A native Californian transplanted in southern Illinois....and I am doing OK with the old budget. 
I did send a bit extra off to Citi MC, an extra $30.20 to be exact. This whittled the balance down to $1,400.00.
I estimated my 2012 income tax returns, and it looks as though I will net about $500. So, I did OK with my tax planning too.
I stopped at the grocery store tonight and whipped out my AmEx card for the very first time. I learned that they don't take AmEx! This particular grocery store is conveniently located, just a few subdivision blocks away. It has low prices. I do most of my grocery shopping there. So, I don't know if I will apply for that Preferred Blue AmEx card or not, the one Monkey Mama mentioned (and I think I read that CeeJay has that one, too) which gives 6% back on groceries but charges a $75 annual fee. I am going to try using the one I have (Blue) for a few months and see how much I can use an AmEx without changing my shopping habits.
I have been working on switching automatic payments to my WF Home Rebate Visa. If something falls into the "and 1% on everything else" category, I prefer to earn a principal reduction to my mortgage.
I have also been working on getting payees set up on bill pay, for those vendors who will not accept a credit card as payment, or who do but charge a fee.
I'm looking forward to whittling down the number of open credit cards I have. I want to get down to just AmEx, Chase Freedom, and WF Home Rebate Visa. I will keep my Kohl's store card open too, but that is the only store card for which I have any use. I think I am only one month away from being able to make that happen.
Another Month Is Winding Down...
November 28th, 2012 at 04:57 am
November 28th, 2012 at 04:07 pm 1354118879
November 28th, 2012 at 05:53 pm 1354125222
The only benefit I can see is that if a rewards card has a temporary bonus on groceries, it could make sense to buy gift cards during the tempoary bonus period.
If there is some other benefit, I must be missing it right along with you.