Many times you often hear that “credit cards are evil” or “stay away”.  Sadly, these statements are always coming from those that don’t know how to use a credit card properly.  Credit cards can help you out a lot when it comes to rewards and yes, there are many advantages to having one but you have to follow these two simple rules to take advantage and those are pay off your bill in full and always pay on time.  If you can do this, you can take full advantage of any rewards.

Let’s take a look at how you can take advantages of rewards, in particular reward based credit cards.  The type of credit cards allow you to get cash back on particular purchases.

Gas rebates:  One of the most popular cards on the market today are gas cards.  These credit cards allow you to get a certain percentage back whenever you fill up at the pump.  You can save upwards of 10% per gallon.  This can add up fast if gas is at $3/gallon.

Cash back rewards:  Another popular type of card is the cash back card.  These cards will allow you to get cash back on just about anything.  If though most of them do vary, you have to read the fine print to see what you can truly save on.  For example, one card may allow you to save 5% on groceries while you can only save 1% on gas.  Find a card where you can save the most money all together.

Travel rewards:  If you’re a fan of travelling a lot via airlines or you find yourself getting a lot of hotel rooms, you may want to take advantage of these cards.  These types of cards will allow you to get a certain percentage back on airline tickets, hotel rooms and even rental cars.

These are the main three reward based credit cards on the market.  Always make sure that you pay your bill off on time when using them so that you can avoid the interest rates.  If you find yourself not paying in full, you’re not going to take advantage of the rewards!  With so many cards out there, make sure you do your research and find the right card that meets your spending habits.

As you apply for credit cards, you’re going to realize they aren’t free and there are many fees that are attached to them.  How many fees are included?  Well, it depends on what type of credit card you apply for but I’m going to go through the basics to give you a better understanding of the fees so that you know what to look out for.

Annual fee- The annual fee is a fee that’s going to be tacked onto the credit card no matter how much you use it.  This is a fee you’re going to have to pay annually.  While most cards don’t have an annual fee, it’s important that you look out for this fee when applying for a card.

APR - Every card has an APR.  This is your annual percentage rate and this rate will be applied to the balance that you don’t pay.  Let’s say you have a $500 balance and you pay $250.  That remaining $250 will have the interest applied to it.  This is why it’s important to pay your bills off in full to avoid these charges.

Balance transfer fee - If you plan on making a balance transfer from one card to another, you may find that some credit card companies are going to charge you a fee.  While many of them don’t, you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled if you plan on taking your cash from one card to another.

Cash advance fee – If you plan on getting cash from your credit card, you’re going to be look at some hefty charges.  Almost all cards will allow you to get cash but not for free.  Plan on pay at least 1-3% of the advance per cash transactions.

Late fees – Credit card companies aren’t going to let you get away with paying late.  If you find yourself paying late, you’re going to pay a fee.  This fee can be pretty big depending on the company.  Most of the times you’re looking at anything over $20 and beyond.

Over limit fee -  99% of the credit cards out there will have a credit limit.  If you have a limit of $5,000, make sure that you never go over that limit.  If you do go over the limit, you’re going to see a charge.  Most of the times, the card company won’t let you charge something if you have reached this limit but even if you go over a dollar, you can count on a charge on your next statement.

These are the main fees you’re going to encounter when it comes to credit cards.  It’s very easy to avoid all of these fees and this is what I tell everyone.  Always pay your bill off in full and on time and you won’t have any problems at all.

When it comes to credit, there are many mistakes one can make but never believe everything you hear.  Today, I’m going to give you some pointers on some common mistakes you can make with your credit card and what you can do to prevent these mistakes.  Remember, it’s always best to prevent these mistakes rather than get involved with them.

Accumulating too much credit – A bad thing that one can do when it comes to consumer spending is apply for too many credit cards.  If you make $40,000 a year and you have access to $80,000 in credit card limits, many companies are going to steer away from you simply based on this.  The lesson learned here is to stick with a select few credit cards.  Don’t overrun your limits.

Only paying the minimum balance – A lot of people will just continue to pay the minimum balance thinking that they can save money.  Let’s look at this way.  If you have a 14% interest rate on your credit card and you throw the money you would throw at a credit card in a 4% savings account, what’s wrong with this picture?  Always pay as much as you can toward a credit card balance.

