One of the best ways to take advantage of your money and make it work for you is by using a credit card that offers you rewards for every dollar you spend. This is what I like to call “found money” because it basically gives you something for nothing.

If you buy groceries at the store, why not use a credit card that will gives you rewards for your purchasing power instead of paying cash, which gives you no return. Just don’t forget to pay down the balance when the statement arrives

Right now you have an opportunity to get a Sony Platinum Visa® card which not only offers cool rewards but also 0% Fixed APR for up to 12 months. Another benefit of owning this card is that it has No Annual Fee.

Whenever you use this card you will earn Sony Reward Points which you can redeem for Sony products. Here are some highlights…..

• Get 1,500 bonus points after the first use.
• Earn 1 Sony Reward Point for every dollar you spend.
• Earn 3 Sony Reward Points for every dollar you spend on any Sony product when purchased from an authorized retailer.
• Earn 5 Sony Reward Points for every dollar you spend at SonyStyle.com and Sony Style stores.

Click here if you would like to apply for The Sony Platinum Visa® Card.

With the wealth gap widening and the rich getting richer, it may seem like some far off illusion for those living from paycheck to paycheck to be able to create any sort of monetary wealth. However, it is not an illusion and anybody in America has the possibility to become wealthy if they change their way of thinking. I believe the three factors is this series to be the most important when it comes to wealth creation and self growth in general.

Reason #1: You Aren’t Self-Disciplined With Your Money

The average American worker wakes up every morning to go to work, follows a workload set out by their boss and spends their valuable time working for what, for the most part, is a capped salary. It always amazed me how people that lead such structured and disciplined professional lives can be so undisciplined when it comes to their money.

Personal debt is out of control and the root of the problem is simply discipline. Every day were are bombarded by ads for shiny objects and introductory financing “deals” that are designed to lure in the suckers. Since the majority of our neighbors are leveraged up the ying yang and have the shiny objects, we naturally tell ourselves it’s the norm. This is the single biggest mistake one can make.

Think about it, if you compound your money at 15% yearly, you are doing great. But the fact is that the majority of people are spending over 20%, just to pay off the interest on their credit cards? How can one hope to build any wealth when the money they could be using to secure their future is used instead to line the pockets of big business?

You need to change your way of thinking about life. Having the “coolest toys” is not really all that fun when you can’t sleep at night. Driving a luxury car, if it’s owned by the bank, simply means you care more about image rather than substance. At some point in our lives we have to realize and mature to the fact that a healthy savings account and investments that grow your equity are the real “shiny objects” which we should be after. The rest of the things are just silly, if you don’t have a solid foundation.

So how does one start? Simple, you eliminate all the “wants” in your life and replace it with only one: “I want to become financially secure”. If you are truly committed to the process, it will become very gratifying. You will find greater pleasure in paying of a credit card than you would buying a flat screen TV.

Eliminating your debt is just step one though. You need to collect assets for yourself that will provide a residual income or grow in value over time. Anyone with any sort of income can collect such assets but only if they eliminate or downgrade their needless spending.

Now with all this said, not all debt is bad. Credit cards are great for the incentives they offer but you need to pay them off every month. Mortgages allow you to purchase an asset that has the potential to increase in value. However, using debt to finance items that decrease dramatically in value has to be avoided like a plague. A Porsche will not increase in value and will get you from point A to point B in relatively the same fashion as a lower priced car (minus the occasional looks).

So if you want to become wealthy you need to practice self discipline when it comes to your purchases and wants.

Part #2 of this series will touch on why taking risks is essential to becoming wealthy.

Personal finance guru David Bach is famous for his talk about the The Latte Factor® but now you can actually have your other purchases finance your coffee habit. JPMorgan Chase & Co. have issued a Starbucks Platinum Duetto™ Visa ® Card
which is a first-of-its kind Starbucks Card and Visa credit card rolled into one.

Here are the quick details….

• Use it as a reloadable Starbucks Card and a Visa credit card.
• Earn 1% in Starbucks “Duetto™ Dollars” with every Visa purchase.
• Get $10 Duetto™ Dollars in your Starbucks Card Account when you make your first Visa purchase.
• Qualify for additional Starbucks rewards and benefits when you use your Starbucks Card Account.
• Enjoy a 0% intro APR* for up to 6 billing cycles, no annual fee and a wide range of Visa benefits.

If you want to get more details or apply for the card, please click here.