Money Stoic Best Credit Cards Winners List: Best Reward Credit Cards - 2022

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For example, sign up for a credit card here from our best of list, put cash back in your pocket and support your local paper in the process. 

Here is the MoneyStoic.com Best of 2022 winner list for credit cards in each category. And the winners are...

List of Best Cash Back, Travel, Dinning, 0% interest, Business Cards and more.

Click here to see the list.

Let's also take a look at the best cards in each category separately:  

Cash Back 

Travel

Including Airline rewards and Hotel Rewards

0% APR

Gas Cash Back

Own a Small Business?  These are card for you:  Link

           
              Gas and grocery costs have been hitting household budgets hard over recent months.  One simple tip to combat this is to change how you pay for these ever increasing expenses.  By making sure you are using a credit card that gets you the most cash back on gas and grocery purchases, you could be getting $800 or more in cash back rewards.

            You can also get sign up bonus of $500 more here on our featured card.

Let’s do the math.  Let’s say you get a credit card that gets 5% cash back on gas.  If your household is spending $125 a week on gas, which many now are, that would be $325 a year in cash back.  

On the grocery side, if your household is spending $165 a week on groceries and you were using a card that got you 6% cashback at grocery stores, that would be over $514 in cash back for the year.  

On top of that, many cash back cards are also offering sign up intro offers of $200 to $500 of extra cash back on top of the everyday rewards just for getting the card and using it (ie, spending a certain amount in the first 90 days of having it).  

Click here to and take a look at the cards offering the rewards described above.  If your grocery and gas expenses are going to continue to rise, you would be smart to make sure to max out the amount of cash back you get when you purchase them by getting the best card for it.  

  Click here to get your cash back card.

Georgia based company helps you invest in real estate flipping without picking up a hammer. $50 bonus offer inside

Georgia based company helps you invest in real estate flipping without picking up a hammer.

Why you should be in on GroundFloor: 

Invest and grow your money series

By:  Money Stoic - Consumer / Personal Finance blogger

I came across GroundFloor, a fintech (financial technology) company out of Atlanta in 2014 while looking for real estate house flipping investments. The plan was to buy, rehab and resell single family or duplex homes as a  way to diversify out of the stock market and get into real estate investments. 

However, the time required to manage a full house renovation on an investment property is significant.  I knew buying up houses that needed some work, fixing them up and then selling or renting them is a great way to get ahead financially, and when I discovered that a company was matching up house flippers that needed funding from investors, I decided to give it a try.  My results so far have seen a 10.7% rate of return on now hundreds of GroundFloor LRO house flipping investments.  

So, how does GroundFloor work?  

A real estate investor, interested in buying a property to fix up and resell for profit, secures a loan through GROUNDFLOOR rather than a traditional bank to finance a residential real estate project. That borrower submits a loan application and GroundFloor reviews and underwrite the loan using our loan grading engine. After review, the loan is assigned a loan Grade A through G and a corresponding rate where Grade A loans are the least risky, with the lowest rate of return and Grade G loans are most risky, with the highest rate of return. Grade A loans generally offer returns of 5.5% and Grade G loans generally offer returns of 20+% with each letter grade offering a rate in that range.

 

GroundFloor Borrower Services Team works with the borrower to tailor the loan to meet the needs of the project. The loan is then underwritten and assigned a grade and interest rate. They have filed an offering circular with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) through which we sell securities. The proceeds of these securities and the performance of these securities are tied to the individual loans they decide to originate.

You can browse the summary view of loans funding on the site by clicking the invest button at the top or view more information on each loan's detail page. You decide when, how much, and where to invest. Investing is simple and efficient. You fund your GROUNDFLOOR Invest Account here in any amount you choose and can invest after your funds post in 4 to 5 business days.  

 

Once a loan is fully funded, a closing is initiated with the borrower. The loan closes, the borrower draws money according to a schedule, and completes the renovation or rehab project. The property is then listed, sells, and closes. At closing the borrower repays investors via GROUNDFLOOR. A lump sum of principal invested plus interest earned is deposited into your GROUNDFLOOR Investor Account. The balance in your GROUNDFLOOR Investor Account can be withdrawn or reinvested in other projects.

