The Credit Card Rewards Game

all well and good , but making silly assumptions that those who do it are buying useless stuff is just nonsense . our rewards from just october have now surpassed 1800 in travel dollars ,plus the card paid the fee for my tsa precheck , provided travel insurance so we did not have to buy it and got us privy deals to events here .
 

Colleen said:
I understand completely. The CC game isn't for everyone. I don't think we spend enough, either, to amass a fortune when it comes right down to it, but I'm giving it a shot for the rest of the year and we'll see if it amounts to anything. What I was attracted to was the cash I do accumulate from using my CC will be put right back into our savings account with Ally. That extra $$$ is additional to what our saving is making right now at 1.65%. Anything extra, in my book, is a good thing. I guess I look at it that that extra $200 you could be making a year could go for rent space, groceries, gas...whatever. That's just me, though :)
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You are wise and disciplined. You will be pleased with the result..

When one puts at least part of what he normally would spend each month [utilities, cable TV, internet, phone, groceries, gas, car maintenance, restaurants, department stores, repairmen, etc] on a cash rewards cc and pay off the cc every month, it's free money, no effort.

Btw... last time I had professional plumbing services, he told me they can not take cash. Which was fine with me, because with my rewards cc, I get 1 1/2 percent cash back.
 
Roadwarrior said:
I estimate that my monthly grocery bill/sundry items is $400, gas runs about $80 or less. Total monthly expenses = $720 could possibly bring me cash back of $10.80 x 12 = $130 annually - IS IT WORTH THE BOOK KEEPING headache?
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No bookkeeping effort required. The cc company does the bookkeeping and your reward points are on your monthly cc statement.

Since I have no debt, my monthly expenses are low too. But I put every payment possible on my rewards cc. I don't know about you, but getting a free $130 a year is certainly worth it for me.

My cash rewards cc gives 1 1/2 cash back. $720 would be almost $11. I would call the cc toll free number and spend a minute on the automated line and either get a check for $11 or have that $11 credited to my cc account [I elect to do this every month] or you can elect to have the points accumulate and redeem them whenever you wish... easy peasy.
 

Roadwarrior said:
I keep forgeting, you can be anybody you want to be.
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I'm not sure exactly what that means relative to this topic... or if your comment was directed at me.

But I will say this, one of the main reasons I was able to retire at age 55 is because I am frugal by nature, always lived below my means and saved money. I am a firm believer in the wise old truism... "watch your pennies and your dollars will fall in line." I wouldn't purposefully leave such easy no-strings-attached money [like cc cash rewards] on the table... and can't imagine anyone like me doing it either.
 
a penny saved may be a penny earned but without learning to compound those pennies they will always stay pennies ., actually less after inflation and taxes . so good investing along with good savings technique are what does the trick for most of us.

what bookkeeping is needed for rewards points ? that is just more nonsense .
 
We live on small pension and SS, we live ok…long before I retiredwe used our credit card to pay for things we need, (food, gas, ect) and monthly bills, (electric,phone, internet, etc.) we have always paid the card off at the end of themonth. I looked back and we have been doing this for over 20 years, it is acash back card. On average 300 dollars a year cash back, that is over 6 grand. Wehave always said the first time we pay interest we stop. Never have and neverplan too.
 
ronaldj said:
We live on small pension and SS, we live ok…long before I retired we used our credit card to pay for things we need, (food, gas, ect) and monthly bills, (electric, phone, internet, etc.) we have always paid the card off at the end of the month. I looked back and we have been doing this for over 20 years, it is a cash back card. On average 300 dollars a year cash back, that is over 6 grand. We have always said the first time we pay interest we stop. Never have and never plan too.
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This is the smart way to handle a cash rewards cc.

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what is nice is chase has different cards that highlight different purchases every quarter . the freedom card gives you 5% back on the monthly categories. last quarter it was groceries . we average about 150-180 a week so we got 5% back which then transfer to the chase sapphire reserve card for a 50% boost when used for travel through the chase expedia portal.

we do a lot of traveling and love it so we end up with 7.50% back on groceries . the sapphire gives us 3% back when eating out and for everything travel related so that ends up being multiplied by 50% too .

since we got the 3 chase cards and use the best one for what we buy it has been raining money via the points . we are using them for a free trip to NEW Orleans and includes airfare for 2 from ny and a very nice hotel for a week and we still have points left
 
Credit Card Game?


Using cash = nothing back
Using a cash back cc = something.


Not all that hard to figure out which is better. Of course paying the card in full each month is the way to use a credit card.
 
