The “All other purchases” card

[Anonymous]

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@longtimelurkerwrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

I use my Quicksilver and FU to get 1.5%. They have closing dates almost exactly half a month apart from each other so I rotate them to show 0 balances. I also end up using my CCU Visa Signature Cash Rebate card on "all other" type purchases so I can hit the 1k/month spending to get 5.39% interest rate on my checking account with them. It's basically an AMEX BCE 3-2-1 card minus the department stores 2%. I've got a new DC card on the way though so my spending is going to change, but with a small SL of $1100, I imagine the old standbys will get some use. Honestly I may just have a slight problem with SUBs and shiny new cards.

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Say what? ! What are the terms of this deal? I assume there must be a balance cap to be eligible for 5.39%, otherwise I'm jumping the garden fence and snagging that card and pulling all 200k out of CDs and into checking  

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The current deal (where I get 4.59%) maxes out on balances of $20K.    So certainly worth doing (my wife and I each have one) but not a source of riches!

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Sorry yeah, that's the correct rate. 4.59% after you meet the requirements. Also, correct only on balances up to $20k, $20k-$25k is .2%, and $25K+ is .1%. Sorry to get you're hopes up there. As lurker stated, it's definitely a nice little boost, but hardly anything to retire on.

[Anonymous]

That's what I figured but a man can dream. Still, might go this route anyhow as the interest in 20k at that rate beats out the same 20k piled into the 1.45% HYSA.

[Anonymous]

There's nothing to stop someone from getting Kasasa cash accounts at different institutions though....except for the 10 or so debit card uses required per month and the other minimal requirements like having a direct deposit each month etc. I do 50 cent amazon reloads to hit the debit transaction requirements for my kasasa accounts. Although the one with consumers offers the best rate and it's subject to local availability...I have the CCU acct and hit the 3.09% rate, and also a Kasasa cash back acct with farmers bank & trust for 5% cash back on up to $200 in spend per month. My fluid cash sits in the 3.09% acct, and my savings is in insight and NetSpend cards for 5%.

But $200k could be dispersed into like 10 accounts or so...

[SunriseEarth]

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@Anonymouswrote:

I personally use a Quicksilver for my catch-all card that isn't a category spend.  Many if not most people get 2% for non-category spending, which is a little better than a Quicksilver's 1.5%, but I'm not quite ready profile-wise to replace my QS with anything else.  

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QS is a great gen spend card for international purchases, as it has no FTF.   Some also don't think the 0.5% improvement in cash back is worth obtaining a new account, which may be true, depending on your profile.   

[Anonymous]

Paypal MC

Its synchrony but they grow like a weed so i heard

[Anonymous]

Chase Freedom Unlimited (1.5 UR points) or Starwood SPG card are decent options. 

[Anonymous]

When I got back into the credit card "game", the first thing I did was analyze my spending, then chose cards that complemented it.

First was Amazon, I put a good bit through there each year, so that was a no brainer 5% at Amazon, and 2% at restaurants, drug stores, and gas stations.

Next was Groceries, BCP is 6% there, and 3% at gas stations and some department stores.

Then I grabbed the Discover IT for the revolving categories that complement the other two, and will fill a few gaps (Home improvement category was well used last year).

That covers probably 90% of my spending. Getting a 2% card to cover that small amount outside those categories isn't something I really concern myself with at the moment..

I think, as long as you are honest with yourself about what you spend, and how you spend it, you should be able to find a mix of cards that will maximize that. A proper mix will more than make up for the extra pennies you may get per month from a dedicated "everything else" card.

[Anonymous]

Chase Freedom Unlimited for me. It's the anchor of my Chase trifecta (Freedom, FU, CSP). Ultimate Rewards are more valuable to me than cash. 

[xenon3030]

BOA PR can be a good CC for the other categories (1.5-2.63X depending on status from regular to Pt honor).

If the other categories are in a regular basis and in a specific category, USB Cash+ can give 5% cashback.

If the others can be paid by Android/Chase/Samsung pay, sometimes there are 5% cashback (e.g. Q1 Chase freedom this year).

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymouswrote:

When I got back into the credit card "game", the first thing I did was analyze my spending, then chose cards that complemented it.

First was Amazon, I put a good bit through there each year, so that was a no brainer 5% at Amazon, and 2% at restaurants, drug stores, and gas stations.

Next was Groceries, BCP is 6% there, and 3% at gas stations and some department stores.

Then I grabbed the Discover IT for the revolving categories that complement the other two, and will fill a few gaps (Home improvement category was well used last year).

That covers probably 90% of my spending. Getting a 2% card to cover that small amount outside those categories isn't something I really concern myself with at the moment..

I think, as long as you are honest with yourself about what you spend, and how you spend it, you should be able to find a mix of cards that will maximize that. A proper mix will more than make up for the extra pennies you may get per month from a dedicated "everything else" card.

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It's hard to rely on rotating categories though, the issuer may not, at some point, provide one that is useful to you at the time you need it.

Also, most of the time, 5% have caps (Amazon is currently an exception here), so you need an alternative is you exceed the caps.

And it really depends on your spending, there are times where "all other purchases" might make a very large fraction of your spend, in areas which no card covers (or, if this is a one off big spend, you may not want to get a dedicated card for that, preferring a dedicated everything else card!)