How we meet our minimum spends

Aug 4

One of the key strategies in travel hacking is meeting the minimum spend requirements on new credit cards. For example, when you sign up for a new card, it will come with a welcome offer, e.g. “spend $4,000 in 3 months and earn 60,000 points.” The $4,000 is what is referred to as the “minimum spend.” It’s crucial to hit the minimum spend in the specified timeframe (3 months in this case) in order to earn the welcome bonus.

So, how do we manage meeting minimum spends when we apply for a new credit card every 90 days? It can seem daunting, but with some planning and discipline, it’s totally manageable. Here’s our strategy:

Use your credit card like a debit card

The first and most important rule is to stick to your budget when travel hacking. It makes no sense to rack up credit card points and miles for nearly free travel if you’re being charged interest on your credit cards. We will never recommend charging things to your credit card that you wouldn’t normally purchase; this isn’t free reign to go on a shopping spree. Only charge what you can afford to pay off in full!

Once you have confidence in your ability to use credit cards responsibly, swipe your card anytime you make a purchase (just as you would a debit card). Pay off your bills in full every month to avoid interest charges and debt. By sticking to this practice, you can enjoy the benefits of credit card points and miles without going into debt.

Start with everyday expenses

In our above example, you’d need to meet a minimum spend of $4,000 over three months. That amounts to $1,333 per month. This might seem like a big number at first, but think about your everyday expenses.

Tally up what your family spends on things like groceries, gas, dining out, Target runs, etc. in a given month. What about a family outing to the zoo or a trampoline park? Think about the things you regularly spend money on and add them up. We bet you’ll arrive at $1,333 faster than you thought!

Put recurring bills on autopay

Recurring bills are another excellent way to meet minimum spend requirements because you need to pay for them anyway. By putting these bills on autopay using your credit card, you ensure regular, predictable spending each month:

Utilities - Electricity, water, and gas bills
Subscriptions - Streaming services, subscription boxes, gym memberships, monthly car wash subscriptions (ahem…Mark!)
Insurance premiums - Car insurance, home insurance, life insurance, health insurance…being an adult unfortunately requires a lot of spending on insurances of all kinds!
Phone, cable and internet - Family cell phone plans can be expensive! Same with monthly cable and internet bills.

While recurring monthly bills are rarely fun to pay, the silver lining is leveraging them to earn more credit card points and miles for more free trips!

Leverage planned expenses

Larger, planned expenses can significantly boost your progress toward meeting minimum spend requirements. We take full advantage of these whenever they come up:

Home repairs or renovations - Planning on buying a new fridge? Is your washing machine on its last leg? What about new carpet or new patio furniture that you’ve been saving for?
Car maintenance - Do you know you’ll need new tires at your next inspection? New brakes or rotors? Turn lemons into lemonade by paying for things you need (but aren’t necessarily fun) by earning points and miles to put toward a free trip!
Holiday shopping - Hello, the holidays come around every year. If you put all those purchases on a new card, we bet you’ll hit a new welcome bonus sooner than you thought you would. It’s just about planning ahead, saving up, and spending responsibly.
Miscellaneous travel expenses - While we like using our points and miles for flights and hotels, there are still travel expenses that we pay cash for (things like rental cars, theme park tickets, tours and excursions). If you’re planning a trip and anticipate needing to pay cash for certain expenses, why not turn those expenses into a new welcome bonus for you? More points and miles = more almost free vacations!

When you know you’ll have a big expense coming up, plan ahead by saving up for it, then apply for a new credit card. These big expenses will help inch you toward meeting that minimum spend in no time.

Medical bills

Our family has a high deductible health plan and a corresponding health savings account. It comes with a debit card to pay medical bills, copays, etc. directly out of our health savings account. Instead of using the debit card, we pay our medical bills with whatever credit card we’re meeting a minimum spend on, and then reimburse ourselves from our health savings account. The reimbursement process is simple, so we find it worthwhile to help us meet minimum spends more easily.

Reimbursements

Taking on group expenses and getting reimbursed can also help - assuming no one else in the group is playing the travel hacking game! For example:

Dinner out with friends - Pay the check and have your friends Venmo you afterwards
Group activities or outings - Cover the costs upfront for things like concert and event tickets, then have your friends pay you back
Kids’ sports - Volunteer to pay for the team jerseys or the registration fees, then collect from the other families

Just make sure to earmark the money you’ve collected specifically for your credit card bill. We often schedule an extra credit card payment immediately to cover the expense to ensure the funds don’t get “lost” or accidentally spent on something else.

Conclusion

Our strategy for meeting minimum spends is all about using our credit cards for genuine expenses, i.e. things we would already spend money on. By approaching our genuine expenses a little bit creatively, we find that meeting minimum spend requirements for new credit cards isn’t as difficult as it initially seems.

Before jumping into the world of award travel or signing up for a new credit card, create a budget. Think about your regular monthly expenses and how much you realistically spend. Sign up for a card with a minimum spend that is easily achievable for you and your family. At the same time, consider any big upcoming purchases you’re planning to make and how you could leverage those expenses into meeting a higher minimum spend or perhaps two separate minimum spends.

We’re here if you have any questions!