Years ago I cancelled one of my XXXX cards for a better XXXX card. However, the old account kept showing up on my monthly bill despite me calling them and telling them that acct. # is cancelled. They say it does not show up on their screen while it did show on mine. Frustrated I gave up trying to correct this. Recently I was looking at my insurance for home and truck and noticed the old acct.# on the bill. It showed the expiration date on the card was last month. It shocked me because that acct. was cancelled years ago. Now I am confused trying to figure how this happened. I changed account numbers adding my other card replacing the old card on the bill. So what does this mean? It means I have been paying for my umbrella policy with a card that does not exist according to my bank for however long the card was issued for prior to expiration. I am not going to raise this with my bank and just be thankful for some king of technical glitch. Thank you computer.:D
 
mathjak107 said:
jp morgan chase announced record earnings . but they said their power credit card users sucked out 330 million dollars in rewards dollars . they said consumers were getting way smarter in their juggling of their cards to maximize points and the reward payouts are running at a pace beyond what they anticipated

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/13/credit-card-super-users-take-a-330-million-bite-out-of-jp-morga.html
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CC companies get a transaction fee from the vendor every time the cc is used.
 
of course they do , but the perks and point levels on these higher end cards left them with a 330 million dollar subtraction because of the high level of points being redeemed from the cards . last year chase said they lost 350 million on the chase sapphire reserve because it offers so much . they hoped to make it up in higher usage on the other chase cards which then get shifted to the sapphire reserve or sapphire preferred .

it does work because we used to use my fidelity 2% back card . now we use the 3 chase cards and manipulate the points as well as charge everything we would typically pay cash for so the chase cards are seeing far more action .

initially they gave 100k points for taking it but reduced it down to 50,000. we got 60,000 when we took the card because we got another 10,000 points for being chase private client
 
mathjak107 said:
of course they do , but the perks and point levels on these higher end cards left them with a 330 million dollar subtraction because of the high level of points being redeemed from the cards . last year chase said they lost 350 million on the chase sapphire reserve because it offers so much . they hoped to make it up in higher usage on the other chase cards which then get shifted to the sapphire reserve or sapphire preferred .

it does work because we used to use my fidelity 2% back card . now we use the 3 chase cards and manipulate the points as well as charge everything we would typically pay cash for so the chase cards are seeing far more action .

initially they gave 100k points for taking it but reduced it down to 50,000. we got 60,000 when we took the card because we got another 10,000 points for being chase private client
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So YOU'RE the sneaky one causing Chase to lose millions...
and my use of another Chase rewards CC bails them out ;)

.
 
yeah , jamie said chase over estimated the amount of interest those who take their premium cards actually pay . they also did not expect to have the demand for the premium cards they did so the 100,000 points really cost them causing them to reduce it to 50 or 60,000.

but jamie was right that because of the boost you get on all the other cards when you transfer them to the premium cards they would get a lot more revenue in on the other cards .
 
mathjak107 said:
yeah , jamie said chase over estimated the amount of interest those who take their premium cards actually pay . they also did not expect to have the demand for the premium cards they did so the 100,000 points really cost them causing them to reduce it to 50 or 60,000.

but jamie was right that because of the boost you get on all the other cards when you transfer them to the premium cards they would get a lot more revenue in on the other cards .
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You've learned how to take advantage of their system.

But here I agree with Roadwarrior, too much "bookkeeping."
I'll just stay with my 1.5% rewards for every purchase CC
which requires no complicated maneuvers.
 
KingsX said:
You've learned how to take advantage of their system.

But here I agree with Roadwarrior, too much "bookkeeping."
I'll just stay with my 1.5% rewards for every purchase CC
which requires no complicated maneuvers.
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Not one drop of book keeping at all. There really is nothing you need to do except every so often click on combine points. Certainly choosing which card to use is worth 7.50% back at times
 
Are you a shill for the CC companies? No book keeping involved, hah! Every financial guru I've researched (Suzy Orme, Clark Howard, Dave Ramsay,,,etc along with many financial websites including creditcards.com all agree that playing the cash back rewards game entails record keeping at it's best & first claim you should have a workable budget, second, you must keep track of the cards, points, timing, closed dates, percentage of debt to credit limit among many other factors. Third don't get in over your head, understand all the rules the CC companies use to garner fees, late or interest.

I admit it is doable but to say you have no book keeping at all is more than nonsense, it's total BS. If you actually spend 10K per month on chargeable items then either you are constantly watching your pennies, rewards & overages. I want to know how you can take the time to post on this forum, whose members are made up of seniors mostly on fixed incomes, & are more worried about our health, children & making our money last through the EOL. You must be posting at 30,000 feet because you would have to be in air 24/7 to get free Bermuda flights every year. Just spending 10K per month must be a record keeping nightmare.
 
nonsense , there is so much that you posted that is just ridiculous . there is nothing to do as far as book keeping . everything we can ,is set up automatically to have bills paid as well as payments on the cards , we watch nothing . it is easier than remembering to write checks each month , you spend more time remembering what to pay and when then we do .

there is really nothing to watch or do . that is all just malarkey .

the only thing i do is every few months combine points which takes 2 seconds . if any charges are made i get an e-mail so i can fraud watch .

it is always those that don't do things that dream up visions in their head that justify not doing it by others .

there is zero reason we ever watch or track debt ratio since cards are paid in full regardless ..


there is no payments on any card we have to even make manually .


due dates are irrelevant as the cards are paid automatically

there is no tracking of points by me .

there is less for me to do than you writing checks for a specific bill manually
 
Living in the past works for some people. Embracing technology and using it to it's full potential to minimize record keeping and cost while having instant access to what you might need to know can be difficult for some to adjust to.


