The Story of a Million Miles

Just another home buyer with a credit card and the story of a million plus miles.

After years of renting, I finally pulled the trigger on something I’ve been contemplating for a while: buying my first home.

The motivation wasn’t necessarily a financial decision. In fact, if we go purely by Excel sheets and ROI formulas, renting might be the smarter financial decision. But life isn’t always about optimised spreadsheets. For me, this was about having a permanent space I could shape on my terms, one that was truly mine.

Now, if you know me, you know I rarely leave rewards on the table, particularly when they are big-ticket transactions. So, when it came time to make this purchase, I asked myself: “How can I maximise this massive expense for the best possible return in credit card rewards and points?”

This blog post isn’t a debate on whether you should rent or buy. It’s a deep dive into how I used credit cards smartly during the home buying process, including:

• The cards I used,

• The logic behind each choice,

• The stages of payment I optimised,

• And what it earned me in return, miles, points and vouchers.