Gen Z Guide to FI

Wassup Fire Babies! I have opened 7 new cards for travel hacking. My biggest concern so far have been annual fees starting to rack up & my credit score dropping. My counterattack strategy for annual fees is to close or downgrade cards that no longer add value after the bonus. I am monitoring my credit score and will report back to you all in a few months.

I opened my Chase Sapphire Preferred in 2021. It is my 2nd oldest credit card so closing it would negatively impact my credit score. Downgrading on the other hand will give me no annual fee and maintain my credit history.

I haven’t used this card at all since I started travel hacking in December 2022 and the annual fee deadline is coming up. So, I downgraded to Chase Freedom Flex which has a $0 annual fee. It took a while 5 minutes to call the agent and downgrade the card.

That was an extremely easy process that I procrastinated for 2 weeks because I hate talking on the phone. #phoneanxiety

In a few years, I can reopen a sapphire preferred again if the card’s current rules continue to apply in the future.

xoxo Gen Z Fire Baby