If you’re not sure what I’m referring to, the Chase Freedom credit card offers a 1% unlimited cash back as a base, but every three months of the year, they offer different 5% cash back bonus categories.

For example, the past three months, I’ve been using my Chase Freedom on restaurant purchases when I travel – and have received 5% cash back. You can get 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in purchases per quarter.

Chase hasn’t notified customers yet, but I was thumbing through my Chase Freedom account online and noticed a link to the 2012 bonus categories! There are some new additions, including Amazon, and gas as a category for two of the four quarters. Here are the 2012 5% bonus categories.

2012 Chase Freedom 5% Bonus Categories

Q1 (January – March, 2012) – can activate starting December 15

• gas stations
• Amazon.com

Q2 (April – June, 2012) – can activate starting March 15

• grocery stores
• movie theatres

Q3 (July – September, 2012) – can activate starting June 15

• gas stations
• restaurants

Q4 (October – December, 2012) – can activate starting September 15

• hotels
• airlines
• Best Buy
• Kohl’s

If you’re a geek like me, you’re probably going to write or print out a copy to put in your wallet. Here’s a smaller wallet version for you:

• Q1: gas, Amazon
• Q2: grocery, movie
• Q3: gas, restaurant
• Q4: hotel, air, Best Buy, Kohls

If you’re not yet using the Chase Freedom card, it’s one of the best cash back rewards cards. No annual fee, you get all of the aforementioned cash back rewards, and they are also running an outstanding promotion right now that will earn new Freedom customers $200 cash back when they spend $500 in the first three months after opening their account.

Chase Freedom Discussion:

• What do you think of the 2012 bonus categories? How do you like them versus 2011?
• What is your credit card strategy for 2012?

Related Posts:

• Chase Freedom Review
• Chase Freedom $200 Bonus Now Easier to Get

An Early Look at the 2012 Chase Freedom 5% Cash Back Bonus Category Calendar is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

After looking at my year-to-date breakdown recently, it really hit me that a full one-third of my annual expenses are from groceries. And up until then, I had only been earning 1% cash back on those purchases.

I thought I might just be able to do better than that. So I went searching for the best cash back rewards card for grocery purchases. And all of my research brought me back to the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card (it’s the one on the right of the page).

As a cash back card, the Blue Cash Preferred card offers:

• 6% cash back on grocery store purchases
• 3% cash back on gas & department store purchases
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

On top of that, there is a promotion for new card members to receive $150 cash back after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months.

There is an annual fee of $75 for the card.

Is the Blue Cash Preferred Card Worth its Annual Fee? Let’s Crunch the Numbers…

I used to be very against annual fees, but 6% on a category I spend so much of my budget on is very convincing. With the Blue Cash Preferred’s annual fee of $75, does it pay off? Let’s crunch the numbers to find out. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American spent $3,624 on groceries over the course of a year. A couple would average approximately twice that, or $7,248.

• At 6% cash back on those purchases, a single person would theoretically get $217 cash back from grocery purchases. An average couple would theoretically get $434 back.
• Had those purchases been made with a 1% cash back card, the result would be $36 per person with that card.
• When you subtract the $75 annual fee, you still end up with a net cash back of $142 per person (vs. $36 with a 1% card) or $359 per couple (vs. $72 with a 1% card).

I’m willing to pay $75 to get $359 cash back vs. only $72 cash back.

If you want to compare the cards rewards to others, find out what your previous year’s grocery expenses were, multiply that by 0.06 and subtract $75 to get the net cash back on the card, to see if the Blue Preferred card outdoes your or any other card rewards for grocery purchases.

Is it the Best Grocery Rewards card? Comparison vs. the American Express Blue Cash Everyday

How would the results of the card fare against another grocery rewards card without an annual fee? The best I’ve seen in the category is actually the sister card of this one – the American Express Blue Cash Everyday card (check out my review). That card offers 3% cash back on grocery store purchases, 2% on gas, and 1% on everything else – without the annual fee.

