Which cards to use for my spendings (~4L)

[newIntern]

Based on my last fiscal year purchases, I have created this estimate, now I need help in planning out which cards & platforms I should use to maximize the cashback & rewards on my transactions. I have already gone through a lot of posts here on forum & videos on TF youtube channel and have created a basic plan, need feedback from you guys to improve my plan & maximize rewards

Cards I own:

Credit Cards

1. ICICI Amazon
2. HDFC Millennia
3. HDFC Tata Nue Plus
4. OneCard
5. ICICI Platinum
6. Axis Neo
7. IDFC First Select
8. Indusand Legend
9. RBL paisa bazaar Duet card
10. ICICI Coral Rupay card

Debit Cards

1. Kotak Visa Debit card
2. Indusand Mastercard Debit card
3. ICICI Visa Debit card
4. SBI Rupay Debit card
5. Canara Rupay Debit card

Plan:

Category	Payment Method	Expected Rewards, paid through platform & comments
Online shopping (Amazon, myntra, Flipkart & Ajio)	HDFC Millennia	5%, direct on ecommerce website
Life & Health Insurance	ICICI Amazon	1%, Insurance company website
Other	Nue Plus or normal UPI	1.5% or nil, direct purchase
Miscellaneous Visa/master (Kirana, cafe, any offline purchase)	ICICI Amazon	1%, direct purchase
Food (online) (zomato, swiggy, eatsure, MacD App, Lapinoz App, Dominos App)	HDFC Millennia(select patner) or Amazon ICICI (other third party apps)	5% (select patner) or 1% (direct purchase)
Food (offline)	ICICI Amazon or Nue Plus	1% or 1.5%
Dmart, Relience Fresh	ICICI Amazon	1%
Elecricity Bill	Amazon giftcard	5%, purchased on amazon using HDFC milennia
Hotel Booking	ICICI amazon	1%, using makeMyTrip & other platforms
Miscellaneous Rupay (Kirana, cafe, any offline purchase)	Nue Plus or ICICI Amazon	1.5 or 1%
Train Booking	ICICI Amazon	1%, IRCTC website
Gas Cylinder	Amazon giftcard	5%, purchased on amazon using HDFC milennia
Online Services - Jio Fiber	ICICI Amazon	1%, using Jio mobile app
Mobile Recharge (Jio & BSNL)	Amazon giftcard	5%, purchased on amazon using HDFC milennia
Tax (property & water)	ICICI Amazon	1%, directly through Govt website
Petrol	ICICI Amazon	0%
Online Services - Chatgpt	OneCard	-1% (forex fee), openAI platform, Onecard has lowest forex I think
Flight Booking	ICICI Amazon	1%, any flight booking platform
Airtel d2h	ICICI Amazon	1%, using Airtel Thanks app
Online Services - Yt Premium	playstore gift card	5%, purchased on amazon using HDFC milennia

Please give me your feedback & help me improve my plan, All CC are LTF. All debit cards have their annual 200-300 maintenance fee.

 

[karuturi24]

Apply HSBC Cashback Card, you will get flat 10% cashback upto 1000 on food delivery apps, groceries (both online and offline ) and dining
On remaining spends you will get flat 1.5% unlimited cashback.
There are some exclusions as well like govt payments, wallet loads, jewellery etc..

 

[harshgupta940]

Based on my last fiscal year purchases, I have created this estimate, now I need help in planning out which cards & platforms I should use to maximize the cashback & rewards on my transactions. I have already gone through a lot of posts here on forum & videos on TF youtube channel and have created a basic plan, need feedback from you guys to improve my plan & maximize rewards

Cards I own:

Credit Cards

1. ICICI Amazon
2. HDFC Millennia
3. HDFC Tata Nue Plus
4. OneCard
5. ICICI Platinum
6. Axis Neo
7. IDFC First Select
8. Indusand Legend
9. RBL paisa bazaar Duet card
10. ICICI Coral Rupay card

