253 comments

I Just Gave Up $4000 Per Month to Keep My Freedom of Speech

Wow. Four thousand dollars a month.

It was Automatic Money, rolling in like crazy with no effort on my part, absolutely no overhead, and it was remarkably reliable. Almost $1000 every week, $130 every day, or close to $50,000 a year, probably subject to exponential growth as well. And I just turned off this firehose of cash… over the simple issue of my choice of words on this blog.

$4000 a month is about twice the amount it takes to pay for my entire family’s living expenses. It’s also enough to pay the mortgage on a $900,000 house, lease several of the world’s most expensive cars, buy a family health insurance plan so extreme that doctors would be taking me out for steak and lobster dinners as part of each office visit, or have my family embark on a permanent trans-world adventure. But now, it’s gone. And it’s all because I refused to remove the word “Badassity” from that banner on the top of the site.

Is that crazy? Perhaps we need to know the history of the situation to judge properly.

Those of us who have been reading for a while know  it has been a little crazy since the beginning. I just started typing some shit into the computer in April 2011, and the Spirits of the Internet decided on their own that the blog would become unusually big. I posted a little milestone article after the first million page views, and another after the second million. At that point, I noted that the little advertising boxes on the side of this blog were earning a respectable $500 per month, and that I thought it might eventually grow to $2000, enough to cover the entire Money Mustache family’s living expenses, despite the fact that they are already covered in other ways.

Right after that post in March, things got off the hook. I had accidentally stumbled upon the Cash Cow of the personal finance world without realizing it – credit card referrals. The way it worked, for me anyway, is that I got an account at an affiliate marketing company for bloggers and other web publishers. It’s called Flexoffers, although there are any number of competing companies. From there, you can cut and paste some javascript code into your own website that generates nice credit card offers for the consideration of your readers.  Whenever a reader signs up for a credit card, the blog gets a surprisingly generous commission – often $100 or so.

Not being particularly interested in maximizing revenue, I sequestered my own credit card links into a little rewards credit card referral page in the “MMM Recommends” link above*.  In the hope of making things more useful to readers, I evaluated each credit card offer myself, and sorted them so that the most valuable offers were near the top of the list. Then I went back to writing articles and forgot about it.

The thing is, the Mustachians who read this blog are a lot like me. They already use credit cards in their daily life. So, shit, if a credit card company wants to pay them $100 or more to sign up for a new card with no strings attached (or $200-400 with some strings you can carefully cut), they’ll probably seriously consider it. So as soon as I put up the page, Mustachians started signing up for those cards in droves. I even grabbed a couple of them myself, netting $1000.

In one post near the beginning of it all called “Maximum Mustache March – Update“, I mentioned the Chase Sapphire card I had signed up for. That triggered thousands of dollars in sales. After that, the trickle continued at a rate of over $900 a week.

As it turned out, the Chase company had the highest rewards for customers, along with the highest payouts for bloggers. Suddenly over 80% of the blog’s revenue was coming just from Chase credit card referrals. “Good for them”, I thought, “for finding a way to drastically beat all their competitors, score all the customers, and presumably still make money at it”.

I watched my growing Flexoffers account balance warily. Was this ridiculous stream of money for real? Was it really going to come to me? When would it stop? What does a shitload of extra money mean to a man who has already happily realized that he has no real use for way more money?  I started planning an article to tell you all about it – you might have noticed the title “This Blog is Raking in some Serious Dough.. here’s how” in my list of draft articles. Here’s what the revenue stream looked like since the beginning of Money Mustache Time:

MMM revenue (click for larger view)

 

I found it fascinating, mildly addictive, and a bit disruptive. I found myself turning down carpentry jobs that I would have enjoyed doing, solely on the basis of having too much money: “Well, the blog is now paying me $1000 every week. Do I really want to go out and swing hammers and sweat for 25 hours to earn an extra $1000 when the money is even more irrelevant than it was a few months ago? Maybe I should be more like Bill Gates and start doing something involving vaccines in India instead of building yet another kitchen or front porch for someone?

In yet another proof of the amazing power of Hedonic Adaptation, I rapidly adjusted to the new level of income, and felt no happier than I did without it. Possibly even less happy, although there was the odd cheerful laugh at the thought that even the most expensive unexpected life event could easily be swept away effortlessly. But at the same time, I’m old enough to know that effort itself is a key part of happiness, so perhaps effortless solutions are not ideal anyway.

