How to make an easy $100
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Sony’s been providing some great incentives lately, encouraging people to sign up for their credit card. The current one is a free $100 credit applied to your account after you make a purchase. I signed up under this deal a month or so ago, and last week made a purchase for $3.98 on the card—that’s the only out-of-pocket purchase I will ever make with the card. Next, I’ll pay off the $3.98 and wait until they give me my $100, and use that at Wal-Mart for groceries. (Or maybe for Christmas presents; I haven’t decided. In any case it will be for something I’d buy anyway.)
If you’re thinking about taking advantage of this offer, keep the following in mind:
- If you ever give them money for any reason (interest, fees, etc.), then you’re the one being had. They wouldn’t be offering this deal if it didn’t make them money most of the time.
- Recordkeeping is essential. You need to make sure that you follow the requirements to the letter (make your purchase by the specified date) and make sure they hold up their end of the bargain.
- If you know you won’t remember to close the account, pass this one by. The goal is not to end up with more credit cards, but to make money off of the folks that delight in predatorially making money off of you.
- Don’t play with credit if you’re looking to get a bank loan in the near future. Playing these games can affect your credit score, temporarily, so it’s probably not worth it if you might need your absolute best credit score in the next year or so.
- If you don’t have good credit already, it would probably make more sense to get a card you intend to keep and build your score back up rather than do this kind of thing.
[via the excellent savvy saver]
Sux when you have a bankruptcy in your history!
Yeah, makes it a lot harder to take advantage of these offers. Do you have any advice for folks recovering from bankruptcy? I know there are a ton of people in the same boat; I have a friend considering bankruptcy right now.
Have u heard anything about your $100 yet?
I haven’t yet, but given the 8-12 weeks estimate, I’m not expecting it until October 25. That’s not a big deal, since I’ve only “invested” $3.98 (that I was going to spend anyway), but I’ve put a reminder in my calendar to make sure that on October 25, I have the money. If I don’t, I’ll follow up with BankOne.