It hard to think we are almost done with the first third of the third quarter. I first want to apologize for getting this out so late. At the end of May I bought my first home and got moved in. For all of June and most July, I was working and still getting settled in. Things are getting back to a new normal as far as my person life. In terms of COVID-19, I am vaccinated but still not sure about to large groups or traveling too far from home. For these two reasons I have not travel lately but I am still earning travel points and miles and cash back on my credit cards. This quarter some of my rotating category cards and my Chase Freedom Flex seem to be getting most my spend as I been getting things for my condo and some cards have different things being used to keep my cards active and my points I earn from them.
Of my twelve credit cards, three of my cards are cards that earn 5% on rotating categories. This is always a good time to earn some elevated cash back or points for those categories. This has been very helpful as PayPal and restaurants have been the two 5% categories for the Discover It card. Using the PayPal key, I have been able to shop online and in apps and get 5% back. One thing I had to get for my place was a couch. I found on on Costco.com and knew I could get 5% back using my Discover It card with the PayPal Key to pay for my couch versus using my Citi Costco Anywhere Visa and get only get 2% cash back with that card. I have also gotten some new cloths, all that was paid using the PayPal Key. The month is not even over yet and I already have earned just about $52.00 in cash back for the quarter on my Discover It card. Just as a reminder, this normal spending I would have done otherwise as I need things for my condo.
For my Chase Freedom Flex, its bonus categories are groceries (excluding Target and Walmart) and select streaming services. Since I have a grocery stores a bonus category until October of this year, this is already my card I use my grocery store purchases. As for the streaming services, I put Hulu Live and Disney Plus to be charged to this card to the Ultimate Rewards points. Normally Hulu is charged to my US Bank Cash Plus card to get 5% cash back but know my Ultimate Rewards are worth more. Disney Plus is normally charged to my Chase Southwest Visa, but it is getting more activity, so I felt it was worth the change this quarter.
And lastly for the US Bank Cash Plus I am back to using it for home utilities mainly. I went back to Home Internet and Streaming Services as one category and Home Utilities for the two 5% categories. I know that this card may not earn me as much because the bills for the condo are going to be for one person versus three people and I will just have an internet bill and electricity bill as the other services are included in my HOA fees. Going forward, these will be the two categories that I use for spending on this card. US Bank now has offers similar to what Bank of America and Chase offer, so if there is a really good dean on something, I may put an extra transaction or two on there, depending on what deals get loaded on the card. They have one on there now for $3 cash back on Paramount Plus. Since I have this service, I made this month’s payment to take advantage of the offer and then will change it back to my American Express Hilton Honors card next month.
As a bonus, Chase is giving bonus multipliers on a lot of its co-branded credit cards through August 15, 2021. This means for me, the Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier card, I am earning 14x on IHG purchases, 5x on travel purchases, and 5x on gas. Similarly with my Chase Southwest Premier card, I am earning 6x on Southwest purchases, 5x on travel purchases, and 5x on gas. Since IHG points are not with much as Southwest Rapid Reward points, I have not used this card for more than I normally do, for paying for my cell phone bill to get the MasterCard cell phone protection. I have been using my Southwest card for when I get food from 7-Eleven since it codes as gas and when I get gas at Costco since they only take Visa at the pump. When I am ready to fly again, I want to be sitting on a lot of Southwest Rapid Reward points to use wherever I want to fly again.
While my Discover It and my Chase Freedom flex have been getting a lot of usage, that does not mean I have not used my other cards. My Chase Sapphire is my card for when I have used DoorDash, dining offers from Chase Offers, and when I have gone to the bar since I still get credit as a dining out on those purchases. My Chase Freedom Unlimited is still my catch all card for when I can’t buy something using my PayPal Key in in person purchases. My two American Express cards are being used a dining cards just enough to tigger the dining credits I get each month through the end of the year. My Amtrak Bank of America card will be used o pay subscription for my alarm service and Bank of America Cash Back Deals. To get a good deal on my internet service through Xfinity, I need to also get a mobile phone with them (for free), so I am going to use my Barclays Choice Privileges card to pay that line. It’s only $15 and will make it easy to have activity on that card and keep those points alive. As for my Citi Costco Anywhere Visa, I have used it a few times at 7-Eleven, just to make sure there is some activity on the card. I think after the middle of August I may use the card a bit more than normal. This is because I want Citi to see that I am using the card hopefully will help me get Citi’s new Custom Cash card. (I plan to go over that card in a future post.)
So that is that is what this quarter’s strategy is for me. I am working on maximizing what I can get on my Discover It card using the PayPal Key, continue to use my Chase Freedom Flex as my grocery card with select stream services, my US Bank Cash Plus for home utilities, Sapphire card for DoorDash and at the bar, my Chase Freedom Unlimited as catch all card, my American Express cards for their dinning credits, my IHG card as my normal card for my cellphone bill, having my Amtrak and Choice Privileges cards for paying small recurring charges, and my Citi Costco Anywhere card for a few my 7-Eleven purchases. Next year I should be able to travel a lot more with all of the points and miles have earned over the past few years. Hopefully soon things will continue to improve with the COVID-19, and I will feel comfortable to travel again.
Until next time, safe travels and stay safe.
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