Ask Mavis – Credit Cards, Chocolate Cake, Poppies, Traveling Oregon and More

It’s that time again. You ask, and I pretend to know things and answer your burning questions. It really is so much fun to open my inbox and see the wide variety of questions you guys have. Reminds me that my readers are so diverse and pretty dang awesome. So keep those questions coming and I’ll keep racking my brain for answers. As always, please pipe up if you have any input or are knowledgeable when it comes to any of the following questions:

Hey Sunshine, I have been following the blog for a while now and thank you for your wit, humor and all around silliness. I am thinking of heading to Pacific NW on a family trip. We are considering Oregon. Since you love to travel and live in the region, I was wondering if you could share some tips about the region. If so can share any cool tips, ideas or money saving info. Are there times of the year that are better than others? Any info much appreciated! P.S. Any update on the crappy British teeth? Thanks Jodi

~Jodi

Oregon is so beautiful. Good choice! I’d say September is your best bet because of the weather and April would be a close second because of the colors from flowers and foliage. I don’t think you’ll go wrong with either pick but I would go with late September because rain is less likely. As far as where to travel, the coast is a must. Crater Lake, McKenzie Pass, Portland and Toketee Falls are all great places to visit. If you travel east along I-84 or better yet, old highway 30, you’ll see some other great waterfalls. As far as money saving ideas, you can check out all my travel tips HERE.

PS. You can read all updates about My Crappy British Teeth HERE.

Please do an update on your air miles that you earn. Are you still using Alaska and Stanwood credit cards? How do you pay your utility bills with a credit card? Do you pay your house payment with a credit card too? How many free tickets do you earn each year?

Thanks, Cynthia

Before I go any further, I want you to know we pay off our credit card balances in full every month. If you are unable to do that, I don’t feel a credit card with perks is worth it.  You are essentially paying to borrow money and the free perks just cancel that out in my opinion. I do think a credit card is necessary for car rentals and emergency situations. But if you can’t pay it off every month, my best advise is stick with a debit card.

That being said…

WE CHARGE EVERYTHING. 

Utilities, cell phone, groceries, bridge tolls, vet bills, car insurance, medical bills, work and everyday stuff. Basically… if they accept credit cards {and don’t charge a fee} we charge it. We cannot charge our house payment {I wish}.

We currently have the Alaska Airlines Visa and the Starwood Prefered Guest Card.

What I LOVE about the Alaska Airlines Credit Card:

9 times out of 10, we fly Alaska Airlines {the HH travels quarterly for work, and we travel to the east coast quite a bit} so having their credit card {$50 annual fee} works for us. We get an annual companion fare ticket {buy 1 ticket get 1 for $100} and when we buy a ticket on the AlaskaAir site we receive double points,  plus points for miles flown {trips to the east coast snag us about 5000 points round trip}. Sometimes they even offer bonus points {the last time I flew they offered 1,000 points if you checked your bag} so I always try to take advantage of those specials when I can.

It only takes 20k points for a FREE domestic ticket and 40k points for a ticket to London, Paris, Scotland or Italy.

As I type this, The Girl and I both have enough points for a free ticket to Europe {we will have to pay airport taxes on it} and the HH is about 500 points away from a free ticket to Europe {and YES, we are currently planning for our next overseas trip}. We opened mileage plan accounts for our kids when they were young and every time we fly they accumulate points. It’s been awesome. If you fly Alaska airlines, I highly recommend their card.

Right now you can sign up for an Alaska Airlines card and get 25,000 points {a free ticket}.

What I LOVE about the Starwood Preferred Credit Card:

For every 20,000 Starwood points you rack up, you can transfer those points to your Alaska airlines account and get 25,000 points. You can also use your points for free hotel stays {we’ve stayed in Paris, London, Dublin, Brussels, Seattle, and Boston before for FREE}.

I am a hotel snob when it comes to staying in big cities. If I am going to pay money for a hotel when travelling, then I’m going to pick one in a nice area close to where I’ll be spending my leisure time. 9 times out of 10 there is a SPG hotel {that I would have picked anyway} in town and being an SPG member has it’s perks. Free wifi, sometimes free breakfast or cocktail hour {we go for the free appetizers and free beverages and call it dinner}. The hotel rooms are always nice and the beds are heavenly. You get free Boingo Wi-Fi {which means I don’t have to have pay for that on my cell phone plan or carry around a hot spot when traveling to update the blog}. They also offer bonus points for hotel stays.

A few times a year my husband has to make big purchases at Costco for his work {they only accept debit and American Express} so he uses the card there. We get reimbursed for the purchases and get to keep the points.

Plus there always seem to be money saving offers when I log into my American Express account {a few recent ones I’ve used: save $15 on a $15 Amazon.com purchase, save $25 off a $75 Home Depot purchase, save $15 off a $50 Petco purcahse} so when all is said and done, I feel like I am coming out ahead. To see your offers simply log into your Amex account and scroll to the bottom of the page and search Amex Offers & Benefits.

Right now if you sign up for a Starwood Preferred Credit Card you can get 30,000 bonus Starpoints after you use your card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.

Is paying $149 a year for 2 credit cards worth it to me? YES. For what we get in return {multiple free tickets, free hotel stays, crazy good coupons for stores I shop at anyways} it makes sense for us.

I had always heard that poppies do not transplant well. Thought you might like a “heads up.” That may however, be full sized poppies and not seedlings. Perhaps someone from your seed company could give you better advise. Good luck. Also check out Craigslist under plants. Often I have found free plants/perennials for the taking or digging.

~Linda

I’ve done a little more research on poppy transplanting. What I found was that poppies don’t transplant well because they have long taproots like carrots that do not like to be disturbed. That being said, if you find them in the garden early on you can safely transplant the seedlings into other areas where there’s more space for them. I guess it just comes down to identifying poppies, which if they are annual seedlings should be easy because the leaves look like little lettuce leaves. So transplant when they are seedlings, and you’re good to go!

I live alone {unless you count my 2 precious cat children} and so I love all of your recipes but they always make so much I end up wasting. Do you have any great dessert recipes that serve fewer people?

Thanks, Martha

As a matter of fact I do have the perfect recipe for you. This Single Serving Microwave Chocolate Cake is the bomb dot com. You’ll love it because it’s small enough that you won’t have any cake go to waste, and it’s so quick. Blink and the cake will be done! Hope you love it as much as I do.

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Have a question for me? Submit them HERE and I’ll try to answer them.

~Mavis