Thank you, pattyb53, very kind of you to say.
I never turn my nose up on these āsmall moneyā deals. I have the DCU deal, for example. Have found that, over the years if you stay with it, that small money turns into large money! Patience wins the prize. 
Leaving money on the table has never been my thing. Canāt be bothered? Iām not proud. I always can be bothered when they are paying 5%. But of course first they have to let me in. 
However you leave free money on the table every month by not joining ETFCU and spending less than 5 minutes each month to do fifteen 50 cent Amazon reloads to earn an easy 3.3% on 20k!
I actually followed your advice zzz. Itās been probably 6 months into Evansville TCU for me. The 3% rewards on $20kā¦Nice
Those 15 debit card, 50 cent Amazon gift card issues just changed. Not so easy now, working with Amazon.
I got caught not checking each gift card carefully when Amazon changed the rules. I have 2 credit cards listed on Amazon. So after my first 50 cents gift card I proceeded with the following 14 debits. BIG problem, the 14 were charged to my Citi card.
Imagine my surprise and anger when I happened to check my Citi Credit Card. Again my mistake!
Pro tip - change your default payment method before starting. Then you donāt need to change it for each purchase.
If an extra $7 charged to your credit card counts as ābig problemsā, things must be going pretty well for you. 
Yes Amazon changed their system a few months back and the same thing happened to me that happened to you @pattyb53 however I now understand their new system and itās been smooth as butter again. 3.3% on 20k is hard to beat these days!
What happens to them if the US government defaults?
Probably the same thing that happens to CDs if the US government defaults 
That envy continues. If youāre making money at Hanscom I tip my cap to you, Iām happy for you, and I would observe you must be doing something right. When participants here to do well it is a good thing.
But Hanscom certainly wants no part of a dirtball like me. They turned down my application for the second time. There will not be a third time.
I thought I might have a chance to get in. My credit score, which goes up and down like a yo-yo because of my side hustle as I borrow and then pay off a lot of money, happens right now to be way over 800. And I no longer do business with First Advantage Bank, now no longer in existence.
No matter. They nailed me once again, Iām pretty sure, based on my Chexsystems report . . . NOT my credit report. As a warning to others seeking entry:
Massachusetts based Hanscom appears to put HEAVY emphasis on Chexsystems.
Their list of reasons for denial even included dissatisfaction with the length of time I have lived at my current residence . . . over thirty years! So apparently I have no chance whatsoever with the tough screeners at Hanscom. Must suck it up and move on.
ETA
At least I had the sense not to join the Burlington Players before Hanscom approved me. That saved twelve bucks. 
Couple of things:
First, be aware the jobs report was released this morning. It was a significant disappointment, with a great many fewer jobs created in September than the experts hoped for. This mitigates in favor of continuation of lower interest rates generally since economic activity appears not to be taking off. We must hope for an upward revision to these numbers a month hence. And, indeed, todayās report did include significant upward revisions in the jobs numbers for July and August, which is a positive development.
Second, a reminder this coming Monday is Columbus Day, a bank holiday. Itās a chance to earn extra interest if you play your cards right, are so inclined, and provided same day ACH does not rise up and bite you in the azz. 
Itās just a thought. Once you get turned down on an application, rarely do you get a second chance. Probably most of the people who post here have been turned down once or twice.
I applied to Inova CU, was approved and proceeded to ACH transfer funds into my account. Itās been some years since Iāve talked about this episode.
Inova CU had my money but reported that it was unknown. Iām ready to open some special CDās and they say that I have no funds deposited. In the meantime I received a check in the mail from Inova for those funds. They made a mistake and refused to admit their error. In their books I was a poor risk.
To this day they show my $5. in savings. For some time after that I tried to do business with them, but when they read the messages on my account, its still a NO.
Long story but kind of proves my point. 
RE NFCU Special EasyStart waiving the direct deposit requirements
posted 10-13-21
ā, they are still waiving the direct deposit requirement at least through this year.ā
October 13, 2021, 11:43 11:43 am
I called 10-13-21 just (10am mst) and rep said DD required.
