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. (Read the rest of this story.)