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EARNiNg FREqUENT FlyER MilEs

While car insurance or medical insurance may be the most common ones, get creative. Maybe you can
pay 3 months of a gym membership in advance or pay for your next tank of home heating oil ahead of
time. You could even do something small, like pre-paying a few months of a Netflix subscription. Most
companies will not turn down someone who wants to give them money ahead of time!

Gift Cards

Buying gift cards is a great way to “spend” more money in a short amount than you normally would but
not cost you anything extra in the end. If you find yourself not able to make a minimum spend, use that
credit card to purchase gift cards to your favorite stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc. Many gift cards
that are tied to a specific business won’t have any additional costs, meaning a $100 gift card to Sunoco
will cost you $100 to buy but also be worth $100 of gas at the pump (which sadly, isn’t that many gallons
anymore)! Of course, this will count as $100 towards your minimum spend and you’ll be able to use the
gift card at your leisure, even after the deadline for the minimum spend requirement has come and gone.

If you really have a large minimum spend to make and don’t feel like having hundreds of dollars worth
of restaurant or gas gift cards lying around, then consider buying American Express or Visa gift cards.
These cards will give you much more flexibility in your spending since they can be used everywhere. The
downside is that they will have a small fee attached to them, usually around $3-$5 to purchase the card.
However, most of the cards will cost the same amount to purchase them no matter what denomination
you get, so make sure you are stocking up on bigger gift cards (like $500 Visa ones), instead of buying a
bunch of smaller ones and getting hit with the fee over and over again. That $5 is negligible considering
how many miles you’ll be getting once you hit the minimum spend!

Donate To Charity

Yes, even donating to charity can help you make your minimum spend. Most charities will allow you to
donate with a credit card, so if you normally donate to a charity, start using your credit card to donate. If
you normally donate later in the year, do it earlier to help you make your minimum spend. If you normally
do it in payments, consider donating in one lump sum to knock off a larger chunk of your minimum
spend. You’re helping someone else and helping yourself (meet the minimum spend) all at once! Score!

Lend Money to Kiva.org

Kiva is an organization that I stand by whole-heartedly and one that I have personally lent money to
numerous times. I love every facet of the organization; the mindset behind it, the structure, the ease at
which you can lend money, the success that comes out of it. If you’re unfamiliar with Kiva, it is a website
that allows you to lend money to small business owners in developing countries through microfinancing
institutions in that country. You can sign on to Kiva, read the backstory of all the people looking for loans,
choose the one that you want to lend to, and then pick the amount you want to lend.

The loan will be paid back to you over a pre-determined amount of time (which you can see when decid-
ing who to lend to). Since Kiva has a 98.96% repayment rate, there is very little chance that you won’t
get repaid.

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