Cashback vs Points

[k0wned]

For someone not interested in traveling, is there any value to points/miles cards?

Amex and Chase both have rewards points programs that I see discussed often, are there ways to turn these into cash/gift cards and what is the approximate value per point?

 

[mec]

It's generally not worth long term card ownership of points cards if you aren't going to use them for travel redemptions.

There are exceptions. If you were to get a series of Amex MR cards and get the SUBs accumulated ... then get the Amex Schwab Platinum card. You could cash the points into a Schwab account at 0.0125. potentially upward of 4-5k depending on how many SUBs you earn in advance across business and personal cards on maybe ~10-20k of spending. There are a lot of variables in there and there are potentially some fees to pay.

BofA premier travel card points can be redeemed for straight cash back at 0.01. The card has a $500 SUB and earns greater than 2% if you have 50+k in Merrill Lynch and BofA accounts.

Chase URs can also be redeemed for cash at 0.01.

But which of those would work well for you really depend on your spending profile.

 

[k0wned]

It's generally not worth long term card ownership of points cards if you aren't going to use them for travel redemptions.

There are exceptions. If you were to get a series of Amex MR cards and get the SUBs accumulated ... then get the Amex Schwab Platinum card. You could cash the points into a Schwab account at 0.0125. potentially upward of 4-5k depending on how many SUBs you earn in advance across business and personal cards on maybe ~10-20k of spending. There are a lot of variables in there and there are potentially some fees to pay.

BofA premier travel card points can be redeemed for straight cash back at 0.01. The card has a $500 SUB and earns greater than 2% if you have 50+k in Merrill Lynch and BofA accounts.

Chase URs can also be redeemed for cash at 0.01.

But which of those would work well for you really depend on your spending profile.

Thanks for the help. It is cool how intricate some of the strategies can get! I'm excited to learn, an enjoyable hobby that happens to make some side income is nice

 

[El Ingeniero]

Even if you are not interested in travel, it's nice to have a emergency stash of miles handy for domestic travel. Family illnesses, job interviews, weddings, etc. are all occasions where you can save a ton of cash.

I will say 2 things from my heart:

• There's a certain level of MS that stops feeling like a hobby and starts feeling like work. I hit that level a couple of years ago, spending 2 or 3 hours every day driving around to grocery stores and Walmarts maxing out a Well Fargo card. A month of that and I was glad to never see the inside of a Money Center again.
• If you're MSing for cash, do something with the proceeds besides just upgrading your lifestyle. The opportunity won't last forever, it would be good to have something permanent to show for it: real estate, a beefed up retirement account, a college fund for your kid, whatever. Myself, I am working on a big down payment for our next house in a top school district, so my kid can have a quality education without our monthly costs increasing.

 

[k0wned]

Even if you are not interested in travel, it's nice to have a emergency stash of miles handy for domestic travel. Family illnesses, job interviews, weddings, etc. are all occasions where you can save a ton of cash.

I will say 2 things from my heart:

• There's a certain level of MS that stops feeling like a hobby and starts feeling like work. I hit that level a couple of years ago, spending 2 or 3 hours every day driving around to grocery stores and Walmarts maxing out a Well Fargo card. A month of that and I was glad to never see the inside of a Money Center again.
• If you're MSing for cash, do something with the proceeds besides just upgrading your lifestyle. The opportunity won't last forever, it would be good to have something permanent to show for it: real estate, a beefed up retirement account, a college fund for your kid, whatever. Myself, I am working on a big down payment for our next house in a top school district, so my kid can have a quality education without our monthly costs increasing.

As of now it's still an exciting and fun hobby that happens to earn money. It also goes hand in hand with flipping/reselling, which I also enjoy. Goal is $3-4k a year to put toward student loans.

 

[El Ingeniero]

As of now it's still an exciting and fun hobby that happens to earn money. It also goes hand in hand with flipping/reselling, which I also enjoy. Goal is $3-4k a year to put toward student loans.

Easy-peasy. I generate several times that without spending more than 5 hours a week. Take a peek at older posts on

Milenomics.com

for some ideas about scaling and maximizing earning. An old favorite is

http://milenomics.com/2014/07/scalablity-either-don't/

.

 

[k0wned]

Easy-peasy. I generate several times that without spending more than 5 hours a week. Take a peek at older posts on

Milenomics.com

for some ideas about scaling and maximizing earning. An old favorite is

http://milenomics.com/2014/07/scalablity-either-don't/

.

Great resource! Definitely makes me think about how to be more efficient. It's easy to think about things in terms of how much money you are making without thinking about the time investment.

 

[alvinroast]

That was a great article about scalability. Thanks for the link. I personally welcome the hard limits (Daily, monthly, annual purchase limits). These keep me from pushing the envelope or spending too much time trying to maximize the hobby.

My innate laziness is also a limit to scalability. When Safeway has a $10/$50 gift card deal I can stop at seven stores in a half hour (on my way to my regular store) and make about $35 which I'm happy with. Driving all over town sitting in traffic would be a completely different story and I would stick to $500 gc.