Rate and/or Roast my setup
(TLDR at the bottom)
Late last year, my wife (34f) and I (35m) decided to overhaul our CC setup. I think we’ve set ourselves up really well. Let me know what you think, and feel free to sanity-check my math and logic:
Our previous setup was very basic. I had been a BofA customer since I was in High School, and we had become “Platinum Plus” customers based on our relationship with BofA with rolling 401(k)s over to IRAs at Merrill over the years.
All of that is to say that we were generally satisfied with our Customized Cash Rewards, and would set the 3% (effectively 4.25% based on our status) cash back category to “Home Improvements or Furnishings” if we knew we would have large purchases at Ikea or Home Depot coming up, and was generally set to “Online Shopping” most of the time. We’d also get 2% (3.5%) back on groceries and 1% (1.75%) on everything else.
We also had the Chase Amazon Prime Visa for 5% back at Amazon and 2% on dining out.
Like I said, we were satisfied, but EOY analysis of our spending showed we were leaving a lot of rewards/cash back on the table. Not to mention BofA’s pending changes to the structure of the rewards program. So I had my marching orders.
After a lot of lurking in this sub, and learning what I could from YouTube, etc., I think I settled on a good setup for us, even if we’re not in a single “ecosystem,” or “team.” Honestly, I think going all in on points vs cash or Amex vs Chase vs etc. also leaves benefits on the table (am willing to be proved wrong here) as cash back limits what you can earn on and points limit what you can redeem on, and brand agnosticism is the way (personally).
Our primary spend category turned out to be Groceries, followed by Restaurants. This drove us to the Amex Gold (as we knew we would hit the coupon book credits to offset the fee). This has the added benefits of travel rewards (which have gotten better since we got the card). Total estimated spend on boosted categories on the Gold Card is about $30k. This has also become our catch-all workhorse. I know there are better catch-all cards out there, and am open to suggestions, but my wife likes the simplicity, and I’d be lying if i said i disagreed.
Next up in spending weight turned out to be satisfied by the US Bank Cash+: Utilities and Streaming. Some of my utilities charge a flat per transaction fee of $2.99, which I offset by paying ahead for the full year (based on the last 5 years of bill history), incurring this fee only once in twelve months. Once the card was set up on autopay for the bills, we sock-drawered it; again, in pursuit of simplicity. Spend on this card comes to about $7,500, all getting 5% back.
A little more digging uncovered the WF Attune card. This was just short of a complete game-changer. The categories are crazy. Peloton codes as a sporting goods store, I linked it to my Tesla Supercharging account, our dog boarding place, bowling alley (lane rental, pro shop, AND the bar!!), haircuts, manicures, secondary market tickets, all get 4% back. I got the card after I renewed our Michigan State Football season tickets (I know, THEY should be paying ME), so I won’t know if the Spartan Ticket office codes correctly until next year. All of these except the bowling alley are also saved by the merchant, so I just keep it in my bowling bag. Annual spend on this card is about $4,500, all getting 4% back.
We also kept the Prime Visa for 5% back on our Prime, Kindle, and Audible subscriptions and treat those almost like utilities. Shopping on Amazon is done on the Gold Card, which I know isn’t efficient. But the money for the subscriptions comes out of a different bucket that I have automated and only check in on infrequently, unlike the Amex. Thus, it is also sock-drawered. Total spend for the year here is just shy of $500 earning 5%.
The final card is still TBD. I’ve decided to start churning for those large once-a-year charges like life and car insurances and car registration (the state gets their cut even if I don’t pay the gas tax). These all hit in April, so I’ll start churning through the Amex cash/MR/Hilton/Delta ladders then move on to other cards/providers as needed in future years. Annual spend on these items has been around $4,600, so enough to hit most SUBs without being so much that I’d be better off just putting it on the Gold Card.
I’m still holding the Customized Cash Rewards as well. No spend, but it has a $99,900 limit and has been open for over ten years. Academically, I think I know that there’s no score benefit to keeping this open, but I like the security if we run into an emergency while we work the limits up on the newer cards.
The last consideration is that my wife is blessed enough to be in a position where she drives a company car and they pay for her gas. If and when that benefit ever goes away, we plan to restart our Costco membership and get the Costco gas card which would live in her car. We keep track of how much we use, to avoid shock in the event it goes away, and we burn about $1500 on gas in a year.
TLDR:
Setup was
- BofA Customized Cash Rewards (everything else)
- Amazon Prime Visa (Amazon, dining)
Setup is
- Amex Gold (Groceries, Dining, Travel, Catch-all)
- US Bank Cash+ (Utilities, Streaming)
- WF Attune (Recreation, Entertainment, Gym, Self-care, EV Charging)
- Prime Visa (Amazon subscriptions)
- TBD Churn (SUBs on insurance/registration)
- Customized Cash (Emergencies)
I think I’m pretty well optimized, but might have some blind spots and missed categories that might be able to be optimized, or a better catch-all that could get 2x/2%. Please feel free to rate and/or roast my new setup as you see fit.