Rakuten — Maximize your Points Earnings

Image courtesy of Rakuten

While I’ve talked about fun cards, services, and other financial though provoking topics, there are still more topics to maximize the cash back or points one can accumulate.

Rakuten is a website that features hundreds of brands and effectively gives you coupons with which to shop. I’m uncertain how they get these deals—sometimes you’re getting 10x (or more!) back on ALL of your purchases from brands like Nike, Todd Snyder, Ray-ban, Grubhub, Walgreens, Apple, and more. I’m sure they’re data mining the hell out of your purchases but that’s probably happening anyway so might as well get something in return.

You get two options. One is good old fashion cash back paid to you via PayPal. Or, as I set it up, American Express Membership Rewards Points. In other words, 10x would be ten points for every dollar or 10% cash back.

For example, I recently made a little birthday present purchase for myself. I had my eye on some sunglasses from Ray-Ban. I have a minor sunglasses addiction so I might as well reduce the cost as much as possible. Good sunglasses are worth the price and with Rakuten, I received 8% cash back (or 8x Amex points).

The total came to about $180.00 and at 8x back, a cool 1440 points loaded into my American Express account. And, as a general purchase, I receive the usual 1x from my American Express. In total 1620—approximately $16.20 in cash value.

That eight percent is somewhat unusual. Most stores add 1-2x on purchases but check in daily as it fluctuates and sometimes see double point, triple, or more. Favorite your commonly shopped brands and stores and you’ll also get notified when there are double point days, specials, and the like.

Another example is Instacart. During the week, I sometimes do not want to go to the grocery store but if I need something I’ll use Instacard. My Amex Gold Card gives me 4x back on all grocery store purchases but if I order through Rakuten, I get an additional 1x. Not much but a 20% increase in what my Amex already gives me.

Putting normal spending through Rakuten adds up really quickly. Their website is easy to use and their app is available on multiple platforms. It can take a few days for your points to appear and they only “pay out” once a quarter but when you’re getting one, two, five, ten percent or more back on all your purchasing, the wait is worth it.

Since January of 2022, now April, I’ve 32,632 points. That’s an approximate $320.00 in American Express Membership points just by doing my normal spend through Rakuten. Not bad!

Optimize your spending.

Visit and signup at Rakuten.com!

P.S. There is a little bonus ($30) for using that referral link.

American Express Green Card

Image courtesy of American Express

Ah yes, the classic, the iconic, the original American Express Card. Now known as the Green card, it is the quintessential Amex but sadly isn’t held in as high esteem as its pricier brethren. However, the Green card is, in my opinion, a very underrated card and, for the annual fee of $150, one of the best.

This is my original Amex, too, and a story I like to tell.

In 2007, a younger Adrian got his first charge card and changed his financial life. Not only was he fascinate with credit and charge cards alike, American Express was more than just “another bank.” There was a touch of prestige, a great history to the company, and valuable financial services that came along with it. 

A good portion of all purchases made by Adrian went through his Green card. Everything from camera equipment to travel, cell phone bills and groceries, if the merchant took American Express, it was likely the card he used.

Three hundred thousand points later, Adrian has since evolved his Amex spending to a Gold and Platinum card but he will reminisce about the Green card as “something missing” from his wallet.

Switching away from the third person, I do actually miss my Green card. Perhaps it was because it was my first charge card (they aren’t technically charge cards anymore) but it is also a great card to have. The account still exists since 2007 but I have upgraded it to the Gold card.

If you hop into a room with a bunch of credit card aficionados, many will tell you how “bad” or “unappealing” the Green card is but I disagree. It has some of the broader rewards with 3x points on a lot of every day spending and travel—travel being so broad that it can be said that if you don’t own it and it has wheels, wings, or a bed, you probably get 3x points.

I can go through all the point earning, offers, and more, but the American Express has a website for that. I’d rather give you the context of why it is valuable as a broad urban living, travel, young professional’s card.

Story time… you’re going on a week long trip to Denver. You are flying, staying in an AirBnB, will mostly be eating out, and taking transit or ride shares. There will be other purchases and spending along the way but let’s look at the broad categories and use some nice round numbers.

The Trip
Flight: $500
Lodging: $1400 ($200/night)
Dining: $350
Transit: $200

The Points
Green: 3x on all categories
Gold: 3x flights, 1x lodging, 4x dining, 1x transit (but $10 credit for Uber)
Platinum: 5x flights, 1x lodging (AirBnB, 1x dining, 1x transit ($15 for Uber)

Category	Green Card	Gold Card	Platinum Card
Flight	1500	1500	2500
Lodging	4200	1400	1400
Dining	1050	1400	350
Transit	600	200	200
Total	7350	4500	4450

Wow! Didn't expect that!

This is just one example and is a very Millennial travel itinerary with AirBnB and all. If you were to stay at a hotel like Hilton, you can add 5600 points to the Platinum Card (5x on hotels) and might also have a couple hundred dollars in hotel credits too but the value for someone who isn’t using the “traditional” lodging option of AirBnB is clear.

Once back home, the Green card can definitely be valuable for most purchases. The Gold card has an advantage with 4x on dining and grocery stores, but the Green would still win over the revered Platinum Card.

The point isn’t to shoot down other cards. As will all things, “the right tool for the right job” would be the mantra and the Green card might be the right card for many. I mostly use my Platinum card for everything except groceries and dining (Gold card) but that also means I have to work with two cards. Having one single every day card that covers most things well sounds really a lot easier.

If one isn’t the kinda to play the “chasing points game,” and having a different card optimized for each category of spending is too much trouble, with only $150 annual membership fee, the Green card’s power and simplicity is a great choice.

I no longer have my Green card but if it sounds like the right card for you, check out the link below. Some pretty good signup bonuses right not. Worth the spend.

Also, don’t forget to Shop Small.

Public — Social Media meets Investing

If you know the stock market, you can make some serious bank. But for many of us, it is challenging because we DON’T know the market. Where does one start? What is a good stock? How much money should be invested? These questions are endless and, I’d wager, prevent people from taking the first steps into the market. After all, only a fool would bet what little they have only to lose it all.

Public is a social media app for stocks, crypto, and ETFs, that I’ve become quite fond if. On the surface, it is for buying/selling stocks but a little deeper one will find a community of people—beginners and pros alike.

Like a Twitter for investing, one can follow other investors, they can follow you back, and you can join groups to discuss things like # cheapstocks which is a personal favorite of mine. As you work your investments, every sell or buy can be posted into a feed, giving both insight to what you and others are investing. See what is hot, what has been most generous in daily gains or see what stocks are dropping (Buy the dip!).

Websites like E*TRADE are very complicated and impossible to navigate. That can be the different between making a lot of money and losing a lot of money. Quick buys and sells are sometimes vital if one day trades (careful!) and an app like Public gives you all the power of a general investing platform with the simplicity of a social media app.

Once the setup of an account is complete, linking a debit card or bank account allows for easy cashing out or transferring money in for investing. This money is available to invest immediately and all the traditional functions are available like buy market price, limits, and so forth.

I’m not a financial advisor so I probably need to preface this by saying, this article is for demonstration and entertainment purposes only. I’ve been successful overall in making a few dollars using Public and generally think it is a good way to get into the marketplace. You can start with a single dollar if you want and get your feet wet. To help, my referral link below will get you free stock. Free money!

And if you’re curious about what stocks invest in, feel free to follow me on Public! I mostly dabble in penny stocks on Public—speed is very important to making money as penny stocks can be very volatile so Public is a great platform for me.

Check out Public and start investing.