Maybe you think you know all there is to know about your credit score. You make your credit card payments on time, keep your balance low, don’t take out more lines of credit than you need, and monitor your credit report on a regular basis.

Most people have at least one rewards credit card in their wallet. But many people don’t know how to use those credit cards to their best advantage by getting the most points possible and redeeming them for rewards they’ll actually use.

It’s happened to the best of us: you want to buy something using your credit card and find you don’t have enough available credit to complete your purchase. When you want to take advantage of low interest rates, high value credit card rewards, and the chance to pay off a purchase over time, it can be frustrating to be faced with a lower credit limit than you’d like.

If you’ve ever gotten a call from your credit card issuer asking you about an unfamiliar charge, you know the particular sense of dread that goes through you when you think your card may have been compromised.

It might not seem like applying for a new credit card is very complicated. After all, millions of people have credit cards, and most households have more than one. Still, people do make mistakes when applying for credit cards. Here are three of the most common blunders folks are prone to making when they sign up for that amazing new rewards credit card…

If you’ve ever been turned down for a credit card or offered a sky-high rate on a mortgage, your credit score might need some help.

You might be surprised to learn that most people don’t learn anything about money in school. With all the history, math, and science students are required to study, one thing that gets left out is basic financial literacy.

Do you know what your credit score is?
Having good credit is essential for more reasons than you may think. If you want to get the lowest APR on credit cards, not to mention be approved for the very best credit cards, including elite cards, you’ll need to have the very best credit score possible. But you also need good credit in order to be approved for a mortgage or an apartment lease, and maybe even to get a job.

You need a credit history to do so many things in this world: buy a house, get a small business loan, be approved to rent an apartment or lease a car, maybe even get a job. The problem is, you also need a credit history to be approved for a credit card – and the way to establish a credit history is by using a credit card.

You might consider yourself an expert in credit cards. You have a wallet full of the best reward cards, your credit score is solid, and you pride yourself on sticking to a budget. Even so, you could be making one of these five common credit card mistakes.