Learn more here, or click here to start to join today and receive a $50 bonus after you make your first investment.  

This article is part of our consumer reports series.  Read more consumer / personal finance articles at MoneyStoic.com.  When a company we  like offers an affiliate program, we will link to that company.  If you engage in the product through the link, in some cases a commission will be earned.  These are generally companies which we use ourselves and would like to share with you. 

Special Advertising Content

We review 2 delicious, fun and fresh meal kit delivery services: Hello Fresh vs. Home Chef. And the winner is...

You can make this.  Really.  It's not that hard.

    Have you been wanting to try the fresh ingredient meal kit delivery boxes, but needed assurance it is actually worth it?  Well, we tried it and have all the details on how it works here:  

Get Started:

     Go online to one of the various meal kit sites such as Hello Fresh or Home Chef.  Create an account and choose how many people you want to feed each week.  I choose 2 people x 3 meals for the week.  The site then auto chooses 3 meals based on your preferences for that week with the option to swap any of the auto-choices out with other selections they have for that week, usually around 7 or 8 other meals, so not to be overwhelming.

What you get:

        

    Fast forward a few days later and a cardboard box shows up on your front porch (via FedEx with shipment tracking).  In it are the various raw food items (some on ice in the bottom compartment as needed) and recipe cards to create your meal creation using your own stove top, oven and various mixing bowls.  Home Chef give a great overview of how it all works here: link.

The Test:  Hello Fresh vs Home Chef

First up, Hello Fresh:

One of the many Hello Fresh meals we tried that stood out was the Smoky Crusted Chicken with Hot Honey, BBQ roasted potatoes and buttery broccoli.  I have always loved breaded / crusted chicken and pork dishes and this one this one took it to the next level with the addition of the hot honey.  I actually found the Mike's Hot Honey at the grocery soon after and picked up a bottle to have around the house.

The prep time to cut and season the potatoes, mix the panko breading in a bowl and get everything ready for the oven was around 10 minutes.  Cook time was another 30 minutes.  Take a look at what they say it will look like and the actually finished product below.  It tasted great.

Step by step instruction on the back of the card.

Next, Home Chef:

The tortilla-crusted pork chops with squash and lime crema also tasted great.  Have you ever found yourself skipping the veggie sides at a restaurant?  For some reason, after prepping the veggies myself and adding the delicious crema sauce to it, I have a whole new appreciation for veggie sides.  Now, I look forward to them thanks to Home Chef.  

Overall, I found the prep and instructions very similar to Hello Fresh.  You are going to dirty a few dishes, baking sheets and bowls, but that is really what this is all about.  It is about taking the time to create a fresh healthy meal at home with the convenience of having the meal-in-a-box company find the recipe, source the ingredients and get it all to your front door so you can get straight to the food prep and eat without leaving your home.  Again, another great meal prepped, cooked and eaten in under an hour.

Price:  Hello Fresh touts a $7.49 a meal price point while Home Chef lists $6.99 a meal as the starting price.  However, I have found both offer intro prices that can cut that price significantly for a trial period.  For example Hello Fresh is offering $40 off your trial through this link:  $40 off Hello Fresh trial.

Conclusion:

           

     Both Hello Fresh and Home Chef worked as advertised.  I was able to easily navigate the site and skip upcoming weeks as needed or cancel the service at anytime without having to call.  The vegetables and other ingredients were fresh, the meats were properly iced down (but not frozen), the instructions were clear and the preparation of the food can be a great family activity.  I would recommend giving both a try, starting with the better discount offer here:  link.

The Credit Score Experiment: The system used to get to an 840 score while making thousands of dollars in the process...

850 is the max credit score on the FICO credit scoring system. This number determines if you can get a home loan, a car loan, a credit card and in some cases insurance or even a job. Needless to say, it is important to be in the 750-850 range.  

Below is a step-by-step process of how I raised my credit score all the way to 840 and how I made thousands of dollars in the process.  All you need is a Google calendar to remind yourself to do a few simple things every few months or so.  In other words, you can do this too.

The Road To Excellent Credit Is Actually Pretty Easy 

How I raised my credit score and made money doing it:  A MoneyStoic.com interview with the Money Stoic.

