Home projects are inevitable when you are a homeowner. Roofs, appliances, and regular upkeep are all things that cost money. Many of these expenses are even surprises. You never expect your dishwasher to stop working mid-cycle or a pipe to burst. About 2 years ago we started saving for a planned project, a new roof. I saved about $200 per month for this project. Knowing that sooner than later we would have to pay up.
In 2021 I discovered I was ready to open my a credit card for the first time in 4 years( I had sworn them off years ago). My plan was to get a credit card and spend enough money to get the introductory points bonus that came with it. Since then my husband and I have opened up many credit cards and received over $12K in travel points. We have used these points to go to Hawaii, Disney, San Diego, San Francisco, and even have plans to go to Europe this year.
So, as I mentioned above, I knew when we purchased our home in 2019 that we would eventually need a new roof. We were planned years in advance for this huge expense. We own our home with my dad. He lives in the 1500 square foot basement apartment and we live above in the 1700 square foot upper level. When we purchased this home we decided to split the home projects 50/50. This saved us a ton of money on the cost of the roof. Fast forward to 2023 and we decided it was finally time to get a new roof. After a few quotes we found a reasonable roofer to do our house. The quotes were all over the place ranging from 30K to 10k.
Once we chose our roofer, I scheduled out the home project for 2-3 weeks later. I conversed with my dad and we each got a new credit card to pay for our portion of the roof. This roofing company did not charge us an extra fee for using a credit card. I decided to get a Chase Ink credit card that had a $0 annual fee and after you met the minimum spend received 90K travel points. I was able to easily meet that spend with the cost of the roof!
The key here is that we didn’t go into debt for these points. We meticulously saved over a 2.5 year period and then we opened a credit card. Paid for our roof with the card and then paid the card off instantly, so no interest was charged.
The points we received are worth $1125 in travel! This is now the only way that I will make home repairs. If I have to fix something, I might as well be receiving free travel for it!
If you want to learn more about travel hacking visit:
Aunt.kara on instagram
Maxmilespoints on instagram
Travelmomsquad on instagram
Below are some of the links to credit cards I currently have. Please do your own research and do NOT go into debt. Pay off these cards in full every month!
Chase Sapphire Preferred
- Minimum Spend $4000/3 months
- 60,000 points ($750)
- $95 annual fee
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6j/90FZPBU3EZ
Capital One Venture Card
- Minimum Spend $4000/3 months
- 75,000 points ($750)
- $95 annual fee
https://i.capitalone.com/JjM96pvSV
IHG One Premier Credit Card
- Minimum Spend $3000/ 3 months
- *4 free nights valued at 40,000 points per night ($640)
- $99 annual fee
- one free night a year ($200 value)
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/210J/15WRPQWF7Y
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless
- Minimum Spend $3,000/3 months
- 3 free nights up to 50,000 points per night
- $95 annual fee
- one free night per year up to 35,000 points ($318 value)
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/252s/EAZV7HRLYX
Southwest Plus Credit Card
- Minimum Spend $1000/ 3 months
- 50,000 points ($750)
- $69 annual fee
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/226L/WTKJEYPD1A
Feel free to use these links or go directly to their website. If you use my link I do get a kickback in points. Please note that the credit card companies can change things at any time.
*this post contains affiliate referral links