Although summer is coming to a close, the next big travel season is kicking back up again thanks to the holidays. It might feel too early to think about holiday travel, but let’s be honest, those Halloween decorations are already creeping onto store shelves.

According to Skyscanner, August is the best month to book flights domestically while September is ideal when booking international travel. If you’re looking for ways to save money on your next vacation, there are other travel hacks to keep in mind aside from good timing.

Between travel, get-togethers, and other social events, summer is hard on our credit cards. While we kick back and relax, they work overtime to pay for our fun. If you worked your credit cards a little too hard this summer, fall is the perfect time to give them a break with these five tips.

A balance transfer card is a handy tool in your debt repayment toolbox if used correctly. This type of card allows you to move your credit card balance (and sometimes other types of loans) to a credit card with 0% interest for a limited period of time, typically 12-21 months.

Carrying a credit card around this holiday shopping season can make sense in many ways. It offers convenience and greater purchasing power, but there’s a fine line between smart holiday card use versus letting credit card shopping get out of hand. Here’s a basic guide on the dos and don’ts when using a credit card over the holidays.

Before setting foot in a store or visiting an online retailer to check-off your gift list, set boundaries around your spending limit. First, decide how much money you can afford to spend in total.

A lot of us love to travel. I know this because I’ve worked with hundreds of clients on hundreds of financial plans, and once we work through the hard numbers like assets and liabilities and expenses, we talk through the fun stuff, like goals and non-negotiables. Like me, a lot of my clients’ primary goal is to travel, and it’s a non-negotiable part of living the life we want.

Also like me, they like to travel more than they can afford to. Luckily, there’s a tool for that, and it’s called Travel Hacking. Travel Hacking is the art of using airline and hotel loyalty programs to their full potential, often by using points and miles credit cards strategically.

Everything is getting more expensive, including your credit card debt. Last month, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.75%—the largest one-time increase in nearly three decades. Credit card companies factor the Fed’s rate into the annual percentage rates (APRs) they charge consumers, so if you are carrying credit card debt, you can expect to pay even more on interest in the coming months.

But luckily, you are not powerless in the face of rising interest rates.

The rules of the credit game are confusing, yes. But too many credit cards only hurt you in one instance.

There is a general fear of credit cards from most of our clients because most people think of credit cards as a form of debt; however, they’re only debt if you don’t pay them off regularly. Because of this fear, though, many clients don’t use credit cards at all or only use one or two. They believe the myth that too many credit cards are bad for your credit score.

Many of us were never taught how to manage credit cards or how they even work. Let’s start off with some basics before jumping into how to pay down your debt faster.

First off, you should download your credit card statement so you understand what’s on it. While credit card statements are organized differently depending on the creditor, each of them have the same features.

So, you have a great credit score, your spending is under control, and you want to maximize your great score by getting into the habit of using cards that earn you points and save you money.

Great news! While we always recommend that you resist the urge to rack up points until you know that you aren’t going to rack up debt, once you’ve reached that milestone, using cards to your advantage is a great part of your overall financial strategy.

Travel hacking is the art of maximizing credit card, airline, and hotel loyalty programs to get free travel, travel discounts, or travel perks that would otherwise be very costly.

Credit cards are a few things. They’re a means to an end in a tough time, they’re a necessary tool for getting a job done (think renting cars or hotel rooms), and they can even help us travel more for way less when we use points and miles.