Since some of you seemed curious...
My grievance with myself was my use of my EDP. I put it away after I met the bonus spend a couple weeks ago. It's the only card I have that will actually carry a balance past the due date because I put a large unplanned repair on it ($1200 at 0% but still). I was going to leave it alone and focus on paying it down and I've made a good dent in it already and I've been consistently zeroing down my other cards.
There are a couple charges on it from the current period and yesterday I got it in my head that I would put it back in my wallet and use it on small charges so I could get it up to the 30 swipe count for better rewards. After using it on a couple more purchases, though, I realized I'd be better off putting the spend on cards that still haven't met the bonus spend. Plus every charge I put on the EDP undoes some of the work I've done on paying down that balance.
So I decided to simplify my wallet deck and put the EDP back in the SD and focus on paying it down and meeting the bonus spend on my other cards.
So yeah, the mistake didn't really cost me anything. I just realized I need to not try to meet too many goals at once or I risk missing some of them.
My grievance with myself was my use of my EDP. I put it away after I met the bonus spend a couple weeks ago. It's the only card I have that will actually carry a balance past the due date because I put a large unplanned repair on it ($1200 at 0% but still). I was going to leave it alone and focus on paying it down and I've made a good dent in it already and I've been consistently zeroing down my other cards.
There are a couple charges on it from the current period and yesterday I got it in my head that I would put it back in my wallet and use it on small charges so I could get it up to the 30 swipe count for better rewards. After using it on a couple more purchases, though, I realized I'd be better off putting the spend on cards that still haven't met the bonus spend. Plus every charge I put on the EDP undoes some of the work I've done on paying down that balance.
So I decided to simplify my wallet deck and put the EDP back in the SD and focus on paying it down and meeting the bonus spend on my other cards.
So yeah, the mistake didn't really cost me anything. I just realized I need to not try to meet too many goals at once or I risk missing some of them.
@Anonymous wrote:
I'll say this - if anyone on here is either current or retired military, the PenFed Rewards Visa card gives a flat 3% cash back and I'm using it for almost everything I charge with some exceptions (i.e., 5% cash back on Amazon for the Amazon Prime (Chase) Visa card. IF you are military/retired military and you do not pursue this card, I'd love to know why, because I'm always open to more ways to save $$$$.
I don't see a 3% card on Penfed.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I'll say this - if anyone on here is either current or retired military, the PenFed Rewards Visa card gives a flat 3% cash back and I'm using it for almost everything I charge with some exceptions (i.e., 5% cash back on Amazon for the Amazon Prime (Chase) Visa card. IF you are military/retired military and you do not pursue this card, I'd love to know why, because I'm always open to more ways to save $$$$.I don't see a 3% card on Penfed.
Sorry, typo. Meant 2% on every purchase. Thanks for keeping misinfo off of this awesome forum.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I'll say this - if anyone on here is either current or retired military, the PenFed Rewards Visa card gives a flat 3% cash back and I'm using it for almost everything I charge with some exceptions (i.e., 5% cash back on Amazon for the Amazon Prime (Chase) Visa card. IF you are military/retired military and you do not pursue this card, I'd love to know why, because I'm always open to more ways to save $$$$.I don't see a 3% card on Penfed.
Sorry, typo. Meant 2% on every purchase. Thanks for keeping misinfo off of this awesome forum.
Hahaha happens to the best of us. I'm not embarassed to admit that I went straight to PenFed's site trying to figure out how in the world I managed to miss that card and why I ever signed up for the Power Cash Rewards card. LOL Also works for those with Access America checking through them, too. At least my Defender card makes me feel special.
My strategy is a bit complex, but its worked for me. For some reason I find it pretty easy. Each of my credit cards has such a unique look to them, I can immediately tell you what each are used for. Maybe it's because I love optimization and hate wastage when it comes to anything.
Before each quarter I see if there are any good categories to use my Discover IT or Chase Freedom, then put it in my wallet if so (this quarter was restaurants).
For each month, I make sure to hit 1K on my consumers credit union cc in order to get my 4.6% on my 20 K checking account emergency fund + the 1% from the 1K spend on the card. This gets knocked out by 2 charges I have to make each month so its not terribly hard to do. This one is priority 1 as its the greatest ROI.
Groceries -- Amex BCP, unless it's a grocery quarter for my Freedom. This is simple to remember, as my wife does all of this part 
.
Gas -- Costco CItibank card for 4%, again unless its the Freedom quarter for gas. Note: This is the ONLY thing I use this card for, I don't even use it in Costco due to Alliant.
Amazon Card is auto-used for all Amazon.
General spend -- 3% Alliant CC.
Churning Travel Credit Cards - I put my rent on these generally -- since it's $2600, I can hit the spend pretty fast.
I also own a business, and my business partner and I use a Capital One Spark for all business related expenses. Owning a business rocks for the churn game as there are a ton of great biz cards for miles.
Since wifey takes care of groceries, and the consumers credit union card is taken care of by a couple consistent charges (amazon card is never taken anywhere), all i carry is the rotating card if there is a bonus that quarter I'm interested in, the Costco Citibank card, the Alliant CC, and my business Capital One Spark. Most of my gas spend goes on the business, so I can even leave the Costco card at home as well. So it's really only 2-3 credit cards I have to carry.
The key to all of this of course is to never pay a dime in interest. Use credit cards to make money, not lose it. I use my credit cards the same as if I were spending cold cash.