When it comes to credit card and debt, the most common advice one will hear is; pay off debt, cut half the credit card and send it back to the bank. For those who have accumulated mountain of credit card debt, this advice is the most relevant. These people fear of credit card because they let their emotion of overspending run them over. They can’t control spending habit with credit card lying around, and that is why this advice best suit them. However, with a bit of financial intelligence, we can use credit card to our greatest advantage!

1. Higher leverage for your wallet. You don’t need carry a pile of cash anywhere you go, with this amazing plastic card, you can make payment on the amount a few times the cash you could carry in your wallet. Of course, you should not use it on the amount you can’t clear off on before the deadline. Otherwise you will need to pay interest.
2. Spending visibility. Average people will say that there is less control on the amount of spending when using credit card, I beg the different. I will say using credit card on every spending you make massively increase your spending visibility! Usually credit card companies will provide an online portal for user to view their statement up to daily basis, while the least credit card companies provide is sending you the paper statement. With this statement updated on daily or monthly basis, it is much easier for us to monitor our own spending pattern.
3. Convenience Input Data for Budget Planning – You can use credit card statement as historical input for your future budget planning. Best thing is you don’t pay for credit card statements. Bank track it down and send it to you, when you are minding your own business. If you review the credit card statement up to 4 months back, you can observe the pattern or trend in your spending habit. Is it increasing or staying average? If it is increasing, which items causes the jump in spending. Then ask the questions: Is the surge of amount causes by one-time item? Is it avoidable in subsequent month?  List out and discount the one-time and avoidable items, then you can project how much you will spend in each subsequent month.
4. Credit Card as Cash Flow tool. Credit card provides a lot of flexibility in term of cash flow. Let say if you are a freelancer who get paid irregularly, credit card enable cash upfront for you to smooth out any urgent payments. Be sure you can make it in time for debt settlement before due. However, a little bit of interest can be unavoidable some times. One must know how to balance the cost of money with the urgency of usage. If the urgency far outweighs interest rate then paying the interest charge is still justifiable. For example: What to do if you are not able to pay the rental in two months time? The interest is probably ten dollars if you don’t pay in the first month, while you will probably get kicked out from the rental house if you don’t pay for 1 month.     
5. Get Rewarded for Mindful Spending. While you spend on things you need, you also earn points on the purchase you pay with credit card. Most of the credit card companies have such system. One example of redeemable items is cash voucher. It is probably not much, but the thing is, this is something extra you get back while you spend. If you pay off credit card debt every month, this reward is like interest the banks have to pay you back. You don’t get those things by spending cash. Of course, don’t spend credit card for the sake of collecting points otherwise you will be out of control.

Read How Not To Be Millionaire on how you will never get rich by misusing credit card.