After all these years, getting a new credit card in the mail is still a hoot. The idea of collecting a nice reward for so little effort really charges me up. In fact, being the obsessive type, I can’t wait to meet that minimum spend.
How I meet minimum spending requirements
After activating the card, adding to my online access the plan of attack begins. Before I hit it hard with a manufacturing transaction, I try to buy a cup of coffee, little gas, pick up a prescription. You know what I mean: An “everyday purchase.”
But now that the card is active, in use and in the bank’s system, its time to MS my way to the minimum spend target.
Stop #1: CVS
I’m a big fan of gift cards (aren’t we all) and I’ve got a variety of places to support with my $480+ purchases. Today I’m off to CVS to (ahem) pick up a prescription. It is amazing how often prescriptions cost $481 and some small number of cents like .08 cents?
At the register, I pay for my gift card and request a balance of $481.08. When they add the $5.95 fee, the total comes to $487.03. The clerk may look at me funny, but he or she is not getting paid enough to ask more than for my driver’s license and credit card to match the name.
I do NOT buy a gift card for $500 even, and when the $5.95 fee is added it totals $505.95. Maybe I’m being over-cautious, but I bet the banks see lots of transactions at $505.95. I’ve never been stopped doing it my way.
Stop #2: Grocery store
Next stop is my local grocery store (currently in my area Kroger is my favorite) as they offer 5% back with DOSH and a max kickback of $10 per transaction. Again it’s an odd dollar number $481.07 +$5.95 fee and away we go.
I may add a thing of creamer or candy bar so I’m not just buying gift cards at the SELF CHECKOUT lane. And now the beauty of self-checkout, I do a similar transaction with Katy’s credit card to help meet her minimum spend.
In fact, if she is not working on a minimum spending requirement, I may just buy a couple of cards with her cashback credit card, earning a few bucks to help offset that darn gift card fee.
Liquidation
If I’m feeling really ambitious I may repeat step one, but this time at Walgreen for another $4__.09 gift card. And then, as my day goes on, it’s off to another grocery or Walmart (ugh) to unload the gift cards.
With a $481.07 gift card, I ask for a money order of $480 (maybe three times, if that’s how many gift cards I’ve got). I fill them out and mobile deposit them to one of my favorite banks and the hour is complete.
My cost to meet spend
1. A little time. I don’t work more than an hour or two most days.
2. For a $3000 minimum spend I need six $500 gift cards (or $480’s with some normal spend mixed in at the restaurant, gas station, etc, etc.
3. My cost $5.95 x 6 = $35.70 plus a few odd pennies on each purchase and I always figure a $1 per gift card for money orders. Or $6 more for a total of about $43 to meet the minimum on a $3000 requirement.
Not a bad return on a couple of hours investment for 50,000 miles, $500 cash back or whatever your flavor of the moment is.
Warning: I do not buy gift cards to meet minimum spends on Amex credit cards. I do real spend for them.
Am I being over cautious by adding the small pennies? I don’t care. I’ve been successful this way for years and expect to continue for years to come. I try not to be repetitive with any transactions. Next time out, it may be $491.11
Other ways to meet spend
Is this the ONLY WAY? Heck NO. I could use the online route that Ariana does so well and shop through a portal to buy gift cards for less, have the cards mailed to me, then move on to liquidation. I do it that way occasionally.
But by doing that, I have to wait for the order to be processed and mailed to my house. With my system, I got the minimum spending done and on to the next project before the mail-order ones even arrive.
To each his own. Local conditions will help determine the method that works best for you.
Gotta go. Off to the grocery store self-checkout line again.
[jetpack_subscription_form title=”Subscribe via email for more points, miles and free travel”]
Leave a Reply