Now that you know how to built your credit, it is imperative to use it wisely and to take advantage of it.

Do not be afraid to use your credit cards, they are a great tool, if used properly.

Make use of your grace period and billing cycles, meaning you can use your credit card and not pay interest on your purchases for about a month or two depending on when the purchase was made during the billing cycle.

Don’t forget to make money using your credit card.

That is correct, you can make money with your credit card. If you have built good credit as previously covered, you will begin to see great loan offers in no time. Companies often offer no annual fees and 0% APR on balance transfers and purchases for up to a year, sometimes even longer. What’s that mean? It means you are able to use their money interest free for an entire year! Of course you’ll still have to make a monthly payment in most cases, but it is still essentially a free loan.

Why not take advantage of this and invest the money in virtually risk-less CD or money market account. As of this date, banks are offering around 5% interest on CDs and certain online banks have money market accounts with over 4% interest. The difference between the two is in the liquidity of the account; a CD cannot be cashed out for an agreed upon period of time without penalties, while a money market account may be closed at any time.

So if you qualify for a $10,000 balance transfer, you could easily make 400 to 500 at the end of the year without much effort, simply by depositing the money from your credit card into this new account.

Note: Make sure you read your Credit Card agreement carefully to prevent any hidden fees for balance transfers.

Additionally, it may not be wise to invest in any other products or securities, such as stocks or mutual funds with your credit card since there is a greater potential for loss. With a bank insured by FDIC, the federal government guarantees your money for up to a $100,000 making your CD or money market account virtually risk-less; so stick with banks unless you are willing to lose your shirt and pants.

Collect points, get rewards and discounts.

If you are able to control your spending without using cash, utilize the points and discounts that you can acquire by using your cards. Some cards offer up to 5% cash back in points or actual cash when used for purchases of certain products. So the next time you pump your gas or buy groceries, use that Visa or MasterCard an wait for that end of the year check, coupons or flight miles!