Just a few years out of college, Kristina Truong has built a strong financial foundation for herself.
Truong earns around $100,000 a year as a project manager at a digital consulting firm in the Washington, D.C. area, and helps pay for her parents’ household bills and younger sister’s education.
As she has learned more about personal finance over the past few years, she, like many other millennials, has become increasingly interested in gaming rewards credit cards to help her reach her financial goals.
CNBC Make It asked Brian Kelly, founder of The Points Guy, to offer Truong advice on using her credit card points. Overall, Kelly is impressed with how she manages her money and looks for deals.
“We’ve got a points girl,” Kelly jokes.
Currently, Truong uses four different cards for entertainment, groceries and other expenses in order to get the most cash back on each purchase. That’s a great strategy, Kelly says, as long as she can keep her cards straight.
“Sometimes people even put Post-it Notes on their credit cards so they know which to use for gas, groceries,” he says. “The key is to maximize every dollar you spend, because those points are valuable.”
With no debt and a high salary, Truong could also likely find some generous sign-up offers on a new card if she’s in the market for one. Credit card companies have “juiced up” their sign-up offers in recent months, Kelly says.
As long as she uses the cards responsibly and pays off her balance each month, it makes sense to shop around right now.
“Where we used to see 50,000 points for an offer, we’re now seeing 100,000 points,” he says. “Strike while the iron’s hot.”
Finally, Kelly advises Truong to get a business credit card for District Cupcakes, a small cupcake catering company she operates with her mother and sister. That will help her keep business and personal expenses separate and earn even more points. (Truong says she uses the Chase Ink for Business card solely for her company expenses.)
“If you have a side hustle, no matter how small it is, you can still get a small business credit card,” Kelly says. “Those credit cards have huge sign-up bonuses and category bonuses.”
Watch Kelly’s full reactionto Truong’s spending and savings habits.
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