tips and tricks to meet 3k in 3 month spend

in Credit cards
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guestmanguestman Forumite
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ive just got the american express card advertised on here for the bonus points, but i need some tips on how the hell to spend 3k in 3 months. ive set paypal to this card now so anything from paypal should make its way onto the card, all fuel and supermarket items will be spent on it. is there anything else i can buy / sell right away just to get my spend up, what about premium bonds?
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Forumite
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    Premium bonds are debit only. Can you not spend £3k normally? We put through best part of £600 a month on the supermarket alone, add on fuel and other spending and it goes up. Otherwise, not sure what tips you want? Spend money?

    Maybe worth applying for a BT card and see if you can then buy stuff that is long life and then BT the AmEx spend over (make sure it's a BT card that works with AmEx as some people had issues doing it)
  • born_againborn_again Forumite
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    Stock up of food. Tinned goods coffee tea. Toilet/kitchen rolls etc. Spending it now to hit the target will mean you get a lot of cheap weeks shopping going forward
    Life in the slow lane
  • JGB1955JGB1955 Forumite
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    Got any holidays booked?  That would/could take up most of that 3K.  You can always pay a holiday balance before it becomes due.
    #2 Saving for Christmas 2023 - £1 a day challenge £740/£1460
  • etiennegetienneg Forumite
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    A couple of things I did to ensure £3k spend in 3 months:

    1 My energy supplier (Octopus) is very flexible. It allows you to adjust your DD amount pretty much as you wish. It also allows you to pay extra by AmEx. So you can reduce the DD amount temporarily and pay something from Amex. But your energy supplier may not be so flexible.

    2 Amazon vouchers count as spending, so you can effectively move your Amazon spending forward. Don't apply the credit to your Amazon account until you are out of your 3 month window, as this would just reduce your actual spending in the window!
  • guestmanguestman Forumite
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    stocking up on some items will take up a few ££ , but not huge amounts unlessi go crazy. i have 0 holidays booked so thats a no go.  my energy is the old key and card but with the vouchers the goverments sending out, i dont think ill be spending much money on energy till next year. amazon vouchers is a good shout.

    i have car tax renewall at xmas so if i can pay via CC ill do that, also if my council accepts CC ill cancel my council tax DD and pay the rest of on the CC
  • edited 22 October 2022 at 5:59PM
    cymruchriscymruchris Forumite
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    edited 22 October 2022 at 5:59PM
    guestman said:

    stocking up on some items will take up a few ££ , but not huge amounts unlessi go crazy. i have 0 holidays booked so thats a no go.  my energy is the old key and card but with the vouchers the goverments sending out, i dont think ill be spending much money on energy till next year. amazon vouchers is a good shout.

    i have car tax renewall at xmas so if i can pay via CC ill do that, also if my council accepts CC ill cancel my council tax DD and pay the rest of on the CC
    Bear in mind that not all transactions will qualify for cashback - I don't have an amex at the moment - so maybe someone with one could clarify whether things like council tax payments and car tax qualify for cashback, as it's not a regular purchase. 
    An ex-bankrupt on a journey of recovery. Feel free to send me a DM reference credit building credit cards from the usual suspects :) Happy to help others going through what I've been through!
  • ellenvanellenvan Forumite
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    Gift cards for supermarkets put your grocery spends for the next 3 months on them.
    Any friends/family making large purchases, sofa etc = use your card.
  • Grumpy_chapGrumpy_chap Forumite
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    ellenvan said:
    Gift cards for supermarkets put your grocery spends for the next 3 months on them.
    Any friends/family making large purchases, sofa etc = use your card.
    Gift card risk is store ceases trading.

    Purchase for a family member would mean S75 is not available if anything goes wrong.
  • etiennegetienneg Forumite
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    guestman said:

    i have car tax renewall at xmas so if i can pay via CC ill do that, also if my council accepts CC ill cancel my council tax DD and pay the rest of on the CC
    Bear in mind that not all transactions will qualify for cashback - I don't have an amex at the moment - so maybe someone with one could clarify whether things like council tax payments and car tax qualify for cashback, as it's not a regular purchase. 
    I can confirm that car tax qualifies for cashback as I got mine in July. I don't know about council tax.

  • MrFrugalFeverMrFrugalFever Forumite
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    If you really can’t get to £3k by your own spending then perhaps you could buy food/fuel etc for family and they transfer the money to you?

    Do you have a car or motorbike due a service? A visit to the vets for a pet?
    dentist appointment? Opticians?

    Christmas is upon us soon, presents?
    Save £12k in 2023 challenge

    Jan = £715 / £1,000 Feb = £1,275 Mar = £400  (fallen behind will make up in April)
    Apr = £ May = £ Jun = £
    Jul = £ Aug = £ Sept = £
    Oct = £ Nov = £ Dec = £

    Saved Total = £1,990 / £12,000
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