What’s In My Wallet, Phone, And Sock Drawer

What’s In My Wallet, Phone, And Sock Drawer

Once in a while people will ask me which credit cards I have in my wallet.

It’s an interesting question. In total, I have more than 20 credit cards. However, I don’t keep them all in my wallet.

Every credit card that I keep has a purpose. Some have a high earning rate for everyday spending. Others I keep just for the benefits; these are the ones I rarely use for purchases.

Some I carry in my wallet. Others I store in my Apple pay virtual wallet within my phone. Then there are other cads that are banished to the proverbial sock drawer, only seeing the light of day once in a while.

 

So What IS In My Wallet?

I’m sure it’s not a surprise to most people, but my wallet actually only has a few credit cards. Usually I carry about three or four credit cards at the most.

Being a minimalist, I keep my wallet very minimal. I only like to carry the essentials. Also, I think having a bulky bulge in my pants pocket is both unsightly and uncomfortable!

For the purpose of today’s post, I emptied out my wallet to see what’s inside (see featured photo pictured above). The contents of my wallet include:

• Proof of automobile insurance (this is mandatory)
• Driver’s license (essential since I drive to work)
• Medical license (I need this to practice medicine)
• Citibank debit/ATM card (I am a Citi Gold client and Citi is my primary bank)
• Citi Prestige
• American Express Green
• American Express Blue Business Plus
• Citi Double Cash
• Visa debit gift card

In addition to the above cards, I also carry a little bit of cash. Ordinary, I only have about $40 or so just to have some cash handy. I don’t like to carry wads of cash everywhere I go.

As you can see in the picture below, everything (including the cash) fits nicely inside my wallet. (The gift card was strategically placed in front of my driver’s license to protect my personal identity.)

If you’re curious about my wallet, it is an Allet Nylon ID Wallet. I’ve had it since high school. It’s amazing that it has lasted this long (over 20 years!).

Anyways, back to the credit cards.

 

Credit Cards In My Wallet

The specific cards I carry in my wallet could change depending on the month. It may also depend on whether there’s a special promotion going on, such as a sale on Visa gift cards at Staples. I periodically rotate the credit cards in my wallet, but the above picture is what I am currently carrying right now.

In general, the cards in my wallet fall into three different categories:

1. Credit cards that I recently signed up for (and therefore need to use in order to meet a minimum spending requirement to earn a signup bonus)
2. Credit cards that earn good rewards points for everyday spending
3. Debit gift cards

American Express Green card

This card is currently in my wallet because I recently signed up for it and I’m trying to meet the minimum spending threshold to earn the signup bonus.

When I applied (which was December), the welcome bonus offer was earning 45,000 Amex Membership Rewards points after spending $2,000 in purchases in the first three months. This offer is a great deal, but wasn’t publicly available. It required me to use  the Mozilla Firefox web browser in “incognito mode” to apply for it.

Not only did it have a great signup bonus, the Amex Green card also has decent reward bonus categories. It earns 3x MR points on travel, transit, and dining. The travel category is very broad and includes: airfare, hotels, parking, ride share services, taxis, cruises, and more

Unfortunately, though, the current welcome bonus offer on this card is only 30,000 points after $2,000 spending in purchases the first three moths, which is quite a bit less than what I signed up for. But if you’re actually interested in this card, consider using my referral link.

Citi Prestige

This card earns a spot in my wallet because it earns 5x Citi Thank You points for spending at restaurants.

Everybody’s spending patterns are different. For me and my wife, food is one of our most pricey expenses that we spend on every day. Thus, the Citi Prestige card falls squarely in “good for everyday spending” category.

As a CitiGold client, I was grandfathered in to a $350 annual fee. In addition to earning 5x in dining it also earns 5x points on airfare and travel agencies as well as 3x points on cruises and hotels. Plus it offers a $250 travel credit. So for me, the effective annual fee is only $100.

