Cashed a ten-dollar check from Chase today as an incentive to enroll for a 30-day trial in their credit protection plan. Often I'll throw these checks out when they arrive--well, if they're only for three or four dollars, I will--but times are tight this month, and I can cancel a membership after 30 days with the best of them. I'm a sucker for getting stuff free when all I have to do is remember to phone in a cancellation on time. I'm particularly partial to the offer of a $50 savings bond. I have five of them now, and a sixth should be on its way soon--thanks, CITGO! (Actually they usually make it almost impossible to get these within the time frame of the trial period: first they send you a postcard that has to be returned to get the actual application form for the savings bond; then after waiting X number of weeks, you get the actual application, and after mailing it in you have to wait another X number of weeks to receive the bond. This means by the time a couple of 6-8 week timespans have elapsed, a charge has already been posted to your credit card that you have to call and have removed when you cancel your one-year membership. But the last offer was very straightforward and sent me my savings bond promptly, so I'll hope that establishes a trend.)
