live. work. dream.

This post has no photos. That’s because our Canon Powershot S70 went kerplooey over the weekend. By today’s technology standards, it was an antique at a whopping three years old. Imagine: my old Canon AE1 film camera was almost 30 years old when I sold it two years ago, and still working!

Replacing expensive gizmos is one of those aggravating expenses that can put a dent in your budget. We almost spent $200 to $500 on a new camera, until I remembered; we had over 100,000 points in our American Express Membership Rewards account: enough to get Canon’s latest top of the line point-and-shoot G9 camera (a $500 value bought with 78k points).

If you’re going to hit the road, join a rewards club like this one. Sure, there’s a yearly fee, but if you put all of your expenses on the card each month like we do, points add up fast and make up for it. When you cash in, American Express has a huge range of items (from airline tickets to gift cards) that can save your butt in an emergency.

My financial hero Dave Ramsey is totally against using any form of credit cards, but if you exercise self-control and pay the balance off each month, rewards-based credit cards are terrific.

We’re anxiously awaiting our G9’s arrival. In the meantime, we have no shortage of New Mexico photos to publish and blog about.