Credit Cards for an 18 yr old

[NJ346]

ok, well I've been 18 for a few months now and want to start building my credit before I go to college next year. I know with the economy, it's extremely hard to get a credit card. What companies out there are somewhat friendly to people who don't have a credit history? I have a steady job and go to school full time.

[MonmouthCtyAntz]

When I was 17 I got a Capitol One Visa...I made sure i only used it a few times a mth just to build my credit up...might wanna check them out.

[camaro2you]

Have a parent co-sign it will be much easier.

[NJ346]

Have a parent co-sign it will be much easier.

I would rather not have them co-sign for me.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

ok, well I've been 18 for a few months now and want to start building my credit before I go to college next year. I know with the economy, it's extremely hard to get a credit card. What companies out there are somewhat friendly to people who don't have a credit history? I have a steady job and go to school full time.

I went to my bank (Chase) last fall and said they can back it by my savings account since they didn't want to give me one. They then agreed and started me at like a $300 limit. Now I get credit card offers all the time...

[deadtrend1]

I currently only have 2 cards. One is my checking account debit card, and a AMEX Gold card through my company, which I really don't think affects me at all.

I never had a major credit card and have excellent credit. I fear that I will really mess myself up with one. My mom co signed on my first vehicle loan few years ago, and that's what i used to build from.

I did have a compusa card i used once before they went under. Currently have a best buy card that i used once and shredded. unfortunetly that doesnt stop me cause you can use your SS number and drivers license to buy stuff at the store.

don't take advice from me though, I'm horrible with money .... :lol:

[bandit88]

I currently only have 2 cards. One is my checking account debit card, and a AMEX Gold card through my company, which I really don't think affects me at all.

I never had a major credit card and have excellent credit. I fear that I will really mess myself up with one. My mom co signed on my first vehicle loan few years ago, and that's what i used to build from.

I did have a compusa card i used once before they went under. Currently have a best buy card that i used once and shredded. unfortunetly that doesnt stop me cause you can use your SS number and drivers license to buy stuff at the store.

don't take advice from me though, I'm horrible with money .... :lol:
:nod:

[Tsar]

Citi, Chase and Discover all gave me credit cards when I was your age. Just make sure you're not getting some ****** 99%APR BS, and it has some rewards.

EDIT* PS. before someone comes and here and says CC's are evil.. they are not, they are evil to stupid people who do not know how to utilize them and/or have no self control. They are great for rewards and credit building! Good luck.

[deadtrend1]

Citi, Chase and Discover all gave me credit cards when I was your age. Just make sure you're not getting some ****** 99%APR BS, and it has some rewards.

very true. I rushed to get the loan for my car trailer paid off quickly cause they jacked up the rates on me just cause, well, they felt like it.

Avoid annual fees and all that other hidden crap.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Citi, Chase and Discover all gave me credit cards when I was your age. Just make sure you're not getting some ****** 99%APR BS, and it has some rewards.

Good point, I forgot about that....I have a student card/rate. No interest for 6 months. From Discover.

[NJ346]

I just applied for a chase card with a $39 annual fee. Not really worried about a lousy $40 a year, I just really want to get the ball rolling with my credit history. I'm really good with money(was able to afford the ls1 as my first car), so that's not a problem. I may check with my bank just to see what they can do for me. They'd probably be the best bet since they can see my checking account history and I always try to keep a good amount of $$ in there.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

I may check with my bank just to see what they can do for me. They'd probably be the best bet since they can see my checking account history and I always try to keep a good amount of $$ in there.

:nod: Wise decision.

[cdacda13]

Bank of America offers a plan for students. Its call Campus edge checking. It gives you a saving account, checking account, and a credit card. Its free checking, with a debit card. Free online banking. Credit card has a low APR, and a 700 limit.

[Tsar]

From my experiences cards through the bank always charged higher APR than cards that I have acquired else where. Maybe it's just my experience though, need someone else to confirm. And wtf, chase charges annual fee now?

edit* just checked - chase freedom has no annual fee..

[Tru2Chevy]

And wtf, chase charges annual fee now?

On some cards they do. Neither of my Chase cards have a fee though.

- Justin

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

From my experiences cards through the bank always charged higher APR than cards that I have acquired else where. Maybe it's just my experience though, need someone else to confirm. And wtf, chase charges annual fee now?

6 months interest free means APR doesn't matter. I don't have an annual fee from Chase, maybe because it's the student thing?

