credit card churning question

[highcountry]

I am very new to the credit card points game, and had been easing into it slowly.  I've hit a hickup, though, and was hoping to get some advise.  I applied for and got the barkleycard arrival plus mastercard, but due to a screwup in the mailing address, it got lost in the mail.  They are sending me a new one, but in the mean time my three months to hit the minimum spend has turned into a little more than one month (apparently they start the clock when you apply, not when you activate it..).  The minimum spend was a bit steep for me even when I had three months.

I had not intended to try churning for quite a while, if at all.  As I see it, my choices are to let the sign up bonus go and probably cancel the card, as I do not need it for any other purposes, or to dip my toes into churning prematurely.  I am leaning toward the second option, and was wondering if any of you lovely people could give me an idea of how to go about this.  I am also open to feedback that I am crazy for considering it and should just let it go.  I have no consumer debt, and no history of consumer debt, but I am hardly an advanced mustachian.  The $400 is significant to me with my current income levels, and the plan was to use it to help fly a friend of mine who is a carpenter out to help us work on our house next summer, saving me a shit ton of money and giving me the opportunity to spend time with an old college friend.

[kpd905]

If you get an American Express Serve account, you can load $1000/month with a credit card for no fee.  This probably won't help you in time for this one, but just something to remember.

You can prepay gas by buying enough gas cards to last you a few months, maybe you could do the same with groceries.  Otherwise buy a Visa gift card, use it to buy a money order, deposit the money order.

[Frugal Consumerist]

I would call Barclays and explain the situation. I have a hard time seeing them denying you the opportunity to earn the bonus because the card got lost in the mail. If they don't extend the period to the full three months, tell them to cancel the card immediately, I'll bet they'll change their tune.

[ThatGuy]

I agree with Frugal Consumerist, however if that doesn't work I wouldn't sweat it.  There are plenty of cards that ay $100 reward for a $500 spend over three months  I would sign up for four cards over the next few months and get the money that way.  I'm not sure how much the three month requirement for the Barclay card is, I'm thinking $3,000 so my suggestion requires a lower spending amount, you just have to go through the hassle of signing up for multiple cards.

[kudy]

Spend a bit of time finding out if the Target Redcard is available in your area, if so, you should be able to do the entire chunk in manufactured spend on that card in one month. Then, you can use the bill pay feature to pay mortgage, etc. with the card balance.