Money Blue Book

Updated List Of The Best Cash Back Credit Card Offers Below!

As I indicated in the past, I’m a big fan of integrated credit card reward programs like Citi Card’s Thank You Rewards Network. I like how all of their reward credit cards generate Thank You rewards that can be pooled into one source and later redeemed for rewards like cash back, statement credit, airline tickets, and popular merchandise. Years ago, you could get a higher cash back percentage with your credit cards, but times have changed as companies have cut and reduced their cash back benefits in favor of encouraging reward point usage. But many people still prefer to stick with cash back cards. Cash back rebates are easier than reward points to understand and despite the slightly lower percentage back offered by the former, many people still favor the convenience and simplicity that cash back reward credit cards provide.

People Like Cash Back Cards Because They Are Much Easier To Use and Redeem Than Reward Cards

I personally don’t mind using credit cards that offer reward points, but I’ll admit that it does involve more micromanaging. I’ve been accumulating Citi Thank You rewards for more than a year now and have accumulated a substantial stockpile of points, enough for an international airplane ticket to Asia and more. But the process requires me to monitor my point progression to ensure my points are not near expiration since accrued reward points do expire after some time if not timely redeemed.

Upon close inspection of all credit card reward and cash back programs, it’s apparent that a prudent user who doesn’t mind some extra work will find that reward point cards tend to yield a slightly higher percentage back. Unlike cash back credit cards, reward point cards do usually require you to keep track of your own tallies and affirmatively submit a request when you qualify for point redemption. But despite the higher returns, some people still find the redemption procedure of reward cards to be too much trouble – instead, preferring the simplicity of automatic cash back credit. It’s true – with cash back credit cards there is no hassle. When you charge something, you automatically get a portion back as statement credit or a cash back check after a certain period of time. You don’t have to do anything extra because the whole cash rebate earning process is usually automated.

Well after much research, here’s what I’ve come up with. The best cash back credit card is definitively either the Chase Freedom or Blue Cash From American Express, but there are several good choices as well.

My List of The Top Credit Cards That Provide The Best Cash Back Reward Percentages:

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1. Blue Cash® From American Express – Earn up to 5% cash back for everyday purchases, and up to 1.5% for everything else when you exceed $6,500 worth of usage. Before that you’ll earn 1% cash back. Everyday purchases include supermarkets, drugstores, and gas stations.
2. Discover More Card – Earn up to 5% cash back for Get More purchases made in categories that change throughout the year, like groceries, travel, home, apparel, gas, restaurants, and movies. Earn up to 1% cash back for the first $3000 worth of purchases.
3. Discover Open Road Card – Earn 2% Cashback Bonus automatically at any gas station and any restaurant, and up to 1% cash back on all other purchases. Enjoy 0% balance transfer benefits for the first 6 months with no annual fee.
4. Chase Freedom Credit Card – Earn 5% cash back in rotating categories such as gas, groceries, drug stores, home improvement, department stores, and more. You get 1% cashback for everything else with no spending tiers, no earning caps or limits, and no cash rebate expiration.
5. True Earnings Card From Costco and American Express – This very popular Amex card offer from Costco allows you to earn 3% cash back for annual gasoline purchases of up to $3,000 (1% thereafter), 3% for restaurants, 2% for travel, 1% everywhere else, including Costco. As a special introductory offer, you also get a free $25 bonus after your first card purchase. Currently there is no annual fee with a paid Costco membership.
6. Discover Motiva Card – Earn up to 1% cash back on all of your purchases, plus get one month’s interest refunded back to your account every time you make your card payments on time for 6 consecutive months. This card program actively incentivizes and encourages you to pay on time by rewarding you when you do so. There is no annual fee to contend with.
7. American DreamCard MasterCard – The American Dream Card (provided by HSBC) is not your typical direct cash back reward card, but it offers something similarly attractive in return. Rather than getting a mere rate of 1% or 3% cash back on all of your daily purchases, for every single dollar you spend with the card, you earn a single entry into the American Dream Card monthly prize drawing, with the chance to win at least $25,000 or more each time depending on the total amount of charges by all entrants during the period. The more frequently you use the card, the higher your chances of hitting the recurring monthly jackpot.
8. Capital One® No Hassle Cash(SM) Rewards Card – Up to 3% cash back on gas and groceries, and 1% cash back on all other purchases. There is no limit to how much cash back rewards you can earn, nor is there an expiration date.
9. HSBC Weekend Card – Earn 2% cashback rewards on everything you buy on Saturday and Sunday, hence the very unique Weekend credit card name. The double cashback earnings rate for all purchases lasts all weekend long. During the normal weekday, you get 1% cash back for everything. With this very interesting credit card offer from HSBC, you get the the ability to earn unlimited cash back rewards with no limits.
10. HSBC Platinum Mastercard Cash Back Rewards - Earn up to a potential of 2% cash back on everything you buy (no special category restrictions). Depending on application and qualification level, you may either have the ability to earn unlimited rebate rewards at 1% cashback, or up to $400 worth of rewards at 2% back. The card also offers a 12 month 0% APR promotional offer for all purchases and balance transfers.
11. Bank of America Accelerated Cash Rewards American Express – Earn 1.25% cash back on all net retail purchases. Enjoy an introductory 0% APR interest offer on all balance transfers and direct deposits for 12 billing cycles. There is no annual fee.
12. Bank of America Cash Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard – Earn 1% cash back on all purchases with this pure Bank of America cash rewards credit card. There is no limit to how much cash back you can tally up. Cardholders also get a 0% APR interest offer on balance transfers and direct deposits for the first 15 billing cycles.
13. Bank of America Financial Rewards Platinum Plus – Earn the equivalent of 1% cash back on all purchases and the equivalent of 2% back on all balance transfers made. There is no annual fee.
14. Fidelity Investment Rewards Visa Signature Card – Earn 1.5% back on all purchases. With this card you earn a point for every dollar spent. When you’ve accumulated 5000 points, the total points can be instantly converted into $75 cash and deposited into your Fidelity Investment brokerage account for an effective 1.5% redemption rate. The Fidelity credit card offers the same competitive purchase rebate percentage for all purchases.
15. Advanta Net 90 Platinum Business Card – This card is definitely not your usual straight cash back credit card offer and there is no other program out there quite like it. The permanent 90 day interest free rolling offer on all credit card purchases advertised by this program is not a limited one time introductory offer, but a constant year after year feature. Not only do you get to earn the equivalent of 1% cashback on all purchases made (1 point for each $1 of card usage) with no limit on reward earning potential, cardholders also enjoy a 3 month (90 days) grace period on their bill. What this means is that as the cardholder, you are exempt from paying any interest on new purchases until after 90 days €“ that’s a whole quarter worth of savings, thanks to this very attractive Advanta Platinum card offer.

Although I work a regular full time job, I also run a few fledgling side ventures on the side. As I mentioned about a month ago, I am currently attempting to establish a trade name and open a business bank account in the business’ name to better keep track of venture earnings and assets.

However, I’m currently unable to establish a business bank account because the state agency hasn’t processed and sent me my approved trade name certificate yet. I did not file for expedited service (*snapping fingers in a darnnit motion* ) so it’s taking much longer than expected. Banks will not usually allow an individual to establish a business bank account that doesn’t contain the applicant’s name in the account title without a valid trade name or fictitious business certificate. So for now, I’m stuck without the services of a proper business bank account. However, meanwhile my side businesses have continued to generate income and now I have several business checks made out to my fictitious business name that I am unable to deposit immediately. It has been weeks and the business checks continue to sit on my desk gathering dust and looking quite lonely.

