Comments on: Maximizing Your Credit Card Cash Back

By: Golfing Girl

Golfing Girl — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:02:28 +0000

We tried that for years (monthly payments) but it’s too easy to spend more than you have. Plus, I don’t consider the 2 cents/month vs. 6 cents/month losing much interest in my checking account. Really it doesn’t take long. Take out the receipts from your wallet, write them on the page and keep the tally going. It’s a sure fire way to pay $0 in interest. When we see we’re getting low on funds we simply stop spending or delay purchases till next month. A rewards card is not worth it if you end up paying interest so this is what we do to avoid that. Plus it’s fun the last week of the month to see if there’s anything left over and sweep it into ING.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:34:58 +0000

@Golfing Girl: Daily tallies? How long does that take?

The same system but on a monthly basis would work just as well, wouldn’t it? Plus you’d get the extra interest of keeping the money in the bank for a few extra weeks.

By: Golfing Girl

Golfing Girl — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:39:22 +0000

Our Amex Blue Cash card annual cash back hits in December. Our homeowner association fees are due in January. As luck would have it HOA fees are $405 and our cashback reward is usually in the neighborhood of $400. It’s how we’ve now begun funding our HOA.

To keep track of cash back (and the spending for that matter) we keep up-to-date (daily) tallies of our spending and pay off the card approximately on a weekly basis. Each time I pay off the card, I calculate the cash back amount and carry it to the next page of tallied expenses. It’s a little tedius but it works for us and we’ve never paid a cent in interest by paying off weekly.

So I generally earmark $400 in the savings account for HOA on my financial spreadsheet and then when we receive the cashback bonus (and if it’s sufficient) I free up the $400 in the savings account to go towards the total emergency fund. I do the same thing for vacations and other large ticket items (earmarking on paper until they’re paid for).

By: This Week In Personal Finance – July 26

This Week In Personal Finance – July 26 — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:35:39 +0000

[...] No Debt Plan wrote Maximize Your Credit Card Cash Back [...]

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:43:39 +0000

@Kip: Interesting. I was unaware of this feature. I’m okay with it landing on our statement because I know it is coming, and I know how to prepare for it. But for people that prefer the easier, automated way that is a good option. (I’d rather have the cash available in case I needed it for something else that month.)

Also, you would need to be careful to not put too much money in your Roth IRA. That is if you were planning to put in the maximum $5,000 for the year that is $416.67 per month… but an extra $500 coming out of the blue throws a wrench into the equation.

By: Kip Nickell

Kip Nickell — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:35:11 +0000

There are cards which will automatically dump the money into a retirement account of your choice. Personally, I have my AMEX setup to automatically dump (2% rewards) into my RothIRA. This may be a good way of ignoring it to your benefit.

Looking back now, I have found that AMEX has deposited around $500 in my account so far this year. (I travel for work and I get to charge it all on my card). This is (wow) $500 that I would have otherwise not saved.