Steve gave you great advice. I've been fortunate enough to pay off all credit cards and other debt for the most part. All I owe now is my truck and my house. Believe me, it makes a HUGE difference in your level of stress and quality of life.
The best credit card is NONE AT ALL for most people. There are OTHER ways to get credit besides a card. Car loans, small personal loans (signature loans) etc, are will help without the card problems.
Credit card debt is the SINGLE BIGGEST reason why people "can't seem to get ahead". Avoid it like the plague it is.
Conversely, paying off credit card debt is the best "investment" you can make. If you have a balance at 18%, paying it off is like investing money with a GUARANTEED 18% return! You can't beat that!
The answer to your spending desires is SAVINGS. This is a tough one to master. You MUST pay yourself second (second? yes, I'll explain in a bit). If you want something, SAVE FOR IT if it's not a must have.
I suggest that you get a ledger book like they sell at Office Depot and the like. It's an accountant's ledger. Then, make different columns across the top for the different things you'll need to save for.
As an example, my wife and I have 7 or 8 columns of things that we save for. You can anticipate the vast majority of your expenses. But you need savings for those thing you CAN'T foresee as well as those you can. So, your FIRST savings columns is "contingency". This is simply money that you set aside for emergencies-- medical bills, car accident, airfare for a sudden family death, etc...
The other columns we have are based on the things that are important to us. We have a "computer" column where we are saving for a new Mac. We have a "gifts" columns that funds birthday and Christmas presents. We have a "travel" column that pays for gas, hotels, airfare, etc for upcoming trips (like Holiday travel). We have a "baby" column to save for the expenses of having our first kid-- a crib, bottles, changing table, etc. There's presently a "maternity clothing" column because we are having to buy clothing over and above our regular monthly clothing budget. I even have my "truck and tools" column that funds toys for me or my truck. If I want a new truck gizmo, I have to have the money in that column or it must wait.
Keep in mind that your savings account is NOT an investment. If you put the money someplace in hopes of getting interest on it, make SURE that it's liquid-- like a money market account or something. If you want to invest, think long term and look at stock, bonds, and mutual funds, etc.
So you want to allocate your monthly savings based on how you plan on savings 1) for emergencies and 2) saving-to-spend.
So, now you need to do a monthly budget. You'll need some kind of spreadsheet or ledger. You'll have fixed expenses (truck payments, mortgage, whatever) and variable expenses (restaurants, groceries, personal care (haircuts, manicures, whatever) household (cleaning supplies, decoratives, etc), auto (fuel, insurance), utilities, and so on- you get the idea. Everthing you regularly spend money on should be under some kind of category. You'll also want a miscellaneous category just to help the numbers line up.
So when you do your monthly budget, assign dollar values to each of your categories. The fixed expenses are easy. The variable ones you'll have to ballpark. As you go through the month, *save every receipt*. Put the expenses where they belong in each category and keep a running total. You'll be able to tweak the dollar amounts as you go by and see what needs less or more money. If one category goes over, you have to rob Peter to pay Paul. Decide where it's coming from (NOT SAVINGS). Keep in mind that you want to be flexible on this stuff. If you spend more on restaurants, then cut back on other entertainment-- etc. If you can't make a budget to align your income and your spending THEN YOU HAVE BIG PROBLEMS BECAUSE YOU ARE LIVING BEYOND YOUR MEANS AND ARE HEADED TO THE POOR HOUSE.
Finally PAY YOURSELF SECOND. That is designed to stress that savings is VERY important, but not the most important. What's the MOST important??
Give some away. Budget each month for giving money to charity/church/whatever. I suggest 10% because that's what the Bible suggests, but YMMV.
This is the REAL KEY to financial freedom. When you make it the #1 priority to give some away right off the top, you'll experience true freedom. You'll see that money is losing its power over you. You'll see the more important things in life. You'll not only be more generous with your money, but your time and everything else as well. Your quality of life will be infinitely higher and you will be much happier, even living on a little less.
My wife and I made the 10% an inviolate priority even when we were in debt up to our eyeballs. It's paradoxical, but giving away that 10% has been the fastest track to financial freedom.
You won't even miss the money. Yes, if I stop to think about it, I could have bought some PDR twins and still had money left over for KORE suspension and EDMs with the money that is "missing" just this year. But that money is doing more good that it could EVER do had it stayed in my hands. I don't say this to toot my horn so much as to say that you won't miss it, even when compared to what you think you REALLY want. If there's any credit to be had, it's for God's blessing in my life. It's not a give-to-get setup like some preachers would have you believe, but it sometimes turns out that way. The freedom I feel to forgo possessions that I used to be so incredibly tied to is the greatest blessing at all.
I'm lucky enough to have some cool stuff. But if I was all gone tomorrow, it wouldn't shatter me. I'd get along without my CTD or nice speakers or guitar stuff.
THIS is the greatest blessing of all-- to be TRULY free in a free country.
It's worked well for my wife and I, and I'd suggest it can work for anyone.
Justin
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
but keep them stashed away. Had credit score of over 900 last time I checked!!!!! Oo. 
