How to Make $1,000+ Each Year with Credit Card Cashback. Use These Cards!

First off, let us state the obvious. BE RESPONSIBLE WITH YOUR CREDIT CARDS!!

Often, I hear many people warn others about the financial dangers of using credit cards. Yes, that is true. If you fall behind on credit cards, you will quickly be paying huge amounts of INTEREST every month as you try to catch up on your ever-growing balances.

PAY OFF YOUR CREDIT CARDS RIGHT AWAY
But what if you are somebody that ALWAYS pays off your credit card balance immediately after making a new purchase? What if you put yourself in a position where your credit cards are always paid off and you never pay anything in interest? If this is you, you likely realize the great benefits of using a credit card for as many purchases as possible to gain cashback.

For the past several years, I have used credit cards on everything that I can. I will say that I don’t use a credit card when I pay my monthly mortgage, but that’s only because the bank doesn’t allow it! The only other time I refrain from using a credit card is when I pay for a service that adds a 3%-5% surcharge to the total invoice for credit card users. In these instances, I will simply send a check.
We should always take every opportunity that we can to optimize our money when the opportunities are there. If you are always keeping it “old school” by paying cash or check for every single bill and expense, then you are likely missing out on at least $1,000 in cashback every year.

CREDIT CARD CASHBACK IS AWESOMENESS!!!
Not utilizing cashback on credit cards is like putting all your savings into an account that only pays out $0.001% in interest every month. You’re selling yourself short! If you are the type of person that is able to pay off your entire balance promptly after all purchases, then you should seriously explore all of your credit card options. 

There are many options out there. There are likely some that I do not even know about, but I am going to share my most valuable credit cards that I use on a continual basis throughout the year. I will list the credit cards along with the cashback percentage that I receive on each one for specific items/services. Here they are:

-PenFed Platinum Visa Card: 5% on Gas Purchases

-Chase Freedom Visa Card: 5% on Grocery Store Purchases (Rotational Category)

-Discover it Cashback Card: 5% on Dining/Restaurant & Walgreens Purchases (Rotational Category)

-USBank CASH+ Visa Card: 5% Cashback on Cell Phone Charges

-BMO Harris Bank Cash Back Mastercard: 5% Cashback on Internet Services Purchases

-Target REDcard: 5% off Purchases at Target

-Synchrony Bank Amazon Store Card: 5% Cashback on Amazon.com Purchases

-Marriott Bonvoy Visa Bold Card: 5% CashbackPoints on Hotel/Motel Transactions

-Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Card: 3% Cashback on all Online Purchases

-Citi Double Cash Mastercard: 2% Cashback on ALL Purchases






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Take note that two of the above-mentioned credit cards utilize “Rotational Categories.” My Discover card and Chase Freedom Visa card both rotate 5% categories every quarter of the year. The categories are usually Groceries, Dining, Gas, Amazon, Walgreens, PayPal, Streaming Services, and Walmart. You just need to make sure that you activate the new upcoming categories as the existing one is about to expire.

As you can see, the categories mentioned above cover a large chunk of our daily expenses! If by chance I have a transaction that does not fall in any of the above categories, I use my Citi Double Cash Mastercard as a default. With this Citi card, I always get 2% cashback no matter what the item or service is. I get 1% during the time of the transaction and the other 1% after the balance is paid off. You will NEVER catch me using a credit card that is only garnering just 1% cashback totals on a transaction!

Keep in mind that cashback credit cards sometimes have above-average annual percentage rates (APRs) or annual fees, so it is ESSENTIAL that you make sure that you keep paying off your balances in a timely manner!

CHEAT SHEET!

How do I keep track of all the different credit cards and categories, you ask? Simple answer! I use a “cheat sheet” that I ALWAYS have in my wallet! I never leave home without it! It looks like chicken scratch, but it does the job! Honestly, though, after about a week or so, you will have most of them memorized, but keep this card in your wallet just to be safe or if your memory has a brain fart.
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TOO MANY CREDIT CARDS HURTS YOUR CREDIT SCORE??

Oh, one other thing regarding this strategy of using multiple credit cards. I often hear people state that having too many active credit cards will damage your credit score. All I can say in response to that is that for the past 10+ years, I have held at least 12-15 active credit cards on any given day. And guess what? My credit score is ALWAYS among the top 10 percentile nationwide! With my credit cards always being paid off, I always carry a very impressive debt-to-available credit ratio.

CONCLUSION

So, in conclusion, I encourage any responsible credit card user to maximize the cashback incentives that are available to them! Wipe that dust off your credit cards and rack up the cashback dough! You can easily reach $1,000 or more each year if done correctly!  GOOD LUCK!!

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