Just got a rewards CC.. what are the best ways to get to your intro rewards goal?

Pretty much everything, daycare/school and any charitable donations could be big charges.

How much do you need to charge? I bet you can naturally get there if you only use this card so don’t go on a spending spree lol.

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with all the cc fees I don’t see the attraction to their use any longer.

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Yeah, the fees cancel out the benefit unless you're just looking to get a monster one time spending bonus.

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You can also contribute large sums to a START account using a credit card.

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My bank allows me to purchase CDs with CC and doesn't charge fee. If CDs are part of your portfolio, may want to look into this. Between the interest and rewards, these CDs provide some of my best returns.

I pay most things that do not have a fee for using card. Insurance helped me meet my spending limits when I got my cards.

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The credit card issuer doesn’t treat this as a cash advance? And I’m guessing that you have cash in reserve to pay off the CD purchase on the card by the next billing statement?

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They do not. I purchase the CD on the first day of the statement period. I'm not paying off that purchase for another 60 days.

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Get married?

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That's all I'd have to do. Add the wife as an authorized user

You should have come here BEFORE getting your card. I am now part of a community that talks about accumulating points. We had a bathroom renovation and another decent big spend this year plus our regular spending. We have accumulated 400k Amex and about 600k Chase points. I am pretty good but but not great at doing this as well

Pulled my house out of escrow so I could pay property taxes and home insurance myself.

Sure, there's a fee on the property tax side (outside of some potential workarounds), but if I get 2cpp I'm pretty much even ir slightly ahead. If you count the fact I'm also getting interest on the money all year before payment, I'm ahead of where I was before being out of escrow.

I accept the tradeoff (vs just accumulating interest and paying cash)because 10,000 or 30,000 points here or there can be the difference between having a redemption or not. Or having status (that I actually use).

I've also paid energy bills way in advance, especially 4th quarter when Chase does 5x PayPal. My provider accepts PayPal so I end up not having an electric bill for half the year as it whittles down my "deposit."

Daycare accepting CCs is clutch. Buying GCs strategically is good as well.

Some methods I don't have the time or energy for at the moment.

The problem is people call travel rewards "free trips." It isn't. It's either heavily discounted in some way, for example you paid $100 all in with CC fees included for something you would have bought for $300, OR you use points to upgrade your enjoyment of the trip.

I fall in the latter category many times. I'm probably still technically saving a ton, but I'm also shifting money that would have gone to the hotel to more fun stuff or nicer restaurants, etc. I'm very aware of that and don't pretend otherwise.

You don’t have to pull your house out of escrow to pay insurance. I just pay the policy early and mortgage company sends me a refund.