Credit card rewards programs are advertised everywhere and you constantly hear about them. So what is the real deal about these programs, and can you benefit from them? If you pay your balance off every month then credit cards rewards programs are for you. More specifically, cash back programs for recurring expenses, such as gas, groceries, and utilities.

Look for programs that will pay 5% cash back on these purchases and look to see when the cash back will begin. If you carry balances on your credit cards, any rewards programs will do little good for you when viewed along side the extreme interest that you will most likely be paying. Cash back rewards programs reward a financially disciplined consumer.

When looking for cash back credit cards examine the terms and look at when the date of cash back will begin, what the limit of cash back is, if any, how the money is given back to you(via check or credited to your account), and examine any items that are excluded. Additionally, you want to compare annual fees of cards that offer cash back programs. If you are getting $200 per year cash back, but the card carries an annual fee of $100, obviously the benefit looks less appealing. Frequent flier and points programs are often times not worth the time as the miles may be very difficult to redeem and the points required for products may be unrealistically high.

It is important to keep in mind that paying off your balance every month on time is crucial to avoiding late fees and jacked up interest payments. Card companies profit when you miss payments or start to carry a balance. So the rewards that you signed up for may just put you in the red if you slip up just a bit.