It’s said that, evolutionarily, engagement rings are diamonds because less expensive items would be given out by men much more frequently. Since they’re so expensive, most men can only give them out to a but one woman. And by handing over a large portion of one’s net worth, it serves as a hostage to ensure fidelity.

On the contrary, I always thought that Diamonds were for buying online from Costco and returning in-store.

Well it turns out that engagement, and marriage itself, has a back-end approach to mileage-earning if things don’t work out. And I don’t mean lawyers who take compensation in the form of gift cards purchased at office supply stores, or who take payment directly by credit card.

Now I’ve done a lot of crazy things in my life to earn miles. I had a hair loss consultation for 20,000 Delta miles (even though I am far from balding). Then there was the Lasik eye exam (I don’t wear glasses). And the Wendys-Airtran promotion which led to a rash of dumpster diving.

Once upon a time you could even earn miles by donating blood.

A couple of years ago I wrote that you can earn miles for making child support payments in some states by paying with your credit card.

This doesn’t even involve Evolve money, but it does seem like something you could do to unload gift cards.

Last I looked MasterCard and Discover were accepted by Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin. It’s one of the few times I’ve ever seen MasterCard accepted and not Visa.

Fortunately Visa and Mastercard are both accepted by Arizona, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.

New Jersey no longer accepts credit cards. That deal has been killed. It turns out they eliminated the credit card option two weeks prior to my posting on the subject, so there’s no clear link to the deal’s overexposure.

At the onset of the financial crisis and Great Recession there were several great jokes. One was that if you bought a new toaster, you’d be given a free bank! Another was how the financial crisis was different from divorce? With the financial crisis you lose half your assets but you’re still married.

Now here’s an opportunity, if you’ve gotten divorced with kids, you may have lost your assets but you gain miles.

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