• With the Everyday card, an average individual would get back $108 (vs. $142 for the Preferred Blue), and a couple would get back $217 (vs. $359 for the Preferred Blue).
• Additionally, the Preferred version offers 3% cash back on gas vs. 2% for the Everyday. And the $150 sign-up bonus vs. $100.

If your annual grocery purchases are in line with the averages I’ve highlighted here, the Blue Cash Preferred card will result in the most net cash back for grocery purchases, despite the $75 annual fee. I’ve signed up. Now if I can only negotiate away the annual fee…

Related Posts:

Costco American Express Review

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If you fall into one of those groups or would simply like a solid cash back rewards card with a high and easy to get cash back bonus offer, Citi has created a direct and legitimate competitor to the Freedom, called the Citi Dividend Platinum Select Visa.

Like the Chase Freedom card, the Citi Dividend Platinum Slect Visa comes with:

• No annual fee
• 5% cash back on fitness club, health care, and utilities purchases from 1/1/2012 to 3/31/2012 upon enrollment.  Each quarter, you can enroll to earn additional cash back in popular categories.
• 1% cash back on all other purchases.

Also, like the Freedom, you can get $200 cash back when you make $500 in purchases with the card within the first 3 months! The banks are doing everything they can to drive debit card users to become credit card users right now, and this is a great opportunity to take advantage of the generous offers out there and get a great card, while they last.

On top of what’s already been mentioned, Citi also offers 5% average cash back at select merchants through their Citi Bonus Cash Center.

This is a limited time offer, and as long as it is out there, the Citi Dividend Platinum Select Visa ranks up there with the Chase Freedom and Costco American Express as some of the best cash back rewards cards with no annual fees on the market.

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Bank of America ($5 monthly debit card fee) and CitiBank ($15 or $20 monthly checking account fee) started adding new fees to help replace billions of lost revenue that resulted from an amendment to the Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act that cuts debit card swipe fees by the banks 44 cents to 23.9 cents on an average transaction. This change, lobbied by merchants, was intended to lower the costs for merchants and ideally consumers. The change kicked in October 1.

The other, unspoken agenda in adding these fees is that these banks are hoping that those who use their debit cards will simply switch to a credit card, which will be more profitable for the bank if these customers end up paying interest on their debt.

Is this the start of a bigger fee-happy trend? Absolutely. Banks will look to increase their fees to replace the lost revenue, estimated to be around $1.3 billion per month. They threatened Congress prior to the passage of the legislation that they would retaliate by increasing fees and they have delivered.

Did you expect anything less? These greedy banks still get 23.9 cents per swipe, ATM fees, and the needed liquidity that you allowing them to hold your cash provides. And now they want to charge you to use your own money so that their executives can maintain the same ridiculous bonuses? NO. EFFING. WAY!

So where can you take your business?

You can protest by taking your business elsewhere. In the process, you might start wondering why you haven’t done so earlier. Reader, Sandi, writes to me in response to that post:

It’s for that reason that I plan on leaving Bank of America before the end of this year. The $5/mo debit card fee is the last straw. I’m looking into alternative banking options and am strongly considering Charles Schwab. What do you know about their checking accounts and do you recommend any others. I’ve been spoiled by Bank of America’s online bill pay, and most other banks aren’t as good. I’d love your input.

Awesome to see readers standing up for themselves. Fortunately, there are still plenty of alternatives out there for free checking accounts and debit cards. Offers with credit unions can vary, but the four banks that made the list all offer:

• free debit cards
• free checking accounts
• no minimum balance to avoid fees
• free online banking & bill pay

1. EverBank

This was a late addition, but EverBank has perhaps the best offering right now with no fees, an interest bearing account, reimbursed ATM fees and they’ll even pay you $60 to switch to them!

