5. Want cash back (big spender)
Blue Cash from American Express
Annual fee: None
Rate: 17.24% to 21.24%
You get: 5% back on purchases at supermarkets, gas stations, and drugstores — and a respectable 1.25% everywhere else — after you spend $6,500 a year

6. Are constantly filling your tank
Pentagon Federal Visa Platinum Cash-Back Rewards
Annual fee: None
Rate: 13.99%
You get: 5% cash back on gas purchases and 1% on everything else, with no spending caps or minimums; you start earning rewards right away.

7. Eat out a lot (and travel)
TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express
Annual fee: None
Rate: 15.24%
You get: 3% cash back on dining, 3% on gas (on purchases up to $3,000), 2% on travel, and 1% on everything else. (You’ll earn rewards shopping anywhere, not just at Costco stores.)

8. Crave free airline flights
Capital One Venture Rewards
Annual fee: $59
Rate: 11.90% to 19.90%
You get: Two airline miles for every dollar you spend (no caps); redeem them on virtually any airline. There are no blackout dates, and the miles never expire. For bonus deals, see website above.

9. Hate paying for hotel stays
Starwood Preferred Guest from American Express
Annual fee: $65
Rate: 15.24%You get: One point for every dollar, redeemable at 1,000 Starwood hotels and resorts worldwide (including chains W, Westin, and Sheraton, plus ritzy properties like the St. Regis).

 

Washington, D.C., is the country’s best job market.

Employers are slowly adding jobs as the economy limps back, but is it work you’d want? Job seekers might check out these eight metro areas, with both low unemployment (below 8%, vs. 8.8% nationally) and median pay above the $74,000 national average for mid-career college grads.Best: Washington, D.C.
Unemployment: 6.1%
Salary: $91,000 

Baltimore: 7.9%…$80,000

Boston: 7.8%…$85,000

Salt Lake City: 7.7%…$75,000

Boulder: 7.7%…$80,000

Austin: 7.3%…$77,000

Anchorage: 7.3%…$75,000

Minneapolis: 7%…$78,000

Move 11: Enjoy generous return policies

These four retailers will refund your money anytime, no receipt needed.Lands’ End: You can typically bring returns to your local Sears (the companies share an owner) to save on shipping. 

L.L. Bean: Merchandise condition is no object.

Costco: One caveat: Electronics must be returned within 90 days.

Nordstrom: The store does not have a formal policy but typically refunds an item’s most recent price without proof of purchase.

Move 12-14: Enjoy hotel loyalty programs

Not every frequent-stay program demands that you travel like a maniac to get the best perks. Here are three that shower goodies on even relatively infrequent visitors.12. Fairmont President’s Club
Just by joining, you score express check-in, free Wi-Fi, and 10% off spa treatments at this group of 17 upscale hotels and resorts worldwide. Plus, you earn both frequent-flier miles and loyalty points for the same hotel stay; most other programs make you pick one. 

13. Omni Select Guest
All members get express check-in, free Wi-Fi, and complimentary morning delivery of coffee, tea, orange juice, or soda at any of 50 Omni hotels and resorts in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Got wrinkled pants and a creased shirt? Get up to two items pressed at no charge.

14. Kimpton InTouch
Every frequent-stay membership with this chain, which has 51 hotels in the U.S., gives you free Wi-Fi and a credit for two honor-bar items, such as Vitamin Water and a Dagoba organic chocolate bar. Best of all, frequent guests can delay checkout until 2 p.m.

Move 15: Buy where prices are gaining

 

Colorado Springs, Colo., is one of the best places to buy a house.

Of the nation’s 100 biggest real estate markets, these 12 are expected to have the strongest home-price gains through next year’s third quarter, according to research firm Fiserv. The increases may look skimpy, until you consider that prices are expected to fall or stay flat in 80% of markets. Tacoma, Wash.:……………12.6%
Memphis, Tenn.:……………5.9%
Rochester, N.Y.:…………..5.1%
Pittsburgh:……………………4.4%
Seattle, Wash.:……………..3.3%
Colorado Springs, Colo.:…2.9%
New Haven, Conn.:……….2.6%
Charlotte. N.C.……………….2.0%
Tucson, Ariz.:………………..1.8%
Toledo, Ohio:…………………1.6%
Houston:……………………….0.8%
Omaha, Neb.:…………………0.4%

Move 16: Swap your home

If you find another homeowner who likes your place — and you like his — you can save a bundle in transaction fees by swapping, says Sergei Naumov, founder of goswap.org.Some 30,000 users have placed a listing or submitted a proposal on his site (he doesn’t track completed deals). 

Other sites that facilitate swaps include besthouseswap.com and onlinehousetrading.com. Interested? Make sure that you get a darn good appraisal and inspection, and use a lawyer to oversee any deal.

Move 17: Read this book

Warren Buffett blurbed it — saying “This is a rarity, a useful book” — and as usual, he’s right. In “The Most Important Thing,” veteran value-investing manager Howard Marks draws on pithy memos he wrote to clients over the years to dispense insightful advice on everything from risk taking to the role of luck.

FOR MORE READ HERE: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/pf/1104/gallery.100_best_money_moves.moneymag/11.html