making the most of cashback credit cards

mcdermott_c

Hi

was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to maximise cashback rewards from cash back credit cards. I understand anything you spend on the credit card will earn you 1% cashback but as my monthly spend will prob be £1000 max per month i'm only going to earn £10 a month or £120 a year.

I once heard of a guy who bought thousands of £2 coins (special collectors coins from the royal mint i guess) back when you could buy them for face value and all he did was put the money straight into his bank accoutn and paid off the balance of his credit card in full, claiming some serious cashback for nothing ! obviously this method may be illegal (i dont know) but wondered if there were similar but legal tips people knew of ?

many thanks

lisyloo

Well I did put these on the other thread where you asked this question.

1) Try to time the card with your annual holliday.
2) Use it for business expenses and spouses/partners business expenses.
3) Use it for joint expenditure if you have a spouse e.g. their petrol, food etc.
4) Pay your annual insurances early e.g. house,car, so that they fall in the 3 month period.
5) Buy vouchers e.g. John Lewis vouchers at waitrose are a purchase and not a cash advance (warning: check they aren't a cash advance first). Buy them in advance for your grocery shopping etc.

lisyloo

1) Try to time the card with your annual holliday.
4) Pay your annual insurances early e.g. house,car, so that they fall in the 3 month period.

I was referring here to the capital one 3 month period where you have a limited time to gain the 4%.

For hoidays there is often a 2% charge for paying by credit card, so this obviously only makes sense with higher levels of cashback.

Difficult to make a fortune at 1%.

mcdermott_c

lisyloo wrote: »

Well I did put these on the other thread where you asked this question.

1) Try to time the card with your annual holliday.
2) Use it for business expenses and spouses/partners business expenses.
3) Use it for joint expenditure if you have a spouse e.g. their petrol, food etc.
4) Pay your annual insurances early e.g. house,car, so that they fall in the 3 month period.
5) Buy vouchers e.g. John Lewis vouchers at waitrose are a purchase and not a cash advance (warning: check they aren't a cash advance first). Buy them in advance for your grocery shopping etc.

thanks lisaloo for the reply i will try some of these ideas and hopefully try to maximise my spend so can claim cashback

lisyloo

Why not try the capital one card where you get 4% for 3 months?
You also get some free services from Equifax including 2 credit reports and free alerts.

Confused88_2

Earning 10 a month from cash-back is not that bad to start with. In order to earn 10 a month from a savings account or a current account that pays interest you would need a balance of at least 3000. So if you use a debit card instead and spend the money from a current account that pays as much as 6% interest, 1000 would only make you 2-3 pounds a month perhaps even less as on average you would have less than 1000 in the current account since you spend them over a month. Furthermore,with Amex Platinum you could get 5% for the first 3 months, up to 200.
I want to ask the following if anyone has any suggestion. If you use one of Amex Platinum, Barclays Cashback, or Capital one Cashback to spend 1000 a month and then use Egg money to pay the credit card Bill (is that possible?) and finally use Halifax Cash-back Debit Card to pay the Egg money Bill will I be getting 3% cash back instead of 1%. Is this possible? Perhaps paying a credit card bill does not give you cash back on Halifax Debit or Egg money. Any ideas?

bandraoi

Get a 0% on purchases card and slow stooze the money.
Think of your interest as cashback.

Stephen_Leak

Firstly, become a "rate tart": I had the Morgan Stanley card and when the introductory rate ended, switched to the Capital One card. When the introductory rate on this one ended I switched to my current Abbey one. Actually, as this one only works at food supermarkets and the Cap1 cashback is paid in January, I still have the Cap1 cards for use everywhere else, online, etc. I also have an ASDA card for the 2p/litre discount on petrol. I buy pretty well everything I need on these cards.

Secondly, I also combine these cards with a high interest A&L current account. I pay off the credit cards in full by DD. I also use this account like a savings account and keep the maximum amount in it, not only to maximise the interest, but also to stop me ever having to worry about a DD not being met.

Finally, I am also using a Halifax "0% for 12 months" card to pay my car insurance. Again, I pay by DD, but only for the minimum amount, to avoid charges and losing the 0% deal. The amount for the final payment is "ring fenced" in a Sainsburys high interest savings account. So, I am not only paying my car insurance by instalments, but I am also earning interest on the unpaid amount, instead of being charged it.