Thinking About Getting A Credit Card

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If you are looking to build a credit history it's a good idea to get one.

I started out with a Capitol One Card $250 limit. I would buy gas and then just pay it off each month. Then I slowly started using it to make minor purchases like food. Just pay it off by the due date and after about a year you'll have a nice start to building a credit history.

Also, don't listen to the people on this board who tell you to pay everything in cash. They live in LA LA land. This country is built and revolves around credit and credit scores. If you have no/bad credit, you pay higher prices for things. It may even prevent you from getting a job.

There are also other advantages of using credit cards like reward points. I can't even tell you how much free stuff i have gotten from Cabelas because i put all my purchases on my card. i pay cash for almost nothing. I also travel alot for work and put everything on my card and rack of free points.

Also if you make a purchase with a credit card and you buy a defective item and the seller won't accept it back, you can dispute it with your credit card company adn they will take the charges off your credit card and go after the seller. I got a free car this way..not sure i ever told that story here. it was along time ago the details are blurry but it went something like this:

Long story short, i bought a 1991 Celica GT on ebay for like $2000 and put it on my credit card. Item description was, in short, car is in perfect running condition. Had it shipped from Florida. When i received it the car would barely drive. Brought it to a mechanic and he said it needed about $1500 worth of work. Called the seller, he said too bad. Called my credit card company,printed out the Ebay listing, printed out 2 estimates from mechanics. They took the charges of my CC and told the seller her had 90 days to get the car. 90 days was up. Found a guy to fix the car for $800 bucks. Sold the car for like $4500

i would try getting a card from:

Orchard Bank Credit Card Application - Log in for Account Services

https://www.creditonebank.com/

https://www.capitalone.com/
 
even some debit cards have rewards. i use my paypal debit card for pretty much everything (so i dont have to carry cash) for every hundred bucks i spent i get a few bucks back.
 
Also you should sign up for creditkarma.com. I've been using it for a few years. its a good tool and its 100% free
 
You and a credit card sounds like a bad idea. Serious. Not trying to be a dick either.

Bottom line, treat them like a debit card, if you don't have the money in the bank, don't use it. If you have cash in hand, set it aside and use the card, put cash into bank and pay down the card to ZERO at the end of the month.

What credit card? At this point, most likely anything you can get. Chances are most will say no.
 
You and a credit card sounds like a bad idea. Serious. Not trying to be a dick either.

Bottom line, treat them like a debit card, if you don't have the money in the bank, don't use it. If you have cash in hand, set it aside and use the card, put cash into bank and pay down the card to ZERO at the end of the month.

What credit card? At this point, most likely anything you can get. Chances are most will say no.

I applied for a bank of america credit card, ive been banking with bank of america for years now , just assuming they will give me one idk could be wrong
 
2 words.......oh god.

this coming from someone that knows you.
 
i only charge to a card what i can pay off every month
thats really the only way to do it in my book

yeah for the most part that is very good advice..Now-a-days i make sure i can pay my balance off at the end of the month for the most part. Also, don't share credit card debt with anyone unless you are married. I learned my lesson the hard way and ended up paying $15k+ of CC debt that wasn't mine but it was on my card so i was responsibily for it.

But also take advantage of stuff like instore CC cards(Home Depot card) which allow you make medium sized purchases and pay them off over 12 months interest free. Just make sure you feel confident you can pay it off else you will get nailed with all that interest.
 
Also you should sign up for creditkarma.com. I've been using it for a few years. its a good tool and its 100% free

yessir, this and a FDCPA, help me clear a few things up in a matter of 2 months. very very good sight. while it dont give you an actual free credit report, it does give you the run down of what your creditors see.
 
yeah for the most part that is very good advice..Now-a-days i make sure i can pay my balance off at the end of the month for the most part. Also, don't share credit card debt with anyone unless you are married. I learned my lesson the hard way and ended up paying $15k+ of CC debt that wasn't mine but it was on my card so i was responsibily for it.

But also take advantage of stuff like instore CC cards(Home Depot card) which allow you make medium sized purchases and pay them off over 12 months interest free. Just make sure you feel confident you can pay it off else you will get nailed with all that interest.

and to add to this, be carefull.i had to dispute a $2200 max out charge on a citibank sears card, that i never seen or applied for. found out the original limit was $1600, and someone maxed it in 1 day with electronics purchases. luckily, the submittal card request form recorded an instore location of the applicant. that instore location had several camera images of this person shopping. (received the card number and pin with instant in store approval) while i got it remoed from my credit, i did press criminal charges but never heard anything else about it.

this was in 2005.
 
Only do the store cards if its place you go to regularly, and you pay it off in the time frame.
I used my home depot card for an interest free loan for a year after I bought my condo. I don't recommend it to everyone but it worked for me.
I know of people with store cards, like say a gap card. They get special offers and must run into the store to get their extra savings. They then carry a balance with an insanely high rate and think they are saving money because they got the initial discount.

Due to some job loss ( me and the fiancee), my dog getting really sick (over 2g's in a week), and a few other things my cc got up there for a while. I never want to do that again, because paying it down has been a bitch.
 
store cards aren't 'real' credit cards. they usually require a REAL credit card to get.
 
store cards aren't 'real' credit cards. they usually require a REAL credit card to get.

Some "store" or "brand" CC's are everday CC's.

Cabela's is a real Visa CC. There are lots of other CC's you can get that are branded that are real CC' like a Marriott CC, Amazon CC, i think Paypal has a CC
 
Cool site, my credit score is 669 after 9 months of having a credit card.

i'm not exactly sure how accurate the scores are. mine says 660 but when i bought my Titan the dealership in March showed me my scores and nothing was below a 690 and went as high as 709.

My Karma scores have increased since 2011 and it was actually up 7 points as of today at 660
 
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