Keeping track of manufactured spend

Old Jun 26, 2013, 10:02 am
  #61  
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 52
Quicken does the trick for me. I track money in and out of reloadables like BB. GCs get tracked in bulk, as do money orders. I post fees as negative rewards and cash rewards as positive rewards. I don't track miles or points on Quicken, so that is a bit vague. If I could settle on a conservative valuation of each kind of points or miles, I suppose I could create accounts for them as well.

I check once a week to make sure I have as many GCs and MOs in hand as Quicken says I should. I've had a few anxious moments. I have dropped a money order a couple of times, but honest people returned them. With weekly reconciliation, I have not felt the need to keep receipts longer than two weeks. I keep them that long because someone I know had a money order returned as already cashed. She had deposited three sequentially numbered money orders each for the same amount. Turns out her bank had processed one twice and another not at all.

If you keep monthly spending at or below credit limit, MS is a good way to enjoy significant float. Of course, when MS ends, the credit card bills come due. You better have the money.
peteypablo is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2013, 2:21 pm
  #62  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 120
I keep track of all monthly expenses in Excel, and just add $3.95 when I buy a VR, not tracking what the amount is. I only do AP and $1-2k in VR per month though, I know some people make that look like nothing.
kpd905 is offline  
Old Aug 19, 2013, 11:05 am
  #63  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
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All, I read with interest this thread and other posts especially around the GC/VR type of posts. My main issue with VR is I don't have any CVS locally and would like to learn about other options. As it seems all on this thread are heavily versed on the VR/GC approach is there a particular updated thread on FT you might recommend to those of us starting out ?

Thanks

WC
Wildcatz1 is offline  
Old Aug 19, 2013, 11:54 am
  #64  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
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Originally Posted by Wildcatz1
All, I read with interest this thread and other posts especially around the GC/VR type of posts. My main issue with VR is I don't have any CVS locally and would like to learn about other options. As it seems all on this thread are heavily versed on the VR/GC approach is there a particular updated thread on FT you might recommend to those of us starting out ?

Thanks

WC
Start here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...ift-cards.html and here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...bit-cards.html

Without VR, you may be able to buy GCs, assign PIN to them and load BB or buy MO with them from WalMart or Grocery stores.
KennyBSAT is offline  
Old Aug 19, 2013, 12:06 pm
  #65  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 61
I use Mint to track everything. Since you can split one charge into multiple categories, I categorize the amount of GC/VR loaded as "Transfer" since it will be transferred to BB, and I categorize the price of load for GCs as "Travel" since that's what the MS eventually gets me. I have my BB accounts and all my CCs listed on Mint so it's really easy to go back and forth between them to make sure every purchase and load is accounted for.
SexyTurtle is offline  
Old Aug 19, 2013, 3:10 pm
  #66  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 197
Thanks Kenny ! I didn't know BB could be loaded with anything else other than VR or bank to bank type of transfer. I will take a look at the threads you listed. Appreciated

WC

Originally Posted by KennyBSAT
Start here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...ift-cards.html and here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...bit-cards.html

Without VR, you may be able to buy GCs, assign PIN to them and load BB or buy MO with them from WalMart or Grocery stores.
Wildcatz1 is offline  
Old Aug 19, 2013, 3:28 pm
  #67  
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 115
Im sure im in the minority here, but i track (and budget) with a simple word doc. Have been for past 4 yrs. there is a seperate category for gc, vr, mo, etc fees
BQatWSU is offline  
Old Aug 19, 2013, 4:07 pm
  #68  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 747
Guess I'm in the minority, however I track my MS by simply knowing where I bought card and offloading them within a day of purchase, just seems like the best way not to get caught with my pants down.

I do however keep extensive track of rebates and the like and my typical spending. However the MS just gets written off as out from card/into BB mixed in with regular spend and bill pay.

Also all the talk of Quicken has interested me, so I may get on one of the FAR deals at Staples at some point and give it a whirl.
nrdk is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2013, 2:10 am
  #69  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
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Originally Posted by jmccon2
Great discussion thread.

