How would you like to save 5% on almost every single thing you buy? It's now possible thanks to the Citi CashReturns card! This is one of the highest cash back offers I've seen and is definitely one you should look into. Here's the catch - the 5% cash back offer is only good for 3 months. After the introductory period, the cash back rate drops to 1% - which is not as good as several other cards on the market (I'll post more on that later). Don't let that stop you from looking at this card though. Unlike many other cards, this card doesn't give the cash back on a limited set of categories - this thing pays out on EVERYTHING you buy on it. Given that we're entering into tax season, you can even pay your income tax with this credit card. Since it's winter, you're also likely to have higher energy and/or gas bills this time of year that can be paid on the credit card too!
I looked at the websites of all my major bills - cable, phone, power, and gas and all of them offer credit card bill payment. Some charge a convenience fee for the service - but none of those fees added up to more than 5% of the bill - so I'd still be making money even after paying the service charge. I've read reports of a number of people making upwards of $1000 in 3 months with this card. I suppose, if you wanted to get a little crazy, you could even try to 'trick the system' and make some extra cash by doing things like loading up on gift cards at your favorite retailers or paying estimated taxes and overpaying (you'd end up getting a tax refund and the 5%).
Take a look and give it some thought. With a little planning you could make a nice little sum to put into savings!
2 comments:
True, it looks like you can load the thing up for 3 months and as long as you pay off the balance immediately you'll come out ahead pretty good. But there's actually a $0.50 finance charge for all purchases, so you're not really getting 5% on everything. For example:
Amount spent/Actual % back:
$10 / 0%
$25 / 3%
$50 / 4%
$100 / 4.5%
Now that's not bad as long as the average amount per transaction is high. But once it drops to 1%, you might as well cut up the card:
Amount spent/Actual % back:
$10 / -4%
$25 / -1%
$50 / 0%
$100 / 0.5%
$500 / 0.9%
Good catch. I definitely recommend not using this card after 3 months - there are plenty of others out there with better returns. But - for the first 3 months it looks like free money!
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