My relationship with credit cards has gone through its ups and downs ever since I applied for my first credit card at 19 years old. The honeymoon phase abruptly ended just months in as interest charges piled up after debt balances.
Fortunately, those days have long passed. I’ve learned several key things as my relationship with credit has become more fruitful, after nailing down an approach that helps me stay on budget while harvesting a ton of value from card rewards and credit card sign-up bonuses.