• Monthly Account Fee: $0
• Debit Card Fee: $0
• Opening Deposit: $1,500 deposit to open
• Checks: free checks
• ATM Fees: zero ATM fees – if your balance is over $5,000 they will reimburse you the ATM fees from other banks.
• Interest: EverBank guarantees that you will earn interest that is in the top 5% of what all banks offer.
• Cashback Rewards on Debit Card: n/a

2. PerkStreet Financial

PerkStreet Financial offers a no fee MasterCard debit card and checking account. With PerkStreet, online bill pay and banking and banking are free and there is:

• Monthly Account Fee: $0 monthly account fee if you have at least one debit card transaction.
• Debit Card Fee: $0
• Opening Deposit: A$25 deposit will get you started.
• Checks: free checks
• ATM fees: 37,000 ATM’s nationally that you can withdraw from without surcharge, otherwise $2 surcharge.
• Interest: no interest earned on your balance.
• Cashback Rewards on Debit Card: Perkstreet’s biggest appeal is that at a time when other banks are beginning to charge you for debit cards, they offer you cash back! If you maintain a $5,000 balance, you get an outstanding 2% cashback. If under $5,000, you’ll get 1%. There are also 5% cash back categories throughout the year with PerkStreet.

3. Ally Bank

I’m a big fan of Ally Bank because they don’t do business like other large, national banks. They create appealing products that don’t take advantage of their customers. Ally Bank Interest Checking offers:

• Monthly Account Fee: $0
• Debit Card Fee: $0
• Opening Deposit: $0 deposit to open
• Checks: free checks
• ATM Fees: zero ATM fees – they actually pay for fees charged by other banks!
• Interest: you earn interest on your balance.
• Cashback Rewards on Debit Card: n/a

4. USAA

USAA offers financial services to active members of the military, veterans, or their family members (here is a list of parties that can become a USAA member). USAA’s free checking account offers:

• Monthly Account Fee: $0
• Debit Card Fee: $0
• Opening Deposit: $0 deposit to open
• Checks: free checks
• ATM Fees: no charge on first 10 withdrawals and they’ll refund up to $15 per month that other banks charge.
• Interest: you earn interest on your balance if over $1,000.
• Cashback Rewards on Debit Card: n/a

5. Ing Direct

One of the first online banks, Ing Direct, is still one of the best. Ing Direct’s Electric Orange checking account offers:

• Monthly Account Fee: $0
• Debit Card Fee: $0
• Opening Deposit: $1 deposit to open
• Checks: free checks
• ATM Fees: No fees at 35,000 Allpoint ATM’s.
• Interest: you earn interest on your balance if over $1,000.
• Cashback Rewards on Debit Card: n/a

Related Posts:

• 10 Free Financial Services
• Does Closing a Savings or Checking Account Hurt your Credit Score?
• New Bank Overdraft Protection Fee Rules
• Ally Bank Raise your Rate CD

5 Banks where Checking Accounts & Debit Cards are Still Free is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

1. Dining

2. Department Stores

3. Movie Theaters

4. Charitable Organizations

Between dining, department stores (shopping for the holidays), and charitable organizations (movie theaters don’t excite me too much), one could easily hit the $1,500 spend maximum in these bonus categories for an additional $75 cash back – particularly if you make tax deductible contributions to charity at the end of the year like I do.

In addition to these categories, Chase Freedom offers unlimited 1% cash back on everything else and 10% when you shop online at selected merchants through Chase (may come in handy if you’re a big holiday shopper).

And it’s still not too late to get the limited-time $200 cash back bonus that you get when you charge $500 in the first 3 months of using the card. Between the $200 bonus, 5% bonus categories, and the unlimited 1% cash back, you could fairly easily get over $300 cash back in the next three months just for using the Chase Freedom as your primary credit card. A nice little holiday bonus, if you ask me.

Also – there’s no annual fee on the Chase Freedom. It’s definitely one of the top cash back rewards credit cards out there, if not the best.

Related Posts:

• Chase Freedom Review
• Chase Freedom $200 Bonus

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I recently posted that one of my favorite credit cards, the Chase Freedom card, upped its promotion to $200 for new account holders. While that’s still true, they’ve now made it easier for you to get it.

