Credit Cards (What I Use)
This is a table of common categories for spending, and which cards I use/want to use for each. I intend to keep this somewhat up to date. There’s a few I have that I still use but aren’t mentioned in the table:
- Discover and Chase Freedom (now Flex) for their rotating categories
- Bank of America Better Balance (Not available to apply to anymore).
| Category | Current Card (Rewards Rate) | Wishlist Card (Rewards Rate) | Benefits and Differences | Notes |
| Taxes | N/A (0%) | Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards (2.625% Reward -1.85% Processing fee = 0.775%) | The BAC card gives 1.5% back, with a 75% boost for Platinum Honors/Diamond Preferred Rewards Members (for a total of 2.625% back) | Taxes can be a big annual expense. However, to use a credit card with the IRS, you have to pay roughly a 2% processing fee. So to make this worth it, you need a card that gives > 2% back |
| Rent | N/A (0%) | Bilt Rewards Mastercard (1%) | Bilt can get around the service fees that most rental buildings charge, and offers 1pt per dollar spent. These points look roughly worth 1cent each, making this card 1% cashback. | Most rental buildings charge some service fee for using a credit card, so you need to get around that. |
| Food (Restaurants) | Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards(5.25%) | Amex Gold Card? (4-8%) | With Platinum Honors/Diamond Preferred Rewards, the BAC card can give 5.25% back on food and 3.5% back on Groceries on up to 2.5k in purchases every quarter. Amex Gold gives 4pts per dollar on both categories, and these pts can be worth up to 2cents each if redeemed optimally. However, this card has an annual fee ($250). | While Amex cards usually have great benefits and perks, and there are a bunch of credits that can make up for the annual fee, there are some downsides: – Annual fees psychologically encourage spending, to make the card “worth it”, which is not good to chase – If better cards come along, you have to cancel the card to avoid the fee (rather than just keeping it to boost your credit score) – Time spent on optimizing redemptions is very valuable, and I don’t know if I want to spend that time looking through reward options. |
| Food (Groceries) | CapitalOne SavorOne (3%), Target Card (5%), Amazon Prime Card (5%) | Amex Blue Cash Preferred? (6%) | The CapitalOne SavorOne gives 3% back on both categories. Amex Blue Cash Preferred gives 6% back on up to 6k in groceries a year. | I do a lot of my grocery shopping at Whole Foods and Target, so I end up getting close to 5% back on groceries. The Amex Blue Cash Preferred would only be worth it if I started shopping elsewhere and spend nearly the whole 6k. But again, I prefer not getting cards with annual fees, and this benefit is marginal. |
| Health/Fitness | FSA (spending pre-tax money, i.e. the cashback is your marginal tax bracket), Citi Double Cash (2%) | Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards (2.625%) | The FSA is a no-brainer if you can anticipate these expenses. Using the BAC card with platinum honors/diamond preferred rewards member status would give some marginal benefit. | This category for me is more about doctors/dentists and such. And health insurance. I don’t really use gyms/fitness clubs, but US Bank Cash Plus would offer 5% back on them. |
| Travel | Wells Fargo Propel (3%) | Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards? (5.25%) Schwab Amex Platinum? (5-10%) | The BAC card would require platinum honors or diamond preferred rewards member status. The Schwab Amex Platinum card gives 5 points on flights and airlines, and has some awesome perks. | While you can only choose one category for the 5.25% back on the BAC card, rumor is you can get multiple copies of it. That would be awesome, since my first one would always be on the restaurant category. The Schwab version of the Amex Platinum can give rewards back into Schwab investment accounts (like a Roth IRA, above the normal contribution limits!). On top of the usual Amex Platinum perks, it also rewards you with $100 annually for 250k in holdings with them, or $200 annually for having $1mil in holdings with them. |
| Shopping | Amazon Prime Card (5%), Target (5%), Citi Double Cash (2%) | N/A | I mostly buy stuff on Amazon and Target, which gets me to roughly 5%. I think if you know your shopping patterns, there are almost always cards that will give you 5% back. US Bank Cash Plus also has a 5% back on certain clothing/department stores. | |
| Transportation/Commuting | US Bank Cash Plus (5%) | N/A | US Bank Cash Plus gives 5% back on Uber/Lyfts/Taxis etc… which is great. The only downside to this card is you have to activate the categories every quarter, I wish this was automated. | |
| Business Services | Citi Double Cash (2%) | Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards (2.625%) | ||
| Bills/Utilities | Citi Double Cash (2%) | US Bank Cash Plus? (5%) | Apparently I can redirect a lot of my bills to US Bank Cash Plus for 5% back. However it’s a hassle, and this category is somewhat small… | |
| Entertainment | CapitalOne SavorOne (3%) | N/A | I’m happy with 3% for now. This isn’t a huge category for me. | |
| Misc | Citi Double Cash (2%) | Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards (2.625%) |