[//<86TA>\\]

i got a capitol one visa when i turned 18, it only had a limit of 500bux. I used it for gas, paid it off every month on time and in a year or 2 i got a visa and a discover with 15k limits, not sure where they are now.

Just make sure to pay it off every month, dont carry a balance.

Only thing i didnt like with capitol one, my limit never went up, i technically still have the account, i destroyed the card years ago, but its still 500 bux. My other cards have gone up a few times.

[Tru2Chevy]

6 months interest free means APR doesn't matter. I don't have an annual fee from Chase, maybe because it's the student thing?

Correction, paying your card off in full every month means APR doesn't matter. 6 months interest free just means that if you are behind, you can transfer a balance and save yourself a few bucks.

- Justin

[Tsar]

6 months interest free means APR doesn't matter. I don't have an annual fee from Chase, maybe because it's the student thing?
Six months will fly by, and if you have a balance higher APR will choke you until you die of starvation. Average student in US carries a pretty hefty balance on their CC. Now if you pay it off, then you don't have to bother with the APR, but too many people don't.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Correction, paying your card off in full every month means APR doesn't matter. 6 months interest free just means that if you are behind, you can transfer a balance and save yourself a few bucks.

- Justin

Exactly. I don't keep a balance, but could with no penalty if I ever needed/wanted to.

[Tsar]

Exactly. I don't keep a balance, but could with no penalty if I ever needed/wanted to.
Your "penalty" will be finance charges, eventually.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Your "penalty" will be finance charges, eventually.

For longer than normal is what I meant.

[Pampered-Z]

Just to add to this thread. Just found this out while working with the banks on my daughter's new home.

Once you get the card, make sure you use it. I'm not saying to go nuts, buy something so that you make payments over time say pay it off in a few months. Also you should use the card at least 3-4 times a year and this will help you raise your credit limit and rating.

Buy something you can easily afford and then make the payments each month. Showing you are good at making the payments helps your credit more then then buying something at them paying off the full balance of the card each month.

My oldest daughter has 3-4 cards but only use 2 of them. She did the buy it / pay if off for years, even for large purchases. What happened is that did very little to help her credit. On one of the cards that she never used, without her knowing? ( or maybe didn't understand if they did notify her ) was that the CC company dropped her credit line from 10K to 5K becuase it was inactive for over a year. Well when that showed up on her credit report that the CC dropped her limit it really hurt her credit score! I never realized all this was factored in because I've had established credit over years. Seeing what my daughter went through was a mess! you would think that someone that pays off their bills right away would have good credit, but that's not how the creditors view it. They want to see more long term ability to make payments. So you need to balance you buying with paying withut getting beat up on the interest.

On the other side, My younger daughter that makes less money then her sister uses her CCs and makes the monthly payments and as a result she actually has far better credit reports because she has demonstated that she makes all her payments and her limits have been raised over the past few years.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Showing you are good at making the payments helps your credit more then then buying something at them paying off the full balance of the card each month.

Good call. I forgot to mention the bank manager told me that.

[maroman88]

ive got a visa card, my dad has a visa card... we get one bill with both our names on it... its all for car parts lol

[quasar34]

i have a capital one mastercard..within the first 6 months the uped my limit from 300 to 1000..

[7pointoh]

Why not get a small personal loan from a bank and pay it off within six months? Paying off a loan on time or earlier can help build your credit score.

[NastyEllEssWon]

credit cards are bad mmmmk

[WildBillyT]

ive got a visa card, my dad has a visa card... we get one bill with both our names on it... its all for car parts lol

That means you have a card on his account. It is not your card and won't effect your credit score. Like an expense account.

Aside from the money aspect of it, credit cards are nice in that they help you with things like short warrantied items, bad sellers, and establish a paper trail of your purchases which can help if things go south.

My wife paid a few thousand "cash" to get a discount from our wedding photographer/videographer, and when they went poof all our money was gone and we are left with only raw images. Barely anything we actually paid for. If we had paid with a CC it would have been a little more expensive but we would have gotten our money back.


To the OP:

Get a VISA card (I'd say AMEX but they aren't taken everywhere and that can be a PITA) and only buy stuff with it when you already have the money to pay the bill. Treat it like if you carry a balance they will cut off your nutsack. Keep that mentality and you will be fine.

[Blacdout96]

I never owned a cc, I took a loan out years ago, paid it off in half the time, credit skyrocketed, now they beat my door down with credit cards offers.

