I'm slowly turning in a CC rewards whore but I love it :) It is a "game" for me so it fills in for no more stock trading... Not sure how that makes sense, but for some reason it works.
Just got out of school so I'm starting from scratch. Still have access to my mom's card for emergencies but it's not part of my daily use.
My plan: Got a Chase Sapphire Preferred a few months ago - spending enough on a new (to me) house to reap the bonus sign-up rewards. After the first of next year, plan on getting a Chase Freedom and using it on the rotating categories, with the CSP being used for everything else (larger purchases). Still have to use my debit card 30x/mo in order to qualify for the high rewards checking rate of 2%. But between groceries, gas, eating out, coffee, etc. I expect it to work out. If not, I'll sacrifice the return on my debit card (use lower than 30x gets 0.5% APY).
The CSP is awesome because you can earn even more points if you shop through the Ultimate Rewards mall. You just have to be careful and only spend on things you were going to buy anyway - otherwise that's where the trouble starts.
Other ideas to increase rewards/manufacture spend:
-Max out the rotating category limit on the CF by getting gift cards that I'll use later (groceries, gas, etc)
-When eating out with friends & they have cash, offer to put the bill on your CC and take the cash... in fact I do this all the time, not just with eating out. For example my friend and I are attending a music festival next year. I offered to put the hotel + ticket (it'll come out to about $300+) on my CC and have her just pay me back one lump sum. Easier for her, more points for me :) You just got to trust your friends will pay you with this. Haha.