Need a good daily driver catch all card...

[Wrigley2172]

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@Slabenstein wrote:

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@Wrigley2172 wrote:

Bit of an aside to throw in another option but also ask a question of those better with numbers than i:

My Baxter CU cash rewards card gives 1.5% back awarded quarterly but the transactions ALSO count towards the requirements for the 2% APY I earn with my checking account there. With the amount i have in the account, i earn ~7/8 dollars each month. Am i ok in also factoring this money into "rewards" earned with my card and if so what would the "true" cash back % be for the card?

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Whether it's "okay" would just be a matter of whether you want to look at it that way or not, so, really, it's completely up to you.  The important thing is that you have an accurate picture of your financial life.  Like, if I were comparing using this card vs. another flat rate card and I never used the debit card for this account, then I would include the 2% interest on the checking balance since I wouldn't get it without the card, and in that situation I would want to be comparing total money gain vs. total money gain.  But if I needed to keep interest and cashback rewards separate in my budget for some reason, then I wouldn't include the checking interest in the rewards for that purpose.  To figure the cashback w/ the checking interest included I would just divide the monthly interest earned on your checking balance by the spend on the card for the month, and then add that to 0.015.  Presumably that sum rewards rate would fluctuate from month to month, but you could average over a 3, 6, etc, mo period to get an idea of what it's doing for you and how it would compare to switching to e.g. a flat 2% card.  (And you could also run the math on using the BCU card for your first 15 charges/mo and a 2% card on everthing after and see how much of a gain that is over just the BCU card.)

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That makes sense, thank you for explaining it to me. I had been rather confused on how to go about figuring that out.

[GrandBaker]

Tough to beat the Citi DoubleCash card as a daily driver. 

Chase eco-system works well if you want to switch between points and cash. 

[Anonymous]

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@Slabenstein wrote:

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@Wrigley2172 wrote:

Bit of an aside to throw in another option but also ask a question of those better with numbers than i:

My Baxter CU cash rewards card gives 1.5% back awarded quarterly but the transactions ALSO count towards the requirements for the 2% APY I earn with my checking account there. With the amount i have in the account, i earn ~7/8 dollars each month. Am i ok in also factoring this money into "rewards" earned with my card and if so what would the "true" cash back % be for the card?

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Whether it's "okay" would just be a matter of whether you want to look at it that way or not, so, really, it's completely up to you. 

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Right, and I would also consider the intent behind the calculation.   So one example would be "Should I get a 2% card and use that instead?"

Then the interest on the account would obviously need to be considered as part of that decision, and then can get as complex as you like!

For example, if you switched to a 2+% card, presumably you would have the option to use a debit card to make some of the transactions to still get the interest, but those transactions might have a cost (for not using a reward card) or they can be free is certain things are allowed.   With a different credit card, you could then also consider a different account (e.g. ETFCU which pays 3.3%) but then you need to account for convenience of not switching, avoiding HP/new account for the new card etc.

So, as @Slabenstein says, it's just up to you to decide how to look at it.   If the question really is "Is this the best I can do earning wise?" the answer is nearly always "No!", but it may well be good enough.

[Wrigley2172]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Slabenstein wrote:

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@Wrigley2172 wrote:

Bit of an aside to throw in another option but also ask a question of those better with numbers than i:

My Baxter CU cash rewards card gives 1.5% back awarded quarterly but the transactions ALSO count towards the requirements for the 2% APY I earn with my checking account there. With the amount i have in the account, i earn ~7/8 dollars each month. Am i ok in also factoring this money into "rewards" earned with my card and if so what would the "true" cash back % be for the card?

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Whether it's "okay" would just be a matter of whether you want to look at it that way or not, so, really, it's completely up to you. 

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Right, and I would also consider the intent behind the calculation.   So one example would be "Should I get a 2% card and use that instead?"

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Thank you LTL,

I think the best comparison will be this one of: would a 2% card be better. My profile is not strong enough for the current 3% cards with my dp's. I also believe cashback is the best route for me currently with my situation: recent college grad with lower income and low fixed expenses. So i will base my math off a comparison with a flat 2% or interchanging a 2% after the 15 transactions needed for the interest