[maroman88]

That means you have a card on his account. It is not your card and won't effect your credit score. Like an expense account.



why wouldnt it be considered him having a card on my account? it was originally opened with both names on it, i wasnt added later

[BonzoHansen]

why wouldnt it be considered him having a card on my account? it was originally opened with both names on it, i wasnt added later

It depends who the primary car holder is and who the secondary authorized user is. The 'credit' goes to the primary card holder since they are the ones on the hook for payment, not the secondary authorized user. It is doubtful it is a true joint account

[miketa95]

I didn't read through this so idk if anyone said this yet, but i got a citibank visa card when I was 18. They practically give them away and you start with an extremely low limit, like $200, so it's always easy to pay it back in full. If u always pay it off they raise your limit quickly. I got the card when I was 18 and they've already raised my limit alot, and it has helped me build a little credit and eventually get my truck loan. I'd recommend it but the key is paying it all back asap every time you use it.

[Tsar]

Just to add to this thread. Just found this out while working with the banks on my daughter's new home.

Once you get the card, make sure you use it. I'm not saying to go nuts, buy something so that you make payments over time say pay it off in a few months. Also you should use the card at least 3-4 times a year and this will help you raise your credit limit and rating.

Buy something you can easily afford and then make the payments each month. Showing you are good at making the payments helps your credit more then then buying something at them paying off the full balance of the card each month.

My oldest daughter has 3-4 cards but only use 2 of them. She did the buy it / pay if off for years, even for large purchases. What happened is that did very little to help her credit. On one of the cards that she never used, without her knowing? ( or maybe didn't understand if they did notify her ) was that the CC company dropped her credit line from 10K to 5K becuase it was inactive for over a year. Well when that showed up on her credit report that the CC dropped her limit it really hurt her credit score! I never realized all this was factored in because I've had established credit over years. Seeing what my daughter went through was a mess! you would think that someone that pays off their bills right away would have good credit, but that's not how the creditors view it. They want to see more long term ability to make payments. So you need to balance you buying with paying withut getting beat up on the interest.

On the other side, My younger daughter that makes less money then her sister uses her CCs and makes the monthly payments and as a result she actually has far better credit reports because she has demonstated that she makes all her payments and her limits have been raised over the past few years.One can always request the credit line to be toped out at certain point. A college student does not need a credit line that's 25k and he will likely not use it. So it's only natural to chop that down to only a few thousand, especially in todays economy.

As far as "paying stuff off ever time" vs "paying off everything at once", well if you actually look at the credit report, it will not say whether or not you were paying stuff off at once/over time. It will simply indicate if your account is in a good standing/ and how long it has been in good standing, in addition to if you have been late, and if your account is in collections.

I know I have never paid anything over time, it's stupid and costs extra money. However, my FICO score is close to 800, which is pretty damn good. It's all about ones ability to maintain their account in a good standing, and their debt to available credit ratio. Pretty easy stuff.

I never owned a cc, I took a loan out years ago, paid it off in half the time, credit skyrocketed, now they beat my door down with credit cards offers.Not to burst bubbles, but everyone receives pre-approved CC applications. You can have bad credit (<700) and still receive them. Unless you paid off a house and a major car loan, it didn't change your credit by much.

Why not get a small personal loan from a bank and pay it off within six months? Paying off a loan on time or earlier can help build your credit score.You wanna run to the bank for a "small personal loan" every time when you wanna buy something to build your credit?

[Blacdout96]

Not to burst bubbles, but everyone receives pre-approved CC applications. You can have bad credit (<700) and still receive them. Unless you paid off a house and a major car loan, it didn't change your credit by much.

You wanna run to the bank for a "small personal loan" every time when you wanna buy something to build your credit?

Actually my credit went over 600 when I paid mine off, not awesome credit, ut not bad either, a good way to get started on building your credit. It was the first time I had a loan, or had any form of credit. I only took out $3,000 as a loan. now the Intrest did hurt, it was 23% (Ouch) but as I said I had no credit, and was my first loan. they had a deal, if I took $5,000 out I could of had 15% APR, but when I finished paying it off, it worth it in the end cause my APR for anything is really low that I really am paying off the loan and not the intrest. I'm not going to say what my score is now, but I can say I sit very comfortably now with my credit. :cool:

[Tru2Chevy]

As far as "paying stuff off ever time" vs "paying off everything at once", well if you actually look at the credit report, it will not say whether or not you were paying stuff off at once/over time. It will simply indicate if your account is in a good standing/ and how long it has been in good standing, in addition to if you have been late, and if your account is in collections.

