@Bees18 wrote:I think so far with the BCP and Everyday it's been statement credits and to cover purchases so far.
the Gold Card is new, so not sure on that yet. I know it's best to use on travel but we don't really travel much ( but probabky could save up to do so in the future) . From what I've heard the lesser options are gift cards and pay at checkout but it only gives you half of what it's worth.
If you don't travel much you shouldn't be wasting your money on the gold card. When it gets to 13 months old, ditch it.
@Bees18 wrote:
Thank you can you elaborate on the last part. The points just show up there so we usually just spend them. What would be the better way to redeem them for that particular card? Not very good at this lol
As far as the fees go, you are right. I wasn't aware of a higher dining card, I think the closet I've found was the Savor One which I think we could downgrade too. Same with groceries, I don't think I've seen a 5% grocery card yet (but haven't looked lately). I know the freedom has spend categories at 5% but I think that was just for a few months a year and we spend a lot on groceries right now. Any ideas?
No prob Bees. 
Never use your points from any card to make new purchases. Let's say you have $100 in 5% CB points accumulate on your amazon card account. Let's say you want to make a new $100 purchase. If you made that new purchase with your amazon card, you'd earn yet another $5 back in points. If you make that new purchase with your accrued $100 in points, you get no additional CB. So, since you are not getting 5% on your 5%, you are essentially turning your 5% card into a 0.95 x 5% = 4.75% card. Thus, you should redeem your CB by transferring your $100 to your bank account or using it as statement credit.
As for purchasing gift cards to earn what seems like 5% back, keep in mind sometimes it's rob Peter to pay Paul. You may get 5% off the gift card but then you get no cash back when spending that gift card. If I used my amazon Prime Visa to buy a $50 Burger King gift card from amazon, I may earn 5%/$2.50 back for that purchase. But then when I spend the gift card at BK, I get $0 back when I could have earned 5%/$2.50 using one of my 5% dining cards.
As for groceries at 5% (or better), you can try the U.S. Alliance Visa Sig with 6% groceries and 2% everything else but, per the fine print, the 6% will end at the end of this year. With that said, they also had the Dec 31 deadline listed each year when they offered 3% everything yet they ended up extending it for a few years. As has been mentioned, if you got the citi Custom Cash and used it exclusively for groceries, you'd get 5%. This is only up to $1500/qtr but that's essentially the same as your BCP. As for dining, you can go with something like the Redstone FCU Visa Sig and get 5% with no annual fee which surely beats the 4% Savor with a $95 fee.
Anyway, good luck and let us know what you decide.
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Just popping in to second what Coldfusion already said about the ELAN Max Cash and US Bank Cash + for utilities. I have both of these and have been paying my water and electric bill with them. Not a huge spend but getting 5% back adds up eventually. I was able to track down a local bank with a branch within a 20 mile radius of my house that offered the Max Cash card and I got accepted without having any other ties with the bank.
US Bank Cash + $8,700
Starting Score: 657