Credit Card Benefits

If you are able to do so safely (without incurring debt) use credit cards to your advantage. Take time to list the benefits from each card. I have a sheet showing which cards offer the most bonus for different transactions that I keep in my wallet. For example, Discover currently offers a 5% bonus on gas/petrol. American Express offers 2% on restaurants. In addition to the bonus, look for other benefits some offer travel insurance, most will refund for damaged products.

Don't forego using cash when advantageous though. You may sometimes get a discount for a cash purchase.

If you have good credit, you may get offers for a sign on bonus. I paid for a cruise for our whole family with sign on bonuses from new cards that I opened one year (afterwards you may get restricted from opening new credit card accounts for two years though). As an added advantage, at a later date when I stopped using some of my cards, they offered another bonus for spending $300 over a two month period.

More info. here