Credit cards can save you hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars every year – if you use them instead of letting them use you.

Yes, they carry sky-high interest rates and, yes, they make it too easy to go into debt as you load them with impulse purchases you would never make when paying cash, but if you exercise some common sense and maturity they can save you a lot of money.

Examples? I didn’t pay for a round trip cross-Atlantic flight on Delta because of points I got from my credit card. Likewise, I earned five free nights at Sheraton Hotels and (so far) one free night at a Hilton.

Are you one of those people who only ever got a credit card for the convenience of being able to pay without cash, or because you weren’t aware of any other easy way to borrow money? Millions of us are, thanks to the unavoidable advertising of the credit card industry, and few people realise just how many alternatives to credit cards there are. Let’s take a look at a few.

Debit Cards.

There are some steps you can take to help repair your credit and gain a better chance at receiving these rates. Here are tips on how to do this.

One of the first things you need to do is to set out a plan to rebuild your credit, as well as how you will use your borrowing abilities in the future. Without a good plan of attack on your financing and borrowing usage, you will run the risk of being in financial trouble again within a few years or so. Don’t become a repeat statistic. Plan now, for protection later.

Credit is an interesting concept. Trust me, I have a lot of experience with it. As does everyone, I have a credit rating. Like some people, I once had no credit, and then bad credit, but I eventually built it up to good credit. I also work with credit on a daily basis at a credit card processing bank. I review credit to assess the risk each of our customers pose to the bank. I have much insight on the subject.

If you have a poor history of credit, applying for credit may appear to be a large obstacle. Consequently, a loan without credit checks may appear to be perfect if you consider that you have bad credit. The fact is that no credit check loans are often hard to come by. Unfortunately to compound this, when a potential borrower looks for a no credit check loan some loan brokers may try to take advantage of the loan seeker’s situation and sell them a product that isn’t maybe an apt one for them. In the case of no credit check finance then, it may be wise to carry out research prior to committing to a given loan arrangement.