Cheryl and I are working an angle. Don’t we sound slick? I’ve always wanted to work an angle. Ever since certain inadequacies surfaced in high school math, I’ve had an acute case of protractor envy. (Ego note: kidding aside, I was quite good at high school math.)

Actually, this angle we’re working is not nearly as cool as I make it out. (Although there’s no disputing geometry rates pretty high in math circles.**) We’re looking into switching credit cards. Nothing illegal mind you, we’re just looking to join the approximately 250 million Americans maximizing their spending potential. No, we’re not looking to live the American Dream on credit. We’re just thinking if we have to spend money on stuff anyway, we might as well put it on a credit card with a good rewards program. Since we pay off our balances once a month we have no need for the lower interest rates that are typically a trade off for rewards programs (unless you count our credit union card, which has a low interest rate AND a rewards program – although not a great one).

Now comes the hard part: which rewards program do we choose? Picking one has gotten almost as complicated as saving for retirement. There are gas cards, miles cards, cash back cards, rebate cards, entertainment cards, retail cards, home improvement cards… even a cigar card. Many of these cards have subcategories… and it goes without saying that there are differences from bank to bank.

We have a two year old. One of his first words was “Mickey.” Guess what kind of card we’re leaning towards?

** In reality, I really have no idea how geometry rates in math circles.

“A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems.” – Alfred Renyi