Stood in the checkout line and realized my credit card was the problem

I was at the grocery store last Wednesday and the guy in front of me pulled out a store card to get 5% off. That got me thinking about my own card, which gives me nothing back. I checked my credit score later and saw it was at 720, so I applied for a cash back card with no annual fee. Got approved in like two minutes. Has anyone else just sat on a bad card for years without realizing what else was out there?

2 comments

2 Comments

park.miles1d ago

Used to think it didn't matter much which card you had as long as you paid on time. Then I ran the numbers on what I was missing out on each year and it was a couple hundred bucks easy. Switched to a 2% cash back card last month and it feels like free money for doing nothing different.

the_olivia1d ago

Good call @park.miles, it really adds up faster than you think. I ran the same numbers a while back and switched to a 2% card too - just set up autopay and forgot about it. The key is not to let the cash back trick you into spending more, but if you treat it like normal, it's basically a free discount on everything. Also check if your card has any rotating bonus categories or sign up bonuses - those can bump it up to 3-5% on things you buy anyway. Just don't get caught in the trap of juggling a dozen cards unless you really track the rules.