The one thing that didn’t change, is that I remained rock solid on my resolve not to inflate my lifestyle beyond its existing level of ridiculous abundance. Adding an even bigger house, newer cars, or fancier vacations would not be in the cards regardless of cashflow.

But then all of this changed in a heartbeat, with the arrival of an email from my friendly Flexoffers representative. To paraphrase his message to me:

Mustache! We’ve got an emergency!

Chase has reviewed your blog, and they don’t like the banner. It is “inappropriate content” in their view. Also, you should probably change the slogan you created using “WTF!?” as a describing factor for one of their rewards cards.

 

“Well, shit”, I thought. “Didn’t we already know this was too good to be true?”

I had enjoyed the irony of this blog speaking out against paying ANY credit card interest, yet receiving huge payments from credit card companies. They were issuing cards to a bunch of highly savvy financial hackers, who were maximizing the rewards while simultaneously setting automatic monthly payoffs from their well-funded ING Direct accounts and Google Calendar alerts to cancel the card accounts just before any annual fees kicked in. If these card companies depend on interest payments to make a profit, the Mustachians were surely a source of losses for them. On the other hand, with the billions of dollars of annual income earned by this blog’s readership, there were surely profits to be had in the long run through good business relationships.

So I wrote back to the guy:

 “Tell Chase to read the blog. There’s no inappropriate content here. We swear and we rant, but when it comes down to it, we’re talking about honesty, integrity, hard work, and becoming very wealthy. There’s no reason for a big corporation to shy away from this.

But if  they still insist that I remove the word “Badassity” from my banner, then unfortunately we’ll have to part ways, because even that small act would be selling out the very integrity that we speak so highly of in this blog.

I felt pretty buzzed after writing that email. Was I really willing to give up all that cash over one word?

But inside, I knew the answer was “Fuck Yeah!”

Because this is really a test of what financial independence is all about. If I give them one word, what do I do when they stumble across other articles like the one called “How Much is That Bitch Costin’ Ya?”, or the fact that almost every one contains some sort of profanity? If I’m willing to make my own writing shittier just to comply to a corporate monitoring program, then why not just go right back to an office job? After all, I could also make $20,000 unneeded dollars a month as an Engineering manager, and all I have to do is sacrifice all my free time and throw around a lot of buzzwords and kiss the asses of those above me in the hiearchy!

So really, in a slightly irrational way I was hoping that Chase would not see the light and that they would indeed cancel Mr. Money Mustache from their referral program. It would make a great story of corporate cluelessness. A company shooting themselves in the foot due to the incredible bureaucracy that forces low-level people to set aside their own judgement in favor of following a bland rulebook designed to prevent dangerous creativity.

It’s much like the media and the big-business blogosphere itself. If you dare to be different from the crowd, you’ll pay the price. You won’t get the big advertisers, the big sponsorships, or the mild-mannered mainstream media feature stories.

The next day I received a short reply saying, “Chase still decided to cancel your account, since they feel you don’t fit with their brand”.

So here we are. And it feels absolutely GREAT! What could be a better use of Fuck You Money, then to actually say Fuck You (politely) in a situation where it counts so much? What better definition of the word “Badassity”, than the willingness to stand up and refuse to erase it from your own website, even in the face of mind-numbing financial consequences!?

If this blog were the only thing between my family and a homeless shelter, I’d surely be a banner-changin’, credit-card-hustlin’ fool. Just as the indebted office worker faced with an abusive manager will bow down and do the shitty work, year-in and year-out. Just as the politican without their own cash or grassroots fundraising will sell out to corporate fundraisers every time. Just as the new parent will give up time with her own newborn baby and spend 50 hours a week working and commuting to avoid losing seniority in the company.

Even in this little niche, if you look around at established personal finance blogs, you’ll find they have become credit card selling machines! I mean shit, Chase just recently introduced a “Disney” credit card. I saw it in my list and deleted it immediately, thinking “Why would anyone want some crap Disney points when they could just have cash?”. But it had a great payout, and lo and behold, the PF blogosphere is ripe with “reviews” of the new Disney card.

The world needs Fuck You Money. All of us do. You get it from lowering your expenses, saving your income, and curing your insatiable desire to always have more of everything. Once you get it, you can be freed from the idea of wanting more money when you already have enough.

This will also be a great test of my theory that honesty makes you richer in the long run. I’m tossing aside $50,000 per year in the interest of sticking to my guns. I’m willing to bet that in the long run, I’ll end up even richer by remaining honest. The best part for you as a reader is that this experiment will cost you nothing – I’ll let you know how it turns out.

