I prepaid my water and sewer bills since I don't plan on moving anytime soon. Bonus that the flat cc fee means the more I charge in a single transaction the lower percentage the fee is. And the scheduled maintenance on my car plus a battery replacement.
Insurance payments can be a major spend category. My auto/home/umbrella pays once a year and is a substantial chunk. Also Health Insurance premiums, especially if on ACA and you defer the subsidy until you file your taxes.
@@Elricky124 Claims are already done by the insurance company by the time you need to pay your portion of the bill. All you need to do is setting up you bank reimbursement transfer in your HSA/FSA portal so you can pay yourself back. If your claims record doesn’t show up in the portal, just upload a copy of your payment receipt to get reimbursed
Medical bills, and if you have an HSA you can pay yourself back in order to make the credit card payments if need be. Don't use the HSA debit card! Use a credit card that is working on a SUB, and pay yourself back by requesting reimbursement from your HSA. We've hit a couple of SUBs that way. Yes, I know some people would rather not actually USE the HSA but instead let it ride tax free for decades.... but if you are not in a position to pay large medical bills out of pocket and would have otherwise used the HSA debit card, this is a way to use your HSA AND get points, miles, or cash back in the process.
That's a great idea about the HSA, thanks for the tip. I had my 4 wisdom pulled for $1,600 late in life(37yrs) and used my Insurance (which they told me I was maxed out on) and my Venture X. Come to find out insurance covered $1400 but the 1600 had been charged to card. That allowed me to hit the minimum spend and the dentist cut me a check for 1400.
🥃 I bought a new car in October so I opened a 2nd CIBP. I told the salesman if he wanted to sell me the car Id have to put 8k on my new card! In December I was able to score the 150K amex biz gold (knowing I was going to book a Tuscany bike tour that cost 10K).
As an expat working overseas most of the year, I use the method of waiting till I have a major expense coming up before I apply for a card to ensure I can meet the min spend. It’s a 14 hr flight each way, so one trip on United in biz class, 3 times a year, & I’m all done for meeting min spend.
@@pooofykittens Part of my comp package from my employer is an annual use-or-lose travel allowance, and when your choices for mostly non-stop flights back to the states are Emirates, Etihad, & Qatar, with their ridiculous biz class prices, I can stretch my allowance much further flying United.
Don’t know how many this would apply to but some sort of certification or licensure exams or courses in preparation for example I am taking the PE license exam and using the course and the exam fee to hit a sign up bonus. For me it’s like earning a vacation for investing in my future a win win.
I have a friend that loves deltait has the delta reserve. He has another friend who has a trucking company. It has trouble with this monthly spend. So friend a got a spare card for friend b. Who buys all of us fuel on his delta reserve, Reimbursing friend a every month. Friend day is happy as can be.
I have my NBA season tickets on a no interest 12 month payment plan and rotate to my new credit cards in order to help hit minimum spend and get my SUB.
What are your thoughts on using one of the payroll platforms which allow you to use a Credit Card? Kinda surprised you don't cover this and it's something our small biz has been thinking about doing for a while... be great if you could do a video covering the different platforms along with does and don'ts.....
🥃 Estimated taxes for most of the amount. I'll use them to almost cover the minimum spend, but then another charge to finish. I don't want to risk it after hearing how some people didn't qualify for the bonus when the tax payment finishes the minimum spend. I like the idea of the car down payment. I was surprised that was an option when I last bought a car. I expected to have to write a check. However, if you're financing, you need to make sure your credit score can handle the inquiry and new account without dropping into a lower range. You don't want to end up with a higher interest rate. Normally I think the advice is to hold off on new cards right before a big loan. But if your score is firmly in the excellent range, you can probably do it.
I bought a house and am renovating it on cards. AmEx and the Alaska Air visa, looking at a Marriott or Air Canada card next (I should be clear, I have the cash, just using the cards for the bonuses, not financing, as you say... I would have spent it anyway).🥃
I was thinking of an idea of buying an ounce of gold with the credit card to get to the minimum spent and it would be easy to sell it back or even make some money if gold goes up
🥃 love this! Thank you Sebby! All of your suggestions are on point! Am enjoying cruising so will use new credit cards for the cost of the cruises. Yay! Also often have to remit estimated income tax payments and using the cards (even new cards to reach the minimum spend) makes the process very easy and efficient.
🥃 i try to line new cards up with insurance (auto / renters) since its a bigger payment i save to pay every 6 months, i get a deal paying lump sum and there are no fees to pay with credit card (they prefer it). also i pre-pay utilities - like internet - since i know ill always have to pay it and theres no fee associated to pay in advance and i can choose how much i pay down to the dollar. 🤙
🥃 also is buying gift cards a no no when it comes to minimum spends? If I am close to hitting it and just buy a bunch gift cards for places i will be spending money on anyways for example will that get flagged/ blacklisted?
🥃Any way to keep number of credit cards under control and still get intro bonuses? How many credits cards is too many? Do you guys keep all credit cards after getting intro offer?