gwraigty
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Not many posters mention the minimum spending requirements to get the huge signup bonuses, nor their total yearly spending. Some of the multiple card strategies must require a huge amount of spending to work.
Having things like utilities set up to automatically charge your credit card seems like a good trick to boost credit card spending. Then just pay the card electronically from your bank account.
Agree with your second paragraph. My gas company and property taxes are the only bills I can't pay via a credit card. All credit card balances are paid in full.
Define a huge amount of spending.
Multiple card strategies, for me, only require me to know which card to use, depending on quarterly 5% categories, or another factor.
For example, I do most of my grocery shopping at a Super Walmart one mile from my house. Walmart (along with other stores/categories) is specifically excluded from this quarter's Discover 5% grocery category. However, I have a Huntington Voice MC that pays 3% on groceries and it does include Super Walmarts (even if you're not buying a grocery item). That is usually my go-to credit card for Super Walmart.
When I'm shopping sales at regular grocery stores, I'll check first to see if I have an applicable 5% grocery category card. For this quarter, that's Discover. If not, my Fidelity VISA that pays 2% cash back is my go-to card.
I have a couple of store cards that give 5% off at the register. I don't shop at them that often, but when I do, it's nice to get that discount.
Our spending last year for a household of 4 was around $38,000. Some of that included a few thousand or so in medical expenses (not usual expenses for us), which went on the 2% cash back card. To simplify matters, pretend it all went on a 2% cash back card. That's $760 cash back over the year, just for using a credit card vs. a debit card/cash/checkbook.