 

 

 * After over a year of being banned, we found a nice workaround that allows this blog to still generate referrals for the good credit cards again. I don’t expect this to re-start the gravy train, since I’m not planning to write a big article to advertise its presence. But the credit cards page is back up and useful again. Yeah!

  • FreeUrChains June 22, 2012, 7:15 am

    MMM,

    You are a True Founding Father for this and future generations to come! Teach well, remain honest and courageous, and millions will follow your amazing lead to better lives! Thanks you for you BADASSITY!

    Reply
  • Zach June 22, 2012, 8:02 am

    Awesome article, your inability to sell out just reaffirms why I read your blog…the only one I read.

    On another note to the other readers, I have been a Software Engineering manager before and Mustache’s description is 100% true…sit around throwing buzzwords around and give off the perception you are working hard and accomplishing things.

    Reply
  • George June 22, 2012, 8:33 am

    oo, chase just took a punch in the face!

    Does this mean MMM that will consider joining us in the camp who believe in never using credit cards at all for anything?

    Reply
  • Dave June 22, 2012, 9:35 am

    This post made me happy.

    Financial Freedom Through Badassity; Badassity Through Integrity and Profanity.

    Enjoy your vacation.

    Reply
  • guitarist June 22, 2012, 10:35 am

    Damn, MMM. You are one bad ass mother fucker.

    Reply
  • Nathan Rice June 22, 2012, 11:00 am

    First off, congratulations on having a lot of integrity. It warms my heart to read stories about people standing up for what is right.

    Secondly, even though you had good intentions, credit card companies are slimy predatory userers. They are part an axis of companies that are basically legalized mafia with the government as their enforcement wing. In order to create an egalitarian society where love and creative acts drive interpersonal relations we need to strike deep into the hearts of these immoral machines, people need to:

    cancel their credit cards
    move their money to credit unions
    use debit cards
    create low interest or no interest public borrowing pools
    institute community medicine practices
    incorporate live and let live cities and counties in undeveloped or semi-incorporated areas.
    and many more things than I could list here…

    We need to unequivocally destroy corporations that exist to generate profit or transfer wealth rather than contribute something of beauty to the world, using the weapon of financial warfare. Steve Jobs was one of the greatest CEOs of all time because he recognized that the profit motivation was a sickness, and instead he focused on creating works of art.

    Do not buy their products
    Do not mention them by name (which they can change or spin) but instead attack their corrupt industry
    Describe their malicious ways to everyone who will listen to you for more than five seconds
    Socially ostracize people who work for them (just make sure they know why they are on the outside)
    Promote healthy, sane alternatives at every opportunity

    Reply
    • Joy June 22, 2012, 4:49 pm

      Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.

      Reply
  • Martsi June 22, 2012, 11:50 am

    GO YOU! Epic story, this is the reason I read this blog. Someone has to say fuck you to the money and its awesome to read about you saying it, we can all do well by following such principles, everything we put online these days should fit with our principles – too often we chase money we do not even need!

    Reply
  • Monevator June 22, 2012, 12:34 pm

    This is why you are the man. Luck plus talent plus you being the man is going to make you rich. Again. :)

    Reply
  • Tanner June 22, 2012, 12:57 pm

    The issue I have with it is that for all the corporations I have worked in the managers, directors, executive level leaders would swear all the time especially in smaller meetings. My last Director would call people *ssholes and tell them their work was Sh*t. I mean I am sure not all corporate america is like that but I am sure chase has their share of leaders who would probably have to be fired since they weren’t “sharing” the company image.

    It’s the two-face of Corporations that rubs me the wrong way. Where they give lip service to morals and employees but their actions tell us that what they really care about is extra $$ for their shareholders at the expense of their morals, standards, employees, and clients/customers.

    Reply
  • win June 22, 2012, 1:40 pm

    Wow. You won’t change one word on your blog for $50,000 … and that number could double or triple as your readership increases? Wow. Who knew that selling credit cards paid so well?

    Here’s an idea for you to make some income. Have you considered selling your house every two years? A married couple can keep $500,000 profit every two years … tax free. Buy a house. Renovate. Sell. Repeat every two years.

    Reply
    • mike crosby June 22, 2012, 11:30 pm

      That was a fantastic way to make lots of money a few years ago.

      Not so sure now. My wife is retiring and she’s going to get her broker’s license. I’d love to get back into RE–my wife could buy and sell the property and I could fix it up.

