What I charge on my credit card…

When you first get a new credit card the spend on the welcome offer may feel intimidating. The Welcome offer reads something like “spend $4,000 in the first three months and receive 60,000 points. The welcome offer is where you will get your most points from that card but I often hear, “I’m not sure I can spend $4,000 in three months.”

In most cases, people are surprised to hit their minimum spend BEFORE the first 3 months by just switching out their Debit card for their credit card

Here are some normal expenses I put on my card that make it easy to reach a minimum spend :

• Gas

• Groceries

• Medical expenses

• Car insurance

• Phone bill

• Electricity

• Water bill

• Car insurance

• House Insurance

• Car Maintenance

• Gifts

• Resturants

Sometimes I get more creative (especially if the minimum spend is larger. Here are some ways I get creative:

• Offer to pick up the tab when at dinner with friends. I pay the entire bill and they Venmo me their portion

• Prepaying bills-did you know you can call and prepay your water bill and electricity bill? Yep. You can

• Timing- I apply for credit cards with larger minimum spends when I know I can a large expense coming up.

Those are ways I easily hit my spend on welcome offers.

New to points? I recommend choosing a card with a lower spend to gage how much you spend each month naturally. The goal is to NEVER over spend! Also, start asking yourself if the purchase you are making can be put on a credit card instead of a debit card or check. Sometimes there may be fees involved with cards, it’s up to you to see if it’s worth it to you to pay the fee or not