As holiday preparations begin to ramp up, so to do people’s costs. Consumers spend a great deal of money during the holiday season on things like presents for loved ones, friends and coworkers as well as decorations, travel and food. Most people simply use their normal credit cards to fund these expenses. However, strategic shoppers are aware of the holiday magic that store-affiliated credit cards can provide. Many people assume that store credit cards provide no real benefit. After all, aren’t they only worthwhile when used at certain chains? While it is, in fact, true that store cards are tied to particular retail establishments, they also provide certain unique, consumer-friendly advantages, which become particularly apparent during the holidays. Specifically, use of a store card can help you both effectively lower the cost of your spending and rebuild your credit history this holiday season.

One of the main attractions of store cards is that they generally provide lucrative rewards for purchases made when a card account is opened. Such rewards often come in the form of discounts and/or free merchandise. While these perks may be negligible during low-volume shopping periods throughout the year, they can prove significant during the holidays, when spending is high. For example, if you plan on buying a necklace for your daughter, a new suit for your son and earrings for your wife this Christmas, you would stand to save big if you bought them all at Macy’s using a Macy’s store card that gives you 15% off any purchases made on the day the card is opened.

It is essential that these savings only be used to lower the costs of your already planned purchases, however. If you use them to facilitate more extravagant spending, you are simply wasting an opportunity to save money. Similarly, if your purchases are not paid for in full by the end of the month, interest will begin to erode your savings.

Store cards can also help certain consumers who are looking for a different kind of gift this holiday season. As a result of the Great Recession and the overall economic downturn, many consumers have incurred serious credit score damage. As America begins to recover, these people now need to focus on rebuilding their credit. Why? Because one’s credit score is an extremely important factor in determining whether or not he or she will be able to get a loan, buy or lease a car, buy or rent a property or even get a certain job.

But how does a store credit card fit into the equation? Well, for starters, any type of credit card represents the easiest way to infuse positive information into your credit report on a monthly basis. Secured credit cards and unsecured credit cards for bad credit are usually considered the only types of credit cards that consumers with bad credit can be approved for. However, members of this demographic can also often gain approval for store credit cards, which have lower fee structures than unsecured credit cards for bad credit. In addition—like with any credit card—actual use of a store card is not required for credit improvement, thus negating the genre’s lack of flexibility. So open a store card, lock it away and benefit from having an open credit card in good standing and at zero balance or save on your holiday purchases and pay your bill in full each month. Either way, your credit score will improve.

Getting a store credit card this holiday season should definitely be considered, but don’t wed yourself to the idea. If you do not get approved for a store card after applying for three different ones, you should just open a secured credit card since approval is guaranteed. After all, numerous credit card applications signal desperateness to the credit bureaus and will lower your credit score even further.

This article was written by Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO and Founder of CardHub.com.