Learn the rules.
A friend once told me: if you want to play the game, you've got to know the rules. That stuck with me — because at the time, I wasn't even in the game.
My credit score was low. I'd missed two car payments and two credit card payments, and eventually it caught up with me. I got to a point where I couldn't even qualify for a secured card — the kind you put a deposit down on, the easiest one there is to get.
So I started over. I went back to school. I bought a used car at a brutal interest rate — but I made every single payment on time. Month after month, that one habit pulled my score back up.
Eventually I got my first real card: the Chase Sapphire Preferred. I kept building from there. And honestly, I never thought I'd be someone who could carry a Chase Sapphire Reserve or an Amex Platinum — those annual fees looked like way too much money.
Then I remembered what my friend said. Learn the rules.
So I did. And here's what I found: with the cards I'd been scared of, the annual fee pays for itself. That's before the points. Before the sign-up bonuses. Before the hotel status and the airport lounge access. Once you actually use the benefits you're already paying for, a lot of these cards go from 'too expensive' to no-brainer.
That's the whole reason this app exists. If you've ever looked at one of these cards and thought there's no way I can afford that — I want to show you the math. Because once you know the rules, the game changes.
— Shane