How I’m Racking Up Credit Card Rewards On a Room Addition Project

My husband and I reached a huge financial goal this year — we paid off our mortgage. This has been a goal of ours for many years, but we finally made it happen by making extra payments and making sure out debt-free dreams remained a priority. Obviously, frugal (and frequent!) travel will be a lot easier now that we no longer have a payment for housing.

Now that our forever home is forever ours, however, we have decided to spend some cash to make it exactly what we want. Ultimately, that means we’re adding a large family room to the back of our home that will serve as a second living area. This is becoming more important to us as our children get older and need more space, and our home’s current open floor plan definitely makes having any privacy difficult.

In addition to the room addition, we’re also tearing out a decrepit deck and crumbling patio so we can replace it all with a new patio.

3 Ways We’re Earning Rewards on Our Home Addition Project

A few weeks ago, we signed the contract and put 45% down on the home addition part of the project. It made me sad to fork over such a huge chunk of cash with a personal check, but our contractor wasn’t too keen on accepting credit cards. Fortunately, there are a ton of ways we’re still earning rewards on this project:

• I am paying for some components of our project separately. While our contractor is handling the remodeling project and supplies himself, there were some things I wanted to pick out and buy on my own. I told him I would order and pay for new flooring for our new room separately, for example. I am also going to pay for all the lighting fixtures, including a ceiling fan and coach light. Obviously, I will pay for these things with a rewards card, probably with my Chase Sapphire Reserve after clicking through the Chase shopping portal to earn extra points at Lowes or Home Depot.
• I’m sending our contractor the rest of our payments through Plastiq.com. I redeemed over $100,000 in fee-free dollars through Plastiq.com when I paid off my home, but I am still racking up referrals and earning more. While I put down 45% of the project already, the rest of the checks my contractor will receive will come through Plastiq.com. This allows me to earn 2% travel credit on my Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard. Remember, this only makes sense because I have a ton of referrals and fee-free dollars. Without referrals, you have to pay a fee of 2.5% to use this service. (If you want to pay bills with Plastiq.com and earn $500 in fee-free dollars right off the bat, use my referral code: 671741)
• There are other things I will need to buy that aren’t related to the project itself. There are other things I will have to buy to make this project complete, including furniture for the new room, another television, home décor, and window treatments. I haven’t shopped for these items yet, but I will strive to earn the most rewards I can in return. Ideally, I would like to make most purchases through a shopping portal so I can earn additional points for every dollar I spend — but it will depend what I find and the stores I ultimately buy from.

The Bottom Line

Any time you make a big purchase, you have the potential to rack up on a ton of additional rewards. Obviously, a home addition is one of those instances.

Keep in mind, however, that this strategy only works if you have the cash to pay your balance in full when your bill comes due. If you need to borrow money for a big project like a room addition, you will likely be better off with a home equity loan, a HELOC, or another low interest loan.

Have you ever leveraged a huge project to earn more rewards?