Author Topic: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized  (Read 381800 times)

billy

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #550 on: May 19, 2019, 10:09:50 PM »
thanks for the info guys

jnw

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #551 on: June 03, 2019, 09:56:21 AM »
I got an American Express card to churn.  $300 reward for $3000 in 90 days.  Problem is my auto insurance doesn't take American Express.  It would be a $430 charge.  Any way around this?  Is there some service that will pay as Visa/Mastercard using American Express for a small fee?  Concerned I might not be able to meet the $3000.. I couldn't even pay my electric bill with it.

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #552 on: June 03, 2019, 10:04:28 AM »
I got an American Express card to churn.  $300 reward for $3000 in 90 days.  Problem is my auto insurance doesn't take American Express.  It would be a $430 charge.  Any way around this?  Is there some service that will pay as Visa/Mastercard using American Express for a small fee?  Concerned I might not be able to meet the $3000.. I couldn't even pay my electric bill with it.

If they take PayPal, you can use your AmEx through that.  Otherwise, you’re probably out of luck.

If you really don’t think you can meet the minimum spend in time, buy gift cards for the grocery store, or prepay some other expenses that take credit cards for no extra charge (like internet or cell phone bill).

billy

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #553 on: June 03, 2019, 03:58:43 PM »
You can buy visa debit cards at the grocery store like safeway, and use the card for anything.

CanuckExpat

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #554 on: June 04, 2019, 08:44:57 AM »
I got an American Express card to churn... Problem is my auto insurance doesn't take American Express...I couldn't even pay my electric bill with it.

Have you tried Plastiq ?

zoochadookdook

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Bank account ideas/churning 13k this month in CC spending
« Reply #555 on: June 06, 2019, 08:59:16 AM »
Hey all! I have a cc and a bank account bonus conundrum.

Bank wise I have around 25k to spread on bonus returns. I just did the discover $200 HYSA bonus and ACH pushed it to a pnc account for the $300 bonus as well as the $100 aspiration bonus.

I'm looking for the best accounts to utilize this money towards going forward. Any advice on references/searching/comparison charts?

Also I'm looking for the best CC(s) to churn for my upcoming student loans ($13,200 interest starts the 15th this month)
I plan on paying them with vanilla visa cards
My current CC scenario
What is your credit score?

750

What cards do you currently have or have you had in the past (including closed cards), along with dates of when you were approved for the cards? Please include month and year for any card approved in the last 3 years.

I have 3 CIP cards (approved 2018 august, November, February 2019), freedom, freedom unlimited. Have 1 pending CIU app.

How much natural spend can you put on a new card(s) in 3 months?


I have $13200 in student loans to start paying in 10 days. I will use vanilla visas. Plus another 300/month utilities/200 others. I'm looking for a few cards quickly right now.


Are you open to applying for business cards? If not, why? See this postand this wiki question to learn more.


Yes although I already have 3 CIP (sole prop, llc, self llc)

How many new cards are you interested in getting? Are you interested in getting into churning regularly (if you aren't already)? Or are you just looking to get a new card(s) for now but not get into churning long-term?

Multiple

Are you targeting points, Companion Passes, hotel or airline statuses, First Class, Biz, Economy seating(s) or cash back?


Cash points are priority currently.

What point/miles do you currently have?

Chase UR


Any advice? Not sure if I should delve off the chase train right now and get another 2 apps in. Realistically I want to pay the entire 13200 off this month.

therethere

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Re: Bank account ideas/churning 13k this month in CC spending
« Reply #556 on: June 06, 2019, 09:09:52 AM »


Also I'm looking for the best CC(s) to churn for my upcoming student loans ($13,200 interest starts the 15th this month)
I plan on paying them with vanilla visa cards
My current CC scenario


How do you plan to use the vanilla visa cards to pay down your student loans? Can they be deposited into a bank account or something? Otherwise, you'll have to go through Plastiq with a 2.5% fee. I could give you a referral for some fee-free dollars if you go that way.

