With Bluebird now allowing me to pay my credit card and other bills with the Bluebird card, it was time to revisit what I’m packin‘ in the leather money maker.
Removing:
- Netspend debit card and the Amex prepaid card.
Staying:
- Ink Bold and Ink Plus for trips to Office Depot, gas stations and occasional misc spend.
- American Express Platinum card Mercedes Benz version for lounge access, car rentals.
Putting back in the wallet:
- SPG card for non-category bonus purchases
- Citi Forward card for restaurant purchases
- Amex Blue Cash Preferred for groceries and occasional gift card purchases at the grocery store.
My thinking:
I’ll buy Vanilla reloads with my INK cards and load them onto my Bluebird. I can then pay off my credit card bills with the Bluebird bill pay feature. The credit cards I’ll be paying off are the ones I’m putting back in my wallet which will get most of my new spending, along with my condo association fees. (No mortgage, car payments or student loans for Katy and me.)
We are now effectively “double dipping” and earning 5 points when loading up the Bluebird card with Vanilla reloads and then earning points again on our daily spend on credit cards. We pay those off with the funds we have loaded onto the Bluebird card. It is indeed a nice little circle.
Note: Amex and the Bluebird people will have the float on my money and some retail transactions with the Bluebird card where they will get the merchant fees. Chase will get some of my regular spend and earnings from the merchants where I purchase using the INK cards and I’ll rack up category bonuses on the cards back in my wallet.
Several days ago I got heat from some readers suggesting my going all in with the Ink cards at Office Depot would kill the deal. I respectfully disagree. Katy and I have different last names and different addresses. In addition we use our Ink cards for other purchases and are well within the $50K limit on office supply purchases. We have been successful finding Vanilla Reloads and purchasing in numbers close to my suggested use. I wish you all the opportunity to find reload cards and use them within your comfort level.
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