topic Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio in Credit Cards

Minimalist credit card portfolio

thelethargicage — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 13:52:18 GMT

For Q3 2021:

Groceries - Freedom Flex (5%)

Restaurants - Discover It (5%)

Gas Stations - Custom Cash (5%)

Cell Phone/Internet/Streaming - Cash+ (5%)

Everything else - Fidelity Rewards (2%)

If you don't want to depend on rotating categories:

Groceries - Blue Cash Everyday (3%)

Gas Stations - Costco Anywhere (4%)

Restaurants - Costco Anywhere (3%)

Everything else - Fidelity Rewards (2%)

If you don't mind paying annual fees:

Groceries - Blue Cash Preferred (6%)

Gas Stations - Costco Anywhere (4%)

Restaurants - Costco Anywhere (3%)

Everything else - Alliant CU Visa (2.5%)

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

M_Smart007 — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 13:55:44 GMT

or AODFCU 3% everything / No AF (very minimialist potfolio)

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

thelethargicage — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 14:08:09 GMT

Does that AOD card report as “flexible spending limit”?

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

JNA1 — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 14:57:00 GMT

My lineup for this quarter (if I don't get something targeted/unforeseen offer) is as follows:

Disco - Restaurants and PayPal - 10% (DW's Disco is still in cashback match) We'll use my Disco when we meet the $1500 spend on DW's - 5%

Elan MCP - Utilities and cell phone - 5%

Elan MCP #2 - Internet & retail - 5%

PNC Cash Rewards - 4%

AMEX BCP - Groceries - 6%

Synovus Travel Rewards - Travel - 6.5%, Maintenance (I'm running some business spend through it this quarter) - 3.75%

AOD - Everything else - 3%

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

coldfusion — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 15:42:01 GMT

@thelethargicage wrote:
Does that AOD card report as “flexible spending limit”?

Mine reports as a credit card, not as what EQ reports as a 'flexible spending credit card'.

Do you have a particular concern about how it reports?

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 15:45:02 GMT

Worth noting that the Alliant Visa Signature no longer carries an annual fee, but you have a few hoops to jump through in order to get that 2.5% cash back.

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

FormerCollegeDJ — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 16:47:36 GMT

For people with a Chase Amazon card (Prime or non-Prime*), you forgot 5% on travel and gas through 8/15/21.

*I have the non-Prime version of the card and received the bonus offer.

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

coldfusion — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 16:59:23 GMT

Off the top of my head I'd probably go with something like:

uncategorized spend: AODFCU Signature Visa 3%

utilities and tv/internet/streaming: Elan Max Cash issued as a Mastercard 5%, Mastercard payment network

gas (and alternative restaurant): PNC Cash Rewards 4% gas, 3% restaurant

groceries: AMEX BCP 6% avg. $120/wk spend, AMEX payment network

optional, for the 5% rotating categories

Discover IT

Chase Freedom Flex

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

Namaste7 — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 18:28:38 GMT

BofA Platinum Honors minimalist wallet

Customized Cash Rewards: 5.25% select categories and 3% warehouse/grocery up to 2.5k quarterly; no AF
- Categories: gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, or home improvement/furnishings
- You can hold two Cash Reward cards to increase the category spend to $5k per quarter.
Preferred Rewards: 3.5% travel; 2.65% everything else; $95 AF

Great combo for those in the BofA ecosystem with a straight forward rewards system. This combo pairs well with Discover or your favorite institution that offers routine BTs. FYI: Platinum Honors requires 100k in assets.

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

notmyrealname23 — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 18:00:23 GMT

Only on MyFico are three to five card portfolios "minimalist".

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

Mr_Mojo_Risin — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 18:26:48 GMT

More Rewards 3% groceries, restaurants (5% until 8/31) and gas stations.

Discover won't be getting much spend this quarter, we don't eat out often and I don't use PayPal.

AOD 3% gets all utilities and non category spend.

Looking to make another addition in the next month or so. Leaning towards the Navy Flagship for the big SUB before it expires 8/31.

I really like that Custom Cash from Citi though, Idk, a lot to think about lol

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

cws-21 — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 22:00:48 GMT

I have always tried to maintain what I consider to be a minimalist lineup, sometimes to my detriment. I have opened cards that I felt would benefit me in the long-term rather than primarily to chase a SUB. I have closed cards that no longer benefited me, though doing so probably negatively affected my credit to some degree. I have avoided having checking accounts, savings accounts, and the like with multiple banks and credit unions, again, somewhat to be detriment. I may make an exception for AOD, but, alas, I don't believe I could get their card even with my 800+ credit scores across the board and few inquiries given my IBR student loan payments not being taken into consideration by AOD. I have done all this and more due to my commitment to minimalism (not just with credit cards) and with the understanding that it flies in the face of what many people on myFICO do and advise others to do.

I, now, have eight cards with the seven listed below used monthly. In my perfect, minimalist or simple world, I would have fewer than these cards, but they do a lot for me, fit my spending perfectly (or nearly perfectly), and I'm not willing to give up any of it up. I should also mention that I entirely pursue cash back given even a minimal amount of travel is difficult with children (three daughters!), two of which are still in school, two have work schedules, all three have frequent plans with friends, and we have two pets. This all adds up to very little travel for us these days, though who knows for the future.

