Try to Max Chase Freedom Q4 2017 5x Point Bonus

[BronzeTrader]

The other most important thing is that, I'll see my new card activities to slow down considerablly, probably just 2-3 cards a year and about 5 cards for the family.  And we can easily absorb those without impacting the quarterly spending (like gift cards etc).  So the card optimal spending is far more important than welcome bonus spending.  

[arkane]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I had no issue spending 1500 at amazon since you can get most anything. I will not chase the gas next quarter as you get a cash discount in my area so it would minimize the return. The Discover will go in the sock drawer until next years Amazon quarter. THis way I spend just enough to keep the 25K available credit and 7 year old card from being closed. 

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Might be worth doing some quick math to see which gives a better deal. I'm in California so gas prices are sky high, and cash discounts are typically a paltry $0.10/gallon. The gas price would have to go down all the way to $2/gallon before the 5% cash back and $0.10/gallon cash discount break even, so for me, it's still more advantageous to swipe instead of paying cash.

[Anonymous]

Spend $1500 to get $75!?!?

[BronzeTrader]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Spend $1500 to get $75!?!?

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What is the rate you are earning?  Better than 5%?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Spend $1500 to get $75!?!?

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Your not spending any more than you normally would. The point is to get a 5% return on things you would normally get. So almost everyone buys gas, pays their cell phone, or cable. In this case use the Freedom card to get a 5% return on something you otherwise have to spend money on.

Were people get all caught up is chasing bonus's ( which is what the credit card company wants you to do) buying things you wouldn't normally buy just to get the complete bonus. 

[SBR249]

IMO, there's nothing wrong with prepaying for an expense that you know you will incur. It's essentially the same as a merchant offering a discount for you paying sooner. The real question is whether that expense is unavoidable and whether you can float the expense upfront. As others have pointed out, if you have a family and spend $1500/year at Costco consistently, then there's no reason not to buy a bunch of Costco cashcards if you can plunk down all of it in a quarter. The danger, as alluded to above, is if you get into a line of thinking such as "I have to max out my cashback or it's money left on the table". No, that "money on the table" is nothing compared to money in your pocket, in fact, it comes from money in your pocket. 

[BurgeoningHope]

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@Adkins wrote:

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@BurgeoningHope wrote:

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@BronzeTrader wrote:

...2017 Q4.  So far, not a lot of success.  I can get some Southwest gift cards...

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?? Isn't this the Quarter of Walmart and Department Stores? I'd actually be very interested in Southwest cards, as I have some travel coming up in the next year that would optimally be done that way, and since we just got that card about 3 weeks ago we are nowhere near maxxing out the rewards.

How do you do Southwest cards under the current scheme? Thanks

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You can buy Southwest gift cards at Walmart. 

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We don't make a habit of shopping at Walmart, nor of gift cards, and never in a zillion years would I have considered that an airline would have gift cards. I guess I should get out more.

I'm a newbie to these card benefits. We have three trips planned next year so far - a wedding, a graduation, and WorldCon - so in our case buying the airfare now makes great sense, and is in no way "oh gosh we're leaving money on the table if we don't spend spend spend".

Thank you so much for the suggestion!

[arkane]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Spend $1500 to get $75!?!?

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$150 for me actually, since Discover offers cash back match for first year cardholders, and 10% is absolutely nothing to scoff at. (if nothing else, it completely negates the sky high California sales tax)

Also as I noted above, if you keep all that expenditure purely on things you'd normally consume anyway (gas, groceries, phone/cable bills, electronic tolls etc), you're basically getting a pretty good discount on day-to-day necessities, and it's a welcome break.

As JMC907 pointed out, it's only when you start buying things you don't need just so you don't "leave money on the table" that it becomes a problem.

[BronzeTrader]

Also, to take advantage of all the 5% quarterly bonus, you do need some financial strength.  You'll need to be to absorb like $2,000 or so cash to keep the stockpile to use in later time (months), like Costco cash cards.  

The other major drawback is the risk of the goods in your posession.  The cash cards can get lost, the prepaid cards (Visa gift card etc) can stop working and the merchant may go bankrupt, like Toy R Us.  So only go with the major ones, like Costco, Amazon and Southest....

[longtimelurker]

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@BronzeTrader wrote:

Also, to take advantage of all the 5% quarterly bonus, you do need some financial strength.  You'll need to be to absorb like $2,000 or so cash to keep the stockpile to use in later time (months), like Costco cash cards.  

The other major drawback is the risk of the goods in your posession.  The cash cards can get lost, the prepaid cards (Visa gift card etc) can stop working and the merchant may go bankrupt, like Toy R Us.  So only go with the major ones, like Costco, Amazon and Southest....

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And you also need to figure opportunity costs.   With the 10% first year discover, this matters less (although the amounts involved are small)

but if you have say a 2% card and decide to pre-buy stuff for 5% for the year, you are spending 1500 to make $45 extra.  You have to put this against losing interest (small, but you can easily get 1.5% a year safely now, and more with a bit of work), and, if you have tied money up, you lose the opportunity to take advantage of a better sale elsewhere (so you have tied up your money in Costco cards, but Amazon has a huge sale at Wholefoods on the particular thing you want....)   + BronzeTraders point about the slight risk of things going bad.