Rebates

Gary North

Here is a tip from one of my subscribers. He posted this on one of my Q&A forums.

Discover has a card called the Discover Gasoline card, that we have had for about a year and a half. It pays a 5% rebate on all gasoline purchases. You top out on the rebate at $100/mo in purchases (so max $5/mo rebate). But still not bad. We use it exclusively for gas.

Chase Bank's Visa gives a 3% rebate on one of several categories they have, whichever you make the most purchases in. The category we reserve it for is groceries, gas stations, and pharmacies, but depending on your spending habits, you have some flexibility here. We can switch to this one for gas when near the $100 gas limit.

If you maintain a $10,000 minimum balance in a savings account at EmigrantDirect, an online bank (www.emigrantdirect.com), they will pay a 1.4% rebate on ALL purchases. Your rebate accumulates and is rolled into your account every six months. This is the card we use for most other purchases.

All of the above rebates are in cash. With the Discover Gas card, as the other reader noted, you can go with gift cards to redeem your rewards and sometimes get more back (like a $25 Borders Gift Card for $20, for example).

One big advantage of belonging to my site is that there are a lot of well-informed subscribers who offer practical suggestions.

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