Welcome! When I started this journey, I was also a low effort gal, so you are my peeps =) And the great news is that you can actually do a lot with minimal effort as long as you meet these 3 requirements:
1. In order to get approved for these credit cards, you have to have a pretty high credit score. I'm talking like 700 or above. There are a bunch of different ways to check your credit score, maybe your bank does it (like BOA) or if you already have a credit card, sometimes you can get it there. The easiest way that I know of is through one of the credit bureaus, Experian. You can sign up for free and get your credit report and credit score. So go check your score really quick!
If your score is above 700, click here.
If your score is below 700, this is going to require more than low effort...so if
that is okay with you then go back and select a new level on the effort scale
Awesome news! You can move on to requirement 2:
2. Some of these credit cards have annual fees, meaning that you pay a small amount (usually $49-$99) each year. The perks from the card and your ability to use points instead of $$ on flights and hotels will way exceed any of the fees but you will need to pay most of them up front. After you have a card for 1 year, you can downgrade it to a $0 annual fee card so you will only have to pay the fee that first year. Are you able to spend ~$200 getting these credit cards, knowing that you will be receiving thousands of dollars in travel?
If so, click here to move onto the last requirement.
Yay! Last requirement:
3. You need to spend ~$1000-2000/month on stuff that can be charged to a credit card and paid off on time. Why? Because the easiest way to get credit card points is to earn the Credit Card Bonus Sign-Up Points! [Also called SUB which stands for sign-up bonus].
What does this mean? A lot of credit card companies want you to sign up for their particular card, like a Chase card or an American Express card. So they offer these bonuses to entice people. These offers are usually around 50,000 to 100,000 "points" (or miles, depending on the card - more on this later). To get these points, you have to spend a certain amount of money on that credit card in a certain amount of time, which for most credit cards is about $3000-$4000 in 3-4 months. Is that doable for you? Take a look at your current spending and see. Make sure you can pay off everything on time at the end of each billing cycle - just put it on auto-pay so you never forget.
If this would be pretty challenging for you, this is going to require more than
low effort (sorry!!) probably moderate or high, so go back to the effort scale
and select a different level.
If this is totally doable for you, click here.
If you are starting to freak out about how this may affect your credit (hint: it won't!), click here.
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