I’ve had many hobbies: Travel, reading, writing, drawing (I know, it sounds like the hobbies get more and more boring). All of these things have given me a sense of calm and serenity. Chasing points, on the other hand, gives me a rush. While most other people would panic over a $1,000 purchase at a drug store, I get a thrill out of it. When I see 40,000+ miles post on the various accounts at the beginning of each month, I feel a sense of accomplishment.
Thus, I try to seize every opportunity to earn as many miles as possible. Manufactured spending is a major part of that strategy. The basic steps and key players involved in manufactured spending with credit cards are as follows:
Step 1: Buy Reload Packs
- Greendot Moneypak
- Greendot Cash Reload
- Paypal My Cash Reload
- REloadit
Step 2: Load Onto Prepaid Cards
- ADP TotalPay cards
- American Express Bluebird
- American Express Serve
- Greendot card
- MyVanilla Debit
- Netspend
- Paypal Business Debit MasterCard
- PayPower
- Univision Prepaid cards
- Vision Visa Prepaid cards
Step 3: Unload Prepaid Cards
- ATM
- Bank Transfer
- Bill Pay feature
- Cash back at grocery store registers
- Money order
- Square Cash
Direct Load Alternatives
- Visa and Mastercard Giftcards
If you have numerous people in your household over the age of 18, you can capitalize on this even further.
The next post will go into detail about where to buy these cards and how to unload them at minimal cost. A good rule of thumb is to keep your costs under $10 per $1,000 spent. This way, you’re spending under $1,000 out of pocket for every 100,000 miles, which can be redeemed for a roundtrip business class ticket to Europe, or two off-peak economy tickets. We’ll go over redemption options in upcoming posts as well.
Before undertaking any manufactured spending activity, keep in mind that it’s very important to be organized and pay off your credit cards on time to avoid interest and late fees.
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