Credit Cards can be very useful if used with the proper disciplines. Each card can have its own special purpose and those should be kept separately. Let me explain further so that we can break down each type and how it should be handled.

For everyday purposes and purchases it is a great idea to get a 0% APR credit card that will earn you cash back and travel rewards while you use it to pay monthly bills, buy groceries and other expenses. At the end of each month this should be paid off just like any other budgeted item. You may ask why do I need a 0% card if I pay off the balance each month? This is true, but I still recommend it just in case there is a month where you are a little over you will not get hit with interest charges. This just makes sense with so many 0% APR cards that last 12 months or more. Many are 5% Cash back and can build up Travel Reward Points quickly if used in this way to buy everything and then pay them off at the end of each month. Yes it does take discipline but once you get into this cycle it will be easy. This card should be the one your carry with you at all times and no more except possibly for a Gas Credit Card and I will explain this further.

The other type of credit card you should get if you have loans or balances on other cards is a Low Interest Balance Transfer credit card. There are such good offers on these cards now if you have good credit, they should not be passed up. There are balance transfer cards that have 2.99% balance transfer APR's for the Life of The Transfer. This means as long as you pay the payments every month on time you will maintain this low interest rate. This is a great way to pay off your debt quickly and not pay hundreds of dollars in interest. Once you do the Balance Transfer this card should not be carried or used. Put it away and treat this like a very low iinterest loan. If you use it for purchases, the problem is that you will be charged for the purchase interest rate or APR for those purchases. When you make a payment it does not go against the purchased balance first, which means you will pay interest on those purchases while paying down your balance transfer debt defeating the purpose of the great offer. So again, once you do the transfer do not use this card ever until it is paid off.

The 3rd and Last Card I will discuss today is getting a good Gas Credit Card. The reason why I bring this up and recommend a Gas Credit Card is the large expense gas is on the budget and it provides an excellent means to track how much you are spending on Gasoline as well as giving you up to 5% Cash Back on most cards. There is a Gas Credit Card that gives up to 10% Cash Back. Over the course of the year this can be a huge discount on your gas expenses. But again, this has to be budgeted like any other bill during the month and all charges will go to this card and be paid off at the end of the month. Carry this card and use it for your vehicles.

If you use this method it should provide a way to pay off debt with the low interest balance transfer credit card that you tuck away after the transfer, the low to 0% APR card for all purchases other than gas to build travel rewards and cash back to be used for vacations and a good cash back gas card to track and budget your gas expenses.

Please keep all links in tact when using the following article for content. Stephen Sikes writes financial articles and operates www.creditcardradio.com a credit card comparison site with low interest credit card offers and easy to use online credit card applications.