But for most people (who are not CitiGold clients grandfathered in), the annual fee is $495, which is pretty steep. Because of the high annual fee, it’s not a card I recommend first for most people. I don’t think it’s worth paying $495 fee. But for me, it’s a long term keeper and earns a place in my wallet since I only pay a net $100 for this card when you factor in the $250 travel credit.

American Express Blue Business Plus

The Amex Blue Business Plus is in my wallet because it earns 2x Membership Rewards points on every purchase up to $50,000.

This is a card I often use when a purchase doesn’t fall into a specific bonus category (i.e. purchases that are not travel, restaurants, hotels, groceries, etc.).

For example, if I’m taking my car to have an oil change, I’ll likely use this card since auto shops generally don’t fall into any bonus category.

Citi Double Cash

This card has a place in my wallet because it earns an effective 2% cash back with every purchase.

You could also have the option of earning 2x Citi Thank You points with every purchase instead of the straight 2% cash back. Since Thank You points can often be redeemed for greater than a penny per point, this is a really good earning rate. Because of this, this card is also good for everyday non-bonused spending.

The advantage of this card over the Blue Business Plus is that it is a MasterCard (Amex is not universally accepted everywhere) and the 2x points in all purchases is uncapped.

Visa Debit Gift Card

I tend to have a few of these Visa debit gift cards at any given time, so one of them automatically earns a spot in my wallet.

Because I purchase these cards at Staples with my Chase Ink Cash card (5x points at office supply stores) during special promotions, it feels like I’m earning 5x points or at least 5% back every time I use one of these cards.

Visa debit gift cards are accepted wherever Visa cards are accepted. If a PIN number is required, it is usually the last four digits of the card.

Using these gift cards for a lot of my expenses allows me to claim that I get 5% back on all my lifestyle expenses.

 

Credit Cards In My Phone Wallet

Having the ability to store several credit cards in my Apple Pay wallet is awesome. It allows me to keep my physical wallet very minimal, slim, and sleek.

My phone wallet also contains credit cards that are valuable for everyday use.

Below is a snap shot of my phone wallet.

American Express Gold

I have this card in my phone wallet because it earns 4x Membership Rewards points in grocery stores. Since food is one of our largest variable expenses, having a good rate of return at grocery stores is great!

Most supermarkets have the ability to make contactless Apple Pay payments at the counter. Because of this convenience, the Amex Gold card is in my phone wallet.

In addition to 4x points in grocery stores, the card also earns 4x points in restaurants and 3x points for travel. This is an impressive earning rate that make this card an all-around great card to have.

It does have an annual fee of $250, but it can be well worth it if you’re able to earn a lot of points for food expenses and if you’re able to easily use the $100 airline fee credit.

Chase Freedom

I keep this card in my phone wallet because it earns 5% cash back (or 5x Chase UItimate Rewards points) in select categories every quarter.

For this quarter (Jan – March, 2020), the bonus categories include gas stations, internet, cable, phone, and streaming services.

In the past, the bonus categories could also include grocery stores, restaurants, movies, hardware stores, and department stores. You won’t know until Chase releases an updated calendar every quarter.

Since I no longer drive an electric car, having a bonus at gas stations is nice.

Citi Premier

This card earns 3x Citi Thank You points on travel, including gas stations.

While it hasn’t seen much action lately, I’ll likely use this card to buy gas after the first quarter (since Chase Freedom will no longer offer bonus points at gas stations).

Citi Prmier is one my oldest credit cards. Because part of your credit report is determined by age of credit history, /I try to periodically use it for spending in order to keep my account active.

Amex Hilton Aspire

This card is currently in my phone wallet because I had used it during our trip to Maui two months ago.

It’s currently not getting any action. I could simply remove it from my Apple pay wallet. But at the moment, I don’t have any other cards in mind that can take its place.

The Amex Hilton Aspire card has served me well. I use it to earn free weekend night certificates and a ton of Hilton Honors points. What can I say? I love this card.

