I actually tracked all my credit card perks last year… kinda eye-opening

So I always assumed I was crushing it with credit cards… points, perks, all that.

Finally decided to track everything for a full year just to see what was actually going on.

Here’s where I landed:

Annual fees: ~$1,800

Value I actually used: ~$2,200

Net: like +$400ish

At first I was like “nice, worth it.”

But then I looked closer and it got a little weird…

Almost all the value came from just a few things:

Lounge access

One flight credit

One solid hotel redemption

And then there’s a bunch of stuff I basically didn’t touch:

Monthly credits I kept forgetting about

Random perks I thought I’d use but didn’t

Offers I didn’t bother activating

So yeah… technically I “came out ahead,” but it feels like I’m paying for a bunch of benefits that sound cool more than ones I actually use.

Now I’m debating just simplifying everything and dropping a couple cards.

Curious if anyone else has actually tracked this? Did you come out ahead or was it kinda the same story?