2 yrs chasing credit card optimisations – not worth the time/headspace

[Arisha]

I'm the kind of person who hates automating any of my transactions – I do everything manually and keep a record of every single spend. It's helped me a lot in making decisions and spotting any wrong or fraudulent activity across my accounts.

The only thing I've automated is my home‑loan EMI, because I had no choice. My SIP investments are still manual every month.

For the past two years I've been stuck in a nightmare of credit‑card management, spending a lot of mental energy each month to make sure the cards are paid on time. I've manually made about 175 credit‑card payments in the last 24 months.

What did I get out of it? I've spent roughly ₹8.75 L on credit‑card bills so far and only earned cash‑back worth ₹50 K – about 5.7 %, which isn't bad. But ₹50 K over two years doesn't feel worth the effort, not counting the instant discounts I also got.

So I've decided to start this financial year by decluttering my finances and closing most of my credit cards.

[Rajendra]

Great, focus instead on self‑improvement and boosting your income.

[Shobha]

Two years, that's crazy.

[Ashwin]

I did the same in the first 2‑3 years of using my cards and realised it too. I found that a combo of 2‑3 cards works fine as long as I use them enough to remember which one does what, and I completely stopped tracking. It's a huge stress‑reliever.

[Ramesh]

That's some serious consistency.

[Harshit]

There's no point in over‑optimising.

If your salary is low, you won't get premium cards that give decent returns.
If you're already earning well, a couple of hundred rupees you miss won't matter.
Either way, just focus on earning more.

I just chase the newest shiny card I can get, aiming for DCBM right now, and I direct all my spend onto it without thinking twice.

[Vandana]

Yup, same boat. I used to juggle 6‑7 cards and obsess over which one to use where for max discounts.

Now I have just one and I don't give a damn if I miss a deal. I've automated everything – investments, card payments, utility bills. Some months I don't even glance at my bank balance.

[Navya]

Agreed.

By the way, what app are you using to track dates? I really like the idea... he he!

[Sonia]

Some people over‑complicate it. My strategy for the last 9‑10 years:

- Keep just 3‑4 cards; they cover almost every spend type.
- Instead of auto‑pay, I manually clear the bill at month‑end, regardless of the due date.
- No extra spend just to chase rewards; I just use the cards for regular purchases.
- So far I haven't missed a single payment or even the minimum due.

[Jai]

Is it Notion?

[Vidya]

I feel that a lot. I spent all of 2024 and 2025 chasing Magnus and Infinia milestones, and in 2026 I finally stripped the stack down. The constant devaluations felt like running on a treadmill that kept speeding up. I switched to a dead‑simple setup: one premium travel card (Regalia Gold or Amex) and one RuPay card for UPI. Real talk, the 10‑15 hrs a year I save by not "optimising" utility bills or matching vouchers is worth way more for my mental health than the extra 5 K reward points I was fighting for.