Using credit card rewards for a kitchen upgrade

When our realtor walked my husband and me through the condo that would become our first home, we fell in love. However, it was outdated.

With two different patterns of wallpaper, blue speckled laminate countertops, beige appliances and brassy gold hardware, I couldn’t wait to have the kitchen redone. But, after pouring our savings into our down payment, we had little money leftover to spend.

Using our credit card to our advantage Rather than waiting until we could afford our kitchen upgrade on our own, I put our money to work for us by maximizing the cash-back rewards that our credit card offered. The credit card I chose offers 5 percent cash back on categories that rotate quarterly, as well as 1 percent cash back on all additional purchases.

Then, I made it a point for my husband and me to use our cash-back reward card whenever possible. The goal was that any money we spent should go through our cash-back credit card. Redeeming rewards in form of gift cards As months went by, I watched as our cashback balance grew. When we had finally racked up a sizable sum, rather than redeem our cashback rewards for actual cash or a credit, I opted to cash-in the rewards in the form of gift cards.

I was able to get a $100 Lowes gift card for every $90 in cash-back rewards redeemed. That led to a new glass-top double oven, microwave, dishwasher and refrigerator, plus painting and backsplash. — Gobankingrates.com