Request: Some Q&A on Mustachian CC & Bank churning

[ChaseJuggler]

I've kind of hit a wall recently on getting my discretionary spending much lower than it currently is, so I'm setting my sights on finding easy(ish) ways to increase my income. CC and Bank bonus churning seems to be a perfect fit for me.

I have some experience with this sort of thing already. 3 or 4 years ago, I invested $10,000 in Lending Club using 0%APR credit cards, then withdrew the $11,000 eleven months later to pay them off and pocket the interest. It worked beautifully.... once. Now of course Lending Club doesn't take credit cards, and I never figured out another way to use credit cards beyond my usual Mustachian spending.

I've spent about 7 hours researching as much as I can on r/churning, here, and on drofcredit. But I'm still fuzzy on some stuff and could really use a 15 minute Q&A with someone who has goals similar to mine. Here are a few of my big questions that I'm still fuzzy on even after my research:

1: What offers are the best for someone who is more interested in cash than a free vacation?
2: Is it a good idea to cancel these cards right after receiving the sign up bonus?
3: Many of the bank rewards require a direct deposit. What's the easiest way to fulfill these without pissing off your employer?
4: I've got a 770 credit score and spend about $500/month on my credit cards. Today I got the ball rolling on the TD Bank card with $200 credit after $500 in spending during first 3 months. Any recommendations on some next steps?
5: What are the best tricks to spend more on CCs without being a consumerist sucka? I signed up for Serve, but it looks like that bus is leaving next month. Is Redcard worth the trouble? Also, do store specific gift cards count as purchases?

Okay, I'll shuddup now. Thanks for any input!! =D

[a1smith]

Maybe you should have left the $1000 interest in Lending Club.  Ten percent interest in 11 months is great.

Is the time you spend opening/closing accounts, etc. worth the money you get out of it?

Also, be careful of the effect opening/canceling credit cards will have on your credit history.

One trick I did a long time ago was use the cash rebate on cash advances feature of GM Card when purchasing car.  I took a huge cash advance to get the cash rebate and then mailed the check to pay off the cash advance the same day.  I didn't wait for the bill to show up.  I only paid a couple of days interest and got a nice cash rebate.  That won't work anymore, they figured it out.

[ChaseJuggler]

Maybe you should have left the $1000 interest in Lending Club.  Ten percent interest in 11 months is great.

To be fair, I rounded it off. I think the 11 month return was 8%. But I was still thrilled with the results, considering it was someone else's money that I was investing =)

[myhotrs]

Wait, LC may not take CC anymore, but you can write yourself a balance transfer check. I do it all the time with Discover. Just deposits like cash and you can do whatever you want with it.

[SuperSecretName]

1: What offers are the best for someone who is more interested in cash than a free vacation?
2: Is it a good idea to cancel these cards right after receiving the sign up bonus?
3: Many of the bank rewards require a direct deposit. What's the easiest way to fulfill these without pissing off your employer?
4: I've got a 770 credit score and spend about $500/month on my credit cards. Today I got the ball rolling on the TD Bank card with $200 credit after $500 in spending during first 3 months. Any recommendations on some next steps?
5: What are the best tricks to spend more on CCs without being a consumerist sucka? I signed up for Serve, but it looks like that bus is leaving next month. Is Redcard worth the trouble? Also, do store specific gift cards count as purchases?

1 - whoever has the highest bonus.  chase saphire is a good one.
2 - eh, depends.  unless necessary keep the card open 11 months until the annual fee hits.  unless you are doing a serious 60 day churn, it is better to keep them open 6 months
3 - paypal and other online banks that can serve as an ACH hub
4 - get another card and start working on that sign up bonus
5 - yes, redbird is worth the trouble.  yes, store specifc cards cound as a purchase.

there is a ton more info on flyertalk (best place for this stuff right now).  there really should be a sticky somewhere that just has a link to FT.

[Frugal Consumerist]

Wait, LC may not take CC anymore, but you can write yourself a balance transfer check. I do it all the time with Discover. Just deposits like cash and you can do whatever you want with it.

