I wanted to ask for your feedback on a plan such as this:
Major Expenses:
– medical bills (meeting max out of pocket this year)
– mortgage/insurance/car lease/utilities
– food and home misc. (Walmart; Amazon)
– fly family of 3 once/twice a year at most (this year planning 1 international flight)
Current Card:
Citi Costco ( 5%/4% Costco Gas; 3% Restaurant and Travel; 2% on all other Costco purchases; 1% everything else)
Plan:
Chase Sapphire Preferred (I have some major expenses coming up and I could qualify for the 75000 points) -> use points this year and downgrade to Freedom Unlimited next year.
I know I could shop online at a Kroger store and pick-up/delivery and get 3 points on this card but Kroger is farther from the house/don't see myself changing behavior, and prices sometimes are higher than Walmart so it would offset any points.
Walmart CC (for 5% back with W+): I figured it would pay for the W+ over the year plus some change. Perk would be that I wouldn't spend time shopping and it would all be delivered. I have small kid and wife and I work opposite schedules. Time is valuable.
I would use my Costco CITI CARD for travel once I downgrade Sapphire, for the 3% back. Walmart is much closer to my house so I don't go often with only a family of 3.
Amazon CC – I would ask my wife to get that one since she would get 5% back and she shops quite a bit on there.
I've ran some numbers and it makes sense to me. I also read that the Walmart CC app is not the greatest. And I am aware that I would need to keep track of all cards and not overspend with an increased line of credit (I'm actually quite frugal so not worried about that).
I just want to see if anyone has any thoughts based on their own experiences.
Thank you.
CC Combo (Sapphire, Walmart, Amazon, Costco Citi)
byu/Sure-Trash1012 inCreditCards
Posted by Sure-Trash1012
2 Comments
Check out the US Bank Cash+ for the Utilities category.
Solid plan for card development
You spend a lot on things that are not traditionally caught by credit card category multipliers, so I think you should definitely pick up a 2% catch-all along the way. And since you shop at Costco, it’s best that it be a Visa. Would recommend the Wells Fargo Active Cash for a Visa Signature credit card with unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases, no annual fee, and a $200 sign-up bonus for $500 spend in 3 months.
If you downgrade the Chase Sapphire Preferred, try to do so to the original Chase Freedom. Sometimes called the “Chase Freedom with Ultimate Rewards”, it’s the predecessor to the Chase Freedom Flex and only obtainable via product change. This prevents you from making yourself ineligible for the Freedom Unlimited’s sign-up bonus (which can get boosted offers up to $300 and 5% on groceries & gas for the first year) and leaves you with a card that makes more sense for a cash back setup (especially for 5% Costco gas quarters).
Walmart and Amazon CCs make sense, CSP for first year travel plans makes sense, rest of the plan is fine