“Stick with the card that rewards you well!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Slice of life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In 2011, I was living in the suburbs of Pennsylvania. I drove my car a lot to work and to meet friends in Philly. I love cooking and so I did a lot of grocery shopping at the ACME supermarket close to my apt. After rent and car payments, groceries and gas were the next heavy hitters. The card that I carried gave me just 1% cash back on all purchases which was not enough. I wanted a card that gave me more returns for my gas and grocery expenses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I looked up and compared different cards online in the grocery and gas rewards category. There were two cards that stood out – Amex Blue Cash Everyday<\/strong> (no annual fee but lower rewards) and Amex<\/strong> Blue Cash Preferred<\/strong> (annual fee but higher rewards). I fired up Excel, put in my expenses and calculated the cash back that I would receive with each of these cards. Even with the annual fee, I was making more cash back with Amex Preferred and so I went with it. For others with less expenses, the Cash Everyday will serve just fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rewards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases. After that it\u2019s 1%
6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions
3% cash back at U.S. gas stations
3% cash back on transit (ex: taxis, rideshare, trains, buses, parking, tolls)
1% cash back on other purchases<\/p>\n\n\n\nFor more details on rewards please visit: Blue Cash Preferred\u00ae Card from American Express<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
How I use Amex Blue Preferred<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nSupermarkets (6% back):<\/strong> Every time I shop at Aldi, Stop & Shop and ShopRite which are the closest supermarkets where I live in NJ. If I need to make a big purchase at Lowes or Home Depot, I first buy a gift card of say $100 which will then return 6% ($6) cash back. If I plan to dine at Olive Garden, I first get a gift card and then use it at the restaurant thereby saving 6%. Same thing with the rest of the gift cards. This way I can extend the 6% reward category to other categories that normally return much less % in rewards. Note: The 6% supermarket category does not include superstores like Walmart and Target as well as wholesale stores like BJs and Costco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Streaming (6% back): <\/strong>My Netflix and Prime memberships cost me 6% less thanks to Blue Preferred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gas Stations (3% back):<\/strong> When I\u2019m refueling at any gas station. Also, if I buy anything at the gas station store ex: coffee, soda or a hoagie at Wawa, I still get back 3% back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Transit (3% back): <\/strong>When I use Uber, Lyft, taxi, bus, metro, garage parking, EZPass<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Who can benefit?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The American Express Blue Cash Preferred<\/strong><\/a> card is a great for families making significant expenses in the categories that I listed above. It carries an annual fee of $95 but that can be recovered very easily if you\u2019re just making approx. $32 in supermarket purchases every week. This card has been in my wallet since 2011 and it’ll continue to live there for years to come!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"