I’m looking for a tool or spreadsheet that will use detailed personal spending habits to determine tradeoffs between different credit cards. It should consider all the benefits that are provided by the card (rideshare credit, travel credit etc), allow me to add subjective $ amounts for things that are hard to value (like lounge access), and consider other benefits (like booking travel through the card’s portal etc.).
And I’d like to also include cash back cards rather than the rewards cards.
I’m not looking to track my spending on those cards and seeing if I’m maximizing my benefits. I want to find out whether keeping a card is worth it based on past spending habits. Or using a different card.
Is there such a thing? I don’t care about general websites like nerd wallet, TPG, bank rate etc. Been there done that.
Many thanks.
Welcome @ssmbogus to the Tiller Community.
A spreadsheet is a logical place to organize this information. I don’t know of a premade tool for this purpose but it sounds really helpful.
One thing I love about Tiller is the ability to insert new Sheets without messing up the spreadsheet. You could do this comparison tool in a standalone spreadsheet or in your Spreadsheet you’re using with Tiller. The advantage to including it in your spreadsheet you use with Tiller is creating formulas that are based on your current credit card usage to see what the benefits might be.
You can use a SUMIFS formula to pull from your Transactions sheet. For example, to see the cash back on a card that offers 3% for dining, the formula would look something like this: =SUMIFS(Amount, Categories, “Dining”) * 0.03. You would do this for each bonus category on the card.
Factor in Credits and Benefits. You can create rows for each specific benefit the card offers. For statement credits like a travel or rideshare credit, you can enter the full value. For those harder-to-value benefits like lounge access or travel insurance, you can enter the subjective dollar amount you feel it’s worth to you each year.
Subtract the Annual Fee. Be sure to add a line for the card’s annual fee as a negative number.
-Alice
Tiller Evangelist
Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn
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@ssmbogus I did an internet search and found two spreadsheets that may be of interest to you.
There is this REDDIT post from someone who developed a Google Sheets spreadsheet that looks pretty interesting. The post is worth reading over as there is some insight on how to use the spreadsheet.
Additionally, a user commented on another Google Sheets spreadsheet that he liked. There is an intro tab for how to use that spreadsheet.
As you read over the REDDIT post you will find the links to the spreadsheets. I will also link them below.
Credit Card Value Spreadsheet
Which Premium Credit Cards are Keepers
Thanks for the tips!
I actually have created a spreadsheet for the specific cards of interest to me.
I’m in the process of fine tuning it, will make it available if it’s of interest to try out.
It considers all the benefits of all the cards, their usage value to you, plus if you’re a frequent traveler like me, then the value also takes into account transfers of points to your favorite airlines etc.
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