Previously, you had to get the card, and then you get a $100 bonus after $500 in purchases in 3 months and then another $100 bonus when you make an additional $1,000  in purchases in 6 months.

Now, you will earn the $200 bonus cash back after making the $500 total in purchases in the first 3 months, which anyone can do when charging a portion of their groceries and/or utilities.

Chase Freedom offers:

• There are new rotating 5% cash back categories every three months. For example, you can get 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent on gas stations and at Amazon.com from 1/1/12 – 3/31/12! Check out the complete 2012 Chase Freedom 5% bonus calendar.
• Unlimited 1% Cash Back on all other purchases without limits on what you can earn
• Up to an additional 10% Cash Back when you shop online at select merchants through Chase
• No annual fee
• Rewards never expire

Not bad!

The Chase Freedom is one of the cards my wife and I actually use and I’d highly recommend it.

This is a great cash back offer compared to what other cash back cards are offering and according to Chase, the Chase Freedom Visa $200 bonus is a very limited time offer.

If you sign on, as always, pay your balance in full every month.

Related Posts:

• Chase Freedom Review

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Update: You now get the full $200 bonus when making a total of just $500 in purchases in the first 3 months!!

Previously, the largest bonus Chase was offering for the Freedom Visa was $150. And that was up from $100 before that, and $50 before that. Do you see a trend here?

I’ve definitely noticed a war out there right now to acquire new account holders from credit card companies. With the recession, people simply aren’t charging as much as they were in the past and these companies don’t want to see their revenue dip, so they are offering some pretty generous promotions.

Specifically, Chase Freedom is a great card, because it offers:

• Up to an additional 10% cash back when you shop online through Chase.
• Unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases, without maximum limits.
• Your rewards never expire.
• No annual fee.

There are new rotating 5% cash back categories every three months. For example, you can get 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent on gas stations and at Amazon.com from 1/1/12 – 3/31/12! Check out the complete 2012 Chase Freedom 5% bonus calendar.

What if I Already Signed up for a Chase Freedom?

This is not official, but I’ve seen some rumors that if you signed up for a previous Freedom promotion, you can have the new bonus applied to your account if you accept the new terms and conditions by calling up customer service and asking them. Some have verified they’ve been able to get this approved, while others have not. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to ask!

And if they start offering $300…. call again.

Keep us posted in the comments if the upgrade does or does not work for you.

Chase has said that the Chase Freedom Visa $200 bonus is a very limited time offer, for what it’s worth.

And of course, pay your balance in full every month.

Related Posts:

• Chase Freedom Review
• Chase Freedom $150 bonus promotion

Chase Freedom Visa Bumps Their Bonus to $200 is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

Why?

Most of them suck! The thing is this: secured credit cards are typically designed to prey on the weak. If you have no credit or poor credit, you are usually in a tough spot.

Unfortunately, many companies take advantage of this. They usually charge an obscene APR %, have a high setup charge, or a high annual fee. And people still sign up with them because they are desperate.

What is a Secured Credit Card?

A secured credit card is where you deposit an amount into a bank account to cover your credit line. That amount is not pulled from your account like with a debit card.

The benefit is that it is an actual credit card.

They are the only viable options at times for those with poor credit.

The Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Card

The Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold card is the easiest-to-use and best secured credit card I have seen. This is because:

• It has no annual fee.
• It has no setup charge.
• It has just a 9.99% fixed APR that doesn’t change (this is unheard of for secured credit cards and even regular credit cards these days).
• You pick your own credit limit – from $200 up to $5,000.
• It has monthly credit bureau reporting.

And that’s it. It’s simple, effective, fair, and it does what it’s suppose to do – offer those who can’t otherwise get a credit card access to a credit card. Secured cards shouldn’t have fancy rewards systems.

Just make sure you pay your balance in full each month. If you can do that, the Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold card is the best secured credit card I’ve seen and the only one I’ve mentioned on 20somethingfinance.

