Personal Finance Questions and Answers for Young Professionals

Disclaimer: This is not for people in credit card debt or people that can’t control their spending.

To take advantage of this free money you have to pay off your credit card bills in full each month. If you miss payments or can’t pay the balance in full, you are paying more money in late fees and high interest rates. If you can handle this, you are ready to start earning free money!

First thing you have to do is find the right credit card that will reward you the most, where you spend the most. I rotate between 3 different credit cards. My favorite card is the Chase Freedom. With their new offer, you earn 3% cash back on the top 3 categories where you spend the most money. There are 15 different categories where your spending can fall under. Purchases that do not fall under these categories will earn 1% cash back per dollar. An added bonus to this card is when you reach $200 in rewards you get an extra $50 dollars.
So I use this card as my default credit card to reach that reward quicker, there is no reason not to. My top categories on this card are probably food, movies, and my cell phone bill. You can also use this card to pay your utilities and cable/internet bills. In the 6 months I’ve had this card I earned $100 in cash back rewards. At the rate I am going in another 6 months I will reach that $200 mark and claim my bonus $50. You can read more about this card in my review: Chase freedom.

My other two cards are for gas. This is probably where people are spending the most money so it’s important to get a gas rewards card that is at lease 5% cash back. The two cards I use are the Discover Open Road, and Shell Platinum MasterCard from Citi®. The Shell card is great because it’s 5% back on Shell gas and at any Shell convenient store. I use only Shell V-Power for my car so this card works great for me. I spend an average of $45 a week on gas, which is about $195 a month, and is about $10 cash back each month. If you don’t use shell gas all the time, then get a credit card that is 5% back on all gas stations. I use the Open Road for when I am not close to a Shell or if I am buying oil and filters for my car. The Discover open road is 5% back on gas and auto maintenance purchases. When you are not buying gas, both these cards have 1% cash back on all other purchases. I’ve racked up $75 in rewards from my Discover card so far. You can read my review of these cards at: Discover Open Road & Shell Platinum MasterCard from Citi®.

To get the most out of these cash back cards you have to put all your purchases on them. I have not been to the ATM in months. I put every purchase I can on a credit card because the credit card companies pay me to use them. I get rewarded for spending money I already would have, and you can too. Just follow a few simple rules of paying them back, and on time, and you will earn cash quickly.