Amex Business Platinum

I recently upgraded to this card from the Amex Business Gold card. Because the upgrade was associated with a spending bonus, the Amex Business Platinum earns a spot in my phone.

With this upgrade bonus, I would earn 50,000 Membership Rewards points after spending more than $10,000. I agreed to this upgrade knowing that I could easily spend $10,000 in that time period. This is because my $8500 property tax bill was due this month; so by paying for the property tax with the card, I’m almost there. But not quite.

Therefore, I’m keeping this card in my phone wallet so that I can use it to meet the spending threshold needed to earn extra points.

Upgrade Bonus?

It is interesting that I was even offered this upgrade bonus. And the story of how it happened is interesting too.

Some time last month, I received a call from a phone number I didn’t recognize. Ordinarily, I would not pick up, but for some reason, this time I did. On the other line was a gentleman who claimed to be a customer service representative for American Express and explained that I have an offer to upgrade my Amex Gold Business card to the Amex Business Platinum card.

I was a bit skeptical at first, but the representative assured me that he was the real deal after talking about my account history. He then told me that after upgrading to the Amex Business Platinum, I was promised an upgrade bonus of earning 50,000 points after spending $10,000 in the first three months, then an additional 25,000 points after spending another $10,000. I was skeptical about this too because I’ve had the Amex Platinum business card before in the past (and canceled it) and so I didn’t think I would be eligible for another signup bonus. (Remember, Amex has a “once in a life time” rule for sign up bonuses.) But again, the representative assured me that offer was completely valid.

Knowing that Membership Rewards points are so valuable and that I could easily make the minimum spending requirement, I took the offer. I’m looking forward to earning many more Amex Membership Rewards points!

Citi Thank You Preferred and Bank of America AAA Member Rewards Cards

Simply put, the only reason why these cards are in my phone wallet is because they are my two oldest credit cards. I’ve had both of them for a little over ten years.

These cards aren’t particularly rewarding. The Citi Preferred card only earns 2x points on dining and entertainment. And the Bank of America AAA card only earns 2% cash back on groceries. Neither one of these has a compelling earning rate for spending.

But they are my oldest credit cards and so I want to keep them active to keep my credit score decently high.

Recall that your credit score is determined by a few different factors, one of which is your length of credit history and the average age of credit.

Because I open one or two new credit cards a quarter (on average), my average credit age is pretty low. According to Credit Karma, it’s about 3 years and 11 months.

Now imagine that my two oldest credit cards (the Citi Thank You Preferred card and the Bank of America AAA card) were canceled by the banks because I didn’t use them. Then my average credit age would go down even further, possibly to 2 years.

Bottom line is I keep these cards in my phone wallet so that I can use them for small purchases every now and then just to keep these accounts active and in good standing.

 

Honorable Mention: Chase Ink Business Cash

The Chase Ink Business Cash card is not currently in my wallet. But often times it is.

Whenever there is a promotional sale that offers discounts on Visa debit gift cards at Staples or Office Depot, I will put this card in my wallet. This is because the Chase Ink Business Cash card earns 5x Ultimate Rewards points (or 5% cash back) at office supply stores. That is fantastic earning rate!

I have a several of these Visa debit gift cards at home and that is way I always have one of them in my physical wallet.

Not only does the Chase Ink Business Cash card earn 5x points at office supply stores, it also earns 5x points on internet, cable, and phone services.

 

 

Credit Cards In My Travel Wallet

When travel, I usually modify the cards that I put in my wallet.

Global Entry

I carry the Global Entry card when traveling as a secondary ID and so that I can expedite the immigration process when returning home from an international trip.

It’s always nice to clear immigration and security when you’re tired from a full day of international travel and you just to home.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

This card earns a spot in my travel wallet for a variety of reasons. First of all, it has no foreign exchange fees. Second, it earns 3x Ultimate Rewards points on travel and dining. Third, Lyft was added as 10x bonus category recently; this is great since we often use ride share services when abroad. And finally, the Chase Sapphire Reserve has first in class travel insurance protection.