MoneyStoic.com:  So, can you explain how you were able to get your credit score to 840 and why you actually took time to study the system?

the Money Stoic:  Well, it is all about knowing the rules and then playing the game.  I wanted to be eligible for the best interest rates for a home re-fi and I wanted to cash in on all of the incredible credit card sign up rewards being offered to people with excellent credit.  So, I began to dig around a bit on how credit scores worked. After alot of research, here are the things I feel everyone needs to know...

Take a look at the graph below.  The two biggest things that determine your credit score are 1: how much credit you have available vs amounts owned and 2: do you pay on time every month?  

So basically, you want to pay on time each month on loans such as car, home and credit card and pay off the balance in full on your credit cards each month (this will raise the amount of total credit you have available).  Pretty simple stuff.  Which got me thinking, how can increase my total available credit without hurting my score in the long run?  

Well, the answer to that is to to get a new credit card every six months or so.

Here is why:  Each credit card will offer a total credit limit per card.  For example if I have a MasterCard with a $12,000 credit limit and a Visa with a $10,000 limit, my total credit available, when paid off in total is $22,000.  What would happen if I got that available credit up $200,000 over time?  The answer ended up being...a ridiculously high credit score (and thousands of dollars in rewards to boot).

MoneyStoic.com:  Hold up, the chart says they look at how much new credit you have as part of the score.  Opening new cards could hurt you...right?

the Money Stoic:  Conventional wisdom would lead you to believe that...you would also think you should cancel a card after you get a new one.  The answer is conventional wisdom is wrong...you have to read the rules and follow them...not just go by what you think the rules probably are.   

For example, the credit score looks at how long you have had your accounts. You also don't want to open a bunch of new cards all at once, get one now, get another 6 months from now (that has a nice cash sign up bonus) and don't cancel them...ever. I set my Google calendar to remind me get a new card every six months (use the repeat event feature) and in the notes area tell myself to go to CreditCardCompare.us and see what new cards are available.  Sometimes I pick one out that will give me alot of cash back (if I know I have some big expenses that are coming up, or I grab a travel card if I want to take a free vacation.  

MoneyStoic.com:  So when you get a new card, don't cancel the old card?

the Money Stoic:  Yep..that is part of it, you want your card to stay open to increase your length of history.  You also want to use the old cards once or twice over the course of the year, keeping them active. I even put that in as a reminder in my phone calendar and set it to remind me to use old cards every so often automatically.  

And that is where the magic happens.  Over time, your available credit goes up and up and your history gets longer and then presto, a crazy high credit score.

Take a look at the 12 months going into getting an 840 below.  Each month it ticks up a little higher:  

Score kept going up...

Then I got to this:  

And finally...840!

MoneyStoic.com:  Wait, so as long as you pay them off, getting a new credit card every few months, keeping it active and not canceling it is the key to a improving your score?  And you made thousands of dollars through this process by cashing in on the credit card rewards?

the Money Stoic:  Yes, and this is a two fold answer.  One, you have to take into account you get the best interest rates on home and car loans once you hit the Excellent range on the credit score. That alone will save you thousands.  

In addition to this, you will actually put thousands of new dollars in your pocket in the process through the rewards credit card companies are throwing at eligible consumers these days.  The credit card market has become so competitive, the rewards keep getting bigger and bigger. You won't believe how common it is to get reward checks arriving in the mail from $300-$900 every few months.  I have also stayed in really nice hotels for free on vacation with some of the travel rewards cards.  It is pretty awesome really...to raise your score and get paid to do it while vacationing in luxury.  

I pushed the "Get Check Mailed" button and $577.34 of free money was mailed to me.  Neat, huh?

MoneyStoic.com:  So, how do you zero in on that next credit card that will help you cash in on your next sign up bonus and in time, raise your score?

the Money Stoic:  I love checking out CreditCardCompare.us.  It has a link to find the best credit card offers going this month, best travel reward cards, best cash back cards, best card to have if you own a business etc...

MoneyStoic.com:  So basically, every six months, go to CreditCardCompare.us and pick out a new card, raise your score over time and reap the rewards. I am going to add that to my Google Calendar right now.  

  

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