I would never recommend making heavy use of credit if you're coming up lean at the end of every month. But we do have enough that we could pay off last month's credit card bill and pay for this month's spending.

First you have to have this revelation: Spending money now to save money later does not make sense. It's illogical. Points systems make you think that spending extra on your credit card, right now, is a responsible thing to do. It isn't. It took me six years to figure out why.

Fun with credit card rewards points.