The credit cards currently in my wallet

In the world of points and miles earning it is important to do a status check of your credit card situation every so often. This means literally looking in your wallet and seeing what you’ve got in there. I find that over time, with all the cards I’m signing up for, the number of cards in my wallet tends to grow, so I personally need to do some maintenance every couple months just to keep me walking upright!

Whenever I have a credit card with minimum spend that I need to meet, I always make that my first in wallet. Beyond that though is the regular group of cards I keep in there, the list of which, and the reasons why I keep them, is below in the order they are used:

1. Citi Forward for Students – 5 Thank You points per $1 at restaurants/bars (6.65 cents)

As a 20-something in the big city, most of my discretionary spend is going out to eat or drink. This Citi Forward card earns 5x at those places! Thank You points can be used to purchase airfare and other types of travel on Citi’s travel site where they have a value of 1 cent apiece.

I also have the Citi ThankYou Premier, which automatically makes each of my Thank You points worth 1.33 cents (this is about to change to 1.25 cents in October) if I spend them on air travel, even if I earned the Thank You points with another card. So the 5x I earn at restaurants on Citi Forward is really 6.65 points.

This card is technically only available for students, but I know multiple people who have signed up and chosen “Graduate” in the student box and have received this without issue.

No annual fee, so you can keep this card forever!

2. Capital One Spark Cash – 2% cash back on all purchases

For my non-category spend, this card simply cannot be beat. 2% cash back on everything, and it’s a Visa so it’s accepted everywhere. It’s technically a business card but I signed up using my personal social security number as the tax ID and had no problems.

No annual fee the first year, but $59 after that. It’s such a great card I’ll probably just pay it. It’s that awesome.

3. Amex Blue Cash – 3% cash back at grocery stores

The only time I ever use this card is at grocery stores, but it’s valuable there. There is an annual fee version that earns 6% cash back at grocery stores, but I don’t like annual fees.

No annual fee on this one.

4. Amex Platinum

The only spending I do on this card is on car rentals because Amex Platinum has fantastic insurance coverage. The reason I keep this in my wallet though is for the lounge access, which I can get at American, Delta, and US Airways lounges on the day I travel (regardless of who I’m flying).

No annual fee the first year via the Ameriprise link, but $450 thereafter.