Highest cash back cards for 2018 - for my situation - link to calculator I made

[wasCB14]

Why did BCP replace BCE in your analysis? At $212 in monthly grocery spend, you're short of the spend needed for the AF to make sense.

@Anonymous wrote:

That's over $30 more in a year just for having 3 cards in your wallet...

 Getting two cards for an extra $32 per year in rewards strikes me as a questionable marginal value.

[Anonymous]

I added both BCE and BCP to the spreadsheet link for comparison.

Adding two cards if OP only has one card helps their FICO for sure.  Plus there's SUB too.  This post isn't about the title by any measure and OP proved it by saying "highest" but commenting "easiest".

In addition, first year with BRO includes a heavy SUB which pays for two years of fees.  Hence why I think OP isn't intending to actually max savings.  They're probably looking for someone to say their 2.5% card is fine for them.  And it is.

But getting BCP for 2 years destroys that 2.5% card.  And if they have any additional spend they weren't expected at grocery or gas, it annihilated the 2.5%.

This post topic obviously is more about "easy" than "savings" tho.  If it was about max savings, the verdict would be obvious.

For others reading this post: one can't ignore the money earned by switching cards and it can add up to a lot of you're willing to juggle 3 cards versus 1 and include SUB in your math.

As to the dubiousness, I'm 43 and $30 per year for 25 years is a huge chunk of change today.  Plus 25 years of possible SUB ignored?  Thousands and thousands of dollars down the line.  I consider these things today.

[Anonymous]

$30 times 25 is only $750 now i say only because that is over 25 years.

The issue with most people on here fall into the (i need a different card for everything).

By having only 1 or 2 cards makes it so much easier keeping track of monthy debts.

By having 10 to 15 accounts you now must use other ways such as excel spreadsheets, in my opinion the time you save not doing spread sheets is more valuable than 30 bucks a year.

Now if you say a person making 50k a year could save 300 a year doing spread sheets then it would be more than worth it.

You can easily save that 30 bucks a year by keeping your home warmer in the summer or colder in the winter.

[Anonymous]

Read the title again, then.  Because I must be reading it differently.  I see the word highest there.

FWIW I retired at age 41 because of $30 a year here and $30 a year there.  Add those up over 25 years with compound interest and it's a football field full of savings. 

Plus OP is only focusing on groceries and gas, so in the other categories missing there's savings.

And as I said before, the first year has a SUB in the AF card.  It's not $30 saved, it might be closer to $200.  For two spend categories!  But again, that isn't the easiest solution, just the highest paying one.

25 years from now, thousands a year can turn into hundreds of thousands, with compound interest and a balanced portfolio.  I've seen it so many times in others that it still surprises me to see people think that $30 is too little to care about.

That 2.5% card OP has is amazing and will pay dividends if used correctly. 

But OP asked for highest and then changed their mind to easiest.

[OmarR]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 This post isn't about the title by any measure and OP proved it by saying "highest" but commenting "easiest".

I think OP isn't intending to actually max savings.  They're probably looking for someone to say their 2.5% card is fine for them.  And it is.

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I am not the OP, but your words hit home with me and I will keep try to keep my post within the construct of the title.

I used to be like the OP. I wanted ONE card to simplify it all. ONE card to pull out, swipe, and put back. I wanted my credit reports to list ONE mortgage and ONE credit card. Clean and easy. And there's nothing wrong with that, OP, if that is what you desire and if that it what suites your lifestyle.

But than I started realizing that even though my USAA Limitless is my awesome daily driver, there are just too many 5% and 6% (BCP) cards out there for groceries, gas, & dining. 3 categories that most of us indulge in. And it really took me gettting over the fact that, yes, I may have to think for a second or two before I swipe, "Hey, which card am I pulling out for this vendor".

Granted, there a couple of things I still havent been able to fully stomach:

Rotating categories. I still can't do it. Let me set it and forget it. If I can't CHOOSE my category (I am ok with having to set it every quarter), than its most likely not for me.

TOO big of an annual fee. Such as a CSR $450.  Sure, there is a travel credit. But I do ZERO traveling, LOL!

But OP, if you are looking to stay simple and keep just ONE card, than I think, in my opinion, that you already have a winner.

Good Luck!!

[Anonymous]

Im sorry for bing blunt in my last post, but if you are chasing the points/cash back then you MUST get a discover card with quarterly promos.

To compound the intrest deal again you can cut almost anywhere say cable or internet and put into a retirement acct.

I have started to save at 35 granted better than 55 but wish i wouldve done what i knew to do at 18. 

Back on topic if you dont find a good answer here just go to the banks web sites over the weekend and just scroll thru the cards and write down the ones you like and come back and ask us what we all think.

[Anonymous]

Another option would be to utilize something like gift cardgranny to purchase gocery gift cards using the Limitless.

As an example, I'm a Kroger shopper, so I use my Fidelity visa to purchase gift cards at a 2% discount minimium. Some are higher. So without getting a new card or a new hard pull, increased my cash back to 4% on grocery. In your case with the limitless it would be 4.5% in theory. Sometimes difficult to estimate how much in grocery spend you would utilize. 

Then you could just focus on the gas card. The USSA 5% for gas would fit the bill.

Just an option, you may not want to go that route. 

I to had the Sallie Mai, and is impossible to reproduce.. Luckly I no longer spend much on gas. So my effort was to somehow increase potential cash back on grocery without getting a new credit card. I did get the Amazon store card for its 5%.

General Spend: Fidelity Visa 2%

Grocery Send: Fidelity Visa plus gift card = potentially 4%

Amazon purchases: Amazon store card 5%

Gas spend: Fidelity Visa as my spend is maybe $60 monthly total 2%

[UpperNwGuy]

You don't need a spreadsheet to maximize cash back awards.  Just follow this simple rule:  use a 2% 0r 2.5% across-the-board cash back card for general spending, and 3% or better category cards for gas, groceries, dining, and travel.  In my case, I use PenFed Power Cash Rewards for 2% on general spending and Chase Sapphire Reserve for 4.5% on dining and travel.  I used to also carry a BCE for 3% on grocery spending, but Amex's silly rewards process turned me off, so groceries now go on PenFed Power Cash for 2%.  I only lose $30 a year by not carrying BCE.  I live in the city, so my gas spending is insigificant.  The two-card wallet is very nice.

[Anonymous]

So I broke down and got the USAA 5% cash back on "gas/fuel" with no annual fee card today.

I say "broke down" becasue I always liked to keep things simple. Less Credit cards, less acounts. I didnt want to have seperate cards for seperate catagories. Just one great "all in one" card. Something like the old Sallie may card.

Regardless, having two cards (one for fuel and one for general spend) isnt that big of a deal. Getting and using one card only for gas that has 5% back on gas with no annual fee and a seperate card for all other general spends (2.5% cash on everything with no Annual fee), should be pretty nice. 

The other card suggested in this thread (6% cash back on gas) would be better then 5% cash back on gas if there was not Annual fee on the 6% cash back gas card. Yes, the sign on bonus negates the annual fee for 2 years but after that, the annual fee of close to $100 would have to be paid in full. It doesnt make sense on year 3 and beyond for my gas spend.

But man, that discontinued Sallie May card sounded like a dream. 5% on Groceries and 5% on gas with no AF? What a deal! Too bad its no more. Would have been great to get that extra 5% on grocery.