      Reply
  • MacGyverIt June 22, 2012, 6:06 pm

    It’s a truly beautiful f-in’ thing to see MMM turn down the easy money and take a stand for his freedom of expression. Principles and ethics still matter.

    Keep kickin’ ass, brother!

    Reply
  • rosarugosa June 22, 2012, 7:39 pm

    MMM: This is beyond FUCKING awesome. (I learned to swear on my mother’s lap, and I won’t be stopping anytime soon).
    We need an occasional hero or at least one stand up guy/gal now and then to shore up our faith in humanity.
    So anyway Dude, can I interest you in running for president?
    There won’t be much competition going on :)

    Reply
    • Sergey June 22, 2012, 8:08 pm

      People will be stupid enough to vote for someone else :(

      Reply
  • Stevie G June 22, 2012, 9:56 pm

    You will be so proud when little MM drops the F-Bomb for the first time!

    Reply
    • Shiznik June 27, 2012, 12:25 pm

      Only if he uses it well.

      Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache June 27, 2012, 3:38 pm

      Obviously, since he’s over six he has more than a passing familiarity with the beginner swear words already. The key is to encourage skilled swearing. Don’t direct the words at people, use them in the wrong company, or overuse them to the point of uselessness. But in general, believe it or not, we think swearing is not a bad thing – I don’t apply age discrimination in the area of language selection.

      Reply
  • Abigail Joy June 23, 2012, 8:16 am

    On a subjective note, I have had credit cards with half a dozen banks and companies over the years, and none have treated me as poorly as Chase.
    Once I was a less-savvy college student. Though never late on a payment, Chase jacked my interest rate to 29.99% because I missed a $5 payment on an Old Navy card whose first bill got sent to the wrong address. That practice is now illegal, but they proceeded to always take the low road when I called them. Bank of America, ING and Wells Fargo have all been far more respectful and willing to help during hard times, though (as I said) I always pay on time. The sweetest day of my life was closing my two accounts with Chase and never looking back.

    Of course, I never should have carried a balance in the first place. Now, though, I have far more disposable income, a BoA Cash Rewards card that has paid back a lot, and if I ever do use credit again, it will not be with Chase.

    I know it’s a bit irrelevant, but on both a kudos/respect and personal level, I say, “ROCK ON, MMM.”

    From a Baby, but Growing, Mustache

    Reply
  • lurker June 23, 2012, 9:22 am

    Chase? Bad risk control is more like it. Badassity would have saved them a few billions in their trading perhaps?

    Reply
  • Devin June 23, 2012, 9:50 am

    Props for integrity! I would’ve compromised with “naughtybuttery” and enjoyed that sweet moolah… probably why you’re FI and lovin’ it and I’m a wage-slave in medicine reading “don’t jump” books :(

    Reply
  • SomeYoungGuy June 24, 2012, 12:40 pm

    People should always skip to the latest comments, because there is distillation. It is the modern equivalent of efficiency, relying on others with patience and emotion. The world is drowning in raw data, and none of it sufficiently interesting. I’m sorry to say that I scrolled through most of the responses, because, let’s admit it, most of all of this commenting is popcorn – crunchy air that doesn’t stick when we think about it later. Good luck MMM, but your 4000 claim is a little hollow since it was like just for a month or two that you were making all this ‘integrity’ cash. Maybe, as a true mustachian, you could receive this new, excessive hose of cash and try to put out the fires of poverty or depravity as only someone like we could – that is my new aim in life. But you pass on what I can only imagine Chase would call a tiny leak in their monumental cashflow, and claim imperviousness – it’s not quite ‘badassity’ in my book, it’s a little too….

    Reply
  • pachipres June 24, 2012, 7:46 pm

    After reading most of the comments, I had a thought. MMM could have stopped the swearing for a lttile while anyways and become a philanthropist where he donated all the Chase money to all the starving children right in U.S.A.

    Reply
    • Mrs. Money Mustache June 25, 2012, 10:49 am

      But where do you draw the line? First they ask you to get rid of badassity, then they tell you to get rid of all the swearing in past and future articles, then they might not like that you’re mentioning a competing card and maybe they even start asking you to push a particular credit card… who knows where it might go? It’s a slippery slope.

      There are other ways to make money and help people.

      Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache June 27, 2012, 3:22 pm

      Neat idea Pachipres – I might have done that if I believed it was the way I could do the most good in the long run. But as the article points out at the end, I have a theory that taking this alternate path will lead to unpredictable good outcomes that let me earn and give more money over time. Get Rich With Honesty.