There is a Chase checking and savings offer (15k min in savings for 3 months, then 5k for 3 more months) and one direct deposit required. It's for a $600 bonus.
Also a $350 HSBC savings bonus. It's either 10k or 15k you'd have to look it up. Post below reminded me how much of a PITA this one was. Not recommended if there are other offers available.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2019, 09:34:16 AM by therethere »

zoochadookdook

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Re: Bank account ideas/churning 13k this month in CC spending
« Reply #557 on: June 06, 2019, 09:22:54 AM »


Also I'm looking for the best CC(s) to churn for my upcoming student loans ($13,200 interest starts the 15th this month)
I plan on paying them with vanilla visa cards
My current CC scenario


How do you plan to use the vanilla visa cards to pay down your student loans? Can they be deposited into a bank account or something? Otherwise, you'll have to go through Plastiq with a 2.5% fee. I could give you a referral for some fee-free dollars if you go that way.

There is a Chase checking and savings offer (15k min in savings for 3 months, then 5k for 3 more months) and one direct deposit required. It's for a $600 bonus.
Also a $350 HSBC savings bonus. It's either 10k or 15k you'd have to look it up.

My loan provider accepts vanilla visa as payment. At 1% charge ($5/500 loaded) it's a no brainer with pretty much all earning 1+back. I used plastiq to pay my last tuition bill and meet my 3rd CIP 5k limit; it used to code back as 3% on the CIP and then some guy went out and bought a telsa/they changed it. Since my CIU card is coming ($500 back when spending 3k in 3 months) I still have another $10000 to put on CC bonuses.

Sadly enough I already have a chase personal checking/saving and business checking account. I'm actually considering closing them and just waiting to be bonus eligible again; they've been my convenient "cash in hand" to run a business through college bank though. I'll have to look at the HSBC; heard they were a hassle in some cases.

therethere

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #558 on: June 06, 2019, 09:33:39 AM »
Yes, HSBC is a hassle it did take a lot of time to get my money out. They deposited the bonus twice and then when I transferred the money out they took back one of the bonuses. Causing it to overdraft and shutting down the ability to transfer money. Then it automatically attempted the transfer again the next day and caused another overdraft. Customer service reps said they couldn't "see" the lock on transfering money and therefore couldn't do anything? It was a huge PITA now that I remember it took almost a month to get my money out again. Yeah sorry for that recommendation. I was thinking of the dollar value ones.

I'm intrigued in this, I've got about 30k in loans left I've been leaving around and am considering a sabbatical where miles/rewards could be useful. What loan companies do you have? Do you need to call to pay it with the gift cards? Could you explain your process?
« Last Edit: June 06, 2019, 09:36:53 AM by therethere »

zoochadookdook

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #559 on: June 06, 2019, 09:44:03 AM »
Yes, HSBC is a hassle it did take a lot of time to get my money out. They deposited the bonus twice and then when I transferred the money out they took back one of the bonuses. Causing it to overdraft and shutting down the ability to transfer money. Then it automatically attempted the transfer again the next day and caused another overdraft. Customer service reps said they couldn't "see" the lock on transfering money and therefore couldn't do anything? It was a huge PITA now that I remember it took almost a month to get my money out again. Yeah sorry for that recommendation. I was thinking of the dollar value ones.

I'm intrigued in this, I've got about 30k in loans left I've been leaving around and am considering a sabbatical where miles/rewards could be useful. What loan companies do you have? Do you need to call to pay it with the gift cards? Could you explain your process?

Ouch; yeah I'd rather do a few 200/month ones vs the headache that is that. Sucks about Chase though....I'll have to look into how long after closing the accounts i'd have to wait to be eligible again....

Great Lakes Loans is my provider. All I did was call them and see what methods of payment they'd take. Because a vanilla visa is basically preloaded funds/debit they can accept it. Fairly simple. I think I have to call in every time to pay with them but I can use multiple in one call.

katsiki

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #560 on: June 06, 2019, 06:14:04 PM »
Yes, HSBC is a hassle it did take a lot of time to get my money out. They deposited the bonus twice and then when I transferred the money out they took back one of the bonuses. Causing it to overdraft and shutting down the ability to transfer money. Then it automatically attempted the transfer again the next day and caused another overdraft. Customer service reps said they couldn't "see" the lock on transfering money and therefore couldn't do anything? It was a huge PITA now that I remember it took almost a month to get my money out again. Yeah sorry for that recommendation. I was thinking of the dollar value ones.

I'm intrigued in this, I've got about 30k in loans left I've been leaving around and am considering a sabbatical where miles/rewards could be useful. What loan companies do you have? Do you need to call to pay it with the gift cards? Could you explain your process?

@therethere
Check out this thread:

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/making-extra-student-loan-payments-with-a-rewards-credit-card/

I actually thought Great Lakes stopped allowing this..  Good to know it is available.

