Credit cards can be a good thing if you know how to use one.  These are ways that credit cards can make your life better:

1. Accumulate reward points for free merchandise.  Get a reward credit card and get free stuff.  Each time you use your credit card, you’ll accumulate points that can be redeemed for discounts on gas, movie tickets, restaurant gift cards, and more.

2. Buy Now, Pay Later.  Credit cards give you the option to make a purchase now and pay for it later.  This is a great benefit, especially for emergencies.

3. Accepted virtually everywhere.  Credit cards are generally accepted everywhere. This is great when you are running low on cash.

4. Easy to carry.  A credit card takes up less room than a wad of cash does.

5. Online shopping.  Pretty much the only way to buy things online is by using a credit card.  Your credit card comes in handy if you do a lot of online shopping and many offer a virtual credit card number to help protect your identity.

6. Build credit.  Using your credit card wisely is one of the best ways to build your credit.  This will show lenders how responsible you are and make them more willing to loan you money.

7. Teach responsibility.  Credit cards can teach you responsibility because you have to account for each purchase you make in order to stay out of debt.

8. Teach money management.  Credit cards are a great way to teach you how to handle your money.  You have to carefully budget your money and your purchases.

9. Variety of payment options.  Many times, you can chose different payment options.  You have the flexibility to chose your due date and payment amount.

10. Online monthly statements.  Most credit card companies offer an online program where you can view your credit card activity.  This helps manage credit card purchases tremendously.

11. Not having to carry cash.  Isn’t it a pain and a hassle to carry cash all of the time?  Credit cards make it so easy to swipe and sign.

12. Good customer service (most of the time).  You can’t call a customer service department if you have a question about the cash you carry.  You can, however, call in regards to your credit cards and credit account.

13. Earn cash back.  You can earn cash back through a percentage of your purchases.  This is a great way to combat rising inflation too.

14. Give you a buffer until payday.  Credit cards help get you through until payday, especially when unexpected circumstances arise.

15. Tool for tracking your expense.  It is so easy to track expenses and purchases now with different tools that the credit card companies offer.  Most companies have an online tracking system.  Many also offer a year-end statement that categorizes all of your purchases from the entire year.

These are just a few of the ways that credit cards can make your life better.  Credit cards can be an unmatched tool that can assist you on your quest for financial freedom.

You aren’t the only one who feels like you’ll never have good credit.  It seems like only yesterday when you qualified for anything you wanted.  What happened?  How did it happen so quickly?

Millions of Americans feel just the way you do.  Your credit card and other bills are piling up and you can’t seem to even qualify for a new car, let alone your dream home.  Follow these proven steps to rebuild your credit.

1. Stick to your budget.  Budgeting is a fundamental element in rebuilding your credit.  Budgeting will keep you from spending more money than you make.  Carefully look at your income and what you spending your money on.  Make sure you are paying your creditors before going on that mini shopping spree.  Review your budget daily, if needed.  As you do this, you will be able to track exactly where your money is going and you’ll be able to cut back on unnecessary spending.

2. Rank.  Make a list of all the creditors you owe money to.  Put them in order of highest interest rate.  Be disciplined to pay off those highest interest rate accounts first.  You’ll be surprised how much money that actually saves you because you won’t be paying as much in fees and interest.

3. Cut your balance.  First of all, try not to carry a balance on any of your credit cards.  If you have to carry a balance, especially while you are working to pay it off, keep it less than 40% of your limit.  For instance, if your limit is $2500, your balance should be no more than $1000.  This alone will cut back on your dependence on the credit card.

4. Check your report.  Make sure you check your credit report at least once a year.  Financial experts recommend that you check it every three months.  As you do this, you will be able to correct mistakes much faster.  You will also be able to watch out for identity theft this way.  The best way to rebuild your credit is to be informed and also stay informed.

5. Get help.  If you feel the burden of financial stress, seek the help of a financial planner or credit counselor.  Don’t wait until you are late on your payments and you have stacks and stacks of unpaid bills.  These professionals will be able to help you get a hold of your finances long before the creditors know there is a problem.

It will take patience, diligence and a great deal of will power to rebuild your credit.  It takes a lot longer to rebuild your credit than it takes to hurt it.  Make sure you plan ahead and stick to the plan.  This will help you steer clear of additional unnecessary debt.  Stay focused and you will see the improvement; in your credit score and in your spending habits.

Recently, I had a conversation with a family member who has been married only a short time. As with any relationship, each person brings a set of positive and negative qualities, but both are generally willing to look past the negative for the positive qualities. Given the nature of my work, we naturally talked about finances and how ways to handle them are about as different as people are, whether good or bad. Although I didn’t impart any sort of revelatory advice to my family member, our conversation did cause me to think about how someone could earn more of our most popular credit card categories – the cash back reward credit card.

My train of thought after our conversation led me to devise a strategy that anyone should be able to do without much work. This strategy probably could not have worked even a decade ago, but with the utilization of the internet and online banking, you can now earn even more cash back. All you need is a cash back credit card, a high-yield savings or money market account and a checking account. Your cash back card can be that of your preference from whichever issuer or bank you prefer. For convenience, find a bank, financial institution or credit union that pays the most you can find on a savings or money market account and open an account there. You’ll also want to open a checking account with them too so that funds can easily be transferred if necessary.

The cash back credit card is probably the most universal reward credit card because of its broad appeal to earn the cardholder cash back on every purchase they make. If you do not already have a cash back credit card or are looking for a different card, there are a few points to consider. First, take into account where you would make the majority of your purchases. Is most of or a large part of your money spent at grocery stores or at gas stations? Do those places only accept Visa and MasterCard or do they accept all issuers? Having two cards from different issuers, like a Visa and an American Express, is certainly very common. Next, is knowing how much you charge each month or year on the credit card. Depending on how much you charge can determine how well you maximize your cash back reward. Many of the higher percentage cash back cards have tiers that earn different percentages of cash back based on the amount you spend. Some people may be better served by a 1% cash back reward versus a card that can earn more on a tiered basis. Maximizing your reward with some forward thinking and making every purchase you may normal make with conventional payment methods can add up to a healthy cash back reward.

Most people probably already have automatic withdrawal setup to pay bills that cannot be made on a cash back credit card. Why not have those same bills deducted from a high-yield savings or money market account instead? Plus, a savings account and in some cases a money market account, provide debit cards to account holders for convenience. This gives you the ability to withdraw cash at an ATM or use a debit card as you normally would. Deposit or have your paycheck direct-deposited into this account so you can earn interest on it instead of that “no fee” checking account that pays no interest.

However, having a checking account is simply a necessary evil, but having it with the same institution will make money transfers quick and easy when you need to actually use the services of a checking account. You may or may not be able to eliminate a checking account completely, but in the event you actually need to write a check to someone, you can. You just make out the check as normal and transfer only the necessary amount from your savings or money market account to cover it.

There are many different institutions that can help you get the accounts necessary to implement this simple strategy. Use a comparison website like Bankrate.com to find those who offer the highest paying savings or money market accounts. Also, be sure to check with your local credit union and even your current institution to see what they offer. Once your accounts are established, you’ll be on your way to earning even more cash back.