I recently signed up for a new credit card. While our primary credit card will remain the American Express Blue Cash card, which has served us well in the past, I’m moving our secondary card from the Citi World Dividend Mastercard to the Citi Forward Visa.
This relates to my philosophy of spending money, which is to save on every dollar I spend. If I can charge it onto the American Express, I know I’m getting at least 1.5 cents back (and sometimes, even 5 cents). Before, charging it on the Mastercard would net 1 cent back (and sometimes 2), but that always felt a bit low to me. Additionally, the Mastercard required an accumulation of $50 in cash back before they would cut you a check.
The Citi Forward card is much more appealing. It gives 5 points per dollar spent at restaurants and movie theaters (and 1 point on everything else), plus a bonus 100 points per billing cycle if we don’t pay late (which we never do). While the points are not quite as good as cash back (the trade ratio is a bit lower for points, about 71 cents per 100 points for a statement credit, with slightly better ratios for a mortgage payment or certain gift cards), the extra points that accumulate are much more advantageous, especially for a backup credit card. It still works out to about 3.5 cents “cash” back per dollar spent at any restaurant.
Of course, if I really wanted to maximize my cash back when spending, I would use different credit cards for every different type of transaction (i.e. a specific gas credit card, a specific grocery credit card, a specific restaurant credit card, and a specific airline credit card). But there are just certain practical limitations and a certain level of ease of use that you have to accept in your life.
Maybe when I’m older. Maybe then, I’ll be comfortable doing hours of research so that I can go into CVS with a wallet full of coupons and buy toilet paper for a quarter. Until then, this two credit card system has worked and it does make me feel better knowing that, unless I pay cash, I’m never quite spending as much as the receipt says.
