Let’s Make Some Money Honey!
I’m not a huge fan of credit cards. I had a wild love affair with them once and it took me twice as long to get over the damage they (okay, okay, I) did. However, this Belle still loves a sale. And the only thing better than a sale, is getting perks for buying all the boring necessities.
So I thought I’d share some tips from our fellow Belle’s at Daily Worth so we could stay up-to-date on what I refer to as “smart cards”. These are the four cards they’ve found give you the “most buck for your bang”, (i.e. cash back for purchases.) When you put it that way, they’re kind of like a plastic pimp for those days when you feel like being a shoe whore… just what I needed!
According to Daily Worth, the Top 4 Cash-Back Cards are:
1. Chase Freedom – You earn an unlimited 1% cash back on all purchases, and 5% cash back on rotating categories of purchases like gas, groceries, travel, and more (a quarterly maximum applies). And, there’s NO annual fee!
2. Discover More – I can’t say I’m surprised to see this one on the list. My mom has always used Discover and she is the “Queen of Saving Money”, and likely where I picked up my desire to be financially independent at a young age. (Besides, there’s nothing more rewarding than buying your own bling, right?) This is a great cash back card, but it requires patience… which is unfortunately something I was not lucky enough to inherit from my mother. You can earn 5% cash back (up to a maximum), but it does so in rotating categories. It also gives you up to 1% cash back on many other purchases – unlimited! This card also has NO annual fee.
3. Blue Cash from American Express - This is the cash back card recommended for the Big Spending Belles. If you charge less than $6,500 per year, Blue Cash offers 1% cash back on purchases at supermarkets, drug stores and gas stations and 0.5% cash back on all other items. Spend more than $6,500 in a year (this would be ME) and earn 5% cash back on those three categories – and 1.25% on other items. There is no annual fee and the rewards are unlimited. Lord, if that doesn’t make you want to run to Stuart Weitzman… I don’t know what will!
4. Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards – I was surprised to see this one on the list, mostly because Capital One seemed to be one of the big guys giving a credit card to anyone who could spell their name back when I was in college. However, it seems they’ve gotten their shit together since then. You get 2% cash back on gas and grocery purchases and 1% back on all other purchases. While the rewards are unlimited, the card does charge an annual fee that varies according to your credit score. … so maybe they’re still up to no good. Personally, if I have to pay to play… the prize better be bigger than 1-2%, but that’s just me.
So, essentially it looks like the card companies are trying to give us the benefit of saving on things we have to buy anyway… so we have more to spend on all the goodies we don’t need. As I’ve mentioned before, bankrate.com is an excellent resource for all the best financial options available, and if you’d like to compare more credit cards you can check out creditcards.com.
All this talk of cash-back has me feeling the need for a little extravagance. Luckily, my sister has arrived in the Windy City to visit so I expect to have no problem getting into trouble. Have a great weekend Belles!
