Who knows about Credit Cards

It's embarrassing to admit but I've never had an actual credit card. Part if thinks it's a good idea but I just don't want to go crazy with the card itself, debt etc. I'm sure theirs somebody with credit card experience & I really don't know to much about them.

Good to have one.

The first time you don't zero the balance as you pay the monthly bill, close the account and destroy the card before it destroys you.

Zero balance every month or nothing.

Tictac gave great advice, I'ts good to have for renting a car, buying things online and starting a tab at the bar.

Get one that gives you useful points too. I have a hotel points card that I used to pay my cell phone, electric, etc and then pay off, and I get a free room about every other month.

LISTEN TO TICTAC you'll be amazed how easy it is to run that sucker up and end up making the minimum monthly payment for a decade. Just resolve that you are not going to carry a balance. Period.

Get your credit history established early on and make sure it is IMPECCABLE.

I learned some HEAVY HARD lessons in my 20's and had to spent the next 10 years recovering my bad credit history.

DO NOT let it collect a balance every month, pay it off, or don't get a credit card at all!!

If you are in the U.S. - YOU MUST established a good credit, or the rest of your mature adult life is going to be severely limited and hindered without good credt (can't buy cars, house, or even a cell phone contract!).

This is one of the greatest lesson I had to learn in life.

Be well.

Exodus

Dear Prod,
I much prefer a Debit Card,where you use your own Money,If you forget to pay your Monthly Bill on Credit Cards,they wallop you with a huge interest Bill!

If you want to build credit, you have to carry debt and pay interest on it for at least one month. The second month of interest, through the rest of your life, does not accomplish anything productive. But your credit report shows the maximum past balance you have carried as one of three important numbers for the card, along with current balance and the current limit. If max balance carried is zero, it is as though you have never used the card, even if you use it every day. Your credit score will never go up due to the account, and it may actually go down if you have multiple unused accounts.

To build your credit, you need to build your credit limit. You do that by maxing out the card, while saving cash at the same time, pay one month's worth of interest, and then pay it off the next month. After your balance is back to zero, call the card company and ask for a higher limit. They will fall all over themselves to comply. If you make the same request for a maxed-out account, they won't give you anything. But by paying it off, you should be able to double your credit limit with each request.

Some solid advice in this thread. I worked for a credit card company for 10 years, payment processing. IT stuff.

First find out your credit score, you will need this as a tool to get them to lower the APR. If your credit score is descent 650 and up maybe? You should be able to get single digit APR's. I'm not positive but anything lower than 650 will probably get you APR's in the teens.

Do not miss a payment or that sh*t will jump to 20-30plus % so be smart and make the monthly payments or even better have a zero balance like Tictac said!!

If you credit score is good you shouldn't have to pay an annual fee, F NO!

If your score is low you might have an annual fee of $30? Again this depends on the bank so not sure on this part, none of my cards charge me annual fees. I've had them for many years tho. This will all depend on your credit score.

Start with either your bank or credit union. Like most people said you want something with perks & points. Any large purchases I make I use my credit card to get points and then I just transfer funds to pay it off.

As my points have racked up I've saved quite a bit on many discounted flights. I've even bought hockey gear with points saved up.

Scaramouche said:

Dear Prod,
I much prefer a Debit Card,where you use your own Money,If you forget to pay your Monthly Bill on Credit Cards,they wallop you with a huge interest Bill!

Click to expand...

Using debit card is pretty dangerous. Once your id/pin has been stolen, people can siphon your money away from your bank. Since this is YOUR money, the bank will be less willing to replace them unless you have some sort of Identity Theft protection, or whatever insurance crap they are selling. If you are using credit cards, and it's stolen, it is still the bank's money that's being stolen, so they are more likely to take the unauthorized transactions off your record.

Use debit cards only when you have to. Use credit cards all the time, but pay off the balance every month. Rule of thumb: if you can't afford it with cash, don't buy it.

Be very careful with credit cards dude. In my early 20's to mid 20's i was doing pretty well for myself working at a very large bank in the world financial center downtown. I ended up with 3 credit cards and i also had a auto loan for a luxury car on credit. What a fvcking mistake that was, Eventually I ended up with 3 maxed out credit cards and my paycheck, although good, wasnt enough to cover my debt. Paying the minimum monthly payment is garbage and you'll be fvcked along with your credit score if you were to lose your source of income (Job). When the financial crisis started, I got laid off and my credit score leaped off a cliff because i couldnt pay and interest kept hitting me (Banks have a hard-on for Interest). I eventually paid it all off but never again will i go that route with Credit Cards. It can get very tempting to use credit and you could "unknowingly" trap yourself in debt.

If you have no Credit history, Open one credit card, use it a bit here and there and leave it open. Try as best as you can to be able to use cash or debit card (Checking Account) to make purchases. I'm assuming your still pretty young so, focus on building wealth than rely on credit like a sh!t load of people do today. The Economy is not in good shape and IMO its going to go further down the toilet so you dont want to be in debt when things get worse and cant find a job to pay it off.

i'm with scara, I only want and need a debit card, its my money there.

also if you into buying online use a paypal account they permit the use of debit cards

Dear All,
I had a credit card once,used it to buy a book,thought it was in England,but it was in the Bahamas...The bluggers then had me locked into buying book after book after book,couldn't unlock it...cost me $750 Bank said on their information it was my fault...I shall never have another!

I only have a debit card

Thanks for the advice guys. I have a debit card but fear that in the upcoming years (I'm 28 as of last week) that I won't be able to get a house, car, etc. The only thing I have is about 30,000 in student loans. Can anyone recommend a good bank or place to get a credit card?

Go to bankrate.com to compare offers. Also, call your bank.

what is your age OP?

Try Capital One with the points for stuff like vacation. Pay it off every month in full, and that's it.

PS: If you can't afford it don't buy it.

I'm 28 VladPatton in all honesty I want to be financially secure before I hit 33.

ProDJ26 said:

I'm 28 VladPatton in all honesty I want to be financially secure before I hit 33.

Click to expand...

Wow I'm 26, and i've never had a credit card either, I'm not exactly self-sufficient yet but hope to be before 31 or 32

Look guys you have to have in the US to build up your credit score. If you don't have one then you can always get a card that you load up with money and use which reports to the 3 main reporting agencies. I too did a number on my credit and it's very easy to damage your score.

The best rule is that if you use a credit card then you'd better pay off what you spend that month. The other key is to never miss a payment.