Applied Theology

Our Costco dividend check arrived this week. It's for $55.50. That's less than last year's $68 rebate and way less than the nearly $114 we earned in 2023. But still, $55 is nice, right? Welllll....

This $55.50 isn't free money. We paid to get this money. We paid $60 for Costco Executive Membership. So we actually lost $4.50!



This rebate is the big selling point of executive membership. Costco charges an extra $65 (now; up from $60 last year) for this elite tier of membership and, in return, gives you 2% back on all Costco purchases, except gasoline.

I'm sure for many families it's a win. I know because I see them in the checkout lines with their carts full to the rim. Meanwhile we virtually never have more than 1 layer of items resting in our cart. The previous two years we came out ahead on the deal. This year we paid our money and came out a bit short.

Coincidentally our Costco membership is up for renewal right now. I'm of two minds about whether to re-up at the executive level.

• On the one hand, it wasn't worth it this year. We lost a few dollars. Even last year, it didn't pay off hugely. We only netted $8 on the deal.


• On the other hand, coming up $4.50 short at the end of the year isn't anything to get upset about. It's not even milkshake money nowadays. And maybe next year we'll earn more. Though the ante has been raised. Membership is now $65 for basic tier plus an extra $65 for executive.

Right now I think I'm leaning toward renewing. There is one perk to executive membership I'm eager to try out.... Executive members get earlier shopping hours at Costco! 🤣 I haven't availed myself of that elites-only benefits yet— mostly because every time I've planned on doing it I decided I'd rather sleep in instead and deal with the crowds at the store later in the day. 🤣 But maybe this coming year I'll drag myself out of bed early to play Let's Go Shopping!

On Sunday night at Bondi Beach near Sydney, NSW, Australia, two gunmen opened fire on a crowd of people at the beach. People were gathered after sundown to celebrate the start of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The perpetrators murdered 15 people and injured dozens of others before being stopped by a very brave Good Samaritan and police. Example news coverage: BBC News article, 17 Dec 2025.

We marked the start of Hanukkah at our house in low-key fashion Sunday night local time. It was low key because that was our plan anyway, but also the tragedy in Australia cast a pall over what it otherwise a joyous celebration. (What is Hanukkah celebrating? I wrote a brief guide to Hanukkah a few years ago.)

One thing I remarked to friends and family on Sunday afternoon as news of the tragedy filtered in is that Australia was sure to reconsider its gun laws as a result of this tragedy. Unlike in the US, where one political party is entrenched opposition to any new gun restrictions and the current president callously responds with things like "Stuff happens" or even "Get over it!" to mass shootings, Australia treats such incidents as the largely preventable tragedies they are. Australia notably toughened its gun laws nearly 30 years ago in response to a mass-shooting tragedy and has seen markedly lower rates of gun deaths since then. Indeed, the prime minister and legislators are already evaluating what needs to be changed.

Several times a year I write an update about a credit card I keep in my wallet and how much I've earned from it. It's part of my practice of credit card churning. I open new credit cards for their lucrative sign-up bonuses, quickly charge thousands of dollars to them to secure the bonus points, then throw them in my desk drawer for the remainder of the year while I repeat the process with another credit card. These reviews are my check-ups on how well churning is working for me— as well as my decision point on whether to keep the card or cancel it and repeat the process. Usually I cancel churn cards after a year. Usually. Today I'm writing about a card that I've now had for 8 years— the longest of any travel affinity card— and will keep for at least a ninth: the Chase IHG One Rewards Select Credit Card.

I have kept this card for many years not because it pays any high-flying benefits but because it does the opposite. This lowly card pays a not-generous 5x points/dollar on IHG hotel spend; 2x on restaurant, gas, and grocery spend; and 1x on everything else. At a value of 0.6 cents per IHG point* that's only 3% value on hotels and less than 2% on everything else. I already own two credit cards that pay 2%, cash, on everything... plus my spouse has a card that pays 3% on all travel. So using this card for spending is generally a losing proposition. 😧

Most of the benefits I derive from this card are not from charging on it. One big one is that every year I get a free-night award. I've found I can redeem these for about $150 value. The certs don't buy a night at a top tier hotel (anymore), generally just a roadside motel along the way between hither and yon, but $150 is nothing to sneeze at; this one benefit alone is 3x the $49 annual fee.

Another nice benefit I get from this card is a 10% rebate on award points redeemed. How much that's worth depends on how many points I manage to spend in a year. This year I redeemed 71k on a few awards stays, so my rebate was 7,100 points. At the rate of $0.006 that's $42.

As for charging purchases to this card generally being a losing proposition... well, I did spend some on this card. If you don't use cards enough anymore the banks may shut down your account! I waited until there was a promo for "Charge $1,000 of purchases to earn 3,000 bonus points" and then spend just a smidge over $1,000 to earn the bonus. That's all I charged during the year. Those 4,000 total points from spending are worth $24.

Adding these all together, the card delivered $216 of value in exchange for its $49 annual fee. That's a little less than I attributed to the card last year but still enough to make it a keeper— especially because once I cancel this card, it's gone forever. Chase and IHG stopped offering this card several years ago. Apparently it wasn't making them enough money— which is corporate-speak for the benefits were too good for consumers. They've replaced it with a card that charges a higher annual fee. I plan to hold on to this lowly old card for as long as they let me.