What’s in My Wallet? A Credit Card Guide: Part 1

Do you get those letters or emails from banks and financial institutions saying “Congratulations! You’ve been pre-approved for [enter fancy credit card name]!” I get them all the time. From Bank of Guam and First Hawaiian Bank to Citi Bank, Discover, and American Express! They all try to sell you on a special offer. Some will say “0% APR for the first 15 months!” and others will offer 60,000 to 120,000 points on their rewards systems. Which ones do you choose? The answer?

It’s up to you and how you spend your money.

Over the past 8 years, I’ve collected 7 credit cards that I used to get rewards out of my big purchases and daily spending. Let’s take a look at which cards I have and what benefits they offer me. Maybe you can benefit from them too!

Keep in mind that for some of you, the first three cards I’m going to mention won’t be available to you unless you have family or know someone in the military, or already have an account with Navy Federal Credit Union.

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Navy Federal Credit Union GoRewards

Annual Fee: $0

Annual Percentage Rate: 11.99% - 18.00%

Foreign Transaction Fee: None

Special Offers: Low intro APR on purchases for 6 months from account opening

Reward Points & Categories: 3x points at restaurants, 2x points on gas, 1x points on everything else

The Navy Federal GoRewards card was one of the first credit cards that I opened up when I started college. As listed above, you’ll get 3x points per dollar spent at restaurants, 2x points per dollar spent on gas, and 1x points per dollar spent on everything else. I optimized this card by using it for the campus cafeteria, cafe, and canteens around my college and by fueling up my car. You can redeem your points for cash, merchandise, or gift cards through the Navy Federal rewards system. Personally, I mostly redeemed cash and used that to treat myself whenever I could.

I used this card for about a year until I started learning about credit card churning on YouTube. Up next, I applied for the:

Navy Federal Credit Union cashRewards

Annual Fee: $0

Annual Percentage Rate: 12.65% - 18.00%

Foreign Transaction Fee: None

Special Offers: $200 bonus cash back when you spend $2,000 within 90 days of account opening. Expires on January 2, 2023

Reward Points & Categories: 1.75% cash back on all purchases

Since the Navy Federal GoRewards card only offered bonus points on restaurants and gas, I wanted to find a card that I could use for my everyday spending like going to the movies, buying clothes, or shopping online. The 1.75% cash back was the perfect choice in this instance. The $200 bonus cash back isn’t a bad offer either.

Pro tip: If you’ve got a credit card with bonus cash or rewards points for spending x amount of money over x amount of time, offer to pay for purchases when you’re with friends or family and have them pay you back in cash. By doing this, you’re essentially getting free money!

After these two cards, I didn’t apply for another card until I graduated and got my first job as a nurse. That next card would end up being the:

Navy Federal Credit Union Visa Signature Flagship

Annual Fee: $49

Annual Percentage Rate: 12.99% - 18.00%

Foreign Transaction Fee: None

Special Offers: 30,000 bonus points (a $300 value) when you spend $3,000 within 90 days of opening your account + Free 1 Year of Amazon Prime. Expires January 2, 2023. Receive statement credits (up to $100) for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck

Reward Points & Categories: 3x points on travel and 2x points on everything else

Once I became a nurse, I saved money to travel as often as I could with my partner. That’s why getting this card made so much sense! Using this card, I booked roundtrips to Tokyo and Seoul to maximize the 3x points on travel. This eventually became my go-to card for everything else, aside from restaurants (I still used my GoRewards card for restaurants).

If you’re worried about the annual fee, don’t. The $49 annual fee basically pays for itself. A 1 year Amazon Prime subscription cost $139.99. Navy Federal gave me a statement credit for that exact expense. To top it off, the $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck statement credit adds up to a whopping $239.99 value by having this card which nets you $190.99 worth of value.

After a year of using this card and another 2 years of the pandemic, I applied for my next card. Check back for part 2 of “What’s in my Wallet?” This is where credit card churning gets more exciting!

Thanks for reading and let me know if you found this post helpful!

Until next time! Salamat and si yu’us ma’ase!