How do you remember which card to use?
 

I am new and still have lots to learn but at the moment I am struggling with how to keep straight on which card has best deal for which purchase (fuel, dining, groceries, etc). It is easy when I am at the computer--but in the store it is confusing! Any tips?

using a label maker put a sticker on each card saying what to use it for.

or you can make a small card print it out and laminate it to keep in your wallet or purse until you have it memorized.

Write on Avery labels, 2x gas, etc, also when to cancel, spend time,

Not to self

Cut-down Post-It notes stuck on the card if you cannot recall.

I also use the label maker to mark cards. Works great!

I've used stickers...esp. for which card is synced on Amex to which social media site, ect, 2x gas, grocery, office supply, automotive, ect. The stickers can be an issue with card swipers so positioning away from the top of the card is better. I started using a black marker lately.

Used to be the MillionMileSecrets had a site to enter your cards on (not the actual numbers) and it would tell you which card was better to use for which purpose. It was too complicated and cumbersome to keep up and he quit it.

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

Another possiblity is a wallet that has multiiple locations. Just as an example: I only have groceries, dining, hotels on their own cards (eg, a Choice card for Choice hotel stays, so that' easy to remember), plus a card for everything else. I have a fold-out wallet which has a left and right side and three sections on each side. I keep the groceries card on the left bottom, the hotel cards (which the everything else card behind them) on the right bottom, and the dining cards (by that I mean cards linked to RewardsNetwork programs) on the right middle. (I have DL, insurance cards, and other stuff in other sections.)

I don't buy enough stuff in other kinds of stores (eg, drug stores) to bother with a different card there. Double points on just a few dollars a couple times a month is not worth a different card in my opinion. (But of course, everyone's usage pattern at diferent kinds of stores is different, so I'm not saying it wouldn't be worth it for you, I'm just explianing why I don't consider it worth it for me.)

At any case, that's just when I'm not meeting the minimum spend on the signup bonus offer on a new card (which I usually am doing). When I am trying to achieve the minimum spend, that's the one card that I use just about everywhere, and then it's very simple. It goes on the left (in front of the groceries card) until I've met the minimum spend. (Singup bonuses with minimum spend requirements often equate to 10x or 20x or even 50x points/miles/$, and there's no way to match that on any "everyday" card.)

(Who'd have thunk that the more cards you apply for, the simpler it is to know which card to use at any given time!!!)

Thanks to all of you for the suggestions. Mostly I have tried to meet minimums with big purchases (all in one fell swoop so to speak) but the other daily things are harder to remember. Guess I will try some of these ideas! I'm trying not to carry TOO many cards at once in my wallet :)