In the step-by-guide to credit cards, I mentioned that the sign-up bonuses are key to earning points for travel. While there are points you can earn from regular annual spending, people who are invested in this hobby do multiple sign-ups a year for the sign-up bonuses. Once you’ve researched and found which card would be the best for your goals (I recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred first), you’ll need to be diligent about tracking your progress to your goal so you don’t miss out on your bonus. This guide has more info and some ideas for how to spend money fast.
What is a Sign-Up Bonus?
The sign-up bonus is where the most bang for your buck is. When you first sign up for a card, there’ll be an offer that will say something along the lines of: “Spend $X in X days to earn X points”. The money to spend is known as the minimum spend requirement. For many cards, I only spend to earn the bonus and then discontinue use of that card.
Be sure and write down the date and goal. Put it on your calendar, and don’t mess it up! You don’t want to miss the chance to earn the bonus and “waste” a new card sign-up. Minimum spends can range from $1,000 to $10,000 in 3 months time. If you don’t normally spend that much, you won’t want to buy things just for the perks. Have a plan to spend a couple thousand in the next few months on things you can put on a credit card. Sometimes when I have a big purchase coming up, I’ll purposely wait until I can sign up for a new card and use it for that purchase. Listed below are a few additional ideas and ways to spend money quickly.
Move Regular Expenses
The first step is to move whatever spending you’re currently doing on your other cards to your new card. The only exception is for travel where we want the travel protection from the Chase Sapphire Reserve. We regularly spend a good chunk of money at Costco and eating out, and that is usually enough to make a good dent in our spending requirements. An additional step that requires some effort, but could be worthwhile, is to move some recurring expenses such as streaming TV, internet, electricity, memberships, and others.
Taxes
You can pay your federal income tax with a credit card if you pay a fee. Usually this is not worth it as the bonus points you receive don’t make up for the extra fee. However, the cost-benefit breakdown changes when you’re trying to meet a minimum spend. Remember that those sign up points are worth a lot and could be worth the fee.
Big Purchases
Think about if you have any big purchases that are coming up. Items we’ve bought in the past include new tires, big toys, new appliances, and a hot tub. Of course, don’t go overboard as ideally, you’d still aim to pay off the bill when it’s due.
Daycare
Our daycare recently gave us the option to pay for our monthly tuition with a credit card. This is huge for us as daycare costs are hundreds of dollars a month. We could have met the minimum spend with just this category!
Medical Expenses
While some companies give an FSA debit card to use directly for expenses, we usually prefer to use a credit card to get points and then submit for reimbursement to our bank account. Recently, root canals and laser eye surgery are examples of large medical expenses we’ve had that we used to meet minimum spend requirements.
Donate to Charity
Most non-profits will accept credit cards, and this is an easy way to spend exactly the amount you need. Especially at the end of the year, we like to make donations to our favorite charities, and getting points and meeting a minimum spend requirement is a nice bonus.
(PS if you’re looking for a charity, Nashville International Center for Empowerment is a great local charity that does a lot of work with refugees and immigrants)
Buy Gift Cards
Gift cards are a way to spend money on a credit card beyond your usual spend. Especially around Christmas, many places offer bonus cards. Our favorite restaurant, Edley’s, gives a bonus of $25 when spending $50, so if we anticipate our spending for the next year, it’s like buying ahead to get a 30% discount! We spent $500 this year as we go here weekly. Costco gift cards and other shops that we know we will shop at are other options to buy to meet a spend requirement.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to remember that having a credit card doesn’t mean you should spend more than you can afford. For many, meeting the minimum spend can be difficult if it’s beyond your typical spend. I hope these strategies give you some ideas. What are other ways you’ve used to meet spend requirements?