With that said, I earn approximately 5% cash back on many categories, including the big three (groceries, dining, and gas), without any rotating quarters. I have a card that provides cell phone protection, which saves us additional money. I have a no foreign transaction fee Visa, which conveniently gives me 5% cash back at Amazon when not traveling. I will hopefully have a no foreign transaction fee Mastercard, which will hopefully give me 5% cash back at Target when not traveling. My Target RedCard is currently not a Mastercard, but it is my hope that it will be converted around its one year anniversary (though I know there are no guarantees).

American Express Blue Cash Preferred (mostly for 6% cash back on groceries, but also Amex Offers)
Citi Custom Cash Card (mostly for 5% cash back on dining, but also on groceries, to complement BCP, or gas, if ever my Ducks Unlimited goes away)
First Bankcard Ducks Unlimited Rewards Visa Card (mostly for 5% cash back on gas, but also 5% cash back on sporting goods)
Wells Fargo Propel Amex Card (mostly for cell phone protection, but also 3% cash back on transit and travel as well as Amex Offers and Wells Fargo Deals)
Chase Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card (for 5% cash back at Amazon and no foreign transaction Visa)
Target RedCard Credit Card (for 5% cash back at Target and, hopefully, no foreign transaction fee Mastercard in the future if converted)
Citi Double Cash Card (for 2% cash back on everything else)

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

unsungivy — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 22:40:40 GMT

@cws-21 wrote:
American Express Blue Cash Preferred (mostly for 6% cash back on groceries, but also Amex Offers)
Citi Custom Cash Card (mostly for 5% cash back on dining, but also on groceries, to complement BCP, or gas, if ever my Ducks Unlimited goes away)
First Bankcard Ducks Unlimited Rewards Visa Card (mostly for 5% cash back on gas, but also 5% cash back on sporting goods)
Wells Fargo Propel Amex Card (mostly for cell phone protection, but also 3% cash back on transit and travel as well as Amex Offers and Wells Fargo Deals)
Chase Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card (for 5% cash back at Amazon and no foreign transaction Visa)
Target RedCard Credit Card (for 5% cash back at Target and, hopefully, no foreign transaction fee Mastercard in the future if converted)
Citi Double Cash Card (for 2% cash back on everything else)

Did the Ducks card get grandfathered for people or something? Anytime I've tried to look into it, it just lists it as a 1.5 flat card. Is there some secret-handshake way to still get the old version?

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

cws-21 — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 22:42:12 GMT

@unsungivy wrote:
Did the Ducks card get grandfathered for people or something? Anytime I've tried to look into it, it just lists it as a 1.5 flat card. Is there some secret-handshake way to still get the old version?

@unsungivy, we're part of a club. Unfortunately, the first rule of the club is not to talk about the club. Sorry.

Actually, the card is no longer available and I was just grandfathered.

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 00:59:08 GMT

@Namaste7 wrote:
BofA Platinum Honors minimalist wallet
Customized Cash Rewards: 5.25% select categories and 3% warehouse/grocery up to 2.5k quarterly; no AF
Categories: gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, or home improvement/furnishings
You can hold two Cash Reward cards to increase the category spend to $5k per quarter.
Preferred Rewards: 3.5% travel; 2.65% everything else; $95 AF
Great combo for those in the BofA ecosystem with a straight forward rewards system. This combo pairs well with Discover or your favorite institution that offers routine BTs. FYI: Platinum Honors requires 100k in assets.

This plan is really tempting. I'd need to app for (and get) the preferred rewards visa, and I'd probably hang onto the MaxCash and Citi Custom (3 additional 5% categories) . . . but the others would be expendable, and I could go from 8 cards to 4. The only catch: I'd need to roll over a retirement account to Merrill to make it work. So far, I've been too lazy to check whether I'd end up paying more in fees to Merrill (which could easily outweigh the preferred rewards multiplier...)

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

Citylights18 — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 18:29:19 GMT

This is what I'm trying to achieve moving forward with adjustments.

Proposed minamalist wallet:

Chase Fredom 2x bills yearly with paypal key

AMEX Green 3x (dining discounts), 3x occasional travel spend, MR points for online shopping.

Chase Sapphire Preferred 5x (lyft), 5x (Chase Travel Portal), 3.1x (dining, food delivery, online groceries)

World of Hyatt 9x Hyatt, 5x (bonus spend)

Coinbase USDC Debit, 4x (non-category spend)

Since I have the WoH and I can move points from Chase I am getting around 3x value on my Chase points by moving them there. AMEX points are worth about 2.0 ccp so it becomes like 6x plus discounts normally when I use it. For Hyatt I have earned 90,000 points (worth $2700) in non-SUB spend within the past year with all the promotions they run. I used some on vacation in April and between Hyatt and Southwest picked up $3300 in free travel. I'm still sitting on almost 400k travel points after that as well.

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

MrDFinance — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 18:38:04 GMT

My Setup for Q3

Groceries - Blue Cash Preferred (6%)

Gas Stations - PenFed Platinum (5%)

Restaurants - Discover It (5%)

Everything else - PayPal MasterCard/NavyFed Flagship (2%)

Re: Minimalist credit card portfolio

Crowhelm — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 02:04:46 GMT

@notmyrealname23 wrote:
Only on MyFico are three to five card portfolios "minimalist".

Right? lol