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Exactly as you have it.
@_NERD wrote:
Thank you for all the info. Should I
1.) CLI BCE
2.) Upgrade BCE card to BCP
3.) App for a new Amex card
in any particular order?
@Anonymous wrote:BCP, you will make $265 after AF vs $180 with BCE, net gain of $85.
@_NERD wrote:
@Anonymous: I never heard of opportunity cost. I’m just now starting to use my BCE for groceries. If I am going to put $6k of grocery spend on a credit card annually moving forward, which of these two cards would you recommend?
Thanks!
But, as oldman87 suggested earlier, this calculation is only valid with the assumptions:
1) All the $6K spend is at stores that Amex counts as grocery stores (e.g. not Target and at least some Walmart stores, or Costco)
2) None of the spend could be covered by 5% cards, such as Freedom, Discover (and for Whole Foods, Chase Amazon)
I am a big fan of the BCP, but I am in a unique situation. I have a grocery store where the gas station also codes as groceries, so I was able to:
Nearly max 2 Discover cards with cash back match during grocery quarter, so 10% back on about 2.5K
Max out BCP 6K groceries by end of November, 6% less 95 AF
Put another 2K or so (thus far) in groceries on BCE/NFCU MoreRewards at 3%
I have earned a bunch of cash on my grocery spend this year.
@longtimelurker wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:BCP, you will make $265 after AF vs $180 with BCE, net gain of $85.
@_NERD wrote:
@Anonymous: I never heard of opportunity cost. I’m just now starting to use my BCE for groceries. If I am going to put $6k of grocery spend on a credit card annually moving forward, which of these two cards would you recommend?
Thanks!But, as oldman87 suggested earlier, this calculation is only valid with the assumptions:
1) All the $6K spend is at stores that Amex counts as grocery stores (e.g. not Target and at least some Walmart stores, or Costco)
2) None of the spend could be covered by 5% cards, such as Freedom, Discover (and for Whole Foods, Chase Amazon)
Should have also added: For those with Amazon Prime cards, check to see if gift cards are available on Amazon for that supermarket. Then, although a little less convenient then just using your card, you get an uncapped 5% on those, which makes the BCP less valuable. Plus you get the rewards that month and (at least with Chase) you have different cash redemption options, whereas with BCP you get them a month delayed, and as statement credit. You can get cards for Safeway, Albertsons, Giant/Stop&Shop and WholeFoods.
Blue Cash Everyday is 3% Cash Back at supermarkets capping at $6,000. After that its 1% and 1% on everything else. To break even with the BCP if you spend an average of $140 a month on groceries, this would break even on the annual fee. From there everything else would put you over the threshold. Though there is a capping threshold over $6000 where it changes to 1%, you would obtain more cashback if you spend that amount a month in groceries alone.
You have to factor in 3% earned on a no AF BCE, OP will have to spend $264/month to break even on the BCP vs using BCE. And that is just a straight up comparison of BCP vs BCE, not taking into account of other factors like Discover and Freedom's 5% grocery categories.
@Anonymous wrote:Blue Cash Everyday is 3% Cash Back at supermarkets capping at $6,000. After that its 1% and 1% on everything else. To break even with the BCP if you spend an average of $140 a month on groceries, this would break even on the annual fee. From there everything else would put you over the threshold. Though there is a capping threshold over $6000 where it changes to 1%, you would obtain more cashback if you spend that amount a month in groceries alone.
Keep in mind also you can often get goods cheaper at stores that don't count as "grocery" for 6% on Amex, such as Target, Walmart, Costco, etc. So don't spend more at "real" grocery stores just to try and justify the 6% if you can save more on the goods to begin with by shopping elsewhere.