The annual fee for this card was recently raised to $550. If I had to pay for the annual fee, it is debatable whether this card is worth keeping or not. There’s a long story to this, but I was never charged an annual fee for this card. I’m assuming Chase may have forgot to charge me the fee. In my situation, keeping this card for free is a no brainer.

Hotel Card Du Jour

The specific credit card deserving of this spot in my travel wallet changes depending on which hotels I am staying at during a trip. For example, if I’m staying at a Park Hyatt, I’ll bring my Chase Hyatt credit card.

I have 6 co-branded hotel credit cards total: Amex Hilton Aspire card, Amex Hilton Surpass card, Amex Hilton Business card, Amex Bonvoy card, a Chase IHG card, and a Chase Hyatt card.

Shown in the picture above is my Amex Hilton Aspire credit card. This is currently in my travel wallet because we recently stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Grand Wailea (a Hilton property) during our trip to Maui two months ago.

American Express Business Platinum

If you recall, the Amex Business Platinum is in my phone wallet because I’m trying to meet a minimum spending threshold to earn the bonus points offered to me for upgrading to this card.

It also deserves a spot in my travel wallet because it gives me access to American Express Centurion Lounges. There’s not a lot of these lounges worldwide, but if I’ll be in airport that has one, I’m bringing this card. The Centurion Lounges are step above most Priority Pass lounges.

Priority Pass

The Priority Pass card earns a spot in my travel wallet because it gives me access to more than 1300 airport lounges worldwide. Because I have Priority Pass membership through my Citi Prestige card, I can also bring up to three additional guests that are part of the family.

While having lounge access isn’t a complete game changer, it is nice to have.

SoFi Visa Debit Card

I bring this card when I travel as an ATM card for withdrawing cash abroad.

By opening a SoFi Money account, you’ll receive a debit card that can be used in any ATM machine worldwide. This ATM card has no foreign transaction fees and all ATM fees are refunded.

Sometimes you hear horror of stories of people’s ATM card being stolen via fraudulent ATM machines. I’m not sure if these stories are true, but I still try to be cautious and vigilant. By using the SoFi ATM card, it will allow me to not use my primary banking ATM card abroad.

 

Credit Cards In My Sock Drawer

Yup, this is actually my sock drawer.

The sock drawer is generally a place where I store all the credit cards that aren’t currently in my wallet. These cards don’t earn a spot in my wallet because they don’t have great earning rates for everyday spending.

However, I keep these cards because they either:

• Have no annual fee and therefore they are worth keeping in order to increase my length of history and credit age
• Have an annual fee, but the annual benefits (like a free night certificate for example) is worth more than the annual fee, making the card a keeper

All of my hotel co-branded credit cards from Hilton, IHG, and Hyatt have the benefit of earning a free night certificate that more than makes up for their respective annual fees.

If a card has an annual fee and the benefits that come with the card aren’t valuable, then it’s not worth keeping. In this case, the best course of action is to call the bank to see if they can offer bonus points or waive the annual fee, cancel the card, or product change the card to one with no annual fee.

In the picture above, you can see that I have a whole bunch of extra Amex green cards. There’s a long story it. Perhaps I’ll share that story in a future post.

 

Bottom Line

When it comes to credit cards, I like to maximize my earning potential as best I can. Therefore, I am very selective about which credit cards I actually carry in my wallet.

To earn a spot in my wallet, a credit card has to have a rewarding earning rate for everyday spending. Or it’s a new card and I’m trying to use the credit card frequently in order to meet a minimum spending threshold to earn a sign up bonus.

It may be possible to maximize my earnings even more. But I’m pretty happy with my current strategy. After all, I estimate that I earn more than 5% back from all my expenses. That’s pretty darn good if you ask me.

 

Your turn. What’s in your wallet???