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #561 on: June 07, 2019, 05:01:49 AM »
Just an update on my last post. Wells posted the $400 bonus to my account just a few days ago. I guess it didn't matter that I had a $0 balance for much of the first 45-60 days.

On to the next one!

zoochadookdook

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #562 on: June 07, 2019, 06:53:51 AM »
Yes, HSBC is a hassle it did take a lot of time to get my money out. They deposited the bonus twice and then when I transferred the money out they took back one of the bonuses. Causing it to overdraft and shutting down the ability to transfer money. Then it automatically attempted the transfer again the next day and caused another overdraft. Customer service reps said they couldn't "see" the lock on transfering money and therefore couldn't do anything? It was a huge PITA now that I remember it took almost a month to get my money out again. Yeah sorry for that recommendation. I was thinking of the dollar value ones.

I'm intrigued in this, I've got about 30k in loans left I've been leaving around and am considering a sabbatical where miles/rewards could be useful. What loan companies do you have? Do you need to call to pay it with the gift cards? Could you explain your process?

@therethere
Check out this thread:

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/making-extra-student-loan-payments-with-a-rewards-credit-card/

I actually thought Great Lakes stopped allowing this..  Good to know it is available.

I should note they said they would not accept CC's-just vanilla pack visa/debit (that's considered a debit).

Pizzabrewer

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #563 on: June 07, 2019, 07:48:32 PM »
You can buy visa debit cards at the grocery store like safeway, and use the card for anything.

Be careful with this, AmEx takes a dim view of manufactured spending via gift cards/prepaid cards.

tj

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #564 on: June 09, 2019, 01:35:18 PM »
You can buy visa debit cards at the grocery store like safeway, and use the card for anything.

Be careful with this, AmEx takes a dim view of manufactured spending via gift cards/prepaid cards.

They don't see itemized receipts. 

Pizzabrewer

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #565 on: June 10, 2019, 01:08:47 PM »
You can buy visa debit cards at the grocery store like safeway, and use the card for anything.

Be careful with this, AmEx takes a dim view of manufactured spending via gift cards/prepaid cards.

They don't see itemized receipts.

Actually they often do if the merchant transmits what's called "Level 3 data" to AmEx.  Even if that's not the case, AmEx does monitor for multiple large purchases from the type of stores that sell Visa gift cards.  Buying one $100 card is probably safe, buying six $500 cards in the space of a couple of weeks will get you noticed.

If you google "AmEx MS" or "AmEx level 3 data" there's plenty of discussions to be found.

Here's a good starting point:  https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/1901612-can-t-buy-gift-cards-meet-min-spend-how-does-amex-know-you-bought-gift-card-2.html

Morning Glory

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #566 on: June 24, 2019, 02:23:26 PM »
Do you guys count bank and cc bonuses as income for the purpose of calculating savings rate? I see the bank bonuses as similar to market returns, so I don't count them.  Husband said I should count them because I did work to get them.

The cc bonuses get used as a statement credit so I count them as income, but I can also see how it could get taken off the spending side instead.

therethere

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #567 on: June 24, 2019, 02:33:26 PM »
Do you guys count bank and cc bonuses as income for the purpose of calculating savings rate? I see the bank bonuses as similar to market returns, so I don't count them.  Husband said I should count them because I did work to get them.

The cc bonuses get used as a statement credit so I count them as income, but I can also see how it could get taken off the spending side instead.

I count CC bonuses against my travel expenses. I figure I would take less vacations or less extravagant vacations if I didn't have points.

For bank accounts I count them as income. Since you have to pay taxes on them.

CanuckExpat

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #568 on: July 27, 2019, 10:14:22 PM »
If you haven't seen it, the Citi offers are looking tempting: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/citi-400-600-personal-checking-savings-bonus-available-nationwide-direct-deposit-not-required/

FYI, I got my $400 from Wells Fargo, using a combination of Vanguard and Fidelity money management as my direct deposits.
Vanguard works, but I wouldn't push your luck too much; Can end up with trouble on the Vanguard side.

chasesfish

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #569 on: July 28, 2019, 04:39:07 AM »
If you haven't seen it, the Citi offers are looking tempting: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/citi-400-600-personal-checking-savings-bonus-available-nationwide-direct-deposit-not-required/

FYI, I got my $400 from Wells Fargo, using a combination of Vanguard and Fidelity money management as my direct deposits.
Vanguard works, but I wouldn't push your luck too much; Can end up with trouble on the Vanguard side.

