CTSoxFan

I think you're both right. Shifter is right, in that carrying balances is not an ideal situation, and having to do so because of an emergency is more than likely caused by failure to properly plan and have emergency funds...BUT...regardless of how you got there, Side's right, paying 4% is much better than 18%...

The market here is still hot, and I don't expect that to subside all that much, given the rapid growth and many tech businesses relocating or setting up satellites here. I don't think the price appreciation will continue at the pace it has over the last 5 years, but a pullback would be surprising.

As you stated, now is not a great time to be buying a vehicle. Assuming your current car is in decent shape and meets your needs I would certainly look to refinance. Just remember - Anytime the dealer sends you any type of "promotion" or "offer", all they are trying to do is sell you another car, regardless if it is truly in your best interests.

You can go to custom cash and get 5% on $500/month in your highest spend category...that is what I just moved my rewards+ to.

Did some Chase pruning today and got myself a new card in the process. Had 5 CCs with Chase - FU, CSR, Hyatt, United Club and Ink Biz. Total CLs $114k. Closed the United and Hyatt (not flying United as much, nor staying at Hyatt), move the $22.5K to my CSR...also get the $525AF refunded. Applied for and approved for IHG Traveler for $25k (thankfully without any theft from other accounts). 140k bonus points, free night plus get 4/3 on redemptions. Pulled EX, FICO 820s 4/24 or 2/24 depending if they only count revolvers or a store card/affirm. Initial response on website was 7-10 days, then. got approval email 30 seconds later. IHG has more options for where I travel for work, so should be a good fit. Probably going to go for one other card, not sure which yet. AmEx still hates me so I guess we'll see...

I just switched my crappy rewards plus to this card. DW also made the same switch. Plan is to use it exclusively for groceries to take advantage of $1000/spend per month at 5%. I typically don't go for cash back, but I would have to get a $.033/point redemption rate if I continue to use my Chase FU, which is a fairly high bar. I will still use the regular freedom for 5x when that quarter rolls around.

I have over 1M in Chase URs which I have been collecting/saving for the past 3-4 years. That said, I do I have a plan for redemption next year towards 2 Int'l F tickets at a location to be determined, and to cover some/all of the hotel expenditures. I did a similar thing in 2018 and took a 2 week vacation to Europe, with points paying for flights in F and 11/14 hotel nights. I also used ~225k to purchase a biz class tickets to Europe this year. I have not been hoarding for 15 years however and certainly don't consider them part of my emergency funds...once I have unloaded these points I will re-evaluate my spending patterns and rewards preferences.

I am confused...if your income is $80k/month (or almost $1 million annually), why would you finance it at 6.5% when you can pay it in cash by saving for a couple of months? If that is a typo and it is $80k/year, then you would be spending ~25% of your take-home pay on a second vehicle at a fairly high interest rate...which seems a bit excessive unless your home is paid off. Just because you can get approved for something doesn't necessarily make it a good decision.

Spectrum blows..end of story. I abhor that I have to use them as my ISP as I have no other options in my area.

DW and I get these twice a month like clockwork. We don't use BoA for anything other than the 2 cards we have which both have limits just under $100k, but they have been really good to us. Between the good BT offers and then getting a $200 bonus on each card to convert to their new cash rewards card, I have no complaints.

We're in the same boat. Have only had groceries delivered a couple of times (usually when coming back from vacation and want them to arrive the day we get back). Main reason is that I want to be able to pick my own produce, etc. I have seen some of the shoppers and they don't look like they can pick their nose correctly let alone pick out good produce. I don't mind the food delivery, but my wife has an irrational paranoia that the driver will somehow mess with the food...of course I point out that the person making it is equally as (un)likely to do so...which is met with expected results...

Which is why I am so happy I locked in at 2.75% fixed...I don't think we'll see rates that low again for a long, long time.

I tried this on my auto loan denial and was flat out told no, you cannot speak to the underwriter. Different product, yes, but made no sense to me. Plenty of fish in the sea...

Your best bet is to reach out to a few brokers and see what they have to offer. They usually have the best rates and only get paid for closing loans, so they obviously want to get you funded. Personally I would avoid the big banks as they tend to not be as competitive from a rate perspective. Credit Unions are an option, but can be notoriously slow in processing time (it's a mixed bag). If you are in a competitive market I would steer clear. You can start by requesting a quote on Zillow or similar to get hooked up with a few brokers. These are all generalities. If you are looking for a specific product or have a special situation you may have to dig a bit deeper. Personally, I just did a re-fi with Guaranteed Rate and had a good experience, but can't speak to their competency/competitiveness on the purchase side.