Financial Panther

Every once in a while, I run across a bank bonus that I think everyone should get in on if they can, especially because the requirements to earn the bonus are so easy. In this case, I stumbled on a bank bonus from U.S. Bank for their “Smartly” Checking Account. If you’re eligible and able to meet the requirements for this bonus, I highly recommend going for it. The requirements for the U.S. Bank Smartly Checking account … Read post

I recently discovered something about my high-deductible health plan that I never realized. Despite only having a high-deductible health plan for myself, it turns out that all of the qualified medical expenses that my family incurs are eligible for reimbursement from my health savings account, even though none of my family members are on my health plan. This is a fairly big deal for me, as it adds up to much … Read post

In today’s post, we’ll be taking a look at what I earned from side hustling and the gig economy in March 2025. March was another bad side hustle month for me, although an improvement from what I did in February. One oddity is that I didn’t get any bookings on Rover in March. Meanwhile, my food delivery earnings leveled back out thanks to improved weather that’s been making it easier for me to bike around … Read post

I have a lot of different premium credit cards, many of which come with different credits that I need to use. Most cards don’t make using these credits all that easy, however. They do this typically by limiting how often you can use the credits, or by dividing the credits up into smaller amounts. Using these credits is important, though, as you need to use them to maximize the value of your cards, especially if … Read post

I write about fintech and fintech banking apps a lot, so I sometimes get asked what I think about these companies and how safe they are, especially given some of the negative news that’s happened with some of them in the past year. As a bit of background, most of the fintech banks you see out there (sometimes called “neobanks) aren’t actually banks. Rather, they’re technology apps that partner with licensed banks to hold your funds … Read post

When you’ve been in the credit card game long enough, you start to notice that certain cards always seem to come back into your wallet. I’m not someone who focuses on spending categories too much – most of the time, I find my time is better served opening new cards to get signup bonuses. Since I’m focusing on signup bonuses, it means I’m opening a lot of new cards each year. And while the cards do change as different … Read post