Debit Cards

1. Kotak Visa Debit card
2. Indusand Mastercard Debit card
3. ICICI Visa Debit card
4. SBI Rupay Debit card
5. Canara Rupay Debit card

Plan:

Category	Payment Method	Expected Rewards, paid through platform & comments
Online shopping (Amazon, myntra, Flipkart & Ajio)	HDFC Millennia	5%, direct on ecommerce website
Life & Health Insurance	ICICI Amazon	1%, Insurance company website
Other	Nue Plus or normal UPI	1.5% or nil, direct purchase
Miscellaneous Visa/master (Kirana, cafe, any offline purchase)	ICICI Amazon	1%, direct purchase
Food (online) (zomato, swiggy, eatsure, MacD App, Lapinoz App, Dominos App)	HDFC Millennia(select patner) or Amazon ICICI (other third party apps)	5% (select patner) or 1% (direct purchase)
Food (offline)	ICICI Amazon or Nue Plus	1% or 1.5%
Dmart, Relience Fresh	ICICI Amazon	1%
Elecricity Bill	Amazon giftcard	5%, purchased on amazon using HDFC milennia
Hotel Booking	ICICI amazon	1%, using makeMyTrip & other platforms
Miscellaneous Rupay (Kirana, cafe, any offline purchase)	Nue Plus or ICICI Amazon	1.5 or 1%
Train Booking	ICICI Amazon	1%, IRCTC website
Gas Cylinder	Amazon giftcard	5%, purchased on amazon using HDFC milennia
Online Services - Jio Fiber	ICICI Amazon	1%, using Jio mobile app
Mobile Recharge (Jio & BSNL)	Amazon giftcard	5%, purchased on amazon using HDFC milennia
Tax (property & water)	ICICI Amazon	1%, directly through Govt website
Petrol	ICICI Amazon	0%
Online Services - Chatgpt	OneCard	-1% (forex fee), openAI platform, Onecard has lowest forex I think
Flight Booking	ICICI Amazon	1%, any flight booking platform
Airtel d2h	ICICI Amazon	1%, using Airtel Thanks app
Online Services - Yt Premium	playstore gift card	5%, purchased on amazon using HDFC milennia

Please give me your feedback & help me improve my plan, All CC are LTF. All debit cards have their annual 200-300 maintenance fee.

Apply for HSBC Cashback for Food Delivery & Groceries anywhere (Zomato, Swiggy, Dmart etc.) this will save you 500-700 bucks per month easily on these categories.
Also you will get 1.5% on categories except Govt. payment, fuel, education etc.
Here is how I got it

Apply for Airtel Bank Axis Credit Card for Utility Payments & Airtel Bill Payments/Recharges this will save you 250-300 rs per month. Won't suggest it for using on Zomato/Swiggy as I personally hold the card and I never get 10% on them automatically I have to always ask the Customer Care and they also delay it and then I loose track of it. But you can get 10% on Bigbasket. If you don't want Airtel Axis then Axis Neo is also good.

Apply for any Super Premium card like Hdfc DCB if possible for Flight/Hotel Booking and Insurance. This will be great for you looking at your top Spends are at Online Shopping which you can do using GVs from SmartBuy, Insurance will give you 3.33% & Flight/Hotel Booking will give you chances to easily redeem these points and earn good on them. Also on any other spends you will get 3.33% valueback.

But If you are not able to get HDFC DCB then you can use HDFC Millenia and make amazon pay gv from SmartBuy to pay your insurance and this will give to effectively 2-3% after deduction of all the charges.

You do not have any fuel spends so I won't recommend on getting any fuel cc but you can still get an ICICI/IDFC Fastag which you can connect to HP Pay and load it using Amazon Pay Wallet on which you earn 2-3% further deduction of apay load charges of 1.18% and addition of 1% Happy Coins then you will get some reward on your fuel spent also.

In summary it would be great if you explore some super premium credit card or even Amex MRCC is a good option as you can make Amazon GVs and also complete the milestone on it. But Hdfc DCB would be my suggestion if you get it.

