Hello Friends and Welcome 👋,

I’m excited to share I’ve started All the Hacks to help people upgrade and optimize their life, money and travel – all while spending less and saving more. In addition to a weekly podcast where I interview experts to learn their hacks and deals, this monthly newsletter is where I’ll be sharing:

• Top deals to help you save and earn more

• Hacks to save you time and money

• My takeaways from recent podcast episodes

I couldn’t be more excited to be sharing this with all of you and I greatly appreciate all the support you’ve given me over the years. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for reading. If you have any thoughts, feedback, questions or just want to say hi, please reply to this email and I look forward to (re)connecting!

Best,

Chris Hutchins

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💰 Latest Deals and Hacks

• There are currently some really great signup bonuses for new credit cards that can help you earn a ton of points and/or miles

  • Chase United Quest (100,000)

  • Capital One Venture (100,000)

  • Chase Ink Business Preferred (100,000)

  • Chase Sapphire Preferred (80,000)

  • Amex Gold (60,000)

• Amex cardholders can get $40 off $200 at any Marriott hotel/resort and Amex Platinum cardholders can get $100 off Home Depot and Best Buy and a $30/mo credit for PayPal

• Try Library Extension to get free eBooks from your library while on Amazon

• On my next trip, I’m excited to try ShowAround to find a local to show us around

• I started using Camel Camel Camel for price drop alerts on Amazon

🧳 Travel Hacks with Leigh Rowan

We discuss getting the best prices on flights and hotels, having authentic local experiences, not getting ripped off changing money and more. My key takeaways are below and the full show notes are here.

• Avoid travel sites like Expedia and book directly with hotels and airlines to maximize your flexibility and the chances you get a hotel upgrade.

• Follow up on hotel booking with an email to the hotel to let them know you’re coming, how excited you are for the stay and any requests you have. The more they know about you, the more likely they are to do something special for you.

• Given the rental car shortages right now, call the rental car company ahead of time to confirm your booking and make sure they have your car ready for you.

• For foreign currency, avoid money exchange businesses at all cost and get your cash at the ATM at the airport. Also, when using your credit card abroad, always pay in the local currency and never choose the option to pay in USD (unless you love high fees).

🎙 Listen to Ep1 w/ Leigh Rowan

🏖 Financial Independence with Brad Barrett

We discuss how you can achieve Financial Independence (FI) no matter how much you make, including how much money you need to hit FI, savings hacks you can use along the way, and the power of intentionality. My key takeaways are below and the full show notes are here.

• Financial independence doesn’t mean you have to stop working or stop making money, it simply means being able to live on your own terms and being able to make financial decisions from a position of strength.

• Achieving financial independence is not about deprivation. Rather, it is all about living intentionally based on what you value.

• To figure out how much you need to save to be financially independent, take the amount you want to spend each year and multiply it by 25.

🎙 Listen to Ep2 w/ Brad Barrett

💳 Credit Card Points and Miles with Alex Miller

Alex Miller is the founder of top credit card and points site Upgraded Points. In this episode we go discuss rewards cards vs. cash back, the best cards to have right now, the big sign up bonuses happening right now and how you should and shouldn’t be spending your points. My key takeaways are below and the full show notes are here.

• With the right cards, you should be able to get at least 1.5 points per dollar on your purchases. And if you use your points optimally, you should be getting 2-10¢ of value per point, which is an effectively earning ~3-15% cash back.

• Rewards cards with flexible and transferable points usually offer the return on your spending and are often an even better deal for airline spending than the cards from the airlines.

• Redeeming your points for gift cards or purchases on Amazon is one of the least desirable ways to use your points.

• Opening a new card can hurt your credit score a little in the short term (~5 points), but in the long term it is very beneficial because 65% of your score comes from having good payment history (35%) and lowering the total amount owed relative to your total credit (30%).

🎙 Listen to Ep3 w/ Alex Miller

🙏🏼 Could You Please Help Out?

Your support would mean so much to me and I’d be very grateful if you would help out in any of the following ways. If you’ve already done these, then thank you so much!

• Leave a rating and review of the podcast in the Apple Podcasts app here.

• Subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PocketCasts, Google Podcasts or other platforms.

• Share this newsletter or the podcast with your friends/followers or anyone else you think would enjoy it.

• Share your favorite hacks or deals with me so I can include them in a future newsletter or episode (just reply to this email).

• Let me know what topics/guests you’d like to see on a future show.

Leave a Rating/Review

🤣 Need a Laugh

I recently did a video with Nas Daily about collecting tons of Credit Card points that will hopefully make you laugh.

How did you like this newsletter? Your feedback helps me make this great.

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Thanks for reading and see you next time!

Chris Hutchins

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