Help me optimise my spends

[Shubham Mishra]

My monthly spends are as follows
- 35k rent (regalia on billpay)
- 50k advance tax (pay quaterly using IDFC first wealth)
- ~10k UPI (on tata neu infinity - LTF)
- ~10k offline spend (axis ace)
- ~30k online spend (Amex MRCC/ SBI CB).

I planned for international trip in May, considering that I applied for axis atlas (got it approved, not yet arrived). Beside this, I will also be booking 12-15 domestic air tickets as well this year.

Also consider 3-4 lac yearly occassional spends (buying laptop etc), I am relying on SBI CB for them as of now.

Should I use Atlas for rent payment and offline spends?
Is there any further optimisations possible?
Should try to get Infinia? I am elgibile as per salary criteria but Regalia is not good enough to meet spend based criteria.

 

[helloworld]

Atlas is enough for now, if you can redeem those miles within year or as soon as you complete milestones because future is uncertain and if they remove partner options, you'll be in lose.

Should try to get Infinia?
It still good if you can get.

Try Plat. Travel also which helps you Taj Hotel vouchers for your travel.

 

[Shubham Mishra]

Atlas is enough for now, if you can redeem those miles within year or as soon as you complete milestones because future is uncertain and if they remove partner options, you'll be in lose.

Should try to get Infinia?
It still good if you can get.

Try Plat. Travel also which helps you Taj Hotel vouchers for your travel.

I was thinking to transfer them to Club Vistara, where I think we can keep miles for 3 years. Does this seems fine?
Chose club vistara because I am frequent domestic traveller.

 

[sid16]

You can shift rent to Atlas, better reward rate, but it won't be counted in annual milestone. You can shift advance tax to Atlas, will lead you to at least the Gold tier. Also, since you have advance tax, do you also have GST payments? You can use your IDFCFirst Wealth card for that.

 

[Shubham Mishra]

You can shift advance tax to Atlas, will lead you to at least the Gold tier. Also, since you have advance tax, do you also have GST payments? You can use your IDFCFirst Wealth card for that.

No, I do have GST number but don't have to pay any gst.
Does Atlas give rp for advance tax/ govt transaction? I didn't find anything in t&c

 

[sid16]

No, I do have GST number but don't have to pay any gst.
Does Atlas give rp for advance tax/ govt transaction? I didn't find anything in t&c

Yes, I have taken Atlas recently for advance tax only. Maybe it won't last for long. Hoping to complete maximum spends in this quarter in order to reach high Atlas tier before devaluation happens.

 

[Shubham Mishra]

Yes, I have taken Atlas recently for advance tax only. Maybe it won't last for long. Hoping to complete maximum spends in this quarter in order to reach high Atlas tier before devaluation happens.

Today itself I paid 1 lac advance tax with IDFC wealth

 

[sid16]

Today itself I paid 1 lac advance tax with IDFC wealth

IDFCFirst Wealth is not bad, but if you're using it for Advance Tax, try to pay higher amounts in lumpsum. For example, the amount you paid will get you returns of around 2.2%. But say, if you had paid 1.5 lakhs, it would give returns of 2.3%. I know it is small things, but you are paying charges for paying advance tax, if your quarterly outgo is supposed to be 1.5 lakhs, just pay it in one go, at least for IDFCFirst Wealth card because first 30k you get only 6X points (1.5% returns).

 

[Riya]

I too need some help in this regard...

My portfolio is:

1. Amex MRCC
2. HDFC Millenia
3. ICICI Sapphiro, APay, Platinum & Rupay
4. BoB Premier
5. IndusInd Legend & Rupay
6. IDFC Classic
7. Citibank Cashback
8. SBI Cashback
9. Kotak League
10. PNB Platinum
11. One Card
12. Axis MyZone
13. RBL Savemax
14. Yes Bank finbooster

My expenses this year:

1. Utilities ~ 1.6L
2. Insurance ~ 3.3L
3. Education ~ 1.0L
4. Misc expenses ~ 50k

How to maximise the reward rate and what cards to pursue which can offer better returns on these expenses

 

[techt]

I too need some help in this regard...

My portfolio is:

1. Amex MRCC
2. HDFC Millenia
3. ICICI Sapphiro, APay, Platinum & Rupay
4. BoB Premier
5. IndusInd Legend & Rupay
6. IDFC Classic
7. Citibank Cashback
8. SBI Cashback
9. Kotak League
10. PNB Platinum
11. One Card
12. Axis MyZone
13. RBL Savemax
14. Yes Bank finbooster

My expenses this year:

1. Utilities ~ 1.6L
2. Insurance ~ 3.3L
3. Education ~ 1.0L
4. Misc expenses ~ 50k

How to maximise the reward rate and what cards to pursue which can offer better returns on these expenses

Mam,
Wherever possible keep using amazon wallet loaded with agvs bought by sbi cb. This itself covers online purchases to 5%.

Close IDFC classic and get wealth cc for better rewards on govt services like taxes, education.

 

[Riya]

Mam,
Wherever possible keep using amazon wallet loaded with agvs bought by sbi cb. This itself covers online purchases to 5%.

Close IDFC classic and get wealth cc for better rewards on govt services like taxes, education.

IDFC wealth gives how much on taxes and wealth expenses...

 

[techt]

IDFC wealth gives how much on taxes and wealth expenses...

Till 30K of billing period, it rewards 0.75 and 1.5 for offline and online respectively.
Later on its 2.5 irrespective.

For taxes PG charges are ~1%. So subtract it.

 

[samm255]

Wherever possible keep using amazon wallet loaded with agvs bought by sbi cb. This itself covers online purchases to 5%.

She has Amex MRCC so that would more profitable if AGV bought from GYFTR Amex multiplier with 5000x4 transactions per month. It would yield 6-7% with 18k/24k gold collection. @Riya

 

[techt]

She has Amex MRCC so that would more profitable if AGV bought from GYFTR Amex multiplier with 5000x4 transactions per month. It would yield 6-7% with 18k/24k gold collection. @Riya

Correct. She can do this first and sbi cb later.

 

[Riya]

Correct. She can do this first and sbi cb later.

repeatedly doing this wouldn't raise any suspicion that whether card is used for personal or professional purposes...

 

[techt]

repeatedly doing this wouldn't raise any suspicion that whether card is used for personal or professional purposes...

Nope. . 👌

 

[Riya]

She has Amex MRCC so that would more profitable if AGV bought from GYFTR Amex multiplier with 5000x4 transactions per month. It would yield 6-7% with 18k/24k gold collection. @Riya

6-7% return is only possible if we convert them to hotel vouchers... for pure cashback purpose, return peaks at 5%

 

[techt]

6-7% return is only possible if we convert them to hotel vouchers... for pure cashback purpose, return peaks at 5%

I guess Amex gives some Tanishq vouchers for milestone benefits and this may be 6-7%.

 

[Riya]

I guess Amex gives some Tanishq vouchers for milestone benefits and this may be 6-7%.

Yeah but what will 10k get you in a Tanishq showroom 😀

 

[techt]

Yeah but what will 10k get you in a Tanishq showroom 😀

You limiting yourself to 10K for a gold purchase?
Then you are not Riya but Richie Yadav.