Fortunately, you don’t have to find a card that has everything: a low fee, cheap rate, no extra fees, and a full grace period. Instead, the card you choose will depend on your personal credit habits. Which type of credit card user are you?

Credit User: You frequently carry a balance from month to month. You often pay only the minimum payment each month, or you pay partbut not allof the total bill at the end of the month.

Convenience User: You pay off your balance in full every month.

Combination User: You do some of each. You pay off your balance in full mostor at least halfof the time. You may carry a balance from time to time, but it’s usually paid off in several months at the most.

Choosing the Card for You

Credit Users should choose a card with the lowest interest rate they can find. If you are a credit user, the annual fee is nor as important as the interest rate, since you will likely benefit more from a low rate than a cheap fee. You don’t need a grace period on your card, since you do not take advantage of it.

Convenience Users should look for cards with low or free annual fees. If you are a convenience user, the interest rate is not of much importance to you, since you don’t revolve a balance. Make sure your cards carry interest-free grace periods. If there is no grace period, you are likely to wind up paying a bundle in monthly interest charges.

Combination Users must do a little math to make their decision. If you are a combination user, pull out your credit card statements from last year. If you don’t have them, look in your tax records for the year-end billing statements that listed how much interest you paid during the year. For each card, compare how much interest you paid, and how much you paid for the annual fee. If there is not much difference between the two, you can likely cut your costs in half by choosing a card with a similar interest rate and no annual fee. You will save even more if you choose a card with no annual fee and a low interest rate.

If, however, you find there is a large difference between the amount you paid in interest and the annual fee, then you should try to reduce the most expensive one first. If, for instance, your card carries a $25 annual fee, but you paid $85 in interest during the year, you should try to reduce the amount of interest you pay. Compare the interest rate on your card to other offers,