Temporary Credit Cards

 

 

 

This is quite possibly one of the best things I’ve found yet.  I read about temporary credit cards  and then researched it further.  This morning I called my credit card provider, Bank of America, and asked them about it.  Their customer service agent highly recommended using a temporary card for online purchases, their service is called “Shop Safe."

Here’s how it works.  First you find out if your credit card provider offers temporary credit cards, if they do, it’s available on their website after you log in.  

Then, pretend for instance that you are buying a magazine subscription online.  This is a biggie, because you can’t do it anymore without “automatic renewal.”  They give you a good rate to hook you, then next year they bump up the renewal rate and you can’t cancel it on your credit card.  But, if you use a temporary credit card, these are only good for as long as you desire, you control how long you want it to be active, whether it be 15 minutes, 15 hours, 15 days, or longer.  Then it expires after the time you set and next year when that sneaky magazine subscription tries to charge you an atrocious rate, they can’t because the credit card isn’t valid.

They have no idea that you are using a temporary credit card, this is just between you and your provider.  Pretty awesome, isn’t it.

Just sharin’ the good stuff.  ~ Jan

Fly Fishing has been on my bucket list ever since I read Mary Alice Monroe’s “Time is a River.”  And last November, for my birthday, John and Deanna gave me a fly fishing lesson in the Smoky Mountain National Park.

We went earlier this month, stayed several days in a mountain cabin, and oh, it was glorious.  The Mountain Laurel was in bloom, the Honeysuckles permeated the air and the weather cooperated.

I went for my lesson with a great guide, Charity, and when she asked me why I wanted to fly fish I told her about reading the book.  She got a big smile on her face and said that she and Mary Alice Monroe were friends, and she was the one who taught her to fly fish as research for her book.  Her name is mentioned in the book foreward, and that made the trip even more special.

And how did I do?  Remarkably well, actually, I thought I would fall on my rear in the stream, but I didn’t.  It was so beautiful, it’s indescribable, the rushing water, the rocks, the trees, the clear stream with the trout swimming, and it’s not hard to learn, either.

And yes, I actually caught a fish, John took a lesson with me, he caught a couple of them.  I would do this again in a heartbeat, it was just an amazing experience, and one I highly recommend for anyone who wants to enjoy Mother Nature and the simplicity of casting into the water.  It was just awesome… ~ Jan