Is it possible to reap $2,000 from cash-back credit cards?
If you’re in the market for a cash-back credit card, Consumer Reports newly lays out a half-dozen eyeopening strategies that could bring $2,000 cash back or more over three years.
Example: A retired couple typically charges $2,000 monthly on everyday expenses — groceries, entertainment, restaurants, travel, drugstores and other things. The couple would earn $2,000 cash back over three years by using two particular cash-back credit cards, ConsumerReports.org advises in its article headline “How to Cash in on Cash-Back Credit Cards.”
First, the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card (annual fee $95) would be used for groceries, gasoline and department stores under this strategy. It provides a 6 percent rebate on the first $6,000 spent on groceries each year and a 3 percent rebate on gasoline and department store purchases.
All other purchases should go on the no-annual-fee PenFed Power Cash Rewards Visa Signature card, which provides qualified customers 2 percent cash back, Consumer Reports suggests. However, getting the PenFed card requires joining Pentagon Federal Credit Union at penfed.org. (I’ll throw in that the Citi Double Cash Card also provides 2 percent cash back, so that could be a substitute. The magazine separately suggests that Citi card in its strategy for large families.)
The upshot: By stacking cash-back credit cards in your favor, it’s possible to reap a nice windfall on purchases that you would’ve made anyway. Read the full article at bit.ly/2Kreward.
Reader tips: Readers Rick and Kathi of Coconut Creek lost electricity in their condo for five days during Hurricane Irma but fared well. What was their strategy? Answer: By June 1, the annual start of hurricane season, “we’re ready for whatever nature brings,” they shared via email. At season’s start, they aim to keep 30 gallons of gas stored in UL-Listed vapor-proof 5-gallon gas cans to run their 4,000-watt Generac portable generator as needed. They double their emergency water supply by buying an extra case of water, and they year-round keep a large stocked pantry with plenty of canned food.
During Irma, the couple ran the generator from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., which powered their portable air conditioner and allowed for cooking. “Total loss for Irma,” they report, “was 11 gallons of gas and a little work.”
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