my wife texted me from Target yesterday asking which card to use. had to stop what I was doing and check if I activated the Freedom Flex 5x quarter yet. texted her back use the blue Chase card. she goes which blue one. lol.
this is like a twice a week thing now. she's at Costco or getting gas or whatever and I get the text. I have a spreadsheet for it but half the time I just go from memory.
made her a little cheat sheet in her notes app. she used it for like 4 days. my 16 year old is even worse. kid has my old Amex authorized user card and just taps his phone for everything. no idea what he's even earning or if it matters.
I know all the categories and the multipliers and the quarterly rotations. none of that helps when my wife is standing in checkout and I am in a meeting.
anyone else deal with this or do most people just give up and let the points leak?
my wife texts me from checkout twice a week asking which card to use
byu/nalz2 inCreditCards
Posted by nalz2
22 Comments
no man, i am single and broke
Get her a “good enough” card, 2% card, or a 3% good category card like the Autograph, and let her spend away.
Rotators, caps, multiple cards, for a disinterested spouse……??
Happy wife, happy life.
Label Maker
I have labeled all of my wife’s cards.
If you use Google Wallet, you can add descriptive nicknames for your cards. “Groceries and gas,” “Dining,” etc. I hear some people put stickers on the physical cards.
Sometimes it isn’t worth the hassle for a few extra points, but if she’s using physical cards you might find physical stickers helpful? Then just need to update when the quarterly categories change it.
For the sixteen year old, maybe a compromise: give him one reasonable catchall card, like Venture or Amex BBP, so you at least get 2x on whatever gets spent without worrying.
If you don’t remember, use a catchall – it’s not worth thinking about.
If you can use the mobile wallet, you can rename cards with the category.
Otherwise, a sticky note/label (virtual on phone, physical in wallet, or physical on card).
Honestly, while I don’t have a wife or kids, I feel like you might just have to accept that we’re a bunch of nerds whose hobby is to use certain pieces of plastic for incredibly minimal reward. Most people just don’t care about which card earns them 3% back at grocery stores and which is 3% at restaurants, they just want to pay for their stuff, and any rewards they get are a nice bonus on top.
If you want them to earn rewards, it may be worth looking for either a card that gives good rewards on their top spend (like the Amex BCE or Capital One Savor), or get a good catchall card (like the Apple Card since your kid uses Apple Pay, or the Robinhood Gold if you already are or are willing to pay the $50/year).
I just switched us to new cards to be more cash back heavy and it is a process! She has made some small misteps so far but it’s only been a couple weeks.
I had the same issue, but it is not worth the hassle. I just got the wife the C1 Duo and it has been easy for her – Orange for food, Blue for everything else. When I am working on a SUB, I take her Duo out of her wallet and tell her to use the SUB card until I give her back the C1 cards.
Meh, not worth microing if your family is unwilling. Give them a 2% everything and let them go.
Just get a good catch all card. For people that aren’t interested, it seems to complex especially with things like rotating categories, remembering that chase counts lots of vending machines ad restaurants and Amex doesn’t, etc.
A chase freedom unlimited is often a good choice as it gets 1.5 on everything but 3 points at restaurants and pharmacies, so you get the 3x back at everyday locations without thinking about it.
Haha good on her for trying lol. I dont give my fiancee anything more than a catch-all card. 2 cards max (dining card) although she already had a costco visa with 3% on dining so I decided not to disturb that.
I like to optimize but Im not going to push my hobbies onto her if she doesnt want to. A good 1 or 2 card setup goes a long way imo.
I got a set of stickers at my spouses request they are very small but have little icons.
[Buy her these stickers off Etsy](https://www.etsy.com/listing/1886113944/credit-cards-categories-stickers-labels?ls=r&external=1&ref=pla_similar_listing_top-1&sts=1&content_source=23a5ef817f81307d507bb7d34bbe0696%253ALT0c20642db15051a58fb71e8e915af8267d877c69&logging_key=23a5ef817f81307d507bb7d34bbe0696%3ALT0c20642db15051a58fb71e8e915af8267d877c69)
You two are over doing it.
If tracking points gets to that point you need to back off and find a simplier plan.
I just write the category in sharpie and tell them what the catch all is for everything else. You can easily remove with alcohol after the month/quarter bonus is up
I literally have colored masking tape on my cards that say what I use them for. One says “fun shit card” and I get a lot of love for that.
My wife is like this. I made it easy with Amex.
Gold = food.
Blue = everything else.
It works well enough she knows eating out and food is gold. Not difficult.
Little stickers on the cards
Yes, I absolutely do, though not quite to that degree (she always remembers Target goes on the Target card lol). I started labeling her cards but then that went out the window when she decided to Apple Pay literally everything without bothering to check. At that point, I told her to just set the Savor as default and call it a day until I can get the Robinhood Gold to capture everything at 3%. Sure, I’ll miss out on 5-6% here or there but that’s a lot better than getting 1% far more often than I’d like at the market or restaurants.
I think you need to get her the RH gold or Fidelity visa, lol
If I had to go through that much hassle, its not even worth the 5%
I have a good memory and never forget categories.