- Growing up, I predominantly lived with my dad
after my parents divorced.
And I'll give him credit, he did the best he could
to take care of me.
But finances weren't his strong suit,
and because of that, we never really took
any family vacations.
Sure, I can remember going to baseball games with him,
but we never took any of those beach family vacations,
and we never hopped on a plane
to go to some tropical paradise.
And that's why family vacations are so special to me
and to my wife.
You know, we love that experience.
We love that adventure of just going someplace new
as a family.
But for those of you that have kids,
like you know how expensive it is to travel.
And doesn't matter where we're going or how long,
like we know when we travel,
we're going to spend a good chunk of money.
On any trip, you have to account for gas,
for a lodging, and especially food,
especially food because I love to eat.
So anytime that we are traveling, like you bet
that we were trying a new restaurant,
experiencing some sorta new food,
'cause that's all about the experience, especially for me.
That's one of the benefits of being a financial planner
and having that financial planning background
is that I have been conscious of our money situation.
But I have to admit that my focus has always been
much more on the earning side of things,
not so much focused on the savings and the budgeting part.
But that's where my wife, Mandy, comes into play,
because that has been her focus.
And if I'm being honest, she's the real reason
that we're not broke and that we have money
in our checking account.
Let's face it, I like to spend money on the finer things
in life, and that's why we are a perfect match.
Thankfully, knowing this about myself
and recognizing that my dad struggled with that,
I was very sensitive not to incur any more debt
after graduating college.
In fact, I already racked up $30,000 of debt
while I was still in school.
Not to mention the fact that my wife, my now wife,
made it abundantly clear that she had no desire
to marry somebody with a lotta debt
or that she wanted to help pay off any of that debt
after we got married.
She made it very clear.
Once we got our spending and our budgeting in check,
that's when I started to see the value
of credit card rewards.
Now prior to that, as I already mentioned,
like I was very leery of reward points,
just because I didn't want to fall back into that debt trap.
But once we started to educate ourselves
and see how we could incorporate that
into our already spending plan,
like it just made sense.
Money is something that we talk about often,
and we wanna make sure that we are maximizing
these credit card rewards.
So any time that we're talking about savings and budgeting
and things that we want to buy,
like the only way that we can get full value
out of these points is having those important money talks.
One of the cards that I think that you should check out
is the GM BuyPower Card by Capital One.
It's a rewards credit card that lets you redeem earnings
towards the purchase of a new vehicle
within the GM family.
This includes Chevy, Buick, GMC, or Cadillac.
We all want more family adventures and vacations, right?
And I've already talked about how expensive it is
to travel, but factor in if you are taking flights,
having to fly your family to your next vacation.
Like, that is so expensive.
So think about how much you could save
that instead of flying, you were driving a new vehicle.
The possibilities are endless.
The good news is GM and Capital One just announced
that card members can redeem earnings
towards statement credits for qualifying in-dealership
purchases on a range of GM extras,
which can help in the process of keeping your family
road trip vehicle ready for adventure.
But first, let's break down what is the GM BuyPower Card?
According to a recent Capital One survey,
87% of people looking to purchase a car
in the next three years are looking to buy a car
as opposed to leasing,
with 74% of them saying that they're going to buy it
from a dealership.
Many people are going to go out and buy a brand new car,
so why not use their credit card and rack up
those earnings so that you can save on a new GM vehicle?
So how does the card work?
Well, first you can earn 5% on your first $5,000
in purchases each year,
plus 2% unlimited earnings after that.
And here's a sweet little detail.
Earnings never expire, provided that you keep
the card open.
Also, there is no annual fee.
You can rack up earnings on everything you buy,
including groceries, gas, and your regular monthly bills.
And we know how fast purchases can add up,
especially if you have a household that has
multiple kids like ours.
And if this wasn't a great deal already,
the GM BuyPower Card has taken things to the next level.
Card members now have the option to redeem their earnings
towards statement credits up to $250 per calendar year
on qualifying purchases such as most OnStar
and connective service plans.
It also applies to in-dealership purchases
of vehicle accessories such as bedliners for pickups,
bike racks, all-weather floor mats and wheels,
scheduled maintenance such as oil changes,
tire rotations, battery replacement, mechanical repairs.
If those don't sound like essential
family road trip functions, then I don't know what does.
We recently just got back from another family road trip
where we headed down to Seaside, Florida.
We went down there with some neighbors
and some friends of ours,
and we just enjoyed chillin' by the pool,
going to the beach, and just making family memories
that I know are going to last a lifetime.
And the best part is that we got there
in our GMC Yukon.
We had that time together to just enjoy
each other as a family.
And the best part is, we got to travel all together
in our GMC Yukon, just making more family adventures
all in that car on that road trip together.
Once again, if you're already using a credit card
for convenience and you're in the market
for a new GM vehicle or you just want to keep up
with the one you have,
then I highly encourage you to check out and apply
for the GM BuyPower Card by Capital One.
Because your next family adventure awaits.