With the rising price of gasoline there is some relief if you have good credit and a rewards credit card you can at least save a little bit on gas.  In this time of economic chaos, every little bit helps. 

The first step is to find the right credit card for you.  Most major oil companies have some kind of credit card with their name on it that will offer you all kinds of perks; discounts on gas, discounts on merchandise inside the station, and reward points that can be used for a variety of different products.

If you spend $100 a week on gas and you have a card that kicks back 1% to you that means that over the course of a year you will save yourself $52 a week every year.  It may not seem like a lot but it definitely adds up.  Most gas credit cards offer 3% cash back and with that deal you would save over $150 a year.  Now we are starting to get into decent savings.  Another benefit of these cards is that not only do you get cash back on your gasoline, but on many other purchases.  For example, groceries, snacks, and even airline miles.  If you find a card that gives many perks all the better.  There are a lot of cards out there so the best bet is to research the different cards and find the one that will give you the most benefit.

With today’s financial uncertainty we are all understandably suspicious about any deal, especially from a credit card company.  The reward cards are one of the really true good deals.  The catch is, however, that you must pay your balance off every month.  If you don’t, you are losing money instead of gaining money.  If you don’t pay your balance, or can’t, these rewards don’t benefit you.  Than $150 dollars you got back doesn’t mean anything if you are paying $500 in finance charges every month.

This is one of the secrets that the credit card companies don’t go out of their way to tell you.  But, if you’re smart you can come out on top of the credit card industry for once.

One of the problems we face as consumers is that the credit card companies count on our ignorance to make money.  There is no way that the credit card companies are going to lose money to give us rewards.  They have themselves well protected and as long as the consumer is dumb, and we all suffer from this from time to time, the credit card companies will be just fine.  If the time ever comes that the consumer wises up, you will find the credit card companies discontinue these promotions.  So, until the day comes when we become intelligent consumers, those who do pay their bills and have good credit, should take advantage of these offers.

Remember, we, the consumers hold the power.  The companies just don’t want use to realize that we have that power.