Here's a brief list of where I use credit cards (which I always pay off monthly):
- Car payments (they let me use credit cards with no fee, >$9 / month rewards)
- utilities ($1 fee, with >$1 rewards)
- Food (>$20 / month rewards)
- Gas (>$5 / month)
There are more, but that's what $40 / month. If you then use a churning method to get more points, like opening a new card where you spend $4000 in three months get $500 back, then it's even better. It depends how much you normally spend, but for me - I don't need to change spending habits. Just only use that single card.
Last year I made $2500 from credit cards with my standard spending. I took out three new cards, paid for my wedding, then paid them off. Haven't used them much since and I didn't need to spend any more than I normally would have.
Many cards let you cash out rewards points now. With Chase, for example, you can get a check in the mail, use points to pay off your CC balance directly, or use points on amazon (at full value).
- Car payments (they let me use credit cards with no fee, >$9 / month rewards)
- utilities ($1 fee, with >$1 rewards)
- Food (>$20 / month rewards)
- Gas (>$5 / month)
There are more, but that's what $40 / month. If you then use a churning method to get more points, like opening a new card where you spend $4000 in three months get $500 back, then it's even better. It depends how much you normally spend, but for me - I don't need to change spending habits. Just only use that single card.
Last year I made $2500 from credit cards with my standard spending. I took out three new cards, paid for my wedding, then paid them off. Haven't used them much since and I didn't need to spend any more than I normally would have.