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.

A Rich Mindset

Image courtesy of John Cameron
@johncameron

Adrian’s Life Rule #28: Don't think "outside box," think "there is no box."

There is an idea that the “poor mindset” is a poor mindset. To be clear, a poor mindset is not that of having a lower monetary stature, though that could also be the case, but also ‘poor’ as in deficient.

When one says ‘I can’t afford that,’ one’s mind immediately rejects any possibilities of actually realizing strategies to achieve one’s goal. A rich mindset is ‘how can I’ rather than ‘I can’t.’

For example, “I can’t afford to buy aniPad.” In that one moment, it is the end of the whole idea. But what if you changed that to, “how can I afford that iPad?” You’ve opened yourself up to a whole world of possibilities. What other resources do you have? Can you sell something? What about a skill you could monetize? Perhaps it would be ill-advised to buy it today but what if you made a plan to buy that iPad in a month?

Now you have a goal and strategy in mind rather than a hard stop. If the iPad you want is going to cost you $600, you could put in your mind that you need $75 saved every week for the next two months. Next question, ‘how can I save that every week?” Your strategy could look at the last few months of spending and see at that which you did not need to spend. Perhaps you went out two or three times a week. Change that to only Friday. And rather than going to a bar after dinner with your friends, invite them back to your place to enjoy some homemade cocktails. You might have just save that $75.

The whole scenario might open you up to buying it today. Perhaps you buy that iPad with your American Express knowing that when the bill is due, you will have now save $600. Credit cards are a real value if you use them appropriately—the interest will become a chasm you will fall into if you carry too high a balance. Pay it off at the end of the month or as quickly as possible.

While one might still think, “I wish I had more money,” your mindset overall changed from ‘can’t’ to ‘achieve.’ The size of your goal is also irrelevant—this simple example of buying an iPad can be scaled to anything. The timeline, money, and challenges may be different but, as we say in Quantum Physics, there is no such thing is impossible, only improbable. Consider the idea of owning a $10,000,000 yacht. Today it may seem highly improbably but until you build a strategy, it will become more and more improbable. While it may take ten years, a new job, and living extremely frugally, it is not impossible.

Some steps one could also take is using financial tools. I’ve discussed Acorns and SoFi before and one tool that SoFi has is what’s known as a Vault. These are “mini-savings” accounts that one can put money into regularly. It can be automatic like $10 a week, or randomly when you have a little extra money. Not only does it have a purpose, it also has a schedule. Set a date you want to achieve the goal and SoFi will calculate how much you need to save to meet your goal. Vaults are also part of your SoFi Money account and thus accumulate interest.

What is a goal you want to achieve? What actions can you take to achieve that goal? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments.

P.S. Happy Pi Day!