Last August, The Motley Fool, one of the most entertaining personal finance and investing websites out there, published an article called the 8 Commandments of Credit that I feel every consumer should read. Some of the commandments are common sense, some of them may not apply, but an educated consumer has a duty to read and understand what these rules mean and ensure that they follow them. They address some of the tactic that credit card companies use to try to extract as much money as they can from unsuspecting consumers like you and I. In this series I will elaborate on some of these commandments and give my personal take.

Commandment VII. Carry just what you need.

The Motley Fool recommends that you only carry one or two cards - one for purchases and another for emergencies, and that more than that is overkill. Personally, I carry several cards based on their cash back potential (one for restaurants, one for gasoline, one for everything else) and I recommend that if you have the discipline then you should do the same. The key to using credit cards is to maximize your cash back potential at every opportunity and lower your incidence of mistakes (missing a payment, exceeding your limit).

Source: The Motley Fool