For the last few years, I’ve been spoiled when it comes to manufactured spending. Thanks to an MS-friendly Walmart, I was able to liquidate thousands of dollars per day with minimal effort. Because it was so easy, I got kind of lazy when it came to strategy and focused on volume.
I regularly ordered over $2,000 worth of Visa gift cards via GiftCardMall or Giftcards.com and sometimes I bought so many that I maxed out my best credit cards and started charging them to any card I had. That’s how I ended up a stash of 200,000+ Radisson points. Nowadays, I don’t have this much time so I’m focusing on a more high-impact earning strategy.
Maximizing category bonuses
Nowadays I don’t have a ton of time to spend on this stuff – even 5-10 hours per week is more than I can spare. So when I do go on a Walmart run, I want to make sure it’s worth my time. Because of that, I’m making better use of credit card category bonuses.
That means taking advantage of the 5x office supply store bonus on the Chase Ink Plus and putting more effort into booking the cheapest awards rather than opting for the easiest.
I’m also making more of an effort bulk up on Citi ThankYou points. The program not only has some terrific airline transfer partners with cheap redemption rates but routinely offers transfer promotions.
At the moment, there is a 25% bonus on ThankYou point transfers to Avianca Lifemiles. In January, I plan on redeeming miles for a flight to Europe. Transferring those points over now helps me get more out of my points and manufactured spending activity in general.
Convenience
While maximizing category bonuses is important, I also value convenience. Buying $1,000 Simon Mall Visa gift cards is much easier than ordering Visa gift cards in $1,500 – $2,900 increments. Yes, it costs more but there is way less effort involved in tracking the purchase.
I don’t have to spend almost two weeks waiting for them to arrive in the mail, keeping an eye on credit card statement closing and due dates to make sure I don’t miss a payment. I don’t have to scroll through emails to match up the gift card art to the order number because the one provided in the package is completely different.
Instead, I walk into Sim Mall, buy up to $25,000 worth of Visa gift cards within 10 minutes and usually walk out with a bunch of useful coupons and treats from the nice Simon Mall associate.
More importantly, there is a Walmart just three minutes away, where I can liquidate $4,000 of those gift cards at a time. Just another five minutes away is yet another Walmart store that also lets me liquidate $4,000 in Visa gift cards.
It’s not quite the days of unloading $10,000 at a time, but it’s efficient and close to home. I’ll gladly pay a little more for Visa gift cards if I can liquidate them $4,000 at a time than save on $500 Visas that require more work to track and liquidate.
Time spent on manufactured spending
I can’t emphasize the timing issue enough. I used to be able to churn $20,000 worth of Visa gift cards per day and it took maybe an hour and a half at most. These days, I can’t justify spending more than 1-2 hours per week on this hobby.
It’s why you may have noticed that Rick has been doing the majority of the writing on this site. Priorities change and so does how we spend our free time. For me, MS is lower on the list. At least for the time being.
My future MS plans
In the next few months, I’ll probably continue to manufacture spend in smaller numbers, but with higher returns. I’ve got a minimum of $4,000 per month to spend on the Chase Ink Plus Card for that 5x bonus.
Beyond that, I like using cards like the Fidelity Rewards Visa for the 2% cash back bonus. The cash I accrue through that card goes straight into my travel bank.
Airlines and hotels are devaluing their currencies like crazy these days. I’m not looking forward to the day when a free night at a Marriott hotel costs over 100,000 points or a first class ticket costs a million miles. Cash back rewards help guard against that kind of inflation.
Besides, with all the reasonable business class and economy fares popping up, it often makes more sense to redeem cash back rewards than points and miles.
I’m an MS junkie and at some point, I’m sure I’ll resume chasing the high of churning $300,000+ worth of gift cards in a month. But right now, I’m keeping my volume low and maximizing category bonuses.
And if a good retail arbitrage opportunity presents itself, then I’ll absolutely milk that, to a reasonable degree.
What’s your manufactured spending strategy? How many hours a week are you willing to devote to this hobby?
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