Several years ago I came to the painful realization that my credit card habits were costing me more than $ 10,000 up to this point!
No, I didn’t have any credit card balance, I didn’t pay any interest or late fees. I paid my bill honestly each month in full.
My mistake was that I didn’t take advantage of credit cards.
Until a few years ago, there was only one credit card in my wallet. I put all my purchases on this card and pay for it every month. I received about 0.25% cashback, which came at the end of each year in the form of a small statement.
We haven’t been paid for a plane ticket for 3 years
Fast forward to today and my wife and I regularly make $ 2,000 or more in credit card rewards every year!
Often we redeem our free travel points to take our family of 4 to visit relatives for holidays and other special occasions. In fact, we haven’t paid for a plane ticket in over 4 years thanks to bonus credit cards!
So how do we do this? It is really very simple. Let me tell you what worked for us and how it can help you make some extra money …
Can You Really Make Over $ 2,000 With Credit Cards?
Everyone’s situation is different and there are so many bonus credit cards to choose from. You will need to decide which cards are best for you, but the good news is that just about anyone can benefit!
It would be an oversight if I didn’t mention a few pre-qualifications before applying for bonus credit cards:
- You need to pay your credit card in full every month. No credit card rewards earn any interest you will be charged to maintain your balance.
- In most cases, you will need good credit to qualify for these cards. If you want a free app to track your credit score, I use and recommend Credit Karma…
So let’s move on to the credit cards that will bring the best rewards in 2020!
Best credit cards of 2021
These are the cards my wife and I have used to earn credit card rewards, and we think they are the very best. (If we haven’t used them yet, they’re on our list of cards to apply for next time!)
We currently have over 300,000 points on our balance sheet, even after spending about 80,000 points to book 4 plane tickets home to visit family.
Based on our current redemption habits, these 300,000 points are worth:
- $ 3,000 cash (1 cent per point)
- USD 4,500 per trip (we can usually get about 1.5 cents or more per point when exchanging for a ride)
Chase Sapphire Preference – 80,000 points
BEST CREDIT CARD FOR BEGINNERS –
It was the first card that started our journey to credit card rewards. We earned 50,000 points a few years ago by spending $ 4,000 in the first 3 months. But now the welcome bonus has increased to 80,000 points – that’s $ 1,000 travel travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards!
Sapphire Preferred comes with a $ 95 annual fee, but it also comes with a number of significant ongoing benefits:
- 2X points for travel and meals
- 1X point on everything else (1 point per dollar spent)
- Earn 25% More Profit When Redeeming Travel Points Through The Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal
Learn more about Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase Ink Business Preference – 100,000 points
BEST CREDIT CARD FOR BUSINESS AND SIDE TRADING –
WAIT! If you think you are not eligible for a business card, keep reading – in many cases, you can …
Many people think that you have to have a big business with hundreds of thousands of income, LLC and tax identification number in order to apply for a business credit card. but this is not true. If you have any form of additional income other than your main job (renting a property, driving an Uber, or even mowing lawns in the summer), you can apply for a business credit card as a sole proprietor (this means that your tax ID is just your social id). security number).
If you thought the previous card had a stellar welcome bonus, prepare to be surprised. Chase Ink Business Preferred gives you a whopping 100,000 points bonus if you spend $ 15,000 in your first 3 months.
That’s $ 1,250 for your Chase Ultimate Rewards journey! Or perhaps even more if you transfer to one of their points partners. For example, we transferred just under 80,000 points to Southwest Airlines and that paid for 4 plane tickets for our family to travel around Thanksgiving (the tickets were over $ 1200 in cash!)
The annual fee is $ 95 and there are some great permanent bonuses too:
- 3X points up to $ 150,000 on travel, shipping, cable TV, Internet, telephone services, and Internet advertising.
- 1X score on all other categories
- Earn 25% More Profit When Redeeming Travel Points Through The Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal
Learn more about your preferred Chase Ink business
Chase Ink Business Unlimited – 75000 points
BEST CASH BACK CREDIT CARD FOR BUSINESS –
If you are looking for a card with no annual fee and just cashback, Chase Ink Business Unlimited may be for you.
With this card, you will receive 75,000 points after spending $ 7,500 within the first 3 months after opening an account. Compared to the other business card above, there are some unique advantages:
- There is no annual fee
- Get 1.5% cashback on every purchase
- Plus 0% introductory annual income for 12 months!
Learn more about Chase Ink Business Unlimited
Capital One Venture Awards – 60,000 points
BEST CREDIT CARD FOR PRIVATE TRAVELERS –
If you’re looking for a travel reward-only card, look no further than a Capital One Venture Rewards credit card.
It offers a 60,000 miles welcome bonus after you spend $ 3,000 within the first 3 months of opening an account. The annual fee is $ 95, but there is no charge for the first year.
After the initial bonus, you get the following travel benefits:
- Earn 2x Miles on ALL purchases
- Get $ 100 Registration Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check
- There are no blackout dates for award travel and miles never expire for the duration of the account.
- No commission for foreign transactions
Learn more about this card
How do we meet the welcome bonus requirements (and earn 20% + cashback!)
Most of these credit cards offer an initial spending bonus of $ 3,000 to $ 5,000 for the first 3-4 months. It may seem like a lot, but we have never faced the problem of inability to achieve the minimum level of costs.
In our experience, the best way to start earning a welcome bonus is to put all of your normal spending on one card. If you are like us, you have 6 or 7 (or 15) invoices that are automatically paid every month from the same credit card. Just switch it to a new credit card and pay your utility bill, cell phone, Netflix subscription, and more from there.
In some cases, we got a little creative and did things like prepay our car insurance for the next few months. This works for almost all of your recurring bills (cell phone, utilities, etc.). Nobody complains if they get paid early!
So what about 20% cashback?
Another way to think about credit card rewards (especially welcome bonuses) is the percentage of money back I get for every dollar spent. For example, with Chase Ink Business Preferred, you will earn 80,000 points by spending $ 5,000 in the first 3 months. I usually save these points to use for travel because you get a higher value, so those 80,000 points are worth at least $ 1,000 for travel.
So let’s count …
- $ 1,000 welcome bonus cost after spending your first $ 5,000 (20% cashback)
- Earn at least 1 point per dollar spent to earn 5,000 more travel points worth $ 62.50 (1.25% return).
- Total travel cost is $ 1,062.50 for $ 5,000 expenses – 21.25% refund!
That’s 21.25% off every purchase you make using the first $ 5,000 on your card. Try to get that kind of return on your stock market investment! Credit card rewards alone can be a great addition to adding $ 2,000 to your budget annually.
Heck, we’re documenting credit card reward income in our Additional income reports – every little thing helps!
How to start earning credit card bonuses today
Free money couldn’t be much easier than this. As long as you have good credit, there is no reason why you can’t take advantage of the best credit card deals of 2020 to earn some extra cash for your next vacation, or even invest in your emergency fund!
If you are new to credit card rewards and have decent credit, I recommend starting with Chase Sapphire Preference… This is a versatile good card with an above average bonus and allows you to get your feet wet and see where the thrill lies.
If you’re looking for a specific type of card not listed above, here are the best of the best in various categories:
What is your credit card reward strategy? Write your story in the comments!