Ideally, business funds should not be co-mingled with personal funds since the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will require the tax filer to account for his/her business income and expenses on a separate form, although both business and personal income will ultimately be treated as the tax filer’s ordinary income. However, my checks have been sitting around un-deposited for some time and I am getting to the point where I want them in bank accounts and generating interest.

So Am I Permitted to Deposit Business Checks Into My Own Personal Bank Account?

I am tempted to just go ahead and deposit my business checks into my regular checking or savings account at Citibank. I am the only owner and operator of my sole proprietor business so there wouldn’t be stakeholder problems. The pickle is whether my particular financial institution will permit the deposit or not.

Perhaps my deposit will be more willingly accepted by my bank’s ATM machine than by a live teller. There are some readers out there that have indicated that an ATM made deposit will be more readily approved by the bank than one made at the counter since ATM transactions are mostly computerized. The idea is that so long as I properly endorse the back of the check with signatures containing the business name and my own name, the bank will likely accept it as valid, particularly if the check’s numerical amount is not too significant. I’m just not certain on where the business checks go if the deposit into my personal account is denied and rejected.

There are no specific laws governing such deposits that I am aware of and it appears to be a policy decision governed and made by individual financial institutions. In general, business accounts involve higher sums of money with greater transactional frequency, thus demanding more of the financial institution’s attention. This probably explains why many banks tend to require higher maintenance fees for business accounts than personal bank accounts. Because of the higher transactional costs and blanket policy reasons, some banks simply may not be willing to allow this sort of practice and may require business check depositors to open business checking account if they want to deposit a business check made out to the business’ name.

Interestingly, online services like Google Adsense and a few others have permitted me to create direct deposit relationships with my own personal banking account, even though the checks were made payable out to my business name. I’m not sure if these were merely oversights or indicative of more flexible policies, but I wish there was more overall uniformity on the issue.

I think I may ultimately wait this out until my trade name certificate gets cleared since it should be approved in a few more weeks, but I wonder if anyone knows the answer for this question?

I’m a lazy guy. I’m also not a very big shopper. This combination tends to work against me when I have to buy presents for others during the Christmas holiday shopping season. Some people are easy to shop for but for others, it’s an ordeal trying to figure out what to give them.

Sometimes I just want to take the easy, effortless route by dolling out cash to the masses. But I think most people are still very traditional and find the idea of giving out plain old cash very distasteful. This is how the marketing braniacs came up with gift cards. The way these businesses promote gift cards is quite brilliant since they’ve managed to convince many that giving a gift card means something more than just giving out cash, and that somehow the gift cards can convey the message of “I love you” better than cash ever could. But essentially, they are the same as cash except they don’t carry the same gifting stigma. I know some people find gift cards and gift certificates to be tacky and unoriginal, but the cards do serve a useful purpose and in fact, I myself sometimes prefer gift cards over receiving an actual present.

Cash Is Best, But Gift Cards and Gift Certificates Are The Next Best Thing

Who doesn’t like cash? It’s the most versatile gift since you can do whatever you want with it – use it, spend it, save it, hide it, earn interest on it. One of the problems with receiving regular conventional gifts is that they occasionally end up as clutter, particularly if it’s something you wouldn’t normal use. Yes, it’s the thought that counts when it comes to gifting, but people don’t always know exactly what you want. Especially when it comes to electronics, I think I can usually do a much better job researching and nailing a great bargain than the person giving me the gift.

The same idea applies to wedding presents as well. Why receive something you don’t really need, like yet another blender, when you can accumulate all of your gift cards and funnel them towards something you can really appreciate? Because cash has a social gifting stigma attached to it, I think gift cards and gift certificates can serve as useful and versatile alternatives.

Only Give Gift Cards To Those That Don’t Require The Personal Touch

You have to be choosy to whom you give a gift card to as a present. My brother and I are very casual and easy going with each other. During the holidays, we never have any real expectation of swapping Christmas presents. If one of us decides to give the other person something it’s considered an unexpected bonus. Thus, my brother is the perfect candidate for receiving a gift card present.