A Secured Credit Card that Doesn’t Rip you Off? is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

My primary credit card of choice is the American Express TrueEarnings Costco card. Its generous cash rewards program gives me about 2% cash back after all is said and done at the end of the year.

However, the one big downside to the Costco American Express is that you actually have to be a Costco member. Your annual Costco membership ($50) is automatically charged to your card every year. So, technically, if you own this card, you are a Costco member, whether you actually shop there or not.

In my opinion, American Express is the best credit card company out there in terms of perks (I’ll highlight some in this post). So what if you want an AmEx, but you don’t care to be a Costco member or don’t have the choice because there isn’t one anywhere near you? Then the new American Express Blue Cash Everyday card is definitely worth a look.

American Express Blue Cash Everyday Cash Back Program

The Blue Cash Everyday card replaces American Express’s retired Blue Cash card. The old card was OK, but good rewards did not kick in until you hit $6,500 per year in spend. The Blue Cash Everyday card has a much simpler and likely higher reward system.

You get:

• 3% cash back at supermarkets
• 2% cash back at gas stations and department stores
• 1% cash back on all other purchases.

With gas and groceries costing what they have and being the two biggest non home-related expenses for most people, this could be a great cashback card.

There is no limit to the amount of rewards you can earn, no spend minimum, and no rotating categories. Simple, yet very rewarding.

<Update> For a limited time, the Blue Cash Everyday card is offering a $100 cash back bonus when you make $1,000 in purchases in the first three months!

No Annual Fee

In order to be considered a great personal use credit card, in my opinion, the card has to have no annual fee. The Blue Cash Everyday card receives a check mark for meeting this criteria.

0% Intro APR Period

Another nice benefit of this card is that you get an intro 0% APR for up to 12 months on new purchases. After that, APR is comparatively high versus some other cards, so make sure you pay your monthly balance in full EVERY single month.

Other American Express Benefits

American Express has a ton of perks with their cards.

• All material purchases with the card get a 1-year extended warranty. This is a huge benefit on large purchases.
• The American Express purchase protection plan protects your purchases against theft or accidental damage for up to 90 days.
• Free roadside assistance.
• Free rental car insurance.
• Free 30-day credit score and report from Experian.
• American Express has great customer service. They are available 24/7 and I have requested multiple credit line increases and not been turned down.

Final Thoughts on the Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express

I’d put the American Express Blue Cash Everyday card up there as one of the top five personal use credit cards, along with the best grocery rewards card, the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card, the Costco American Express, Chase Freedom, Citi Dividend Platinum Select, and Discover More cards.

It offers very generous rewards in some of the most popular categories with no spend minimums – and no annual fee. Not many credit cards can say that.

Related Posts:

• Costco American Express Review
• Chase Freedom Review
• Discover More Review
• PerkStreet Financial Review

American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card Review is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

I’ve done a Chase Freedom review previously – it’s one of my three favorite credit cards on the market, along with the Discover More and Costco American Express cards – because it has a very simple but generous reward program, no annual fee, bonus reward categories, and a good bonus cash back offer.

Here are some more details on what the Chase Freedom Visa $200 bonus promo card offers:

• $200 in rewards after you spend $500 in 3 months (bonus points can be redeemed for cash)
• 5% cash back on rotating bonus categories each quarter (see more on this below)
• Unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases without limits on what you can earn
• Up to an additional 10% cash back when you shop online at select merchants through Chase
• Cash back rewards never expire
• No annual fee

There are new rotating 5% cash back categories every three months. For example, you can get 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent on gas stations and at Amazon.com from 1/1/12 – 3/31/12! Check out the complete 2012 Chase Freedom 5% bonus calendar.

As with all credit cards, only sign up if you can responsibly pay it in full every single month (or you should go with a debit card like Perkstreet Financial, which offers a very nice 2% cash back, instead).

If you can do that, the Chase Freedom Visa $200 cash back card is a good one to sign up for.

Related Posts:

• Costco American Express Review
• Perkstreet Financial Review
• Discover More Card Review
• Credit Karma Review

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