How much to spend and how often?

[Anonymous]

Thanks, All! Very helpful!

[CreditInspired]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@-Wright- wrote:

Out of curiosity, why don't you use the Discover card during the rotating categories to get the 5% cash back? Your daily driver card gets 2%  @ restaurants, gas stations, and drugstores

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I think I've just been enamored in having a zero balance. lol Also, not all the categories apply to me: I'm not a member of a big box store and prefer to use my own Amazon cards on Amazon as the cashback is the same and I use it toward more Amazon stuff, which works better for me. Gas might be one I take advantage of next year, but I only just noticed that gas was lumped in with Uber/Lyft and I don't use either car service. I'd also been so focused on paying it off to get to the zero balance, especially by the year mark, I wasn't totally paying attention to the categories as you can see from having missed the gas category. All good. These cards have so many rewards and cashback, it feels like it would be a full time job keeping track. I focus mainly on the Amazon Chase cashback and my Jetblue travel rewards.  

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If you’re still in your promo period come Oct-Dec, make sure to activate and use Disco at Amazon. Thats literally 10% cashback. 

[-Wright-]

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@CreditInspired wrote:

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If you’re still in your promo period come Oct-Dec, make sure to activate and use Disco at Amazon. Thats literally 10% cashback. 

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Yeah, I'm loving this first year 10%. My Discover card doesn't leave my wallet. The categories are easy to keep track of and I keep it moving. And Discover adding Walmart and Target.com this winter is incredible although I'll be past my 10% period, 5% is good enough. 

And when the quarter is almost over and I haven't maxed it out i go and buy a few gift cards. 

[CreditInspired]

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@-Wright- wrote:

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@CreditInspired wrote:

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If you’re still in your promo period come Oct-Dec, make sure to activate and use Disco at Amazon. Thats literally 10% cashback. 

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Yeah, I'm loving this first year 10%. My Discover card doesn't leave my wallet. The categories are easy to keep track of and I keep it moving. And Discover adding Walmart and Target.com this winter is incredible although I'll be past my 10% period, 5% is good enough. 

And when the quarter is almost over and I haven't maxed it out i go and buy a few gift cards. 

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It is sweet. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

@Obscure-Expert, some follow-up questions for ya in red below!

Cap1 is greedy and needs a ton of spend to grow...so, this would be a good candidate for a charge every 12 months just to keep it alive if you want to keep it. Does just paying it down count? Someone above commented that paying is activity, but I do want to keep this card and hope to grow it to, at least, a 10 cl. 

Citi is a bit hard headed when it comes to CLI's and whether you put a ton on it or just a couple of bucks it doesn't really matter when it comes to the 6 month 2K CLI.  Just put something on every once in awhile to get it to report.... when it's not in use they don't report. Citi is currently in balance transfer at 0% interest until July 2020. I'd been previously advised on this board not to put spend on a card where there is a balance transfer. Are you saying a spend is needed? They do report every month. I do want the card to grow, but figured it wouldn't until after the balance transfer is paid off. 

Also, make sure you're setting a reminder on your calendar for Disco / Citi / Cap1 to hit the CLI button and make them grow. I do this for Disco, but as I understand it Citi and Cap1 are hard pulls, no? I am in the garden. 

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Thanks for this! All so helpful!

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As long as there is a Charge OR Payment that is considered activity.  

All 3 of those cards are SP CLI's unless you proceed with a HP on Citi.  Citi offers a SP first and if you want more after that one it's a HP which sometimes can be significantly more or just simply a doubling of what you got on the SP.