How to Maximize Your Spend – Forbes Advisors

Earn up to 5% Cash Back Discover it® Cash Back offers generous rewards for your daily spending if you activate and use our rotating quarterly bonus category correctly (maximum quarterly amount to). In a few simple steps, you can earn industry-leading earnings without paying annual fees.

Activate this card to get 5% cash back on your daily purchases at various locations each quarter, with a maximum quarterly spend of $1,500. Plus, automatically earn unlimited 1% cashback on all other purchases.

Let’s take a closer look at how to get the most out of the cashback categories.

Discover bonus categories for 2023

Discover’s Q1 2023 bonus categories include grocery stores, drug stores and select streaming services. Discover includes most supermarkets, independent grocery stores, and grocery delivery services within the grocery category, but excludes supercenters such as Walmart and Target. Their streaming service category is similarly large and includes popular services like Amazon Prime Video, Apple Music, HBO Max, and Spotify.

Other categories for 2023 have yet to be announced. Past categories included common household expenses such as gas and restaurant purchases. At least one category per quarter is useful in most cases. The 2022 calendar is shown below for reference, but please note that 2023 will not be the same.

Don’t forget to activate the category quarterly

There is one small (but important) step to ensure the full 5% cash back in these categories. To earn 5% instead of the standard 1% offered on all purchases, you must activate the rotating bonus category quarterly. This is easy. Log in to your Discover account and locate near Published Categories[今すぐ有効化]Click. You can also activate through the Discover app or by calling 1-800-DISCOVER.

We recommend activating cashback earnings while it’s still fresh in your mind. This is because you can earn increased fees only if you manually enroll in the promotion. If you forget to activate the bonus, he will only get 1% of that purchase.

Spend strategically and don’t overspend

By activating the bonus category, you can shop knowing you are earning a great reward rate. In some quarters, the rotating category will match your spending habits perfectly and you can easily maximize your $1,500 spending limit (or $75 in rewards) per quarter allowed.

Other districts may not be so simple. Occasionally, bonus categories may not match your regular routine. In such cases, think outside the box to find creative ways to maximize your bonuses instead of leaving money on the table.

For example, even if your bonus category includes a grocery store, but you don’t usually cook, you can still buy other items in the store. Many supermarkets sell gift cards to restaurants and retailers. Purchase these gift cards to earn bonus cash back and use them at your favorite stores.

Another way to use it strategically is to timeout on purchases. For example, during periods when groceries are bonuses, many cans and paper goods last longer, so you can stock up on pantry items to maximize your reward potential. Conversely, you can strategically delay purchases. Can I wait to claim my bonus cash back for the household items and toys I need from the Superstore?

Especially to maximize bonus categories in more creative ways, you have to be responsible with your purchases. This approach only makes sense if you can pay your credit card bill in full on time. Otherwise, your credit card fees and interest payments will be much higher than the cash back you earn.

Remember that bonus categories have caps

Unfortunately, only the first $1,500 of each quarter’s bonus category is eligible to earn bonus rewards. After that, you will only earn 1% on any purchase, regardless of category. If you’ve maxed out your allowance, check the other cards in your wallet to see if any of them can earn you more than the 1% rate he currently has. Then withdraw your Discover it® cash back once your new quarterly categories (and spending limits) reset.

Conclusion

All cashback helps budget. 5% cash back is usually the maximum amount. Also, rewards are easily earned when the category smoothly matches the type of purchase. Every quarter he hits the $1,500 spending cap, and he’ll make $300 a year just in categories that rotate 5% quarterly. It’s a pretty good deal for a card with no annual fee.

If this strategy appeals to you and you want to take it even further, you can double down on the Chase Freedom Flex℠. Likely configured, no annual fee, 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in categories that rotate quarterly (activation required), 5% on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards® , Earn 3% cash back on dining and drugstores and 1% cash back on everything else. purchase. You can also consider cards that offer bonus rewards in certain categories throughout the year. Matching the right category to the type of purchase can yield a substantial profit.

As with all credit cards, the trick is to always be responsible with your card and only juggle as far as you can track it. There’s a fine line between maximizing rewards and getting your head around it, but a card like Discover it® Cashback makes sense to start with.