Credit cards have become a part of our daily life and has gone in to a level where it is considered as an essential of an individual. Therefore some experts define the current consumer market as credit card driven market. Dr. Stephan Covey mentions the same factor in the introduction of his famous book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”.

Let’s discuss some of the techniques that can be practiced to save money when the credit cards are used. Let’s start with dining. This is one area where we use our credit card frequently. Although we do not notice, we spend a considerable amount of credit for eating at restaurants. Usually, credit cards offer discounts at certain restaurants and hotels. Sometimes not for the whole meal but for drinks, wines etc. Before you go on your next dinner outing, you can check the promotional booklets or the website of the credit card issuer to find out the discounts offered. Based on the restaurant type, the amount of discount and your budget, you can settle with one of the places in the list potentially saving 10% - 20% from your expenses.

One mistake the credit card holders do is to withdraw cash when there is a need for cash. This cash withdrawal comes with the surcharge of some percentage. As an example, for every cash withdrawal from your credit card, you may be charged some 2% as the cash advance fee so you end up paying more than you withdrew in addition to the interest for the whole amount (money withdrew + cash advance fee). This is a sure way to financial disaster.

Paying the full balance every month is one of the good practices for frequent credit card users. As we all know, if we don’t settle your credits in full with the deadline period, you will be charged an interest. To minimize this, settle the outstanding balance in full whenever you can. This way, you loose nothing but gain some cash advantage out of the promotions and discounts.