Well, the verdict's in. I did not earn $800 this year on my credit cards. The final tally on my Blue Cash from American Express card:
- Amount charged to the card: $30,992.57
- Amount earned back as rebate: $572.88
- Rate of rebate: 1.85%
Add to this $200 in bonus money I received for opening two Chase Freedom Cash Visa Card accounts. So my total was just under $800. Not bad, though, for doing something I'd do anyway (spending money I'd spend anyway.)
Most of you know that I'm working on beating the 2% level this year with my hybrid charging system. I'm off to a slow start (February was a down month for charging) and it looks like I won't be charging anywhere near what I did in 2007 (I had a big purchase and a trip to Disney last year), so making as much could be an issue. That said, if we do buy a new house, we'll need stuff for it and that could take me right back up in charges. But basically I'll simply be concentrating on getting the most return on my charges by using both the Blue Cash from American Express card and the Chase Freedom Cash Visa Card in combination.
Hi FMF, great post.
Just out of curiosity, have you ever tried your hand a credit card arbitrage?
Kind Regards,
Jonathan
Posted by: Master Your Card | March 07, 2008 at 09:35 AM
Jonathan --
No. Too much hassle and could mess with my credit rating -- not something I want to do since I'm looking at buying a house.
Posted by: FMF | March 07, 2008 at 09:43 AM
Hi again FMF - fair enough.
You probably already know about how your Fico score affects the rate you can get on your mortgage, but just in case I just wrote an article about it.
Cheers,
Jonathan
Posted by: Master Your Card | March 08, 2008 at 02:47 AM
How did you spend nearly thirty-one thousand dollars on your credit card? Do you pay for rent/mortgage with that? It just seems like such a huge number - it's more than our families gross income !!
Posted by: NYB | March 08, 2008 at 12:46 PM
NYB --
1. All our food.
2. All gas.
3. Various services such as web costs, phone, etc.
4. All business expenses (reimbursed.)
5. Christmas presents.
6. Vacation (we went to Disney this year.)
7. Some charitable giving.
8. Special purchases (I got a new road bike this year.)
See, it can add up!
Posted by: FMF | March 10, 2008 at 08:00 AM
31k does not sound like a big number. You have to run as much thru the cc as possible. Example, I had a new roof put on this year at 16k - insurance gave me cash while repari was being made, I charged the roof and paid it when the staetment came.
Posted by: Coolbreeze | November 21, 2009 at 11:45 AM