I used to be in finance, so pls forgive the geek speak....
I use Quicken to track all accounts - even the BB accounts. Here is an example of how I keep track:
1) buy 3 x $1K on my CC. Quicken downloads this activity (say $3030 for this example) and I make sure the charge is 'unassigned'
2) When the GCs come in - I load $1k to each of the 3 BB accounts
4) I go back into Quicken and assign the $3030 charge with $1K per BB account and $30 goes into the MF spends account.
5) Go online and reconcile the BB account to what I have in Quicken.

If my Quicken info does not match what is showing online for the CC and BB, then there is a problem.
My process is very similar to yours. I've been using Quicken for at least 10 years and Money before that.
I assign charges as soon as it downloads from the bank and sometimes sooner since Chase is so slow to report charges. For any GC purchase I transfer the GC portion to my Gift Cards account and charge the fees to the expense category Miles Fees. I recently made another account for VR so it's easier to see what I have "in stock" in my drawer before I offload them. I try to minimize Walmart runs and only go when I have a decent chunk of GC to unload. When I unload VR or GC I mark that as a transfer to my GB or BB account or to the checking account where I deposited the MO.

By using Quicken I am 100% positive that I don't have any money sitting in my used GC drawer since everything is reconciled. I highly recommend this method of tracking. 10 minutes every few days is all it takes to be completely organized.
iminsandiego is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2013, 2:25 am
  #70  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: SAN
Posts: 152
Originally Posted by iminsandiego

By using Quicken I am 100% positive that I don't have any money sitting in my used GC drawer since everything is reconciled. I highly recommend this method of tracking. 10 minutes every few days is all it takes to be completely organized.
I forgot to add that I count TCB cash back as income to the Miles Fees category and all credit card annual fees as expenses to Miles Fees.

This information is incredibly valuable since I can run a report on the category Miles Fees and see my net spend for Miles. For example, in the last 12 months I had a net spend of about $1100 in order to acquire over 2M miles. Granted, a large number of those miles are from sign up bonuses. But with this information I'm able to easily explain to my wife the value of stopping at Walmart on the way to visit her parents or why she needs to make a VR run at CVS with her new SPG card. She also understands the value when we fly in biz class across the Pacific or Atlantic for just the cost of taxes and fees on the awards.
iminsandiego is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2013, 11:04 am
  #71  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 109
I use a simple excel doc to track it.. tried setting up mint but I feel better manually entering info so I can confirm everything that I buy and spend. I do use ynab for general finances, so I just set a monthly budget for MS cost (~80) and enter only the fees as transactions there. I'm sure theres a better way to do it, but I'm worried if I'm not 'hands on' entering the info, I'll lose track of a reload
bluerunningsocks is offline  
Old Aug 21, 2013, 7:01 am
  #72  
 
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You guys are putting too much work in keeping track of them. Just take a picture of the card and receipt on your smart phone every time you buy one....time/date and numbers are logged with 100% accuracy.

When you use up a card, simply move the picture you took to a folder called "used".
TAWS is offline  
Old Aug 21, 2013, 8:48 am
  #73  
 
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^^
Originally Posted by TAWS
You guys are putting too much work in keeping track of them. Just take a picture of the card and receipt on your smart phone every time you buy one....time/date and numbers are logged with 100% accuracy.

When you use up a card, simply move the picture you took to a folder called "used".
pinguy is offline  
Old Aug 21, 2013, 9:35 am
  #74  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: SAN
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Originally Posted by TAWS
You guys are putting too much work in keeping track of them. Just take a picture of the card and receipt on your smart phone every time you buy one....time/date and numbers are logged with 100% accuracy.

When you use up a card, simply move the picture you took to a folder called "used".
I wouldn't mind doing that in addition to using Quicken, but not as a complete tracking method since you can't reconcile that way.
iminsandiego is offline  
Old Aug 22, 2013, 9:48 pm
  #75  
 
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For me, it is the good old Excel spreadsheet.
bensim is offline  

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