 

[real_name_hidden]

Great analysis on your spend.
I don't have that much clarity on how my spends are. LoL

You should get Airtel axis for your dth and utility. It also gives 10% on other mobile recharge (as per other TF members, not personally verified). It also has 10% off on swiggy, zomato and BB.

Use neo for 5% CB on Amazon pay for mobile recharge (once per month).

For online shopping and eateries like domino's, see if you can get vouchers with smartbuy at lesser price and use them.

Use Amazon gc to pay insurance

 

[ccdc]

wow...you did great research....how many bucks will you end up earning/saving coz of this research?

 

[diptarkaroy]

Based on my last fiscal year purchases, I have created this estimate, now I need help in planning out which cards & platforms I should use to maximize the cashback & rewards on my transactions. I have already gone through a lot of posts here on forum & videos on TF youtube channel and have created a basic plan, need feedback from you guys to improve my plan & maximize rewards

Cards I own:

Credit Cards

1. ICICI Amazon
2. HDFC Millennia
3. HDFC Tata Nue Plus
4. OneCard
5. ICICI Platinum
6. Axis Neo
7. IDFC First Select
8. Indusand Legend
9. RBL paisa bazaar Duet card
10. ICICI Coral Rupay card

Debit Cards

1. Kotak Visa Debit card
2. Indusand Mastercard Debit card
3. ICICI Visa Debit card
4. SBI Rupay Debit card
5. Canara Rupay Debit card

Plan:

Category	Payment Method	Expected Rewards, paid through platform & comments
Online shopping (Amazon, myntra, Flipkart & Ajio)	HDFC Millennia	5%, direct on ecommerce website
Life & Health Insurance	ICICI Amazon	1%, Insurance company website
Other	Nue Plus or normal UPI	1.5% or nil, direct purchase
Miscellaneous Visa/master (Kirana, cafe, any offline purchase)	ICICI Amazon	1%, direct purchase
Food (online) (zomato, swiggy, eatsure, MacD App, Lapinoz App, Dominos App)	HDFC Millennia(select patner) or Amazon ICICI (other third party apps)	5% (select patner) or 1% (direct purchase)
Food (offline)	ICICI Amazon or Nue Plus	1% or 1.5%
Dmart, Relience Fresh	ICICI Amazon	1%
Elecricity Bill	Amazon giftcard	5%, purchased on amazon using HDFC milennia
Hotel Booking	ICICI amazon	1%, using makeMyTrip & other platforms
Miscellaneous Rupay (Kirana, cafe, any offline purchase)	Nue Plus or ICICI Amazon	1.5 or 1%
Train Booking	ICICI Amazon	1%, IRCTC website
Gas Cylinder	Amazon giftcard	5%, purchased on amazon using HDFC milennia
Online Services - Jio Fiber	ICICI Amazon	1%, using Jio mobile app
Mobile Recharge (Jio & BSNL)	Amazon giftcard	5%, purchased on amazon using HDFC milennia
Tax (property & water)	ICICI Amazon	1%, directly through Govt website
Petrol	ICICI Amazon	0%
Online Services - Chatgpt	OneCard	-1% (forex fee), openAI platform, Onecard has lowest forex I think
Flight Booking	ICICI Amazon	1%, any flight booking platform
Airtel d2h	ICICI Amazon	1%, using Airtel Thanks app
Online Services - Yt Premium	playstore gift card	5%, purchased on amazon using HDFC milennia

Please give me your feedback & help me improve my plan, All CC are LTF. All debit cards have their annual 200-300 maintenance fee.

That’s one of the best and detailed analysis I have even seen on self finance…. Kudos to you man!!!!

I wish I could track my spends like that

 

[newIntern]

wow...you did great research....how many bucks will you end up earning/saving coz of this research?

10-12K annually maybe.. cant say for sure, I am still new to this CC game

 

[newIntern]

That’s one of the best and detailed analysis I have even seen on self finance…. Kudos to you man!!!!

