@Anonymous wrote:
I would consider opening one with them when your accounts start to update the lower balances. It’ll give you some time to read through that thread.
They are more DTI based then score based.
Agree. No sense in doing it now if you paid all that down. You are in for a nice little score boost.
@SEAlifer wrote:BofA Cash Rewards has a $200 SUB for the first $1,000 spend and you can choose to make Home Improvement the 3% category for your first month. I like that you can change the category monthly as needed. I'm mildly interested in this one myself.
BofA Cash Rewards is a good card but might not help OP for reroofing.
It depends on the MCC code that is used. I think that bonus category is mainly intended for Lowes, Home Depot, etc. There is also a $2500 limit per quarter.
If OP is reroofing himself or buys materials for the roofer, that might be good.
Disclosure says " ... merchants whose primary line of business falls under the following Choice Categories: Gas (default), Online Shopping, Dining, Travel, Drug Stores, or Home Improvement/Furnishings."
@Anonymous wrote:
- Discover IT match has a 10% cash back for the first year.
The basic Discover IT only pays 10% when you get to double whatever the 5% categories are designated, which is also limited to the first $1500 in spending each quarter.
Otherwise, they are just "doubling" the basic 1% return so it works out to 2% the first year. Not bad but not exceptional.
So the maximum you'd get the 10% payout on is $6K over 12 months of charges ($600, and that is a bonus of $300 on top of what the normal full 5% earning rate would give you - the other $300.) That is the best case scenario. However, that is only if you fully utilized each category every quarter which may be unlikely unless you are generating new spending just for the SUB.
A better but sometimes overlooked SUB is the Discover IT *MILES* card which essentially pays out a cash basis, instead of the "Miles" it implies. It pays a base rate of 1.5% and Discover will also double it at the end of year one with no spending caps! So you're not tied down to the categories, you have no spending caps, and you could essentially earn much much more in year one by getting a full 3% on everything in year one!
*The SUB difference is $300 for IT vs $90 for MILES for first $6000, but that is only if you were able to max out each category on IT and never used it for 1% categories. $210 difference. Another $14K (or less) in spending on Miles will recoup the SUB loss and start to put you further ahead. That is a total average spend of $1,666 per month or more. For many people, you can do much better with the MILES card than the basic IT card even though the SUB sounds more generous at the limited "10%" payout rate. It depends on your spending and intentions.