$250 worth of snowflake money with Chase Freedom
April 14th, 2008 | by rocketc |
We just earned a $250 cash reward check from the Chase Freedom credit card. It took us about 11 months to earn $200 in the rewards account. Once card owners have saved that much, Chase kicks in another $50. The cash back represents one to three percent of everything that we have purchased with the card over the last year. We get 3% cash back in certain categories and everything else earns 1%.
One of the main categories where we earn 3% cash back is with gasoline purchases - and last month put us over the top since we spent over $1,000 in fuel. With the Freedom card, the price of a $3.30 gallon of gasoline is reduced by approximately 11 cents! Another category where we earn 3% is with our Sprint Wireless bill. We have set it up to be charged to our Chase Freedom card every month and we also save a little money by “floating” the wireless bill.
We are now debating whether or not we will continue to use the Freedom Card or switch to the Blue Cash by American Express that offers up to 5% cash back on everything - General purchases earn a .5% rebate up to $6,500, and 1.5% over $6,500; “Everyday Purchases” earn a 1% rebate up to $6,500, and 5% over $6,500. Unless we can find a way to spend more than $10,500 a year within our budget, I doubt that we will move to this card The other card that we are considering is Miles by Discover, a premium card that allows uses to earn free air travel. Our new location will require us to fly more often since flights from Denver are relatively inexpensive and we will need to fly to see both sides of the family.
Added benefits from these three cards:
- There are no annual fees associated with any of them.
- Miles by Discover is offering a 0% APR on all balance transfers and purchases for six months
- Miles by Discover is offering 12,000 bonus miles if you use the card for 12 months.
- Chase Freedom is offering a $50 sign-up bonus.
I know that many people refuse to use credit cards and I certainly understand their reasons for that stance. However, if you can responsibly use credit and only purchase budgeted items, the right credit card can help you make a little extra money.
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9 Responses to “$250 worth of snowflake money with Chase Freedom”
By Aryn on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
Actually, it’s fairly easy to spend more than $6,500 a year within your budget - if you charge everything. In addition to groceries and fuel, we have almost ALL of our recurring monthly bills charged to our cards (our providers don’t charge a fee for that) - including cell phones, cable, telephone, internet, and power. Just about the only things we can’t charge are natural gas, rent, and auto insurance. We’re hoping our gas company gets its act together soon!
By Becky@FamilyandFinances on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
I love the Chase Freedom card!
Last time I checked, all of our recurring bills charged a fee to charge our credit card. I should look into that again…
By Kelli Myers on Apr 15, 2008 | Reply
I do not prefer credit cards but the Chase Freedom card seems to be a good deal…so will think about taking one myself.
By rocketc on Apr 15, 2008 | Reply
@ Aryn, we have tried to charge more to our card, but we have learned that at a certain level, our spending starts to go over our budget, so we have chosen to limit it.
@ Becky, our energy bill charges a fee - $2.50 per transaction, but last winter, our bills were in the $250 range. Cash back and loan float covered our fees. Plus it was very convenient to charge it. Our wireless bill does not charge any extra fees.
By lulugal11 on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
I use my Chase card too and I am working on getting that bonus $50 after reaching the $200 mark.
My problem is that a lot of the places I use my card are classified as ‘other’ so I don’t get the big cash back. eg I get all my groceries at Walmart (other) and only spend about $50 on gas (I live close to work and don’t go out much).
By rocketc on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
lulugal11, be patient.
3% cash back is not a reason to spend more. Gasoline is where the savings really add up - if you don’t spend much there. . .well, consider yourself blessed. Another area to check is the the electronics/communications category - your wireless, cable or internet bills might get 3% cash back.
By Philip on Apr 29, 2008 | Reply
One thing to note that the 3% is limited to the first $600 that you spend, then it drops to 1%. So that $1000 in gas was 3% for the first 600 then only 1% on the rest and force only 1% on all other purchases that month.
Just thought you might want to remind/remember that.
By rocketc on Apr 29, 2008 | Reply
@ Philip, you are correct - however, we split the $1000 over two statement periods. Obviously, the timing will not work out for everyone.
If all the spending had occurred during one period, I would have switched to my Discover Miles card half-way through.