      Here’s an example: because it was unusual, this article itself became a bit of a viral spreading thing, and has already been viewed by at least 20,000 new people that had never seen the blog before. I can see that many of them are sticking around to read more. If the act of not selling out helps me earn more readers permanently (and maybe even a faster growth rate), the value created could easily be much more than $4000/month. Plus, if being more honest helps me meet more people, who I can later team up with to do even bigger things, we could multiply that further.

      Side note: While starving children anywhere are an emergency, in general I’d probably follow the model of Gates/Buffett and the book “The life you can save” and do a big part of the donating towards the poorest countries in the world with less emphasis on the US. But I haven’t finished the research yet, which is why I haven’t done much foreign donation yet.

      Reply
  • Paris H. June 24, 2012, 10:26 pm

    This is why I read every article you write. You cut through the bullshit and get directly to the heart of the matter. Selling out is a slippery slope and more importantly, being financially secure will grant more happiness than a new TV ever will.

    Rock on MMM!

    Reply
  • Kaizen Money June 25, 2012, 7:35 am

    I originally read this post and was kind of put off the blog. I couldn’t grasp not taking free money…

    3 days later and I’m only through to Februarys updates.

    Great work on the blog, but please refrain from posting for a few days, so I can get fully up to speed.

    Reply
  • Joe Jiko June 25, 2012, 8:27 am

    Good move sir!

    My favorite part was “A company shooting themselves in the foot due to the incredible bureaucracy that forces low-level people to set aside their own judgement in favor of following a bland rulebook designed to prevent dangerous creativity.”

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache June 27, 2012, 3:05 pm

      Thanks Joe! .. although when you point it out like that, that’s a pretty damned long sentence I crafted there. It was late at night :-)

      Reply
  • Mrs. Money Mustache June 25, 2012, 10:40 am

    To clarify, we haven’t had a chance to look at the web site much since this article was posted, as we left on our summer trip.

    MMM and I are happy to recommend products/services that do not pay us commissions. After all, we recommend the library, products on Amazon.com (no commissions available in Colorado), Vanguard and tons of other stuff that does not pay us at all.

    As MMM has mentioned many times, if the product happens to have a commission link, then he’ll make sure to use it. We don’t choose to recommend something just because it has a commission link.

    So, if it turns out that the Chase card is still the best deal/value for you guys, MMM will add it back in. The link was automatically removed by Chase when our account was deactivated. We haven’t had time to fix or change anything since this article was published.

    Thanks for all the great comments, by the way – they were an entertaining read!! :)

    Reply
    • eva June 27, 2012, 5:04 am

      Hope your house is okay with these fires–and you’re safely away on vacation–please let your loving readers know all is well?

      Reply
  • Will June 25, 2012, 12:18 pm

    MMM, I think I love you.

    Reply
  • Kevin June 25, 2012, 3:13 pm

    Fuck yeah! I applaud you for STICKING IT to the man! The world needs more Mr. Money Mustaches. :)

    Reply
  • Amy June 25, 2012, 5:06 pm

    Hi Mr. MM,

    I saw that you had a backfile of potential topics and one of them was fasting – do you think you could cover that in the near future? Thank you!

    Reply
  • Brotherbryan June 26, 2012, 6:27 am

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCYbZZTEwiM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

    MMM. Crank this and dance with Mrs. MMM.

    You are my hero.

    Brotherbryan

    Reply
  • Chris-stachian June 26, 2012, 6:32 am

    Reading this article just made me love this blog 10x more than I already do!

    Reply
  • CanuckExpat June 26, 2012, 10:36 am

    *slow clap*

    Reply
  • Nevets June 26, 2012, 10:47 am

    Just fyi for anyone worried about profanity – get Google Chrome and download the simple profanity filter extension and *poof* no more profanity when you read.

    Reply
  • Kathleen @ Frugal Portland June 26, 2012, 8:54 pm

    It’s my first time here (came through Couple Money) and I am impressed. You have integrity and I’m proud of you!

    Reply
  • Dan D June 27, 2012, 10:16 am

    Fucking Bravo, MMM! Rock on!
    THATS why I love reading this blog. If that doesnt prove why we all need FU money, I dont know what would. If you ever come into Edmonton, email me. I’d love to pick your brain to improve my standing, and I’d buy you a beer for sure!

    Reply
  • Shiznik June 27, 2012, 11:56 am

    Triple M, you’re my hero.

