I do love the American Express Blue Cash card.  I’ve had mine for 1 year, and automatically received a $194 credit on this month’s statement.  My yearly spending was $13,042, and I averaged 1.48% of that as cash back.  I’ve never had a reward card before, so that’s $194 more in my pocket than last year.

Reward cards can be tricky, because they entice you to spend, but I was careful.  I use the card instead of cash, pay all my bills with it (except rent); I don’t feel I overspent.  The drawback of the card is that you get only 1% back on the first $6,500 you spend in the year.  After that, you get 5% on drugstore and grocery purchases only, and 1.5% on everything else.

Clearly, I’d get bigger rewards with the Chase Freedom Card.  The card touts 3% cash back on your top 3 spending categories every month, and they don’t have the $6,500 “waiting period” like AmEx Blue.  I plan to switch cards, but am contemplating buying real estate, and don’t want my credit report pulled (it lowers your score).

Until then, I’m happy as a clam with my AmEx!