The BILT MasterCard from Wells Fargo

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BILT Mastercard
The BILT Mastercard from Wells Fargo to help pay rent

The BILT MasterCard from Wells Fargo is one of the latest point earner credit cards. In fact it is a unique new comer to the credit card scene. It is designed to earn points towards paying rent.

I actually found out about it from the Wallet Hacks blog and my favorite financial guru, James Wang. For this and the below reasons I decided to give it a try. Lately paying my bills has become a serious challenge:
• our rent has gone up substantially
• our SNAP benefits have gone down sharply

CREDIT CARD BENEFITS COLLECTOR
I have a history of benefiting from credit card promotions. So I figured this might help also. To my frustration and disappointment, this card was not easy to use. It didn’t help that the BILT phone system was not working. So all my questions had to wait until their system was up and running again.

Once the phone system was working, I called only to learn that it took 1000 point to earn $5.50. Actually I was shocked. In fact, I considered dumping the card. But then I decided to give it some time to see if there were benefits that were not readily apparent.

BILT Mastercard
A credit card that lets you earn point on rent.
CURRENT STATUS So far we have earned 2000 points since we opened the card at the end of July. Since we are managing to squeeze by in paying all our upcoming bills for September, I am holding on to the $11. in earned points for now.

In fact, I want to keep accumulating points for now as long as we can get by without using them. I’m waiting for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow when a substantial part of the rent is covered by my new BILT Mastercard. But for now it will be like keeping my savings under my mattress.

your account
our account showing the accumulation of 2000 points

SOURCES & RESOURCES

Bilt Rewards Credit Card
BILT REview 2023:Earn Rewards Paying Rent


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A BUDGET IS A CRUCIAL FINANCIAL SURVIVAL TOOL FOR THE POOR MIDDLE CLASS

 

The Importance of A Budget

Creating and sticking to a budget is the poor middle class financial survival tool that allows for clarity and transparency. It is crucial. The best way to start is with pencil and paper. Determine your major budget categories. Transferring them to a computerized bookkeeping program is simple. We have actually set up our computerized bookkeeping system based on the following categories plus additional subcategories. It works very well for us. But you can stay with a manual spreadsheet if you prefer.

How to set up a budget
Free Online Accounting & Bookkeeping service from www.accountingdiy.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setting Up Expense Categories

This is how we have been able to come up with a budget. We set up a bookkeeping system. First, we add up our income. From there, we have a clear picture of how much there is available to spend. Then we set up our expense categories. Everyone has their own profile based on their life, family and needs. These are the major categories we use:
• HOME
• FOOD
• TRANSPORTATION
• PERSONAL
• FUN, ENTERTAINMENT & VACATION

Within each of these major categories, we have set of subcategories that reflect our expenses:

HOME
• Rent
• Household
• Utilities

Budget for housing is a crucial financial survival tool
Senior Housing from https://mortgagelawyers.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/distressed-underperforming-senior-housing-projects-turnaround-management-loan-workouts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOOD
• Groceries
• Breakfast/Lunch/Snacks

A Food Budget is a crucial Financial Survival tool
Cartoon Food from Clipart kid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRANSPORTATION
• Auto Insurance
• Gas
• Maintenance
• Public transit

A budget for transportation is a financial survival tool
Transportation from Dreamstime.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PERSONAL-HUSBAND & WIFE (EACH HAS THEIR OWN LISTING BUT WITH THE SAME CATEGORIES)
• Personal items/hobby
• Rx copay
• Medical
• Dental Care
• Supplements
• Life Insurance

A budget for the family is an essential tool for the financial survival toolkit
Man and woman on the couch from Dreamstime.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FUN
• Eat Out/Celebrate
• Entertainment/Culture
• Vacation

a budget for fun, entertainment and vacation are essential for a financial survival toolkit
Island Vacation – Cartoon Island With Seagulls from 123RF.com

What’s Next?

You may find, as we have, that your expenses exceed your income. As seniors on fixed incomes, as young people working more hours but earning little money, as breadwinners who has lost their livelihood, this may be your challenge too. The additional posts in this blog series will be devoted to a solution. That solution is building and implementing your financial survival toolkit.

 

 

 

Sources & Resources

Debt Free Adventure

Beginner Bookkeeping

Debtors Anonymous

Senior Housing Turnarounds

The Viper Tool Storage Company

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