Switching CCs for better rewards?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@disdreamin wrote:

Wow, ask for credit card advice and get judged on your grocery budget much?!

First, I assure you it isn't MS.  It's quite real, all legitimate items required for my household, but perhaps my idea of groceries differs from that of others.  Included in my grocery amount are things like shampoo, laundry detergent, paper towels, razors, TP, toothbrushes and toothpaste...you get the idea.  I don't separate out items that might better be called household supplies, simply because I shop for all of it at the same time and most often at the same places.   So basically we're probably talking $250-$300 a week for groceries and another $300 or so per month for everything else.  Some months the original amount I named may be an overestimate (last month it was under $1100, but I didn't do much big-box shopping at Costco/BJ's/Sam's) and other months I spend $400+ at the big box stores alone to stock up.

Admittedly we are not frugal when it comes to food.  I buy a fair amount of organic produce and meat, and yes, imported cheese.  Jarlsberg, Colliers Welsh Cheddar, Emmentaler swiss, Gruyere....~droooool~  oh, and Honeycrisp apples to go with them, to the tune of $3.99 a pound.  Go ahead and judge me.    

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Then I stick by my recommendation of Old Blue Cash, and hey, you can even MS a little with it if you like!

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Or this..

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@kdm31091 wrote:
1400 a month sounds awfully high if you aren't doing any MS.

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I wouldn't bother with MS for a measily $1,400/mo.

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Yeah, but everynoe needs a hobby...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@kdm31091 wrote:
1400 a month sounds awfully high if you aren't doing any MS.

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I wouldn't bother with MS for a measily $1,400/mo.

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Yeah, but everynoe needs a hobby...

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Remember the $1400 includes real groceries so not a very active hobby (two per month)  unless the person is buying sub-$500 cards! (such $25 Amex GC for $3.95 fee), which might be cheaper than some hobbies.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@kdm31091 wrote:
1400 a month sounds awfully high if you aren't doing any MS.

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I wouldn't bother with MS for a measily $1,400/mo.

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Yeah, but everynoe needs a hobby...

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Remember the $1400 includes real groceries so not a very active hobby (two per month)  unless the person is buying sub-$500 cards! (such $25 Amex GC for $3.95 fee), which might be cheaper than some hobbies.

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16% just in Fees. That's worse than useless.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@kdm31091 wrote:
1400 a month sounds awfully high if you aren't doing any MS.

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I wouldn't bother with MS for a measily $1,400/mo.

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Yeah, but everynoe needs a hobby...

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Remember the $1400 includes real groceries so not a very active hobby (two per month)  unless the person is buying sub-$500 cards! (such $25 Amex GC for $3.95 fee), which might be cheaper than some hobbies.

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16% just in Fees. That's worse than useless.

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Yes, Amex just sent me one for some reason (no fee).   On the Amex site you can buy a $3000 GC or the same $3.95,, which is good even with a 1% card (so long as it isn't Citi or PNC)

[disdreamin]

Not to venture away from the original topic/question, but I wanted to mention that my grocery/food budget seems to be in line with the USDA food plans (once adjusted for the household supplies originally included in my monthly amount) . My monthly estimate falls between the moderate and liberal categories.  Liberal for my family would be $1373 monthly, while moderate would be $1134 according to: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/CostofFoodNov2014.pdf  No, I'm not thrifty, but I'm not a spendthrift either.

[Anonymous]

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@disdreamin wrote:

Not to venture away from the original topic/question, but I wanted to mention that my grocery/food budget seems to be in line with the USDA food plans (once adjusted for the household supplies originally included in my monthly amount) . My monthly estimate falls between the moderate and liberal categories.  Liberal for my family would be $1373 monthly, while moderate would be $1134 according to: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/CostofFoodNov2014.pdf  No, I'm not thrifty, but I'm not a spendthrift either.

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I wouldn't bother "defending" yourself.  As I said earlier, there is a tendency here to assume everyone is the same as yourself, so if you spend more on groceries than a single person who lives on fast food, you  must be doing MS.  Expensive cars appear to be fine though!

I am of course totally immune to this.  I can really relate as to why people think that the $25 a quarter from BBR card is a great thing.   OK, I can't!

[disdreamin]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I wouldn't bother "defending" yourself.  As I said earlier, there is a tendency here to assume everyone is the same as yourself, so if you spend more on groceries than a single person who lives on fast food, you  must be doing MS.  Expensive cars appear to be fine though!

I am of course totally immune to this.  I can really relate as to why people think that the $25 a quarter from BBR card is a great thing.   OK, I can't!

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You made me laugh out loud with the expensive cars comment.

Seriously, though, I know I shouldn't bother trying to defend myself (haters gonna hate and all that) but we aren't a one-size-fits-all community here.  Clearly there are people here with substantial wealth and income, but there are also FT students with very little personal income, and everything in between.  It would probably be best if people could refrain from passing judgement on someones budget unless you know all their pertinents.  (And why do I hear Maxwell the pig from the Geico commercials when I use that word now?!).

Anyways, thank you to all for the card suggestions.  I'm looking into them, but have already switched the Universal over to the Citi Double Cash - it was easy-peasy and makes much more sense for me than the old AT&T card.

[Anonymous]

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@disdreamin wrote:

Not to venture away from the original topic/question, but I wanted to mention that my grocery/food budget seems to be in line with the USDA food plans (once adjusted for the household supplies originally included in my monthly amount) . My monthly estimate falls between the moderate and liberal categories.  Liberal for my family would be $1373 monthly, while moderate would be $1134 according to: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/CostofFoodNov2014.pdf  No, I'm not thrifty, but I'm not a spendthrift either.

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Sorry, didn't mean to sound mean. People here in the forums just like to chat. 

So.. clearly your spending at grocery stores is your best bet for rewards. 

The Old Blue cash is one option. That card will give you 5$ cash back on all groceries and gas stations after you spend $6500 on the card. You would hit that after ~4-5 months on your spend. 5% rewards are capped at $50k a year. Before you hit the 6.5k spend, you only get 0.5% general rewards and 1% on gas and groceries. This card has no annual fee but you can basically consider the $6500 in spend as missed rewards relative to what you would be getting with a 2% card. If you spend $1700 a month on gas and groceries this card will net you $750 a year in cash back assuming you only use it for gas and groceries. 

The other contenders are the amex blue cash preferred and everyday preferred (the latter earns the valuable amex MR points) but those are both capped at $6k a year for the high category spend on groceries. 

NOTE: 

Amex can be unbelieably annoying as to what they consider grocery store. it is not like visa and mc cards where it goes by mcc. Whole Food will count for sure because it is one of their listed examples. However, a lot of people have had terrible experiences with local grocery store chains not counting. I would look into this and make sure you will get the bonus points at the grocery store you shop at before going for the old blue cash card.

[NRB525]

Regarding your Delta AMEX card, are you working with Delta a lot, or it's only occasional travel?

The reason for the question is, if you are working on building a bank of Delta SkyMiles, Chase UR points don't play well with Delta. Ok, they don't play at all with Delta.

You could downgrade the Delta AMEX to Gold, still get the checked bag and priority boarding, as well as the same contributions to Delta SkyMiles, at a lower AF. At your spend rate, it seems less likely that you would be going for the $25k spend to get the MQM bonus on the Delta Platinum.

And, the Delta Gold card has the same basic access to Delta lounges.