You’ve got until Friday to wrap up any spending and bonuses tied to the month or the quarter, so take a couple of minutes this week and make sure you’ve maximized:
- Q3 Freedom 5x at gas, car rentals, movie theaters, car rentals, and some entertainment (Disney)
- Q3 Discover 5% back at PayPal and restaurants
- Q3 Citi Dividend 5x at gas stations and home improvement stores
- September Uber and Uber Eats credits
- September $10 AmEx Personal Gold dining credits
- September $10 AmEx Business Platinum cell phone credits
- Chase Pay-Yourself-Back for dining and airbnb, which may end on Friday
It’s also a good time to:
- Call for retention offers on credit cards that had an annual fee post this month (Call the number on the back of your card and say something like “I’m considering closing this card due to its high annual fee, but before I decide what to do, I’m wondering if there are any retention offers or spend offers?”)
- Close any cell-phone burner accounts that have reached the end of their useful life
- Verify that you’ve received expected bonuses for bank accounts and new credit card applications
- Check to see if you’re below 5/24, 3/4/5, 10 charge cards, or any other limit that’s holding you back from applying for new spend bonuses
Housekeeping like this can often be the best monetary return on your time available in churning and manufactured spend, just like avoiding Boston-Logan airport can be the best return on your travel time when flying (sorry New England).
At least you can go see this while you’re waiting for your delayed flight in Boston.