The credit card industry generates billions of dollars every year, based on fees and interest paid by many of its cardholders. But unlike most products, you can enjoy the benefits of a credit card for free. Even better, you can come out ahead.

The first step is to avoid incurring interest on your transactions, by paying your full balance every month. When you don’t, the amount you carry over to the next month is charged an interest rate that is almost always in the double digits.

Second, make sure those full payments are always made on time. If you miss the due date by more than a day or two, not only might you trigger an interest fee, but you’re likely to be charged a late fee as well, creating a double cost whammy.

You’ll also want to avoid annual costs. You can do this by only choosing “no annual fee” cards, or if you already have a card with a fee, you can call the issuer to request they waive it or move you to a no-fee card.

Diligently avoiding all of these costs will lead you to a beneficial card relationship, where you have credit access for a month at a time and pay nothing in exchange. But you can do even better by both avoiding all fees and earning rewards on your card activity.

To do this, choose a card that offers cash, points, or travel awards that you find useful. Cash can be the best choice because you can redeem it frequently and apply it to anything in your budget. Additionally, look for sign-up bonuses when shopping for a new card.

When you can earn rewards and simultaneously avoid fees, you’ve succeeded in making your credit card more lucrative for you than for the card issuer.