Thank you.  Just started this stuff and have setup a Chase Sapphire bonus, Capital One Savings, and Discover Savings.  This Citi one looks easy

Now if I can just get a Chase Business Ink card approved...

billy

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #570 on: July 28, 2019, 05:10:50 AM »
Hey chasesfish, I was not able to open the chase ink business as well 6 months ago, I used my ebay name as my business name in the application, then chase asked to documents, so I sent ebay statement but that was not good enough and they wanted some official paper from the city office or something. Reading more about it later it sounds like I should have just used my name as business name bame and I may have been good?

chasesfish

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #571 on: July 28, 2019, 05:43:15 AM »
Hey chasesfish, I was not able to open the chase ink business as well 6 months ago, I used my ebay name as my business name in the application, then chase asked to documents, so I sent ebay statement but that was not good enough and they wanted some official paper from the city office or something. Reading more about it later it sounds like I should have just used my name as business name bame and I may have been good?

I've been debating registering a corporation, now that I'm in a state that's reasonable (~$110), if I can get the Ink Card it repays the cost

Padonak

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #572 on: July 28, 2019, 08:57:21 AM »
I have a newb question: how are bank account bonuses taxed? Google says they are taxed as interest income, but is tax rate the same as your marginal tax rate on earned income or is it capital gains tax? Can this income be offset by tax loss harvesting?

kpd905

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #573 on: July 28, 2019, 09:06:42 AM »
If you do the Citi accounts, plan on waiting 120-150 days to get the bonus.  You can drop the account balance after 60 days down to the minimum to avoid fees.

@Padonak They are interest income, so it will be your marginal rate, but no payroll taxes (FICA) are taken out.  It is not capital gains, but you could still offset the income by tax loss harvesting, just like you could offset some of your W2 income with tax loss harvesting.

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #574 on: July 28, 2019, 09:10:58 AM »
I have a newb question: how are bank account bonuses taxed? Google says they are taxed as interest income, but is tax rate the same as your marginal tax rate on earned income or is it capital gains tax? Can this income be offset by tax loss harvesting?

You'll get a 1099-INT from the bank at the end of the year, so it'll be counted as income, which will be taxed at your marginal tax rate.

Padonak

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #575 on: July 28, 2019, 09:29:20 AM »
Got it, thanks for the explanation about taxes.

I am new to bank account churning, started earlier this year.

-Opened Chase accounts with a $600 bonus offer for opening checking and savings accounts. Already received $300 for checking. The rest of the bonus should post in a couple of months.
-Opened a Santander checking account, $300 bonus offer, hasn't posted yet.
-Going to open a BofA checking account, $300 targeted offer.

Will probably try to open a Wells Fargo business account with $1000 bonus later this year.

I get most of the information from Doctor of Credit which is a great web site to find the best credit card and bank account offers.

katsiki

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #576 on: July 28, 2019, 11:50:31 AM »
Hey chasesfish, I was not able to open the chase ink business as well 6 months ago, I used my ebay name as my business name in the application, then chase asked to documents, so I sent ebay statement but that was not good enough and they wanted some official paper from the city office or something. Reading more about it later it sounds like I should have just used my name as business name bame and I may have been good?

I've been debating registering a corporation, now that I'm in a state that's reasonable (~$110), if I can get the Ink Card it repays the cost

I have an LLC with EIN and have used it for business CC's.  However, it is not necessary (at least with Chase).  You can do sole prop with SSN (in most states to my knowledge).

With Chase, you can get multiples of business cards and get referral bonuses too.  :)

Open with EIN, open w/ SSN, open with spouse SSN, etc.

I am considering doing another LLC under spouse.  Not sure it is worth it unless I get more organized with bonuses though.

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #577 on: July 28, 2019, 02:07:12 PM »
Hey chasesfish, I was not able to open the chase ink business as well 6 months ago, I used my ebay name as my business name in the application, then chase asked to documents, so I sent ebay statement but that was not good enough and they wanted some official paper from the city office or something. Reading more about it later it sounds like I should have just used my name as business name bame and I may have been good?

