Curtis Arnold is not only a contributor to DebtSmart.com, but also a contributor to consumer awareness. He’s the founder of U.S. Citizens for Fair Credit Card Terms, Inc. and CardRatings.com. Curtis has been helping people save money by promoting financial education since 1998. His latest project is his first book, How You Can Profit From Credit Cards: Using Credit to Improve Your Financial Life and Bottom Line, and as you may guess, I loved the book! The book has been available at Amazon.com since its release this month.

Curtis knows firsthand the devastating effects of credit card debt. By the time he was finished with his graduate studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, his credit card debt reached $45,000. The stress it created in his life was “unbelievable,” as Curtis puts it, and has a lot to do with why he wrote this book. His goal is to spare you the experience of what he went through and to show you the best ways to benefit from your credit cards.

Curtis has a particular passion for educating students about credit. He serves on the Advisory Board for the Center for Consumer Financial Services at Rochester Institute of Technology, which provides national leadership and research on student credit issues. Curtis also regularly speaks on college campuses about the ins and outs of credit. Finally, he currently serves as co-chair of the Arkansas chapter of the Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy, which seeks to educate students about personal finance issues.

Curtis says, “Why should huge banks and credit card companies make all the money?” And of course, I agree!

A few of the topics covered in the book include:
*	Unlocking the keys to huge credit card savings
*	Finding the best rates and balance transfer offers—and making the most of them
*	Fly anywhere, finance anything
*	Use credit cards to earn free airline tickets and cash rebates or for low-cost “creative financing”
*	Don’t get ripped off—by your bank or anyone else
*	Avoid hidden fees, costly small print, and flat-out fraud
*	Slash your debt, and cut your cost of credit
*	Stop throwing away money you could be saving or investing

In summary: what I like best about this book is that it’s easy to read and understand. You can put the principles Curtis lays out to work right away in your life to start winning the battle against the banks. This is one of the best books on credit cards ever written, and I recommend that you pick up a copy today.