Your Credit Card Points Game Is Costing You Big

You know that feeling when someone at a party brags about gaming the rewards system—hitting this card for groceries, that one for gas, a third for travel perks? Sounds smart, right? Wrong. Financial expert Kathryn McCall wants Sacramento residents to know the truth: chasing credit card points is a trap that’s costing the average American $6,500 in debt.

Here’s what’s happening. When you’re juggling multiple cards trying to squeeze out benefits, you’re not actually winning—the credit card companies are. Social media has made this worse, flooding feeds with influencers showing off how to“play the game”and rack up free flights. But the math tells a different story. Interest rates have climbed past 21%, which means that debt piles up faster than any rewards you’re collecting.

Kathryn points out the real problem:“If you have three or more credit cards, you are going to end up playing whack-a-mole with your monthly payments.”Suddenly you’re not tracking what you owe, minimum payments blur together, and before you know it, that rewards card is costing you more than it’s saving. The solution? Keep it simple. Use one card you manage religiously, then maybe—maybe—keep a backup card with a zero balance for actual emergencies. That’s it.

The bigger picture here is that financial wellness isn’t flashy. It doesn’t look good on Instagram. But it’s the difference between building wealth and digging yourself deeper into a hole.