Changes

*##If you do this you can put the cash in something like a High Yield Savings account (I use [https://www.marcusinvestopedia.com/usarticles/pf/09/en Marcus by Goldman Sachs] which currently provides high-yield-savings-account.asp High Yield Savings accounts with a 2.05% APYAccount]. This means you earn a little bit of interest on the money in the account. Now you are earning interest on the cashback that is sitting around waiting to be used. As of the 2022-01-18, High Yield Savings accounts are offering approximately 0.5% APY.*##Some of these cards only offer cashback as a statement credit. If you save up the rewards and can only redeem for a statement credit, you can't really "use" the money immediately unless you charge your new expense to that card. If you take the statement credit and then move the equivalent amount from your checking to your High Yield Savings it essentially gives you access to those funds.

This card The 6% on grocery stores is only good for [https://www.americanexpress.com/us/rewards-info/retail.html stores categorized as "supermarkets." ] This does not include big box stores liked Target & Walmart or warehouse clubs like Sam's and Costco.

Purchases of streaming services do not count toward your $6,000 grocery store cap. The [https://www.americanexpress.com/us/rewards-info/retail.html eligible streaming services ] include:

===[https://www.uber.com/c/uber-credit-card/ <s>Uber Visa Card</s>]Wells Fargo Propel Amex===Uber just changed their card entirely and it's basically garbage now. I'll most likely be replacing this with the Wells Fargo Propel Amex.<s>This card is, essentially a dining and travel card. It provides:

*No foreign transaction fee</s>

===[https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Amazon&i=financial Amazon Cards]=== ====Bottom Line====*If you spend over $5,950/year at Amazon you'll make more money with a 5% card and a [https://www.amazon.com/amazonprime Prime membership] plus you'll get [https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200444160 Prime benefits]. You should pay for the $119 Prime membership and use a 5% card ([https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Rewards-Visa-Signature-Card/dp/BT00LN946S Amazon Prime Rewards Card] or [https://www.amazon.com/Synchrony-Bank-Amazon-com-Store-Card/dp/B008A0GNA8 Amazon Prime Store Card]).*If you spend less than $5,950/year at Amazon and you kinda like the Prime membership benefits, then you have to decide if the "discounted" Prime membership is worth it (see below).**I considered myself someone who wasn't in a rush to receive shipments and didn't value the Prime benefits too much. After cancelling my Prime membership and experiencing a couple orders that took 10 days to arrive I changed my tune a bit. It turns out that 2-day ship can be really beneficial when you're buying things for babies or active projects. As a result I reevaluated the value of 2-day shipping and reinstated my Prime membership.*If you don't value the Prime membership benefits and you spend less than $5,950/year at Amazon then you should go with the 3% [https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Rewards-Visa -Signature -Card/dp/B007URFTYI Amazon Rewards Card]and skip the Prime membership.*Don't be afraid to try out a Prime-less lifestyle. It is easy to cancel, easy to restart AND Amazon gave me $5 after I placed my first Prime eligible order after turning my account back on. ====Overview====Requires Amazon Prime currently costs $119/year. It comes with a [https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200444160 host of benefits] including free & fast shipping, a video streaming service, and a music streaming service. However you can also get free shipping at Amazon by ensuring your total order value is more than $35 (although the shipping speed will not be as fast). Therefore, whether or not Prime is of value to you depends on how important fast shipping is, whether or not you'll use their streaming services, and how much you spend per year at Amazon. If your goal is to maximize the amount of money in your pocket then you have 3 basic choices:*Don't pay for an Amazon Prime accountAccount and get 3% cashback with the [https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Rewards-Visa-Signature-Card/dp/B007URFTYI Amazon Rewards Card]*Pay for an Amazon Prime Account and get 5% cashback with the [https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Rewards-Visa-Signature-Card/dp/BT00LN946S Amazon Prime Rewards Card]*Pay for an Amazon Prime Account and get 5% cashback & 0% financing on large purchases with the [https://www.amazon.com/Synchrony-Bank-Amazon-com-Store-Card/dp/B008A0GNA8 Amazon Prime Store Card] ====Calculating Cashback====[[File:3vs5.png|right]] To help you make this decision I've calculated a few values including the "break even point" to go from the 3% card to a 5% card. Lets assume for a moment that you don't value the shipping and streaming benefits of Prime but are interested in maximizing cash in your pocket. Since the Prime membership costs $119/year you start out at a $119 deficit in cashback when using the 5% card. To get more cashback with the 5% card than with the 3% card you'll have to spend $5,950 per year at Amazon. If you spend less than this, the 3% card gives you more cash in your pocket. Now if you spend a lot at Amazon, but not quite $5,950, you can consider the delta to be a "discounted" Prime membership. For example, if you spent $4,000 at Amazon in a year you'd make $120 cashback with the 3% card or $200 cashback - $119 Prime = $81 with the 5% card. So at this point the Prime membership is "costing" you $120 - $81 = $39. Perhaps $39 is worth it for Prime membership benefits. It providesSee the graph to the right for a visual representation of the cash benefits of the 3% card vs the 5% card for various yearly spend totals.  To help you figure out how much you spend at Amazon in a year you can go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/b2b/reports and download your entire Amazon purchase history as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values CSV] file (that can be opened in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Excel Microsoft Excel] or the entirely free [https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/calc/ LibreOffice Calc]). ====Example Cases====Here are a couple example cases to help you understand whether or not you want to Amazon Prime.*'''Money Spent:''' How much you spend at Amazon in a year*'''5% Card/Prime:''' How much cashback you earn in a year with a 5% card (after paying for your $119 Prime membership)*'''3% Card/No Prime:''' How much cashback you earn in a year with a 3% card (no Prime membership)*'''Effective Cost of Prime:''' How much your Prime membership is costing you as compared to having a 3% card without the $119 yearly Prime membership fee{| class="wikitable"!Money Spent!5% Card/Prime!3% Card/No Prime!Effective Cost of Prime|-|$1,000|<nowiki>-</nowiki>$69|$30|$99|-|$2,000|<nowiki>-</nowiki>$19|$60|$79|-|$3,000|$31|$90|$59|-|$4,000|$81|$120|$39|-|$5,000|$131|$150|$19|-|$6,000|$181|$180| style="background:green;"| -$1|-|$7,000|$231|$210| style="background:green;"| -$21|} ====Card Features==== Both the [https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Rewards-Visa-Signature-Card/dp/B007URFTYI Amazon Rewards Card] and the [https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Rewards-Visa-Signature-Card/dp/BT00LN946S Amazon Prime Rewards Card] provide:*3% / 5% cashback on everything you buy at Amazon*3% / 5% cashback on everything you buy at Whole Foods*2% cashback at gas stations, restaurants, and drug stores*1% cashback on all other purchases*No yearly fee(except the Prime membership for the 5% version)

If you only get the card for the first year (and are able to spend the $4,000 in the first 3 months with $300+ on travel) then you'll end up with, at least, $350, 5 years of TSA Precheck or Global Entry, and 1 year's access to Priority Pass Lounges"for free". [[Category:Finances]]