Maximize credit card rewards

There’s a simple trick to remember which card to use where.

Have you ever had to think for a second to find the appropriate credit card in your wallet to pay for a purchase?

It’s an important question to ask yourself because a swipe with the wrong credit card could cost you some valuable rewards.

Money expert Clark Howard learned a simple trick from a random shopper that will ensure that you always get the maximum benefits from your credit card rewards.

Clark says he was picking up a few things at his local Costco when he struck up a conversation with a shopper.

The man explained that he had a labeling method that prioritized his credit cards and showed Clark the different ones he used at respective stores.

“This man laid out all his credit cards,” Clark says, “and he had stickers on the cards and he said, ‘I use this one here, this Clark Howard Save more, spend less and avoid rip-offs one here, this one here,” referring to places like supermarkets, restaurants and gas stations.

The reason why labeling your credit cards is a good idea is because it’s easy to forget which card to use everywhere you shop.

“It’s hard to commit to memory, ‘Hey when I’m here use this one, When I’m there use that one,’ or when I’m buying this kind of thing use this other card,” he says.

For example, Clark uses the Sam’s Club Mastercard while filling up at the pump (whenever he’s not driving his electric vehicle) because the card offers 5% cash back on most gas purchases, which is more than the 4% cash back on gas that the Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi offers.

By labeling your credit cards, you can easily swipe the right card to get the full cash back for every purchase.

Clark says if you choose to label your credit card with stickers, make sure you update them periodically because some credit card companies will rotate the rewards or switch promotions every three months or so.

“It’s hard to remember what those rotations are,” Clark says. “So if you just put a sticker on your card every 90 days, you’ll know, ‘OK, they’re paying 6% in the supermarkets right now, or they’re paying 5% at the drug stores or whatever, so if you have a sticker you’re going to remember those things.”

Labeling your credit cards is a great way to help you get the most out of your reward offers. But if the idea of keeping up with rotating perks is too much for you, follow one of Clark’s tips on sticking with a simple cash back credit card.

“My recommendation is to switch to the 2% cashback card — the PayPal card, the Citi Double Cash card or one of the Fidelity cards. Two percent is very hard to beat,” Clark says.