Personal Finance and Minimalism (Looking for Simplicity)

Other

I’ve been on a minimalism journey for the last few years, trying to simplify my systems and make things easier/less thinking. One of the areas I’m trying to improve is my banking. I recently started using Copilot to track net worth and keep all my accounts visually in one place. While it is extremely helpful, I still find myself getting bogged down about my physical cards.

My primary banking is done through USAA. I have a checking account and had several savings accounts until I transferred them to Wealthfront’s HYSA.

I have a checking and savings account and credit card through Navy Federal that is my oldest account (2017). It leaves something to be desired as far as rewards and I don’t use the checking/savings account.

At the end of 2021, I opened a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card because we were traveling so much. However I don’t spend enough to earn companion pass, but the points add up and occasionally get us some “free” flights.

In order to keep the credit cards active, I was trying to separate my spending across the 3 cards (USAA debit card (transfers to savings), Navy Federal credit card (bills), and Southwest credit card (other spending), but found that tracking my spending was getting burdensome switching between the cards.

Ideally, I’d like to bank all in one place, but can’t close my credit cards without hurting my credit score and I don’t want random transactions on each card. If anything, I’d like to keep my checking and HYSA savings in one place and keep the Southwest credit card, but I’m not married to it. Something like Discover seems promising (don’t necessarily care about the credit cards rewards more than I care about finding simplicity).

I feel stuck and overwhelmed with where my current banking situation lies and am hoping you can help with advice for changing banks or suggestions on how to make my current system work.

Posted Jan 4, 2023, 6:16 PM UTC

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