What do people do to run super high spends?

[mkhan1093]

Hey all,

I'm thinking about cards like the Delta Reserve, where I've seen people here hit spends in multiple units of $30K and earn a lot of MQMs and be well on their way to Delta status without even flying. I'm just wondering what kind of purchases are you all making to even be able to hit thresholds like that? Maybe I'm just more frugal than the average person lol but even with me splurging on travel and food more than I probably should be doing, my spend probably doesn't exceed $16k in a year. Are people running business spend through personal cards? That's the only thing I can understand.

Would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks

[TattnallTrio]

I am an owner-operator with my own tractor-trailer. This is a one man business, just myself, a Freightliner truck and one refrigeratorated trailer. 

I can easily run $30k a year on credit cards on truck maintenance (tires, lights, oil, fluids, and shop costs when it needs repairs) and on the trailer (spends a lot a Thermo-King on the reefer itself, but also tires, washouts at $35-$50 a load which is required before and after some loads, and mud flaps) and truck/cargo insurance is $8,000 a year. 

Sometimes for fuel I can find a Speedway or a smaller station that the retail price is the same as or less than what I can buy it at truck stops for with my fleet discount on a fuel card. 

I spend a lot on eating out and meals plus I'm a tea and coffee drinker. I swipe at least twice a day at McDonald's or Hardee's for a few tea's and coffees. 

My cell phones ($220/mo), personal car  insurance $400 every 6 months, groceries and snacks for the truck and at home $1,000 a month, I can charge my electricity at home, and whatever health items I buy. 

Scheels Sporting Goods uses FNBO and has a black card with $25,000 annual spend. I was recently approved for a $3,000 secured Visa with them. I'll get 1% cash back in Scheels certificates off that. 
I also have a 1.5% Cash Back BECU Visa Secured Card $2,500 limit and a $750 QuickSilver Visa from Capital One, plus a $1,500 QS1, and a $300 Walmart MC (5% at Walmart, 2% of travel and restaurants like fuel and 1% on everything else and a few cards that don't do anything for me like Blaze ($75 annual fee) and Indigo (mine has the $0 AF) 

I run a lot of money through cards and it's rewarding. This is money I have to spend anyway while I'm building credit.

A BECU rep told me that the Cash Back will be taxable so I try to use my CapOne cards and make payments with my Debit Card for the 1.5% mostly and 2% on eating out and fuel on Walmart but the limit is very low. 

This is probably a long and boring answer and if I had my way I'd get a Hilton Honors Amex and rack up a hotel status and get free nights. But I'm only 2.5 years post DC and I've never had an Amex before 

[UncleB]

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@mkhan1093 wrote:

Hey all,

I'm thinking about cards like the Delta Reserve, where I've seen people here hit spends in multiple units of $30K and earn a lot of MQMs and be well on their way to Delta status without even flying. I'm just wondering what kind of purchases are you all making to even be able to hit thresholds like that? Maybe I'm just more frugal than the average person lol but even with me splurging on travel and food more than I probably should be doing, my spend probably doesn't exceed $16k in a year. Are people running business spend through personal cards? That's the only thing I can understand.

Would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks

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It really doesn't have much to do with being frugal; I consider myself a very frugal person (borderline 'cheap', even) and I still manage to run $3k-$4k through my various cards each month with the help of my family member AU.  Practically every bill we each have is run through a credit card.

You have to keep in mind that the cost of living is quite different across the country, and people have different family sizes and circumstances as well. 

For example, early in the year when my AU is meeting medical deductibles and buying heating gas those two things alone can be close to $1k in a single month, and that's in addition to 'regular' expenses.  For those with large families and/or living in a high cost-of-living area even routine expenses can add up quickly.

[JNA1]

We’re not rich, nor do I run a business (anymore) but we spend $40K+ per year. I do have a good sized family with 3 kids and 2 of them are teenagers. We both commute for work also, so we spend a pretty good bit on fuel and maintenance costs per. It doesn’t take long to add up when you are funneling every dollar I can through our cards.

[mkhan1093]

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@UncleB wrote:

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@mkhan1093 wrote:

Hey all,

I'm thinking about cards like the Delta Reserve, where I've seen people here hit spends in multiple units of $30K and earn a lot of MQMs and be well on their way to Delta status without even flying. I'm just wondering what kind of purchases are you all making to even be able to hit thresholds like that? Maybe I'm just more frugal than the average person lol but even with me splurging on travel and food more than I probably should be doing, my spend probably doesn't exceed $16k in a year. Are people running business spend through personal cards? That's the only thing I can understand.

Would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks

---

It really doesn't have much to do with being frugal; I consider myself a very frugal person (borderline 'cheap', even) and I still manage to run $3k-$4k through my various cards each month with the help of my family member AU.  Practically every bill we each have is run through a credit card.

You have to keep in mind that the cost of living is quite different across the country, and people have different family sizes and circumstances as well. 

For example, early in the year when my AU is meeting medical deductibles and buying heating gas those two things alone can be close to $1k in a single month, and that's in addition to 'regular' expenses.  For those with large families and/or living in a high cost-of-living area even routine expenses can add up quickly.

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That's a good point which I guess I didn't take into account. I'm a single guy with low cost of living so I guess neither of those factors necessitates larger spends.

[kudosalert]

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@TattnallTrio wrote:

My cell phones ($220/mo), personal car  insurance $400 every 6 months, groceries and snacks for the truck and at home $1,000 a

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what kind of phone plan do you have and why is it so expensive? whatever the case, you might want to look into Google Fi. it allows you to pause and resume your service whenever you want via an app. you can have number numbers all one account, turn each on/off as needed and savings yourself a bit of money on the monthly plans. 

[CaptJOB]

According to Chase and AmEx year ends I put about 67k through all the cards last year. I pay for most of the household stuff since I care more about maximizing points but DW put about 14k through her Chase cards as well it looks like, and she has a WF Cash wise that likely has another 5k on it for 2019 as well.

All of this is to say area code has a lot to do with it(we're in San Francisco and on the low end of the wealth spectrum here). If only United didn't pull the PQD waiver off their card or offered a similar amount of earning potential as Delta I would have gotten one of the cards a while ago.

[Anonymous]

Many of us put everything we can on cards. For example, I just paid my property taxes with a credit card. 16K in a year doesn't even cover the amount of my regular bills I run through my cards. Much less gas, food, retail shopping, medical expenses, travel, etc. If you put your utilities, phone, internet,  tv, streaming services, insurances, trash service, etc. on your cards, the total spend goes up fast. 

[redpat]

Had received my delta reserve in February 2019 and put a litte over 60k on it, yep all biz spend for 30k MQM and 30k bonus miles to make plat status.  I will not put that spend on it in 2020 because you no longer get the bonus miles. Chance are that I will also lose my plat status in 2021 since I have taken just as many AA flights as delta flights so far this year.

[Anonymous]

Spending to save is silly, if you cannot organically spend, don't. Everyone has different situations, don't take anecdotal posts as a general rule of thumb.