This Is My Go-To Credit Card for 5% Back at Hardware Stores

I love my century-old house, but there's one major side effect of owning it: I've become a regular at the local hardware store. For better or worse, I'm there most weeks -- often multiple times -- as I tackle one project or another.

The one item I take with me every single time? My Citi Custom Cash® Card.

5% back on every repair and replacement

The Citi Custom Cash® Card is a cash back rewards card that earns up to 5% back on the first $500 you spend in your top spending category every month. (Then you earn 1%.)

The list of eligible categories is very broad and includes tons of popular options:

• Drugstores
• Fitness clubs
• Gas stations
• Grocery stores
• Live entertainment
• Home improvement stores
• Restaurants
• Select streaming services
• Select transit
• Select travel

So, technically, this may not be your hardware store card. Maybe you'd rather use this as your gas rewards card, or your gym membership card. For me, however, it's the home improvement stores card all the way.

Your top category is set automatically

The neat thing about this card is you don't have to activate anything to get your bonus rewards. Instead, you just use your card to make your purchases. Citi will automatically determine your top spending category at the end of the month and award your bonus cash back accordingly.

However, since non-bonus-category purchases only earn 1% back, you should decide how you want to use the card on your own. For example, since I want to earn 5% back at the hardware store, I only use this card on eligible home improvement purchases.

I simply put purchases that don't fit into my self-selected bonus category on other cards. That way, there's no confusion about what my top spending category will be for the month.

Watch out for the $500 monthly cap

As I briefly noted above, the 5% back isn't unlimited: You only earn that rate on the first $500 in eligible purchases. (That works out to $25 in cash back per month.) Any purchases beyond that cap will earn just 1% back.

So far, I haven't run into any problems. While I've had a few pricier trips, those have been -- thankfully -- spread out enough to not put me over the cap. However, I do know I have some larger projects coming up later in the year that will likely put me over that cap.

Depending on how far over I may be, I have a few options:

• Put it all on my Citi Custom Cash® Card anyway: I don't like this option, since anything over the $500 cap will only earn 1% back and I'll be losing out on a lot of potential rewards.
• Put the excess on a flat-rate rewards card: I have a go-to card for anything that doesn't fit into a bonus category. It's not as good as 5% back, but it's definitely better than 1%.
• Get a second Citi Custom Cash® Card: While I can't apply for a second Citi Custom Cash® Card account, I could product-change one of my existing Citi cards into another Citi Custom Cash® Card. This would effectively double my cap.

I'll have to wait and see how my expenses look before I can decide on the best course of action. At this rate, a second card for even more hardware store rewards probably wouldn't go unused. But that would mean sacrificing a different credit card. It will take some contemplation.

Even if your home is a bit newer than mine, chances are good you spend your fair share of time hitting the hardware store. Consider letting the Citi Custom Cash® Card tag along on your next trip.