I wish I could track my spends like that

Thank you, this is third iteration of my google sheet, planning to make it more granular for better tracking and decision making

 

[Riya]

10-12K annually maybe.. cant say for sure, I am still new to this CC game

So acc to your calculations, you'll end up saving around 2.5-3% with this strategy

So better take axis Ace for other kind of offline spends.. it gives 2% flat and upto 500 on utility bills too

Also use APay for insurance, since the amount isn't that big you can accumulate gift cards from HDFC Millenia or Amex mrcc/gold card and then pay... It'll give you minimum 5% return...

And for other online payments, take SBI cashback card, flat 5% return...
In the rnd you'll have to use and manage only 3-4 cards with almost twice the returns yiu were getting earlier

 

[Nishan11]

Kudos to your research.

I have a question. One card is good to have ?

 

[newIntern]

So acc to your calculations, you'll end up saving around 2.5-3% with this strategy

So better take axis Ace for other kind of offline spends.. it gives 2% flat and upto 500 on utility bills too

Also use APay for insurance, since the amount isn't that big you can accumulate gift cards from HDFC Millenia or Amex mrcc/gold card and then pay... It'll give you minimum 5% return...

And for other online payments, take SBI cashback card, flat 5% return...
In the rnd you'll have to use and manage only 3-4 cards with almost twice the returns yiu were getting earlier

Thank you for your suggestion. I am looking into axis Ace, SBI cashback, HSBC cashback, Kotak Myntra, HDFC swiggy (maybe because of Nue Plus i cant apply for this), & Axis airtel.

 

[real_name_hidden]

So acc to your calculations, you'll end up saving around 2.5-3% with this strategy

So better take axis Ace for other kind of offline spends.. it gives 2% flat and upto 500 on utility bills too

Also use APay for insurance, since the amount isn't that big you can accumulate gift cards from HDFC Millenia or Amex mrcc/gold card and then pay... It'll give you minimum 5% return...

And for other online payments, take SBI cashback card, flat 5% return...
In the rnd you'll have to use and manage only 3-4 cards with almost twice the returns yiu were getting earlier

Ace has 1.5% CB on offline spends after devaluation

 

[shivamk]

So better take axis Ace for other kind of offline spends.. it gives 2% flat and upto 500 on utility bills too

Isn't it 1.5% now?

 

[newIntern]

Kudos to your research.

I have a question. One card is good to have ?

I just use it for my international payment (ChatGPT), the forex charge is 1%, and it is lowest in the cards I currently have.

There are definitely cards which have lower or even no forex fee. but it was LTF and I was getting metal variant without any FD or anything, so i just took it

 

[imdjay]

I just use it for my international payment (ChatGPT), the forex charge is 1%, and it is lowest in the cards I currently have.

There are definitely cards which have lower or even no forex fee. but it was LTF and I was getting metal variant without any FD or anything, so i just took it

with SBI CB you can get 5% cashback minus forex charges.

 

[Riya]

My bad ...
It's 1.5% now... But still not bad for offline transactions...

 

[newIntern]

with SBI CB you can get 5% cashback minus forex charges.

Is Cashback applicable on SBI Cashback card for online international transactions? Tried & tested by anyone?

Does SBI Cashback Credit card provides 5 percent cashback on online international transactions? Did anyone try & test it?

www.technofino.in

so 0.87% cashback, hmmm
its better than nothing, thank you for your help

 

[newIntern]

Apply for HSBC Cashback for Food Delivery & Groceries anywhere (Zomato, Swiggy, Dmart etc.) this will save you 500-700 bucks per month easily on these categories.
Also you will get 1.5% on categories except Govt. payment, fuel, education etc.
Here is how I got it

Apply for Airtel Bank Axis Credit Card for Utility Payments & Airtel Bill Payments/Recharges this will save you 250-300 rs per month. Won't suggest it for using on Zomato/Swiggy as I personally hold the card and I never get 10% on them automatically I have to always ask the Customer Care and they also delay it and then I loose track of it. But you can get 10% on Bigbasket. If you don't want Airtel Axis then Axis Neo is also good.