Spoke to supervisor and she insisted the waiver ended in July 2021
If anyone can get this waived, or know of any type transfer/deposit besides payroll or govt deposits that work, please post. My grace period ends in a few days & I have no qualifying deposit.
I can provide my email if you prefer. This would really help me out.
I posted this in the NFCU thread back on July 13, 2021. There is NO DD waiver any longer for this CD.
" Just a heads-up: Last September, NFCU waived the checking account and direct deposit requirements on their Special EasyStart Certificate (currently at 3.00% APY; $50 minimum balance and $3,000 maximum balance; one per member); however, NFCU will NO LONGER waive the requirements on any new EasyStart certificates."
Yes,however, comment # [1265993] on doctorofcredit.com states
they are still waiving the direct deposit requirement at least through this year.
October 13, 2021, 11:43 11:43 am
I replied but have not received a reply back
Thatās news to me because when I called back in July, I was told the opposite. Let me know what they tell you in reply.
I look forward to a day, and this will happen before Thanksgiving, when a very large (for me) 3% APY core CD will finally mature. Thereafter all my core CD holdings will be paying anywhere between 3.25% APY and just over 4% APY. That three percent short timer is my dog.
Thatās the good news, a very small uptick in my overall CD portfolio APY is not far away.
The bad news is that this otherwise happy event means I will be losing buying power at a very slightly slower rate, as the current 5+% inflation tax erodes my nestegg faster than I safely can replenish it. Insured CDs paying up to 4% APY were looking somewhat sweet only a short while ago. No longer.
Full disclosure
I do plan to take a portion of that maturing core CD money, mentioned above, and redirect it into my side hustle, which coincidentally also is propelled by CDs. That side hustle CD money returns a minimum of 8% APY, and these days that is what it takes to deal with ācircumstancesā and avoid losing buying power. And those side hustle CDs, like all of our credit union CDs, are fully insured by the NCUA.
Same hereā¦ so sad, 3+% CDās starting to mature. I realize high inflation rate is probably going to last through 2022, maybe longer. Breaking or loosing money everyday is terrible.
Maybe I should try your hustle? Lots of work! But reading of your endeavors makes it sound interesting.
Would you mind giving out some of those āhustleā ideas?
Hi shinobi, you are suggesting that you have a better CD than the 3% CD maturing before Thanksgiving for some of the proceeds. Are you referring to the legacy add-on CD at 3.25% or do you have some other great deal we are not aware of?
I wish. Rest assured if I had a current great CD deal I would already have posted it here. Thatās what this thread is all about.
But sadly, no. Most of those maturing core CD funds will be heading into existing add-on CDs opened a couple of years ago (thank goodness) and no longer available to all. Iām āgood to goā for another three years (plus or minus) following which, unless things turn around interest rate wise, Iām in a world of hurt.
Course with inflation currently at 5% (again, plus or minus) it could successfully be argued that Iām already in a world of hurt. We all well remember the beating we CD fans took between 2009 and 2017. I hope this current disaster is shorter lived.
But throughout my life Iāve never been able successfully to predict where interest rates are gonna go. Wish I could. One thing for certain: they cannot get a whole lot lower!!
Already done, pattyb53 . . . in excruciating, seemingly never ending, detail! But not here. This is not the place to be discussing that.
Admittedly my side hustle does involve use of CDs; ones having terms as short as Iām able to locate. However, such CDs are not of interest to fans of this thread. It has been a while since I have posted on my side hustle thread because there is not much new stuff happening in that realm. But if you want to learn how to make money with short CDs, here is a link to that other thread:
Good luck.
ETA
I just re-read the above and I hope it is not too harsh. Just want to keep detailed side hustle discussion out of this thread. Rest assured if anyone has questions about my short CD side hustle, please ask them on the other thread and Iāll do my best to respond if Iām able.