Yeap, that is what I did and was successful in getting approved for a CIC (as far as data points go, this was earlier this year). 

chasesfish

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #578 on: July 29, 2019, 04:42:35 AM »
@kpd905 Thank you for the heads up.  Even if its really tie up $15,000 for 4 months for $400, that underlying rate of return is incredible.  Especially not to have to hassle with direct deposit.  The one thing I have coming in monthly has a 1980s style process to change

CanuckExpat

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #579 on: August 18, 2019, 02:32:39 PM »
SoFi money savings account, open via referral link, Sign up and deposit $100, get $50 bonus.
Smaller payout than other bank account bonuses, but no tying up funds or direct deposit
Rate on the savings account isn't bad either: 2%

Will

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #580 on: October 12, 2019, 05:30:08 PM »
SoFi money savings account, open via referral link, Sign up and deposit $100, get $50 bonus.
Smaller payout than other bank account bonuses, but no tying up funds or direct deposit
Rate on the savings account isn't bad either: 2%

Yeah, I did this, and it was amazingly easy.  They will send you free checks, refund VISA ATM fees, pay a decent interest rate, and I got my $50 after a couple of days.  There are no fees or minimums either, and you can close it right away if you want (but why would you?). 

They also had an offer for their investing services.  Again, free money to invest, no obligations.

Feel free to use the links in my signature to get $50 for yourself, and then I will get some cash too!

ender

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #581 on: October 18, 2019, 06:39:33 AM »
I got the chase targetted thing.

I think I'll do this; it's $600 for minimal work it looks like.

brandonw

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #582 on: October 22, 2019, 08:41:21 AM »
If you do the Citi accounts, plan on waiting 120-150 days to get the bonus.  You can drop the account balance after 60 days down to the minimum to avoid fees.

@Padonak They are interest income, so it will be your marginal rate, but no payroll taxes (FICA) are taken out.  It is not capital gains, but you could still offset the income by tax loss harvesting, just like you could offset some of your W2 income with tax loss harvesting.

Has anyone had success with the Citi accounts bonuses?  I'm thinking about doing it for my wife and I but heard horror stories about Citibank and them not posting bonuses and bad customer service.

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #583 on: October 22, 2019, 09:24:49 AM »
@brandonw: I just completed the Citi $400 checking bonus. Posted very quickly to my account. I chatted with a CSR inquiring about why I didn't get the $100 savings bonus and they refused because I didn't do a real DD. Didn't count my instant push from my Chase business checking account. No ETF, so I'm pulling my funds out for the next churn...

jim555

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #584 on: October 22, 2019, 03:15:35 PM »
If you do the Citi accounts, plan on waiting 120-150 days to get the bonus.  You can drop the account balance after 60 days down to the minimum to avoid fees.

@Padonak They are interest income, so it will be your marginal rate, but no payroll taxes (FICA) are taken out.  It is not capital gains, but you could still offset the income by tax loss harvesting, just like you could offset some of your W2 income with tax loss harvesting.

Has anyone had success with the Citi accounts bonuses?  I'm thinking about doing it for my wife and I but heard horror stories about Citibank and them not posting bonuses and bad customer service.
I started the Citi $500 for $15,000 one.  They charge $25 a month fee if the balance is below $10,000.  Will let you know what happens.

therethere

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #585 on: October 22, 2019, 03:19:00 PM »
I had zero issue with the Citi Savings account one.

chasesfish

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #586 on: October 22, 2019, 04:09:41 PM »
Anyone else had good experience with the Citi Savings bonus?  About to have a bunch roll out of Capital One I can use.

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #587 on: October 22, 2019, 10:28:37 PM »
Just got the Citi bonus posting
Deposited $15k on July 2nd
Bonus posted on October 10th

Morning Glory

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #588 on: October 23, 2019, 03:53:10 AM »
US bank checking $300 posted very quickly, pretty much as soon as I met the DD requirement (used real dds from my job). I also just got my $250 from bank of the west that I started back in April (I used Discover for that one). I don't have the cash around for the savings bonuses.

brandonw

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #589 on: October 23, 2019, 01:23:46 PM »
It was mentioned above a couple times, but I wanted to mention the SoFi bonus again.  I opened my account yesterday with $100 deposit and $50 bonus came through today.  The interest rate right now is 1.8% APY which isn't bad at all so I'll probably leave it open.  Another side bonus is each referrals is a $100 bonus.  I'm opening one for my wife now so my original $50 bonus, plus her $50, plus $100 referral = total of $200 in bonuses.  No account minimums and no minimum time to keep the account open.  Easiest $200 bonus I've done by a long shot.  If anyone has any questions feel free to reach out but it's very simple and straight forward. 

