My wife and I used to carry a lot of credit cards in our wallet to try to maximize the CashBack/rewards. However, after a simple analysis, we have dropped the number to 2, or 3 if there is some special case or promotion (e.g. Discover More)
We asked a simple question to ourselves, “How much extra CashBack per month is it worth to carry an extra card in your wallet?” Our answer is “AT LEAST $5.”
I do not mind to leave my cards in my drawer, and pay online purchase or recursive utility bills, but I just do not like to carry them around and have a FAT wallet.
Both of us have a HSBC/Household/Orchard 2% CashBack ($400 annual cap) MasterCard, each of us uses it to setup PayPal, Google Checkout, and memorize the number, expiration date and code, so we make all online purchase (at work) without carry a card. Also, I pay most attention to the statements from these two cards.
I think we should carry at least 2 credit cards daily, and they should come from DIFFERENT issuers, at least one Visa/MasterCard. Reasons: First, it happened before that all HSBC credit cards did not work for a short period of time due to their technical issue, I do not want this happens to me. Second, I was almost got stuck in a super market once because Chase Credit Department closed all my 6 personal and small business cards suddenly, and all 4 cards I had were from Chase that day. Last, of course, it is because some stores do not accept AMEX and Discover.
My wife carries a Fidelity 2% AMEX (because she just loves to shop at Costco) and I carry a Schwab 2% Visa. OK, here are some examples of our analysis. Of course, we only check the CashBack rate more than 2%.
Wife: Associated 5% EDP CashBack Visa She does almost all our grocery shopping (including my parents because we go to their home for dinner almost every weekday), so estimated grocery expense is $350~$400 at Super Wal-Mart and other super markets. She also spends about $100 for gas each month, and a few dollars in drug stores. Estimated Extra CashBack Earned: ~$500 * (5% - 2%) = ~$15 (carry)
Wife: Costco Small Business True Earning AMEX We spend about $400 dine out each month. Estimated Extra CashBack Earned: ~$400 * (3% - 2%) = ~$4 (leave it at home. We may get a Forward Visa for dine out.)
Myself: PenFed Visa I spend about $350 on gas, and few grocery, which I can use either Schwab or PenFed Visa. Estimated Extra CashBack Earned: ~$350 * (5% - 2%) = ~$10.50 (carry)
Myself: Simply Cash Small Business AMEX I set up recursive bill payments for AT&T to get 5%, and I only shop at Office Supply stores when I see a hot deal from fatwallet, so there is no need to carry the card everyday with me.
OK, I’ll skip our other cards and stop here. Now, my wife only carries Fidelity AMEX and Associated Visa, and I only carry Schwab and PenFed Visa. Of course, I won’t forget Discover next quarter for dine out. Maybe you want to do the same thing to simplify you life and reduce the risk. Of course, you can answer “At least a quarter” for the question and carry 5, 6, 7 cards if you like.
Message edited by: minggang on 2009-09-26 06:29:44 CDT
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We bring our lunch 4 days a week, and go out with colleague once. We take my parents out once a week to thank them for cooking for us. We have two kids. So, I think $100 per week is not much. In fact, my wife is a better cook than my mom. Unfortunately, her company is 1 hour away from our home (if traffic is not bad), so she only cooks for us on weekend.
IAskStupidQuestions said:Why do you spend $400 a month on restaurants when your parents cook all of your meals? Doesn't your wife know how to cook?
I'm carrying 4 at the moment: Citi Forward for bookstores and restaurants. Discover for rotating rewards Costco AMEX (it's also my membership card to Costco) Something else (Citi PremierPass currently) for general spending.
I've also got the debit card for my Rewards checking account that needs 10 transactions/month.
My wife carries 1 or 2: Chase Freedom for 3% on groceries/gas Discover for rotating rewards
--She doesn't like keeping track of which card to use when, so we agreed to limit it to 2 cards max. So I give her whatever we have that's best for groceries, and supplement it with a general spender or the Discover, depending on the current category.
My wife does not like to carry Discover More because of rotate categories, and she always forgets the category list. Is PenFed Visa better than Chase Freedom for your wife?
Diff = Gas$ X (5% - 3%) + Grocery$ X (2% - 3%) + Others X (1.25% - 1%)
If Diff is a positive number, maybe your wife should switch to PenFed, and PenFed monthly statement credit is easier and faster than Chase’s CashBack.
I did not suggest Associated 5% EDP Visa just because we do not know if the program is going to stay after US Bank bought them.
I hate Chase after they closed all my cards two years ago and they closed my 2 WaMu cards this year.
Mithrin said:I'm carrying 4 at the moment: Citi Forward for bookstores and restaurants. Discover for rotating rewards Costco AMEX (it's also my membership card to Costco) Something else (Citi PremierPass currently) for general spending.
I've also got the debit card for my Rewards checking account that needs 10 transactions/month.
My wife carries 1 or 2: Chase Freedom for 3% on groceries/gas Discover for rotating rewards
--She doesn't like keeping track of which card to use when, so we agreed to limit it to 2 cards max. So I give her whatever we have that's best for groceries, and supplement it with a general spender or the Discover, depending on the current category.
Message edited by: minggang on 2009-09-25 11:54:07 CDT
minggang said:We asked a simple question to ourselves, “How much extra CashBack per month is it worth to carry an extra card in your wallet?” Our answer is “AT LEAST $5.” I think this is a good question to keep in mind. Plus, we need to factor in the risk of not getting paid the CashBack for whatever reason. As an example, with Chase converting their Freedom cards, a lot of people who used the card thinking they were getting 3.75/1.25 are now only going to get 3/1, or in some cases 0 for a small amount of purchases, if it's no longer worthwhile to try to fill up the next $50 check. Another potential reason could be something like points expiring. And forgetting to make a payment on time could kill the marginal benefit one receives from carrying 5 cards instead of 3. I prefer to take a minimalist approach (as I don't find it worth the hassle), but I think carrying 5+ is just as viable.
DavidScubadiver said:I find if I make an occasional transaction on another card, well, I forget to pay it. For any CCs that I don't use anymore, I setup email alerts that notify me if the balance goes over $0. Not only is this good for remembering the occasional mini-purchase I make to keep the card alive, it's also good for the case that I get some unauthorized charge to an account that I don't check often (not too common, but it has happened before).
Message edited by: Dazarath on 2009-09-25 12:42:18 CDT
1) Citibank Forward Visa - 5% at restaurants and bookstores/Amazon.com 2) Citibank Mastercard Diamond Preferred Rewards - 5% at gas/grocery/drugstores 3) Citibank American Express Diamond Preferred Rewards - for everything else and just to have an AMEX
And I use mint.com to keep track of all my accounts, great site.
Message edited by: sas26 on 2009-09-25 13:06:05 CDT
cbaty said:None yet... trying to stay away from debt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Using credit cards does not automatically equal debt. Just pay it in full each month.
1) Citibank Forward Visa - 5% at restaurants and bookstores/Amazon.com
Its 5 points(%?) off dining and entertainment(books movies and music), 1 point for everything else. Are you saying you've verified that anything from Amazon(not books, movies, music) nets 5 points(%?)?
Message edited by: bob349 on 2009-09-25 14:00:11 CDT
Citi Platinum Am3x (still on the 5/3x TYP deal) Chase Exclusives Freedom Visa (for places that don't take Am3x)
As others have said, at some point it's not worth the effort to carry another card. That's especially true since my wife won't remember which one to use, so I'd be accumulating rewards on those other cards very slowly.
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