One of the best things about travel hacking is that it allows people on a budget to travel like they’re a baller. However, a lot of people think that they don’t have the type of spend necessary to meet the requirements for sign up bonuses. While $6,000 to $10,000 sign up bonuses may be out of reach for some people, just about anyone with an income should be able to meet a $3,000 to $4,000 sign up bonus. They just have to be creative. So here’s 10 ways to meet a sign up bonus if you’re on a budget.
1. Go through every single expense you have to see if you can pay it with a credit card
This is going to overlap with a lot of the other tips in this article but I want to present the information in different ways. If I just left it at this, it wouldn’t have the same impact. You cannot assume that an expense cannot be paid by credit card. Instead, you have to confirm whether or not an expense can be paid by a credit card. This may require you to do some research and to make phone calls. 95% of expenses can be paid with credit card. You just need to spend the time and go through every last penny going out of your pocket. You may be surprised with what you learn.
2. Change your payments for every app
We all have apps like Uber, Door Dash, McDonalds, Starbux, Amazon, etc, that have payments stored. If you’re working on a SUB for a new card, the stored payment is going to be an old card. This is going to be annoying but you have to put in the work. Change every single app you may use over the next few months to this new card. Just don’t forget to change it back if necessary once you are done with the SUB.
3. Go through all of your streaming services
This is an easy one to forget. If you have one or five, go through them all and change the card over to the new one.
4. Open a bank account with a credit card
This one is rather involved so we wrote a separate article about it. You can read it here. It might take some time but it could easily help you fill the gap in your spending.
5. When everyone splits the bill, pay with your card
If you go out to eat with friends, see if they’ll help you out here. Everyone pays their share with cash, gives it to you and then you put the full amount on your credit card. If these people are really your friends, they shouldn’t mind at all.
6. Ask your friends and family for help
Related to the last one, if you have any friends or family that can help you out here, ask them! If you have people local to you, go shopping with them and put everything on your card. This works best with things that don’t need to be returned like groceries or services like plumbers. I wouldn’t do this for a new TV or something else where it could need to be returned. If your friends are not local, they can send you money by Zelle, Cash App, etc and then you can buy them an e-gift card and email it to them. This takes a little trust but again, if they are good friends, it shouldn’t be a problem. Of course, be sure to get the money first.
7. Pre-pay bills
You can pre-pay just about any bill, even if it’s just a few dollars. You don’t have to pay the full things. For example, if your phone bill is $100 a month, you can pre-pay $50 for next month’s bill today. Trust me, they don’t care. Then when it comes time to pay the bill, just pay the balance.
8. Use the card for everything
You’ve probably heard that little fish fill the boat right? Same holds true with credit card purchases. I don’t care if you’re buying something for a dollar. Every last expense must go on your card. If you go somewhere and they don’t accept credit cards, you may have to just go somewhere else.
9. Use bill pay services like Plastiq, Paypal bill pay and Melio
Paypal bill pay allows you to pay bills with your credit card. Many of these do not charge fees. Unfortunately, you may not find your bill on there but it can’t hurt to look. From utility bills, to rent to property taxes, you’ll want to check them all. Some may require a fee. Services like Plastiq and Melio do charge a fee but if you need help meeting a SUB, the points you get will be worth way more than the extra fee for this service. Look at it this way, 3% on $500 is just $15. The points you get could be worth thousands.
Please note that I do not suggest doing this when you’re not meeting a SUB since the 3% you earn on points will be eaten up by the 3% you’re charged.
10. Buy gift cards
You know you’re going to go to the grocery store next month right? You’re gonna buy something from Walmart in a few weeks. Frontload a few expenses to help meet a SUB.
Conclusion
Hopefully this gets your creative juices flowing. Here’s how I suggest you do this. First, go through all of your expenses. Second, figure out what can be paid by credit card without fees. Third, calculate all of your expenses during the time period for the SUB. Let’s assume you come up with $2,000 and the SUB is $3,000. That leaves you with a shortfall of $1,000. Fourth, check out all of the banks near you. Let’s say you can open up two accounts with $250 each. Now you’re down to $500. You found one friend to give you $50 for a $50 Target gift card. That leaves $450. Fifth, You can afford to get a $100 gift card for groceries for the next few weeks. That’s $350. Sixth, you pay one of your utility bills using a bill pay service for $350.
See what happened there? You went through all of your spending, asked for help, didn’t spend any extra money and then left the bill pay with the extra fees for last. This reduces these extra fees as low as possible. On $350 at 3%, the extra fee would be $10.50. So $10.50 for a free vacation that costs $1000 to $2000? I’ll take that all day long.