11 Creative Ways To Get a Card Spend

June 1st, 2020

Most of the credit cards you want have a minimum spend to get bonus points. And that spend can be difficult to reach within the allotted time (usually 90 days). So here are 11 tips to get your minimum spend… so you can get your bonus points and get traveling!

• Automatic monthly payments: Switched to your newest credit card, stat. This includes your streaming services, cable, internet, utility bills -- whatever it is you have on autopay. You’ll be surprised how all the little things can really add up. You may even want to consider prepaying some of these bills for the next 6 months.

• Dinner time: Pay for everyone's dinner when you’re out with a group and have everyone Venmo or CashApp you their portion of the bill.

• Family spendings: Offer to pay the bill when your family is planning a large expense (to be reimbursed later, of course). Things like a new power washer, a shed, tires, a prosciutto leg -- really anything that could be hundreds or thousands of dollars in one spend.

• Tax Time: If you owe Uncle Sam (or your local government) significant amounts of money, apply for a new card right before your tax bill is due. It’s well worth the small convenience fee if one payment gets you your needed bonus points on your newest card. You might pay a 2-3% service fee for using your card, but a service fee that adds up to $50 could score you a bonus with $700-$1,000! You can use something like Official Payments to make sure you're all paid up.

• Insurance: Whether it's auto, homeowners, or life insurance, you can pay your premiums annually in a fat upfront sum.

• Flexible Spending Accounts: Here’s a simple trick. You can pay for health/medical expenses with your credit card, then request reimbursement through your FSA.

• Rent/Mortgage/Car Lease: This is where most of your monthly money goes anyways. And sometimes you can work things out to square those expenses online with your credit card. For all the places that don’t take credit cards, you have Plastiq or Melio. There is a 2.5% fee for both of these services when using your credit card. But since you have to spend that money anyways, you might as well get something back for it, namely, bonus points worth hundreds.

• New Car: If you’re going to purchase a new car, put your down payment on your new card. That's usually a spend of thousands of dollars.

• Donate to Charity: Everyone can give a little to make a big difference. Something people seem to love is Kiva. You’re able to use your credit card to make a no-interest microloan that has a 96% repayment rate. There is a 4% chance that you’ll end up losing your invested money but overall it’s a nice option to use your money to help someone in need.

• Cash Equivalents: Gift cards are a nice alternative -- or last-minute option -- to meet your minimum. The potential drawback is that most gift cards charge a convenience fee, and some credit cards don’t qualify gift card spends toward your bonus minimum. So double check to make sure these spends qualify to reach the minimum spending on your specific card. One example of how this worked out for one of our writers: She had a business card that gave beaucoup points toward business purchases. So she bought $500 worth of Visa gift cards from Staples, earning 5x points per dollar. That means the 5% in points offset the service fee for the gift card. Of course, everyone has to weigh it out individually. Also bear in mind, you can even resell your gift card at a small loss on platforms like Gift Card Granny.

• Contractor / Landscaper: Ask your contractor or landscaper if they accept credit cards. You can also see if you can purchase the supplies for them, and then write off that cost from the total quote.