I agree. I am using the proceeds from a convenience check to fund a 16 month investment in Lending Club. The great thing is, since I churn credit cards, I keep getting offers from other credit cards to transfer my balance at 0% for a 2 or 3 percent fee. So my plan is to invest for the 16 months, then pay off the balance with another 12 or 16 month offer. As long as I can get a return to cover the fee, then it seems like easy money. Granted there is more risk, but the rewards are worth it IMO. Here is a summary of the progress three months in.

http://www.frugalconsumerist.com/march-update-convenience-check-arbitrage/



As for credit cards,

1. I like the Chase Sapphire for it's flexibility. Southwest Plus card has lower bonus spend requirement ($2,000 in 3 months vs $4,000 in 3 months for CS) and, if you can find the 50,000 mile sign up offer (they come around every few months), you can convert that to $500 in Amazon gift cards if you don't want to travel. There is a $69 up front fee, but you net more than the $400 from CS when redeemed for cash (as long as you don't mind Amazon gift cards. I don't since I order from them often)
2. Keep the card open until the next year fee comes due. You then have a higher credit line and lower utilization, good for credit score
3. Don't do much with bank bonuses
4. Keep an eye out for good sign up bonuses once you get finished with the latest one
5. I don't do a ton of manufactured spend. Amazon payments was great when it was free, but that got discontinued.

[boarder42]

1: What offers are the best for someone who is more interested in cash than a free vacation?
Get Old Blue from Amex and the serve card you have will get you 2k a year in cash - 2.5k a year if the target near you books as a grocery store with AMEX
2: Is it a good idea to cancel these cards right after receiving the sign up bonus?
Typically NO sometimes they scratch back rewards.  Just cancel it a month or so before you have to pay an annual fee.  if there is no fee keep it.
3: Many of the bank rewards require a direct deposit. What's the easiest way to fulfill these without pissing off your employer?
NO idea
4: I've got a 770 credit score and spend about $500/month on my credit cards. Today I got the ball rolling on the TD Bank card with $200 credit after $500 in spending during first 3 months. Any recommendations on some next steps?
you can get any card you want i recommond Old blue for cash purposes.  Or the wells fargo card
5: What are the best tricks to spend more on CCs without being a consumerist sucka? I signed up for Serve, but it looks like that bus is leaving next month. Is Redcard worth the trouble? Also, do store specific gift cards count as purchases?
If you have an AMEX go to your target and see if it shows up on your statement as grocery.  if it does then switch if not serve will work great for old blue

Old blue link
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1535970-old-amex-blue-2013-2014-a.html

How to load serve:

Go to CVS and get the vanilla reloads $500
Go to Family dollar and load your serve card with vanilla reload
       500 per day limit
       5k per month limit
       56.5k per year limit

NOTE : the 56.5k/year is a limit on old blue not the serve card. that would be 60k/year

[misschedda]

As far as direct deposits go, there's a great page on doctorofcredit.com that details what counts as a direct deposit for which banks. Many banks count an electronic bank transfer as a "direct deposit," so you can get the bonus that way without filling out any forms with your employer.

[Revelry]

I'll revive this thread since it answered a bunch of my questions on starting to churn. But at what point should you close a credit card in order to get another signup bonus? I doubt I can get a second Chase Freedom with bonus while already using one.

[kpd905]

I'll revive this thread since it answered a bunch of my questions on starting to churn. But at what point should you close a credit card in order to get another signup bonus? I doubt I can get a second Chase Freedom with bonus while already using one.

You can get another Chase card bonus 2 years after you got the last bonus.  So if you got the bonus on your current Chase Freedom over two years ago, you can close it now and reopen to get another bonus.  I'd wait until the $200 bonus comes back though.

[myhotrs]

Not all banks will decline you for having the same card. Chase and Amex do, so don't open a new card while holding the same one. But Citi, BofA, and Bacralys allow you to have multiples of the same card (not all their cards though). Also, you can open business versions of the same card often and get the bonus. Having a business is very flexible, any side-hustle will do, even one you plan on starting.