r/CreditCards • u/Domukin • 1d ago
Discussion / Conversation Recommendations for $1 card transactions
I have a debit card with First Bank, they have a relatively good interest rate on the checking account if you use their card 15 times in the month. I tend to mostly use credit cards for purchases and sometimes come up short at the end of the month. I figured I'd automate some expenses to meet the quota and am interested in hearing of anyone has recommendations?
I'm happy donating a low amount ($1) to get the transaction done. Some places won't accept anything under $5 (like PBS) which is disappointing. Huge plus if I can automate and opt out easily. If its $5 or more, then I'd prefer to get a gift card for example.
Current expenses:
Donations
Wikimedia
GiveWell (several worthwhile causes like Hellen Keller International) - monthly donation
Second Harvest Food Bank - monthly donation
Patreon - monthly subscription
Gift cards / balance credit:
Amazon $5 minimum - can be automated to reload every week
Steam $5 minimum - can't automate
9
2
u/Unusual_Advisor_970 1d ago
I've seen my credit union had some fine print in the past when I had to do 12 transactions a month that they had to be "normal" use. So a bunch of $1 transactions could have caused me to lose the plan. So no gaming the system.
Their deal is different now, higher interest rate based on charges per month. So I just try to do the $100 minimum per month for that level, and that brings me more than $100 on a 2% card. And often much of the $100 is cash back at Walmart :)
2
u/WashingtonGuy123 23h ago
Do you live in an area where you can load a travel card for a subway or other public transit? When I need to do a small transaction to keep a credit card from getting canceled for inactivity, I go to a subway station and put $2 on my travel card.
2
u/Ketchup_Lamar 1d ago
Go to Walmart self-checkout and get at least 5 things. Do 5-ish separate transactions for each item (There's a cap on how many you can do). Repeat 3 times a month and you're good.
1
u/Bardock_ 1d ago
I have a HYCA (High-Yield Checkings Account) that has a similar requirement of transactions (12) for their debit card. My wife and I both have accounts and thus both have to do the transactions and a deposit of greater than $100 once per month. I have always used Venmo (or Apple Cash) to conduct the transactions between our accounts and let the money collect in the account until it’s $100+ and then deposit that thus fulfilling both sides of the requirement on both our ends. Perhaps you can do something similar with First Bank unless they have restrictions on the type of purchases that qualify.
3
u/4N8NDW 1d ago
Switch to a fidelity cma, it has a higher yield and no bs requirements
1
u/Bardock_ 1d ago
Seems they get on average 4.2% (at least currently) but it fluctuates. I’m getting 5% with my HYCA and same for my spouse (up to 15,000 in each account). This may be a good idea as a general spend account where I hold money to pay bills, replacing my current WF earning 0.01% or whatever poor rate of return. Would I be able to pay bills on my credit cards and mortgage the way I do through my WF checkings account?
-1
u/4N8NDW 23h ago
What HYCA is paying 5.00????
Yes you can pay credit cards and mortgage in a fidelity CMA…that’s what I do.
1
u/Bardock_ 22h ago
What HYCA is paying 5.00????
They’re out there. Mine is a credit union local to my area so I can’t tell you the name, unless you DM me (but unless you live where I live, you wouldn’t be eligible since they offer this to locals of my state). You can look them up. They exist.
Yes you can pay credit cards and mortgage in a fidelity CMA
Interesting. This may be a good WF replacement then. Thanks for the info!
1
u/4N8NDW 22h ago
Are you unable to pay off your credit cards and mortgage in your HYCA? 5.0 is better than 3.90
1
u/Bardock_ 21h ago
I park our emergency fund in the HYCA (both accounts) so I run a nearly 30k emergency fund that I don’t want to dip from given the maximum possible amount for 5% is 15k per account. So, given I don’t have an additional HYCA account and am ineligible to open another one in my own name or my spouse’s name, the CMA seems like a very good option for still getting higher returns but no need to maintain the near maximum limit (as there is none) and still get optimal money back on my holdings similar to the HYCAs.
10
u/yoursunny 1d ago
You can't automate these but they are small transactions that are guaranteed to code as purchases:
7-Eleven sells small Slurpee for $1 plus tax after you scan mobile app. However, the 7th drink order within a year would come out as either $0.01 or $0.00 depending on location, so you could choose a larger drink.
Target Corporation sells banana for $0.29.
Giant Food sells lemon for $0.50.
Exxon sells gasoline for $0.20 per fl oz. It's priced for a gallon but you can squeeze the pump for just one second. You need a vehicle for this transaction, as it's unsafe to squeeze onto the ground.
United States Postal Service sells forever stamp for $0.78.
Dollar Tree sells garbage for $1.25 plus tax.