Play your (credit) cards right with these tricks!

A credit card can be a very clever bit of plastic. John Fitzsimons rounds up how to use one to make money, get stuff for free and protect your purchases.

I'll hold my hands up on this one - until recently I have been pretty naive on the use of credit cards. I thought they were just an easy way for me to organise my finances, and pay for big purchases, like an engagement ring.

But the uses of a credit card go WAY beyond that, and can even make you money! Here are my top five clever tricks a credit card can be used for!

Get paid for using plastic!

Cashback cards are a great way of making a bit of money out of your shopping habits. Each time you make a purchase on your cashback card, you get a rebate from the credit card provider, typically around 1% of your spend, although some cards offer a whopping 3%.

Then, once a year, those rebates are paid to you in a nice little lump sum. So if you spend £1,000 a month on your credit card, that's a cashback reward of £120 a year, for doing nothing! That can't be bad.

The only catch is that you need to pay off your balance in full each month. Otherwise you'll be hit with a hefty interest rate that could far outweigh any cashback benefits. So stay disciplined!

If you fancy taking advantage of the brilliant benefits offered by cashback cards, read The five cashback credit cards for more tips.

Compare the market's best cashback cards at lovemoney.com

You stooze, you won't lose!

Listen up, because this one is sneaky and very clever! Stoozing is something you can do with a 0% balance transfer card, which allows you to pay off overdrafts.

The key here is to not actually have an overdraft. You pay the maximum amount of credit you can get from your card into your current account, then move it over to a decent savings account, and watch the interest rack up.

Then, just before the 0% deal expires, you transfer the money back to your current account, and settle your credit card bill, leaving you with a nice bit of cash left over.

One thing to watch out for are the fees many balance transfer cards charge for moving the money over to your current account in the first place - do your sums and make sure you will actually get a decent reward for your efforts!

Check out a host of 0% balance transfer credit cards at lovemoney.com

The clever 0% purchase card trick!

Believe it or not, you can employ a similar trick to stoozing with your spending.

Say I take out a credit card with 0% interest on purchases for 12 months, and spend around £1,000 each month. Every month I only pay off the minimum monthly repayment and put rest of the money I would have paid to settle the bill into a decent savings account.

My spending is completely interest-free, and thanks to the savings account, it's actually making me money!

Once the end of the 0% interest period appears on the horizon, I pay off the card, and pocket the surplus built up through the saving account. Magic!

Need a 0% interest purchase card? Compare them on lovemoney.com!

Get the most for your loyalty!

If you are the sort of person that tends to do a lot of spending in certain stores, then you should be rewarded for your loyalty.

Use a normal credit card in your store of choice, and chances are you will get nothing in return. But using a reward credit card can see you entitled to all sorts of goodies.

If you get a Nectar credit card for example, you get two Nectar points for each £1 you spend with participating partners. Combine that with a normal Nectar loyalty card, and you'll soon rack up masses of points, which you can trade in for anything from books and electrical goods to flights and hotels.

Almost all of the major supermarkets offer their own credit cards, while even outfits like Play.com have got in on the action. Make the most of your loyalty, and get some freebies!

Just be warned that these are only worth it if you pay off your balance in full because the APR on these types of cards tends to be higher than cards without rewards.

Compare reward credit cards with lovemoney.com

The section 75 safety net

Ok, this is not exactly a trick, but a brilliant piece of protection afforded by using your plastic.

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act is the reason you should be happy to use your credit card for all of your spending. It applies to all purchases between £100 and £30,000, and means that should something go wrong with your purchase, your card provider is liable to provide a refund.

So if you booked a flight with a budget airline company which suddenly went bust, no sweat! And fear not if that dress you ordered arrives with a host of flaws! In all of these cases, you WILL be entitled to a full refund, irrespective of whether the company you ordered from is still in business.

Read Don't be fobbed off by your credit card company to get the full lowdown.

So remember - a credit card is more than just that bit of plastic you can call on in emergencies when you are a bit short. You can use it to make you money, and protect you from firms going bust or shoddy service.

Make sure you get the most out of your credit card!

More: The best credit cards for spending! | The best credit cards for borrowing