Tips for remembering which card to use for what item?

[Anonymous]

Have less cards.

I have 2 cards, one for every day spending, one for emergency spending.  Alternate monthly or bi-monthly as needed to keep activity going. I also don't put everything on cards. That's what bill pay is for. 

[Chris679]

I see no reason to carry more cards in your wallet than you need. I carry no more than three CC and one debit for example. If you want to label them sure but he may find that childish.

I will give you some sage advise though. Most people don't want or care about earning rewards with their CC. I have tried to get many of my friends on board and they just roll their eyes at me and continue to use their debit card for everything.

[Creditdreamer]

He is totally on board with the rewards earnings. He just "forgets" which one he's supposed to use. So I'm trying to simplify it. And yes I would write with a sharpie. Lol. Except then next quarter I'd have to cross it out and write something new.

[Anonymous]

i made an evernote for my CC.. a quick glance and i know which ones to use. i also put some addtl info and reminders. =p

*i use mint to track due dates, balances, etc. 

[Chris679]

Order a replacement card every quarter, problem solved.

[NRB525]

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@Creditdreamer wrote:

So we have Discover it, Discover it chrome, and Quicksilver cards. This is probably a really dumb question but I am doing my best to maximize our cash back. Our IT card is within the first year (so it has doubling) and so does the IT chrome. I seem to be unable to get my fiance to remember which card to use for what places. The IT is gas right now, and the IT chrome we would only be using for restaurants (not gas since the IT is gas until the end of March). It's driving me nuts. Do I put labels on the cards or something? But then I'll have to change them next quarter because next quarter the IT will be restaurants and we'll have to use the IT chrome for gas. I probably shouldn't get so irritated about it but on a gas purchase he made today, not choosing the right card means we either lose out on $7.20 in rewards or I have to buy another $120 in gas gift cards to make up for it so we can get the 10% on gas instead of 4%. I guess this is semi a rant. What should I do? Take all of the extra cards out of his wallet and leave him with only the ones he needs and then label them? I hate losing money for no reason.

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Well, it sounds like he's not so much on board.

The big earner is the Discover it, with gasoline at 5% x 2, right? The Chrome is nice, for dining out at 2% x 2, but if he's spending $10 for a lunch, that works out to $0.40 vs $0.20 if he rememberizes to use the Chrome for the lunch? Is that worth trying to get him to think about it?

For someone like that, I'd suggest just letting him use the one card that has the highest rewards for some certain spend. In his case, he should use only the Discover it for the remainder of Q1. Then when he buys gas, he's already lined up correctly, and you count everything else as noise. Those $10 lunches are just a few dimes you are dropping.

Next quarter, when Discover moves to dining out, then you have to look at how much he's going to spend on dining, whether 5% x 2 on dining is worth more than the 2% x 2 on gasoline. If he's regularly maxing the Chrome Gas spend, that might be the better card for Q2. Then you just hang on to the Discover it, and make sure you are paying if you go out to eat together.

Not everyone is tuned in (or cares about) all the rewards, and so I'd suggest you help him by keeping it simple. I've been married, I know how these things can become an area of friction when one party tries to get the other to act in a way the other does not normally act

[Anonymous]

i definitely agree with the fact that most relationships have one person that cares and one that spends based on what the other says or willy nilly lol. but regardless you may need to either point him in the right direction or just let him use one card and tell him which to use lol

[iowapilot84]

I use TPG to go. You can even set it to track spending based on new card sign up bonuses and set other things like open dates, etc. it allows you to see the best card to use for brick/mortar and online stores. The only downside is it doesn't include store cards as an option.

[Anonymous]

well, you should hopefully at least know what the store card is if you're shopping there lol

[kdm31091]

I think it's important to keep it in perspective. Life goes on if you use the "wrong card" and miss out on a nickel in rewards. This is all just extra earning for money we already spend, so anything beats nothing. My advice is to try and only carry a few cards at a time for spending. Although many people have 20 or so accounts, few of them are actually juggling 20 cards as they go through their days. Just try not to overthink it.