    Reply
  • Kim June 27, 2012, 1:05 pm

    Could you make a mirror site (edited) and send that money to a charity? Like me?

    Reply
  • Stevie G June 27, 2012, 4:14 pm

    …..Or they pulled the plug on you,and being the clever hairy lip that you are, put a nice spin on it for an extraordinary blog post….

    Reply
  • frugalman June 29, 2012, 7:56 am

    Love your post, MMM!

    I just checked Wisebread PF blog list, and you have moved up to number 79, +10 spots this week. You’re gaining traction!

    There are things I love to do, that cost a good amount of money. Travel and cruises for example. Never seems to get old for me, but I don’t do them every month, more like twice a year. As long as the enjoyment factor of each is at the lefthand side of the happiness curve you graphed, they are WORTH it to me!

    Reply
  • Brotherbryan July 2, 2012, 8:41 pm

    Can’t stop thinking about this post. What if you changed it to bada$$ity?

    Kinda fits the theme of the blog and might placate the legions of poo. I just can’t get by unplugging an ATM if there is a third way to be found. Little MM may appreciate the college fund.

    Reply
  • Ethan July 5, 2012, 9:10 am

    If ever you writea a MMM book, please call it “Fuck You Money”. I can’t think of a better fitting name!

    Reply
  • Mark July 12, 2012, 5:48 am

    It’s all a question of whether a given business is for-profit or not-for-profit. While the latter may have other considerations and values (e.g., freedom of speech), the former’s meaning of life is, with utter singleness of purpose, nothing but profit maximization. Profanity has rarely been a hindrance to profit, so in this case, FlexOffers are the ones who failed to act in their shareholder’s best interest, which they are legally required to do.

    Reply
  • Tony @ A Young Investor July 18, 2012, 7:18 am

    Wow! I had no idea that your blog was so huge!

    Reply
  • Andy September 20, 2012, 9:44 am

    Loved this post. The integrity mixed in with the badassity. AS a fellow pf blogger I don’t know if I would’ve had the gonads to give up for 4K of easy money. Then again credit cards have never really worked for me so Kudos to you buddy.

    Reply
  • Jeremy Cook October 24, 2012, 8:55 pm

    $20,000 per month as an engineering manager? I feel I get paid pretty well as a “normal” engineer, but much much less than that.

    Probably some industries/places, but that seems like a lot of cash from where I’m standing.

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache October 25, 2012, 11:04 am

      You’re right, that IS a ton of money in my book. I was assuming a pretty high (Director) position with a big company in Silicon Valley.

      Reply
  • Jeff November 16, 2012, 7:23 am

    Many Engineers are making that type of money even in the midwest. I make $185k in the midwest working as a Reliability Manager. Certain skill sets seem to tip the scale.

    Reply
  • David Wendelken November 25, 2012, 5:56 pm

    Hi,

    First of all, I admire that you’ve stood up for your principles. Good job!

    However, you might want to consider a compromise that lets you say what you want without interference and their desire not to have their product sold by a website full of cursing.

    You could set up another website whose sole purpose is to allow your readers to sign up for this product. This website puts in a link to the other website.

    You get the income stream.
    The company gets the sales.
    You say what you want on this blog with no one but its readers the wiser.
    They have their “delicate sensibilities” unsullied by swear words.
    And we all get to laugh at you sticking it to the man for $4000 a month.

    Just a thought…

    Reply
    • kudos January 8, 2013, 7:54 pm

      Just stumbled onto your blog and this article. I now have new respect for you (someone I’ve never known) AND for Chase. Refreshing to see it played out the way it did. Two parties able to stick to their guns to prove a point.

      Reply
  • Michael January 17, 2013, 9:35 pm

    Appreciate what you’re doing, and just learning about blogging myself. I particularly liked the Fuck You Money portion of the post above, which is what I referenced in my posting today, in a discussion of what Wealth means. I thought you’d appreciate it:
    http://www.bankers-anonymous.com/blog/what-is-wealthy/

    Reply
  • Kim February 27, 2013, 5:14 pm

    So, now that you’ve removed “badassity from your top banner, will you get the $4,000 a month back?

    Reply
    • Mrs. Money Mustache February 28, 2013, 6:30 pm

      Hi Kim,

      Badassity is still there – look at the coin.

      Regardless, the arrangement we had with chase was an affiliate agreement. They have removed us from their affiliate program and so far have not indicated that they want us back. :)

      Reply

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