Thursday, October 15, 2009

Every Little Bit

Discover card is giving 5% cash back for grocery purchases for the next 3 months. I wasn't going to use Discover anymore but I think I will keep it around for certain purchases. Last month's category was gas and I earned $5 in rewards. It shouldn't take me too long to reach the $20 mark and then I will trade my rewards for a $25 Ace Hardware gift card.

I'm trying to scrape up any extra cash for my Christmas fund this year. I've almost reached the $40 mark with the online surveys and then my other credit card will give me $250 cash back as soon as I reach the $200 level. That shouldn't be too hard as soon as I start charging those Christmas presents.

I'm considering buying grocery gift cards with my Discover card this year to get that 5% cash back without actually buying tons of food. I did that last year with the stimulus money and it worked out quite well. I must make sure that I have an extra $200-$400 available to pre-buy groceries though. It would be bad if I locked all my money up in gift cards and then didn't have enough to pay my property tax bill. Hmm...too bad I can't put my property taxes on my credit card. I could earn some nice cash back from that bill.

11 comments:

Over the Cubicle Wall said...

I think they let us pay property taxes with a credit card for an additional fee, but it is more than the standard cash back deals.

The grocery gift card purchase sounds like a good idea. No need to worry about them spoiling.

The Executioner said...

Discover card caps the 5% cash back on groceries at $400 in purchases (net of $20 cash back). So don't spend more than that amount on gift cards or groceries.

Anonymous said...

I was going to point out exactly what the Executioner pointed out. Don't go crazy with the spending, there is a cap on how much you will get back. Oh well, $20 is better than nothing on things I already purchase.

Barb

Daizy said...

Executioner and Barb, thanks for the heads up. That is very annoying that they capped it at $400 over 3 months. Most people reach $400 in less than a month. Not much of a deal I think. I'm beginning to think it's not worth bothering with discover at all.

Daizy said...

Over the Cubicle, I read that some churches accept credit cards. And I can charge my state taxes because they let us donate them to the schools of our choice. Cash back on donations is a bit odd but I'll take it.

Anonymous said...

I am pretty sure Chase Freedom no longer offers $250 for $200 earned. Call them to make sure if you are counting on that $50 bonus.

Daizy said...

Anonymous, it is still available if you have the premier checking account too. I bet they'll get rid of it as soon as they can think of an excuse!

moocifer said...

I use that "buy grocery store gift cards" trick with my Discover Card, too, sometimes.

I have to confess I'm surprised that you're concerned about laying down $500 for groceries with your amount of savings. I guess you must not keep a large balance in your checking account.

moocifer said...

If you have Discover Card, and get on the correct rewards program and just stay on it (Discover Gas Rewards/open Road or whatever) you will get a straight 2% off *all* grocery and gas purchases throughout the year. That's a better deal than their rotating category deals in my opinion. I just stick with that generally.

moocifer said...

Schwab Visa offers 2% back on all purchases. I don't apply because I'm pretty sure they'll reject me due to my large available credit lines as compared to income so I don't bother applying, but if 2% back sounds good to you for all purchases then I'd suggest looking into it.

Daizy said...

Hello bugbear, I did have a large reserve but last month I decided to dump $5k on the mortgage. I'm building that cushion up again.

I do have Chase Freedom with my checking account and it gives me 3% on my top 5 catagories. I haven't checked my catagories lately. If gas isn't one of my top catagories then that Discover gas card would be better to use for only gas. I'll check it out.