My referral link.  Goes straight to the FI 2030 fund :)  https://www.sofi.com/share/money/2728227/

Will

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #590 on: October 23, 2019, 05:44:35 PM »
It was mentioned above a couple times, but I wanted to mention the SoFi bonus again.  I opened my account yesterday with $100 deposit and $50 bonus came through today.  The interest rate right now is 1.8% APY which isn't bad at all so I'll probably leave it open.  Another side bonus is each referrals is a $100 bonus.  I'm opening one for my wife now so my original $50 bonus, plus her $50, plus $100 referral = total of $200 in bonuses.  No account minimums and no minimum time to keep the account open.  Easiest $200 bonus I've done by a long shot.  If anyone has any questions feel free to reach out but it's very simple and straight forward. 

My referral link.  Goes straight to the FI 2030 fund :)  https://www.sofi.com/share/money/2728227/

I won't be mad at you if you used my referral link to open yours, Brandon.  ;)  But are you really getting $100 for each referral?  I'm only getting $50.

brandonw

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #591 on: October 23, 2019, 06:57:30 PM »
I won't be mad at you if you used my referral link to open yours, Brandon.  ;)  But are you really getting $100 for each referral?  I'm only getting $50.

I used the referral link from the post above to open mine.  The online chat rep said that each referral could be $50 or $100.  When I went to get my referral code it said $100 for each referral.  I have no idea how they distinguish the difference between who gets which.  Maybe someone can chime in with their referral bonus amount?

Helpful hint- Your own referral link is only available on the app, not on the regular website.  You have to download the app to get it.  Found this out after searching 15 mins and finally giving up before asking a rep.

Calimerostache

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #592 on: October 23, 2019, 09:19:14 PM »
Reporting that I just finished my churning for the year : $2,000
I Did:
2 chase account $600 each
1 citi: $400
1 Wells Fargo: $400

THis was really easy. I consider the hourly rate to be very good.. just need to have a little bit of EF to make the minimum requirement.
Have not done anything with CC so that might be the next move

PBJ1

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #593 on: October 31, 2019, 12:27:36 AM »
Is there any downside to closing the checking/savings accounts after they are open?  Some banks have minimum balances or you'll get hit with monthly fees... so I'm assuming it would make sense to close some of these accounts at some point. 

therethere

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #594 on: October 31, 2019, 08:51:59 AM »
I always close them so I can get the bonus again in the future. A lot of them only have 12-month waiting periods to get another bonus. I've done the Chase one like 3x over 8 years.

Calimerostache

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #595 on: October 31, 2019, 09:00:17 AM »
I will close them as well. Just watch out for the early termination clause. You don’t want to loose so of your hard earn bonuses.
Lots of them are around 180 days before you can close them . Just read the fine prints. Doctor of credit always shows them clearly .

brandonw

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #596 on: October 31, 2019, 09:21:09 AM »
I close mine as well.  I don't want any checking/savings accounts left lingering out there that could be potentially be forgotten about and accrue fees so it's good practice to simply close them.  As Calimero said, make sure to check if there's a minimum timeframe you must keep the account open.  Chase is notorious for this.  They will post your bonus as soon as you meet the criteria, however you must keep the account open usually for 180 days or they have the right to take it back from you before account closure.  I'm working on a TD bank one right now who does this as well.  I usually just leave the minimum amount in the account to avoid any fees.

kpd905

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #597 on: October 31, 2019, 05:48:46 PM »
+1 to closing them as soon as you can to restart the clock.

There is a pretty nice list of banks that we grab two bonuses from pretty much every year: Chase (now 2 years), BMO Harris, PNC, Associated Bank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2019, 05:51:14 PM by kpd905 »

therethere

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #598 on: November 01, 2019, 08:35:25 AM »
I'm surprised you can do Wells Fargo every year. My DH was denied in August. I assumed it was because he opened/closed one for a bonus in 2017. Maybe I had my dates wrong and it was too close.

kpd905

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Re: Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized
« Reply #599 on: November 01, 2019, 06:12:54 PM »
I'm surprised you can do Wells Fargo every year. My DH was denied in August. I assumed it was because he opened/closed one for a bonus in 2017. Maybe I had my dates wrong and it was too close.

It just has to be 12+ months from your last bonus.