When it comes to smart money habits, credit cards don’t usually make the top of our list. These cards with their minimum payments of only a fraction of your actual balance me seem like the perfect plan, but they let you fall into thousands of dollars worth of debt. Though we don’t necessarily encourage them, if you are going to get a credit card, shop around for a good rewards program. These systems let you acquire points, redeemable for everything from free meals to entire vacations.First and foremost you should understand that a credit card rewards program is only beneficial to you if you pay the balance each month. Credit card users who only pay a minimum payment and constantly carry a balance will never reap the benefits of these rewards because they will be eaten up by interest.Next, you want to find a program that allows you to earn points for every dollar you spend. This way you won’t constantly be wondering what purchases are saving you money. When evaluating a program you should also take a look at their points system. Some rewards programs don’t have very distinct point levels. You want a program where you can cash in once you’ve earned just a few thousand points or save up for something big with hundreds of thousands of them. Credit card companies are great at listing all the many products you could earn with points but fail to mention that something as small as a clock radio could take 50,000 points, which rounds out to be one very expensive clock radio. Also inquire about how you can go about browsing through available products when you’re ready to cash in your points. Some rewards programs talk up all the great things you can earn but then hide them deep in stuffed mail flyers or through a complicated online process so it ends up being more hassle than it’s worth.