It just so happens I received an Amazon.com gift card from a surprise drawing at Wisebread not too long ago. Today, I also received a pre-paid American Express debit card from my employer as a small Christmas thank you present. Well, holding these two cards, I now know where these two gift cards will be headed – regifts for my bro!

But gift cards are not for everyone. It’s really not something most people consider to be a thoughtful gift. Since it’s generally very easy to purchase a gift card, not much effort is involved. If you’re trying to convey a loving or personal message, gift cards should be your very last resort. But if it’s just for a regular friend or an understand sibling, it should be perfect enough to do the trick.

I highly advise against giving gift cards and certificates to anyone who may be easily saddened or disappointed at receiving a present that didn’t require much effort or thought – namely wives and girlfriends. I probably will take some flack for this, but despite all the marketing we see on television, I don’t think most guys have a preference of what they want for the holidays, so long as it’s something useful. Giftcards epitomize usefulness since they can be converted into whatever the person wants. They can even be resold on eBay for a tidy profit if one cannot come up a reasonable way of spending it. That’s why for some easy going folks it’s the perfect gift to send and receive.

If you’re a frugal person and like to live a thrifty lifestyle, then I’m sure you might have done this before. Have you ever found yourself driving long distances or straying off your usual travel path to visit a more distant store or gas station just so you could save a few extra bucks? Or how about this one – have you waited outside an electronics store or mall entrance for hours or even days for the opportunity to catch a special limited bargain?

I used to be an extreme bargain hunter but now I’m trying to be more sensible about it. Although I still like to save, I realize now that sometimes the extra savings doesn’t justify the extra effort and mileage required. But old frugality and bargain hunting habits are sometimes hard to break.

My Feeble Attempts At Saving Money

Case in point – when first I moved to my current neighborhood, I continued to visit the former Shopper’s Food Warehouse near my old place because I found it to be cheaper than the closer alternative at the nearby Giant Food store. But over time I realized that this back and forth trip was an absolute waste of time and didn’t justify the measly few dollars and cents I saved in grocery costs. Although I saved money by traveling to a more distant store, I was wasting even more on time and gas money unnecessarily. Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of the overall financial savings picture.

This is also the same reason why I ultimately decided not to renew my Costco membership. Costco offers a lot of cheap and competitively priced merchandise at bulk prices with its famous return policy, but there’s no warehouse location within a 20 mile radius of my new apartment. Having to drive so far just to save some money isn’t worth it when it takes me almost 2 hours to fight my way through traffic congestion to get there, shop, and claw my way back.

Time Is Money and The Savings Doesn’t Always Justify The Extra Effort Needed

Sometimes I think it’s financially more efficient just to spend a little bit more money and shop at a closer, more convenient location. That’s why I don’t visit Walmart too often anymore either unless I happen to just pass by it. I much prefer shopping at Walmart than at other discount retailers like Target, but there simply aren’t any locations in my area.

The reason why we put time and effort into our full time jobs is to allow us to earn money so we can properly allocate our limited resources. Both time and money are finite currency that should be used efficiently. Rather than wasting time and effort doing something unproductive, sometimes it’s just better to outsource certain tasks or pay a little bit extra to avoid such inefficiency.

Waiting Hours Or Days In Line Doesn’t Make Much Sense To Me Either

During Black Friday and last year’s Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 release, many eager bargain hunters braved frigid weather and waited hours and days in line for the chance to obtain something special. But product supply was limited and despite waiting for hours and days, some still ended up going home without getting what they wanted.

Sometimes it just isn’t worth the tremendous sacrifices. I would much rather find ways to make money or cut costs elsewhere to come up with the extra funds needed to buy the items. Waiting a few hours is one thing, but waiting 5 days straight outside a Best Buy store for the limited possibility of snagging a coveted video game system just seems like financial madness to me. Sometimes people really overdo this whole bargain hunting thing.

Has anyone done something like this before? Was it really worth it??