We spend money every single day on many different types of products and services and banks' newest offer is that of saving when spending if you use their services; that is if you pay for your expenditures with special credit cards. These credit cards are part of a wide offer and best thing to do is read as many bank-offers as possible before choosing a particular card. Maximizing credit card rewards is not only for economists, it can simply be achieved by anybody who informs himself on credit cards, carefully chooses a suited card and manages it correctly.

When you think of maximizing you should think of getting best out of something. Maximizing credit cards means receiving best reward for your spent money. This usually means choosing more than one type of card and sometimes more than just one issuer. Some types of credit cards offer rewords and money-back on purchases only if you buy a certain type of product with them; for example gas cards will only offer a bonus program for gas purchases and no reward on supermarket purchases. In order to maximize your credit card rewards you will also need a card that offers rewards on supermarket or store purchases.

Another very important thing to do in order to bring rewards to a maximum is carefully read fine print about credit card before you sign any deal. Many credit cards offer a 0% intro APR for 6 months or a 0% interest rate for an entire year; still do not let yourself beguiled, keep reading and see what happens after that promotional period of time. You may also want to check annual fee policy and only choose a credit card with no annual maintenance fee - there are many types available form all large issuers. Anther thing to look out for is "limit condition" as there are cards that only actually offer rewards after you have passed over a certain minimum limit of expenditures and other cards that stop offering rewards once you surpass limit. Thus, read carefully flyer and only after that choose a card suited for your needs.

"I think money was stolen from my card" or "I might have blocked my card in ATM" - these are frequent problems that bank customer-support officers usually hear from agitated clients. Incorrect use of credit cards or wrong interpretations of their functions are frequent even after tens of years of credit-card extensive use. Actually, there are 4 most frequent causes for problems; one is related to overspending, second is about missing money; this is usually connected to 3rd problem - unauthorized use and finally there is issue of forgotten information. All these problems are interconnected and can lead to serious financial problems. However, there are a few simple things that you can do in order to avoid hassle.

First and foremost, remember that your credit card has a limit. When you open a credit line you will be given a certain credit limit that can vary from twice your monthly income to 3 or maybe 4 times that income, depending on past credit history. However, do not spend more than you can pay back. At end of each month you will have to pay-back borrowed money and there will be no exceptions from rule. So lesson number one is “spend within limits”.

The second thing you need to do is keep a record of your expenditures. Keep bank statements, receipts and carbons in a safe place and at end of each month make a calculation of your deposits and withdrawals. If there is any discrepancy between two, make sure to contact your issuer bank immediately and solve situation. Most people find out that they have forgotten about a certain payment that was made with card, yet you may find out more important information than this.

This brings us to next issue - unauthorized use of credit cards. This is a wide problem mainly due to theft. It is safe to keep your credit cards in a wallet, separately from any other papers so that you do not lose cards; it is also recommended that you make sure there is no one watching over your shoulder when you type you personal identification number and off course there is rule of never giving out PIN to anybody. Unauthorized use is not only related to theft. Young children should never be given number and/or PIN of a credit card. If they are still not aware of value and importance of money you may find yourself paying for useless items or services. So rule no.2 is Never Give out Your PIN.