Spreadsheet, calendar or tracker: four ways to track card benefits
By Calvin. Published .
There are four ways to track credit card benefits: calendar reminders, a spreadsheet, a tracker you keep by hand, and a tracker linked to your accounts. They differ in who does the upkeep. With a calendar or a spreadsheet, you maintain the list of credits and you record each use. A tracker maintains the list. A linked tracker also records the use. Pick the lightest one you will actually keep up.
How do the four methods compare?
| Method | Setup | When an issuer changes a credit | Knows what is left | What it needs from you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calendar reminders | One repeating event per reset clock, plus one per cardmember-year credit. | You edit the events. | No. An event only says a period is ending. | A calendar you already use. |
| A spreadsheet | One row per credit, typed from each card’s terms. | You edit the rows. | Yes, if you enter each use. | Time, and the habit of opening it. |
| A tracker you keep by hand | Pick your cards from its list. | The tracker updates its card data. | Yes, if you log each use. | Which cards you hold. |
| A tracker linked to your accounts | Connect your card or bank accounts. | The tracker updates its card data. | Yes, from your transactions, once they post. | Access to your accounts or transactions. |
A calendar and a spreadsheet cost nothing. Trackers you keep by hand are free or paid, by product, and linked trackers are usually paid. Benefit trackers compared names the products of both kinds, with what each one costs.
When is a spreadsheet enough?
A spreadsheet is a good answer when the list is short and steady:
- You hold one or two cards with credits.
- Most of those credits run on the same clock, such as the calendar year.
- You already open the file for something else, so it does not depend on a new habit.
It is also the most flexible method. A spreadsheet can hold anything you can describe in a row, including benefits no tracker lists.
Where does a spreadsheet stop working?
The trouble is not the first version of the file. It is every month after that.
- End dates do not move themselves. When a monthly credit resets, its row needs a new end date and a cleared amount. With several cards, some row needs that at the start of almost every month.
- Terms change without telling you. When an issuer changes an amount or ends a credit, your row stays as you typed it until you notice.
- It does not come to you. A file cannot tell you that something ends in three days. You have to open it on the right day.
- It is awkward on a phone. The moment you use a credit is usually the moment you are not at a desk.
How to keep track of credits across several cards shows how many clocks a few common cards put in one wallet.
What do you gain and give up by linking accounts?
A linked tracker removes the step people skip: writing down a use. It reads your transactions and marks the credit as used when the purchase or the credit posts.
What it costs you:
- Access. You give a third party a view of your accounts or transactions. Read how it connects and what it keeps before you agree.
- Lag. It learns about a use when the transaction posts, which can be days after you made it.
- Matching. It has to decide which purchase counted toward which credit. Check its answer against your statement, as you would check your own notes.
- Upkeep of a different kind. Connections expire and need signing in again.
No method confirms a credit for you. Only your statement shows that the issuer applied it.
How to choose.
- One or two cards, credits on one clock: calendar reminders or a small spreadsheet.
- Several cards, and you will not link accounts: a tracker you keep by hand.
- Several cards, and you know you will not log anything: a linked tracker.
kardfolio is the third kind on the table: a tracker you keep by hand. You pick your cards, it lists their credits by the day they end, and you log each use. It does not ask for your bank login or full card numbers, and it does not mark anything as used for you. If you want that done automatically, a linked tracker is the better fit.