There are thousands of credit cards out there, I know, but when you’re looking for one that suits your tastes, and spending habits, you’re going to find that the search may get a little stressful.  I’m going to give you some fairly simple tips that you will help you find the perfect card for your wallet.

What is your credit score?

The first thing I want you to ask yourself is this question.  What kind of credit do you have?  If you don’t know what kind of credit score you have, you should have a fairly good idea.  Do you have great credit, or is it poor?  If it’s poor, you’ll find that you’ll most likely have to resort to a bad credit based card, that generally doesn’t have any rewards.

Take a look at your spending habits

Everyone spends their money on something.  I want you to sit back, and look at your spending habits.  What do you spend your money on each and every month?  When I say this, I mean what do you spend the most of your money on?  Is it groceries?  gas?  clothes?

The reason I want to know this is because most cards out there will reward you for certain purchases.  For example, you may find that a card will give you triple points if you spend money on clothes.  If you spend a lot of money on clothes, you’ll want a card like this.

Start your searching

Now that you know what kind of spending you do, you’ll now want to look out for that card.  Start searching for a card that benefits your spending habits.  Find at least 3 or 4 cards that peak your interest, and compare them.

This is what you’ll want to compare:

• The rewards structure
• The annual fee ($0 is the best)
• APR (this doesn’t matter if you pay off in full)
• Major logo (this is a necessity if you want to have it accepted everywhere)

When you finally find a card that suits your spending habits, apply for it, and make sure that you pay your bills off in full all the time.  As long as you do this, you can avoid the interest rates, and take advantage of the cash back.

Buying a house can be a stressful situation, and when you’re looking to get the most out of the buying process.  Since most people are looking to get cash back on their mortgages, and closing, there really are only a few ways that you can take advantage of this.

Look for a Realtor that gives you cash back - Websites like HungryAgents.com are awesome when it comes down to searching for a home.  Here, you can request Realtors that will give you a part of their commission back to you.  For example, a Realtor may offer 25% of their commission back.  So, if they are going to get the typical 3%, you’ll get .75% back.  Sure, it doesn’t sound like a lot, but let me put it this way.

If you were to buy a $400,000 house, the agent is going to get $12,000 with his 3%.  Now, you’ll want to take your .75% and apply it to the $12,000, that’s going to leave you with $3,000!  That’s enough for a few pieces of furniture, or upgrades in your house.

Use a cash back card – You’re going to find with this situation that you’re going to need a high credit limit, and you’re going to need to basically be able to pay cash.  If you’re looking for an investment property, you can potentially use your cash back credit via the process.  Let’s say that your card gives you 1% cash back.  If you buy a $65,000 investment property with your credit card, you’re going to get $650 back.  As long as you pay the credit card bill in full when it comes, you can take advantage.  It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it or not.  Some people think it is, while others don’t.

These are really the only two ways that you can take ahead of time if you’re looking to get some sort of cash back at closing.  It’s up to you to do your homework with Realtors.  You may find that if you go with a realtor that gives you commission back, that you’re going to get one that’s in it to get more money for him/herself, rather than help you.

The new search engine Bing, or shall I say the new named search engine is still offering cash back like it did with it’s old platform.  With Bing, you’ll be able to get cash back online while you shop.  How is it done?  Let me show you how it can be done.

Head to Bing: The first thing that you want to do is head to the search engine’s main website.  On the left side of the search engine, you’re going to see a “shopping” link.  You’ll want to click that.

Browse the network: From there, you’re going to get a selection of a whole bunch of stores, and what they are going to offer you in terms of cash back.  You’ll want to make sure you create an account, so that Bing can track you.  If you click the link without signing in, you won’t get credit!

Sign in and shop: Once you create an account, you’ll want to look for the things that you want to shop for.  You can either search, or browse the featured products, etc.  Once you find something that you like, click the link, and purchase your product.

Wait for your cash: After you make your purchase, you generally have to wait 60 days.  The reason you have to wait is simply because they don’t want you to cancel, or refund your order, and they get screwed.  Instead, after that 60 days, log into your account, and if everything goes well, you should see a credit in your account.

As you can see, the process is rather simple, and doesn’t take that long at all to sign up.  Get into the habit of shopping online, and great things will come of it!

Whether you’re new to the Internet, or you want to know how cash back shopping works, I wanted to write up a quick tutorial, so that you can understand things better, and hopefully make the most out of your money.

Step by step instructions on getting cash back from shopping

#1 Get a cash back credit card: The first thing that you should do is get a cash back credit card.  This is going to enable you to get the most out of your purchase.  Many credit cards that offer rewards on the market give you anywhere from 1% back and up on your purchases.

#2 Know what site you’re going to join: The next step that you want to take is to find out what cash back site you want to take advantage of.  There are a lot of them out there, and each one is different.  This is where you will log in, and purchase your items.  You will have to do this so that they can give you credit on your purchase.  This top cash back sites page shows a few of the top sites on the Internet.

#3 Do your shopping through these sites: The best habit to get into is to do all your shopping online.  What you’ll want to do is make sure that you always click the link on your cash back shopping portal.  This way, you’ll be able to get the proper credit for your purchase.  On top of that, make sure you use your cash back credit card so that you can get even more back.  On average, you should see a 5%-10% return on your purchase!

There you have it.  It doesn’t get any easier than that.  What I generally like to do is shop at the mall, or any store, and do my research.  From there, I’ll write down what I like, and I’ll come home, make my purchase, and save big money!

Cash back bonuses are a great way to save money while you’re shopping.  If you’re unfamiliar with what these bonuses do, let me explain quickly for you.  Cash back bonuses happen when you make a purchase, and that website gives you cash back.  The website, and your credit card alone can give you a rebate, giving you huge savings.  It adds up rather quick!

How do you make the most out of your bonus?

Always pay your credit card off in full: If you’re going to use your credit card to get cash back, make sure that you always pay it off in full.  If you don’t pay it off in full, you’re going to find that you’re going to get those pesky interest rates tacked on.  This is of course, going to take away from your rewards.

Research your cash back sites: If you’re going to do your cash back online, make sure that you compare a few cash back sites.  Be sure to compare these top cash back sites online to see who exactly gives you the most for your money.

Get a gift card instead: You will find that with some cash back sites, and your credit cards, you’re going to get a  lot more with a gift card, than if you redeem it with cash.  If you know what you want to buy, see if they have your store, and go out, and purchase it.

Read your terms: If you apply for a cash back card, you’ll want to know exactly how much you can get.  Since some cards have a cap on their limits, you’ll want to make sure that you don’t reach it, because you will find out that you can get the rewards you want afterwards.

Making the most out of your cash back cards is rather simple.  Pay your cards off on time, in full, and make sure that you do your homework on which cash back site will give you the most back on your money.