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Home > Yet another wrinkle in my dental scheme

Yet another wrinkle in my dental scheme

January 21st, 2014 at 11:13 pm

As everyone probably remembers, I had over $5000 of dental costs coming this year, so I withheld $5000 in my and NT's flex spending and also opened 10 credit cards requiring $5250 of spending in 3 months to get a total of $1150 in bonus cash rewards.

Then found out that the dental procedures would only come to $3260 or thereabouts.

Well today, I had my follow-up with the periodontist and found out that the next step doesn't happen for 5 and a half months! And the one coming up is no additional charge, part of the $1615 I already paid. This means the other $1645 I was planning to put on these CCs won't come until well after the 3-month period I have to spend up these CCs.

Well, it's not a big deal. I'll see if I can spend the rest without doing any unplanned spending. If not, I can cancel the cards without getting the bonus.

And if there are any bigger bonuses still available later in the year, I could consider opening another card to cover the second half of my dental costs.

Here's what I've spent and still need to spend on the cards (mainly for my own reference):
CJ Capital One spent $500 DONE
AS Chase Freedom spent $201.01 need $298.99 more
NT Capital One spent $0 need $500 more
CJ Citi Dividend spent $144.55 need $355.45 more
AS Citi Dividend spent $0 need $500 more
NT Citi Dividend spent $0 need $500 more
CJ BankAmericard spent $500 DONE
AS BankAmericard spent $0 need $500 more
NT BankAmericard spent $0 need $500 more
CJ Discover spent $615 need $135 more

So in total, would need to spend $3289.44 to reap all the possible bonus money. I should see if we can use them in Puerto Rico without incurring foreign transaction fees. (Seems like it's treated like a foreign country in some ways.) That would be about half the needed spending right there. Bdays are coming up in March with $800 budgeted. And depending when we start our bathroom remodel, maybe we could spend some money on paint or fixtures. If not, there are some little fixed expenses (haircuts, cable) that could add up if I put them on the cards.

5 Responses to “Yet another wrinkle in my dental scheme”

  1. Another Reader Says:
    1390346532

    Can you prepay the dental expenses on the cards near the end of the three month window?

  2. ceejay74 Says:
    1390346713

    Interesting thought! If it looks like we won't make it, maybe I'll call that dentist and see. Thanks for the idea!

  3. Looking Forward Says:
    1390351387

    I am sure the dentist's office would be happy to charge those cards as "prepayment" and put a credit balance on your account.

  4. creditcardfree Says:
    1390354710

    Maybe you could get a discount for prepaying, too! Good luck.

  5. Kiki Says:
    1390366784

    You mentioned saving money for your bath remodel. Can you purchase some gift cards at a home improvement store now or purchase the supplies needed to be able to fund some of the remodel costs/hit the minimum purchasing and pay off with savings?

    I did something similar when going for a minimum purchase limit: I bought gift cards where I shop and get gas and paid the money back from savings. The card company doesn't know what your purchase was, just tracks you purchased.

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