card arrived by FedEX. My son has his debit card hacked & that $600 is in limbo for 6 weeks while the bank decides if the money will be returned. You are doing it wrong, ghost, as my son recently discovered.

Fortunately no one can bogus charge my nonexistent amex card.

My debit card is rarely used, mostly for online purchases (amazon) so the threat of bogus charges is minimal at most. I normally use cash, and even that is used very sparingly.

Spend less, keep more.

Between my wife and I, we have three credit cards. We pay their balance in full every month, so we have no debt except our mortgage.

I try to run most of my expenses through our credit cards since they all have rewards programs amounting to 1% or more of expenses paid back to us. It may not be much, but it's more than paying in cash would get us. (Except for the one ice cream shop that gives us a 10% discount for payment in cash.)