Make money off the credit vultures. Get a “cash back” card, and make sure you pay it off every month. They’re betting that you won’t. And if they nail you with a late charge, call them up and bitch about it. If they won’t waiver it, drop the card and find another one. Works for me.
I had one of those Citibank Platinum Dividend Cards. I accepted it because it offered 5% back on grocery, drugstore, and gas purchases, on a maximum of $6,000 per year. They canceled the program partway through the second year I had the card. At first I thought they'd canceled it just for me, because I hadn't racked up any interest or late fees. So, I googled and found that, indeed, they really did cancel the program. Then I went out and bought a couple of grand in grocery gift cards in order to reach the $6,000 limit for the year before the mid-October deadline.
I figure Citibank lost several hundred dollars on me, since they'd rebated $600 on $12,000 in charges, but earned only the two or three percent (maybe less) they get out of the merchants.