From personal experience before online banking a few payments by check were lost in the mail. No way to know until the statement showed up and the company that was owed wanted interest on the past due bills. Unlike online banking there was no way to prove I sent the payments on time Account encryption and the abilty to know instantly if something is wrong, beats paper every time for us.
 
mathjak107 said:
there is less for me to do than you writing checks for a specific bill manually
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That reminds me of my long-time friend who is broke and has recently gone through bankruptcy.
The other day she mentioned she had spent two days paying bills?? What kind of person spends
TWO DAYS paying bills?! All her old debt has just been wiped out in bankruptcy, still it took her
two days to write checks for her current living expenses?! How many different living expensives
does the average single elderly person have?? To me it was a hint that she continues to live way
beyond her means which is what got her in trouble in the first place.

I hardly ever write a check. All my living expenses except one utility bill goes on my rewards cc
which is paid off every month. That one utility bill exception is auto-paid from my bank account.
I pay my one cc bill with one brief phone call.
 
We don't need to do any bookkeeping other than watch what we spend. If we need to make a larger purchase for something, which we did last month for a replacement part for my hubby's hearing aid, I wait a couple days until it's posted to the CC and then I go in and pay it. Everything else, like groceries, gas, and Home Depot is also paid ASAP. I don't even wait until the due date. We have our Netflix and Dish set up automatically every month. We have a car payment but it would cost an extra $5.95 a month for them to take that out of a CC, so it is taken out of our bank account.

It's really quite simple. The only thing we don't use the CC for is Amazon because I use their card and get 5% back which I use for other purchases. I don't need to go in on either CC to activate the cashbacks for that quarter. I used to use a Discover but hated that about that card. I always forgot to do it or we wouldn't use what that quarter was offering.

I keep a notebook (I have for years) of regular expenses for each month and when I have an additional purchase, like groceries or the dollar store, drug store, etc., I write that in my book and keep the receipt until I see it posted and then I pay it. Works for me...but then again, I'm a "numbers" person and I love doing it.

The extra cash is worth 5 minutes of my time :)
 
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I keep a notebook (I have for years) of regular expenses for each month and when I have an additional purchase, like groceries or the dollar store, drug store, etc., I write that in my book and keep the receipt until I see it posted and then I pay it. Works for me...but then again, I'm a "numbers" person and I love doing it. ME TOO


I do the same thing, I looked at my checking account and write 3 or 4 checks a month, one to our church and odd things, a truck load of dirt, grandchildren school things.....but it does take me four or five days to pay bills each month. one by phone on the 15th, write a check to the church on the 1st, if I have lumber yard charges on the 3rd or 4th and any day my grandchildren have a fund raiser. by the by this morning I received 100 dollars in what I call funny money from discover, it was for Lowes, (cash back) 90 for 100, yesterday I spent 112, and change at lowes, two 50 dollar cash back rewards, 11 dollar military discount and 1.20 cash. not saying I am getting rich but I have fun doing such.
 
Colleen said:
We don't need to do any bookkeeping other than watch what we spend. If we need to make a larger purchase for something, which we did last month for a replacement part for my hubby's hearing aid, I wait a couple days until it's posted to the CC and then I go in and pay it. Everything else, like groceries, gas, and Home Depot is also paid ASAP. I don't even wait until the due date. We have our Netflix and Dish set up automatically every month. We have a car payment but it would cost an extra $5.95 a month for them to take that out of a CC, so it is taken out of our bank account.

It's really quite simple. The only thing we don't use the CC for is Amazon because I use their card and get 5% back which I use for other purchases. I don't need to go in on either CC to activate the cashbacks for that quarter. I used to use a Discover but hated that about that card. I always forgot to do it or we wouldn't use what that quarter was offering.

I keep a notebook (I have for years) of regular expenses for each month and when I have an additional purchase, like groceries or the dollar store, drug store, etc., I write that in my book and keep the receipt until I see it posted and then I pay it. Works for me...but then again, I'm a "numbers" person and I love doing it.

The extra cash is worth 5 minutes of my time :)
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Excellent!

Every year I buy a $1 calendar planner from the Dollar store where I write down everything I spend daily and I also make brief notes of any special cost situation that might happen, like home or auto repair, etc. I also keep all receipts until they are no longer required for reference. I also have a larger notebook where I keep all my monthly savings, investment, nest egg information and special notes like insurance and property tax costs and IRA withdraws. Keeping such records are a handy reference to have [for you and your heirs]... and the psychology of routinely writing down spending, saving and nest egg information helps control spending and helps continue to motivate saving.
 

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