Apply for any Super Premium card like Hdfc DCB if possible for Flight/Hotel Booking and Insurance. This will be great for you looking at your top Spends are at Online Shopping which you can do using GVs from SmartBuy, Insurance will give you 3.33% & Flight/Hotel Booking will give you chances to easily redeem these points and earn good on them. Also on any other spends you will get 3.33% valueback.

But If you are not able to get HDFC DCB then you can use HDFC Millenia and make amazon pay gv from SmartBuy to pay your insurance and this will give to effectively 2-3% after deduction of all the charges.

You do not have any fuel spends so I won't recommend on getting any fuel cc but you can still get an ICICI/IDFC Fastag which you can connect to HP Pay and load it using Amazon Pay Wallet on which you earn 2-3% further deduction of apay load charges of 1.18% and addition of 1% Happy Coins then you will get some reward on your fuel spent also.

In summary it would be great if you explore some super premium credit card or even Amex MRCC is a good option as you can make Amazon GVs and also complete the milestone on it. But Hdfc DCB would be my suggestion if you get it.

Thank you soo much man, your reply is very detailed one & helped me a lot.

 

[helloworld]

Cards I own:

Credit Cards

1. ICICI Amazon
2. HDFC Millennia
3. HDFC Tata Nue Plus
4. OneCard
5. ICICI Platinum
6. Axis Neo
7. IDFC First Select
8. Indusand Legend
9. RBL paisa bazaar Duet card
10. ICICI Coral Rupay card

with existing cards:

Online Shopping: 60k = HDFC Millennia = 5% = 3000
Insurance/Bills: 130k = HDFC Millennia = 1%+1% = 2600
Offline/Other/Food(Offline): 84.5k = HDFC Millennia = 1%+1% = 1690
Food(Online): 22k = HDFC Millennia = 5% = 1100
Hotel/Flight Booking: 30k = HDFC Millennia = 5% (-1% on fee variance) = 1500
DMart/Fresh(Groceries - Offline): 30k = HDFC Millennia = 1%+1% = 600
Train Booking (except Tatkal): 20k = HDFC Millennia = 5% = 1000
Rupay: 20k = HDFC TataNue Plus = 1% = 200
Dont Remember: 3.5K = HDFC Millennia = 1%+1% = 70

4L = 11,750/- Cashback = 2.93%


----

Few points (IMO):

HSBC Cashback: 10% on Food & Grocery - Need 2L to waive the annual fee but your spends only 60k = 4820 incl. fee (difference compared to 2500/- so if needed consider this card). so, +2500 (w/fee)

Note: APay 2% on bills = HDFC Millennia 1% + 1% on milestone. // with your spends airtel card not much beneficial, so ignore it.

Don't go for any international card just for 6k spends. It eats annual fee amount, so ignore it.

Using HDFC Millennia increases your chances in HDFC to upgrade regalia gold or even super premium cards when needed. Consider upgrade this card only if you cross atleast 1L on hotel/flight bookings. Otherwise no use to those points, IMO.

Two best options for you, IMO:
If you spend whole 4L on these cards (again % may vary if you split spends - so ideally this is worst scenario)

HSBC Cashback: 3.25%
YES Reserv: 2.19% (without subscription), 3.6% (w. subscription and its fee deducted) // rewards must and should utilize flight/hotel revenue booking. ex: Indigo etc. can be useful for your limited travel.

 

[newIntern]

with existing cards:

Online Shopping: 60k = HDFC Millennia = 5% = 3000
Insurance/Bills: 130k = HDFC Millennia = 1%+1% = 2600

I am from Tier-2 city, but will try for HSBC cashback card, I am salaried so hopefully will get it
Thank you for your great suggestion, I am just a confused about "1% + 1%" you mentioned

can you please elaborate? didnt understood from your note also.
Also, I was offered regalia gold, but cosse millennia because i thought it was better card for me, based on my spending. Was I wrong?