Avoid cash advances – If you find yourself needing cash, I would avoid getting it from a credit card company.  Cash advances are very costly when it comes to getting it and the rate is usually around 20%+.  I would highly recommend you look into getting a loan elsewhere and making a credit card your very last option.

Don’t exceed your limit – You’ll have a credit limit for a reason.  If your card has a limit of $5,000, don’t spend more than that because you’re going to incur fees.  Some people find themselves spending freely not even paying attention to how much is on the card.  If you can spend less than your limit, you’ll be fine when it comes to higher fees related to your card.

Pay on time – Speaking of fees, there’s more to cards than your exceeding your limit.  There are other fees that relate to cash advances, paying late and many more.   When it comes to paying your bill, always make sure you pay on time!  If you can’t pay your bills off on time, try to work something out with the credit card company.  Most of the time, they will be more than willing to work with you.

By now, you probably have a good understanding on common mistakes people make with credit cards.  It’s important that you look out for these habits and kill them as soon as you can.  Fees can be great when it comes to credit cards and you don’t want to fall into the fee trap.

Everyone knows that supermarkets love to offer you “buy one get one free” opportunity in order to sell more products. This is great if you have a large enough family that will consume the product before it goes to waist but what if there is only two in the household. You like to save money because you need too but you don’t want to eat cornflakes for a month. Our senior group formed what we call the “Ladies of Coupons” and basically we do several things that really help our budget and we are still able to save a lot of money.

First thing we all make up our shopping lists and bring in our coupons at our weekly meetings to find out just who needs and wants what item. When it comes to the buy one get one free item we team up and only one buys the item selling it off to the other person. When they say buy one bottle of mustard for $2 and get the second bottle for free then the second person pays $1 to the person who bought the mustard. In this way it is more like a half off instead. Sometimes the market announces buy 2 and get the third item for free. When this happens then we divide the price in thirds and one person buys the item while the other two reimburses her for their cost towards this item. This happens to be a great way to really save on the items that are needed and sometimes items that are just wanted.

Our group has put together what we call a mini store and we have bought items that are staples that will keep for a long time and each month we open up and sell the items to those of us who are in need of the particular items. This works well because we have bought the items at a discounted price, with a coupon, or the buy one get one for free price.  In order to keep our store running we add an extra quarter or thirty cents to the item so that we can use the money to buy more items at a cheaper price. Our group has managed to keep our food pantry well stocked for those who are in need and in the same manner made it much cheaper for all of us to get the items we need and want.

Today it seems that the biggest part of our income is spent at the supermarket. The high cost of meats and some vegetables can really put a dent in our pocket. When we have small children we find things like milk, eggs, and bread cost a lot. We find that things like cereals and snacks are high on the agenda of our grocery purchases. When you find that you are spending and spending at your local super market then it is time to set back and try a new strategy that will help you to save money and perhaps even get some cash back.

First take a look at your grocery list put it in order according to the grocery aisles.  Then put your coupons in order putting the top priority on top of your list. The things that you know that you need to buy and check out to make sure that you have a coupon for all these items. What particular brand do you normally buy? You can go on line requesting coupons from that company before you go to the store and in some cases all you need to do is save your receipt and send it in for a rebate.

Rebates are very popular and many people depend on their monthly rebate checks each month to help with their grocery purchases. There is a rebate website that you can go to get information on just about all the products that you want to get coupons or rebates from with instructions on how to do this.  The website is ebate.com and it is very helpful not only for food items but they cover a large variety of things that you purchase.  It is not always necessary to shop at the pricy supermarkets you can down size a bit and shop at stores that offer you better values. Now is the time to rethink your mode of shopping in order to meet your budget.

One way to save is by going to stores that offer you the same kind of foods cheaper because the items are unbranded and you do your own packaging.  These type of stores save you a lot of money because you are able to buy items like milk, eggs, bread, butter, meats, canned goods that are unbranded but still quality foods. You are wondering how is this done will the simple truth is manufacturers make an abundance of goods and put a generic label on the product which means you are getting quality goods at a wholesale price. You can shop at clubs for instances like Sam’s club and buy in bulk saving you an extreme amount of money. There are many ways to save while you are at the super market all you need to do is putting your shopping money aside and look out for the bargains, coupons, and rebates in the end you should be able to go home with cash back in your pocket from each shopping trip.