I was pleasantly surprised to see dh's 10,000 points from Citi. (He called to cancel card last week or so and they said they would give him 10,000 points if he stayed 1-2 months longer. I guess technically he only had to stay 1 week? I checked because the credit card month closed yesterday)

I also caught on "my moneyblog.com" that Citi card has amazon gift cards. I didn't see them before. So I had my "doh" moment since I bought some other card and sold it for Amazon at 95 cents on the dollar. Last time...

I found it. It wasn't under "retail" so I didn't see it last time. There really is an Amazon reward! So I decided just to redeem $100 Amazon for myself. If dh got the e-mail code, we can put Citi back on the *kill* list.

2 other credit cards close next week. Should get:

$250 amazon gift cards from Chase
$300 gift cards from Citi

From Citi? Maybe zappos, kohls, and some cards I can trade in for cash. I can top off my mortgage goal with nearly $200 in cash. I buy new tennis shoes every couple of years on zappos - so next ones will be FREE. & I just love shopping at Kohls!

I'll pay off the $1500 Citi balance next week, too, and then ALL Of the cards can go back to the *kill* pile. (All the rest are done with - paid and done - waiting for rewards).

I see the end! Unless Citi/Chase offers dh more rewards. I don't expect Citi to offer squat to me.

UPDATED TALLY:

$1230 cash (Chase Sapphire $1030 + Chase Frdm $200)
$1580 gift cards (Citi $500 + SW $515 + SW $565)
$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex)
$100 gift cards-Amazon- Citi for trying to close card
$300 gift cards Citi (may change some for cash)
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
*Will they refund this one too?*
-$23 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
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$3618 TOTAL
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I expect to hit $3700 because we get 1% cash back on our CU visa, at the end of every year, & I expect we will get an annual fee refund from Southwest. I read somewhere those are usually pro-rated. (I've mentioned I've never paid annual fees before so have no experience in that category. I didn't mind paying those fees for these kind of rewards. Getting them refunded is just an unexpected bonus).

We always take advantage of credit card rewards/offers, but this is some huge annual record for us. The credit card companies were very generous this year!

ETA: Received Amazon gift cards today - $300 from Southwest. So, was a very fruitful rewards day!