5% Cash Back on Home Improvement, Furniture and Decor

I mentioned that I always keep a Discover Card in my wallet for the 5% cash back promotions they do.

I also mentioned in my previous post that I am currently in the situation where I need to spend a lot of money at Sears and Home Depot in the near future.

Lucky for me, Discover is doing a 5% Cash Back promotion on Home Improvement Stores, Furniture Stores and Bed Bath & Beyond on up to $1,500 in purchases from April through June 2014.

Discover Cash Back

You can sign up for this promotion starting March 1st through your Discover account.

If you don’t have a Discover it® Card, you may want to consider signing up because there are situations where it makes sense to forgo the miles & points earning cards to rely on a cash back card… when there’s a great opportunity.

I don’t normally ditch my Chase Sapphire Card to earn with a cash back card.  Most of the time, the Chase Sapphire earns me more back for the buck. But when there are special promotions with cash back cards, I try to max out that particular type of spend.  And this case, I know I’ll max out home improvement for sure.

The Discover it® Card features categories every few months with 5% cash back.  The 5% cash back is usually good for up to $1,500 in spending each quarter, so I tend to max that out (if I am spending in those categories), and then move back to my usual spending on my usual card.

This quarter was 5% cash back on restaurants and movies, ending in March.  I’ve already pretty much maxed this out thanks to work events.

I wouldn’t suggest replacing a points & miles earning cards for cash back in general. You might feel like you are making more money since you see it in the form of cash.

But if you are a frequent traveler, what you would really be doing is moving more of your travel to cash (vs. points), and at a loss.  You’ll be earning more overall by using a 2 points per dollar cards to maximize your spend.

Either way, whether you travel a lot or not, I recommend applying the Discover it® Card, especially if you shop at places that you can get gift cards for through their program.  (For example, Macys, Sears, Chilis, Outback, Starbucks, Banana Republic, etc. will give you a $5 bonus when you redeem $45 for a $50 gift card)  But primarily use it for its 5% cash back bonus.

There’s no annual fee, so you won’t be trapped by that.  Plus, you can use the Discover Mall which sometimes has bonuses up to 25% cash back on some purchases (which can be combined with the 5% cash back).

Also, first check your other options out before assuming the 5% cash back bonus is the best bonus,  Chase Freedom and Discover both had 5% promotions that applied to Amazon.com, and I went with Chase Freedom on that one.  (I love my Ultimate Reward points).

Please note if you use my links, I receive an affiliate credit which usually goes towards helping me travel even more.  This one may go towards a dishwasher. Or a clothes dryer.  Or whatever else decides to break in the next few days too :P  

 

About Jeanne Marie Hoffman

Former bartender, still a geek. One equal part each cookies, liberty, football, music, travel, libations. Stir vigorously. +Jeanne Marie Hoffman Jeanne on Twitter

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9 comments

  1. I guess you didn’t get enough referral clicks when you posted practically the same story less than 2 weeks ago. Thanks for pimping this card so hard, revenue must be down at Heels First HQ.

    You should also be aware that unless you are looking to purchase really crappy appliances, Home Depot and Sears are the worst place to go. The selection and quality of the brands is sub par. Do some research ahead of time and go to a local appliance shop or ajmadison.com. You’ll get much better appliances and oftentimes much better prices.

  2. The other option would be if you have an Office Depot nearby – then you can buy Home Improvement gift cards with the Chase Ink (5x at Office Supply stores) and then use those cards at HD and Sears (and Lowe’s and others)

    We actually have a Lowe’s right next door to an Office Depot so that is what I usually do

    • Jeanne Marie Hoffman

      If you do in store pick up, you can combine those for use at Home Depot with 3 UR points per dollar, or another 5% cash back if you use the Discover portal and card for the overage.

      In April, I’ll be using the Discover for Home Depot because you get 5% for the quarterly bonuses, plus 5% for the purchase through the Discover Mall, but I’ll be doing the HI Gift Cards the rest of the time and once I max out my 5% cash back on Discover 😀

      Sears is 5% UR through the Ultimate Rewards Mall (does not require use of the credit card), so can be combined with the Home Improvement Gift cards for 10 points per dollar!

      Points with a Crew, I know you know this, but just adding some things in case people go with the Home Improvement cards to make sure they maximize the points they get

  3. @jared: Wow what a useless reply. First there are a lot of places where there are NO AJ Madisons. Second, Sears and Home Depot do carry nice appliances. In the area I live they are one of the best places to go.

    Ok now on to the rest of the posting. Thank you for this. I have changed the way I travel and do not do so as much as I used to. I am sitting on a pile of Hyatt, Chase, SW, Hilton, BA, AA points etc and have already got my big Hawaii vacation planned. I am looking at my spreadsheet and for once can’t figure out a card I want to apply for next for my March churn.

    Freedom has the dining and Lowes 5% in March also and I will probably max that out just in dining! Makes it hard to stock up on gift cards at Lowes also!

    Normally I don’t sign up for a card without a bonus but 5% is 5%. Thank you for this post because I think this may be the best option for me!

    • Jeanne Marie Hoffman

      Glad it helped! I only use it for the 5% bonuses and Shop Discover Mall, but that’s enough to keep it in my wallet.

    • @Kelly: Actually your post is even more useless. AJ Madison has one showroom in Brooklyn but they have an online store and ship nationwide. Do a little research before you post a comment next time.

      As for Sears and Home Depot carrying nice appliances… well you’re wrong again. The appliances are acceptable, but they are hardly nice. They do not carry any of the high end brands and what they carry of the mid-range brands are toward the lower end of the products offered. If you want true performance appliances go to an appliance store. If you don’t know any better go to Home Depot.

  4. I got best service from Plessers.com than others, specially their product quality and price was awesome.

  5. 5% cash back is a great deal. Does Discover ever offer this on travel? It would be great to combine their 5% cash back with the upto 5% cash back I already get from my personal travel website.

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