Why did you stop Manufactured Spending?
 

I'm curious from those who have stopped MS as to why. Is it because options dried up? Was the risk of a shutdown too great? Or do you have enough points and it's time to start enjoying them?

I'll start.

I was a late bloomer to MS, in that I missed the "golden days" of MS with the mint. I just heard many stories, but i wasn't a frequent traveler then, so I didn't pursue.

Once I became a frequent traveler with a new job, I learned about MS and became hooked. Target, CVS and Walmart became my favorite stores. The days of Vanilla Reloads and Target Redbirds were amazing. I was easily able to earn Delta Amex MQMs, 100k signup bonuses, etc. Things were great, and I made a saturday routine of walking to Target, reloading my redbird, walking to CVS, buying VRs and depositing cash from Target for Amex into my ATM.

I even dabbled in NW Buxx to earn Amtrak TQPs and earn easy Chase UR points.

But now all those programs are gone. I stopped doing NW Buxx when I was hearing about Chase accounts being shutdown from its usage.

And I've completely stopped MS.

For me, the reasons are this:
- There are no "easy" programs left. I have 0 interest in MOs and Debit cards. I liked NW Buxx since I can do it at home. I liked Vanilla Reloads because there was an excitement in finding a CVS full of VRs. I didn't mind going to Target for Redcard and AFT

- I'm too afraid of being shutdown now. I highly value my chase and Amex relationships

- There seems to be a lot of banking shutdowns with MOs. I don't mind opening/closing a ton of credit cards. Checking accounts are a different story

- I routinely charge around 3-5k in expenses per month for my day job (on top of my organic spending). Most of these are dining (client meals) or traveling (ubers/trains, etc) and I maximize them with my CSR

I think the biggest thing for me - even if a Redbird/VR type program came along, I would be too worried about being shutdown now.

maybe the better question is why do you still read and post on the MS boards if you don't MS?

Good question! I still enjoy seeing how people are finding new ways to MS and the shutdown threads are always good reading in re: how the banks go after you. But I spend a lot less time on this forum vs the credit card specific forum... always hunting new signup bonuses

I have a problem. I can't stop.

Debit card - - > MO is really easy. Maybe not as easy as NW Buxx, but definitely less limiting.

But it means more fees than the old Debit card -> Bluebird (via WalMart) -> free Bluebird check method (prior to all the Bluebird shutdowns), doesn't it? That didn't involve a single fee other than for buying/activating the gift card in the first place.

Or are there places the average person can get MOs issued for free?

I would think some people give up MS because/when it starts costing more, not just because it gets more complicated. That seems to have been the evolution of MS, from totally free in the Mint days, to only the fee for buying/activating the gift card, to now both the gift card fee and the MO fee.

In the Bluebird days, many people would sneer at anyone suggesting buying MOs instead. So what used to be the "poor second choice" is now the best choice left?

Its $.70 per $1k. So your fee cost is 1.1% instead of 1%. I don't see that as a deal breaker.

Bluebird still exists.

Right now my only option is CVS -> PO MO. I have no other methods to drain. When I get a drugstore category bonus I hit it up, but otherwise it’s buying MR points for $0.006 each and it’s not worth it to me.

Only option is giftcardmall and walmart for money orders
 

for me only option are gift cards online to purchase money orders at Walmart. It's rough. I don't like having that kind of limit and have considered stopping- but I am a minimum wage worker at the moment and want to travel. So I will likely continue to do this for points and cash back in order to be able to travel- at least modestly.

Ah! Time for a MS Anonymous Group ? :)

Only for those who didn't use it much for MS, right? :confused:

(Yes, I still have mine, because I've never used it to date.)

when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer.

No doubt there are other worlds to conquer. The world is full of opportunities. :cool:

People keep using this eternal statement, there are far and few good opportunities, not withstanding peanuts (1% return after cost, I'm not interested in it), the ones that are available are known to a lot of people, such as Chase Ink 80K points etc. I call these widely available as there is nothing top secret about it or you don't have to be part of some exclusive group.Those type of opportunities are all over the place if you are wired into the right places! There is a blog where the guy doesn't even miss $ 5 opportunity and I'm like what are you doing? :eek: At least maintain some minimum threshold.