I know I have never paid anything over time, it's stupid and costs extra money. However, my FICO score is close to 800, which is pretty damn good. It's all about ones ability to maintain their account in a good standing, and their debt to available credit ratio. Pretty easy stuff.

While I agree to a point, a good score isn't everything. You need to have a solid history behind you as well.

My brother bought a truck back in the spring of '07. He expected a nice low APR on his loan since his credit score was in the mid-upper 700s. The best rate he could find on the truck was ~18%, because he had no real credit history.

- Justin

[Tsar]

While I agree to a point, a good score isn't everything. You need to have a solid history behind you as well.

My brother bought a truck back in the spring of '07. He expected a nice low APR on his loan since his credit score was in the mid-upper 700s. The best rate he could find on the truck was ~18%, because he had no real credit history.

- Justin

Well I guess I'm all set there. This comment deserves a :cry: and a :lol: smiley at the same time.

[7pointoh]

You wanna run to the bank for a "small personal loan" every time when you wanna buy something to build your credit?

I never said that. But if you misinterpreted, allow me to elaborate.

The OP want's to start to build some credit. I merely presented an option without a use of a credit card in question form. And followed it up with a comment that suggest being a good dept-payer can help build your credit score.

I did not imply that a person should do that every time. Nor did I state anything about "buying something."

[Tsar]

Seems like an unnecessary hassle, and why would anyone take out a loan if they didn't want to "buy something"? Isn't that the point of CC/loans?

[7pointoh]

Maybe it is and unnecessary hassle. I never thought of it as. My thoughts on loans is getting money that you don't have. Credit Cards are the same thing but your spending that money. I've always used loans and CC as an emergency back up plan. I have, on occasion taken out a small loans to and put that money in my savings account just in case something happens. That way I build up credit and have something tucked away like what if my trans blows on my daily driver. I have also taken out small loans and invested that. All the loans I have taken out is used for future purposes. Only excetion is auto financing.

And the only reason I got a credit card was to purchase stuff online. But ever since my bank offered a sharecheck card, I got rid of my credit cards.

I guess I'm not a big believer on spending money that I don't have. Cause when it it comes down to it. I would rather have money than be good for it.

[WildBillyT]

Maybe it is and unnecessary hassle. I never thought of it as. My thoughts on loans is getting money that you don't have. Credit Cards are the same thing but your spending that money. I've always used loans and CC as an emergency back up plan. I have, on occasion taken out a small loans to and put that money in my savings account just in case something happens. That way I build up credit and have something tucked away like what if my trans blows on my daily driver. I have also taken out small loans and invested that. All the loans I have taken out is used for future purposes. Only excetion is auto financing.

And the only reason I got a credit card was to purchase stuff online. But ever since my bank offered a sharecheck card, I got rid of my credit cards.

I guess I'm not a big believer on spending money that I don't have. Cause when it it comes down to it. I would rather have money than be good for it.


That's exactly why I (and probably Tsar, from what it sounds like) have not had trouble with our CC's.

I don't run up a bill I can't pay off at the end of the month. It's not that hard to do, and in that sense it's not spending money I don't have.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

That's exactly why I (and probably Tsar, from what it sounds like) have not had trouble with our CC's.

I don't run up a bill I can't pay off at the end of the month. It's not that hard to do, and in that sense it's not spending money I don't have.

Same here. I use it for small stuff, and usually pay it off before the bill even comes. I only have one to build up credit.

[Tsar]

That's exactly why I (and probably Tsar, from what it sounds like) have not had trouble with our CC's.

I don't run up a bill I can't pay off at the end of the month. It's not that hard to do, and in that sense it's not spending money I don't have.

+1 I can cover every single cent that I spent on my CC BEFORE making the purchase. Could I simply pay cash? Yes, but that would require a trip to the bank, and withdrawing money. It's an extra hassle that I do not want.

Besides being a hassle cash does not provide rewards/cashback bonuses that CC's do. Rewards/Cashback is my secondary reason for using my cc's everywhere; here's why. My CC's range anywhere from 1% on all purchases up to 20% on certain merchandise. Let's say two people go to the store and they want to buy an item that is 100 dollars. One pays cash, he pays 100 dollars and gets the item. The other person pays with his CC, he pays 100 dollars and he is on his way too. When the payment gets processed he either gets 1 dollar back or 20 dollars back at the end of the billing cycle. Which means that the price of the merchandise is anywhere between 80 and 99 bucks. The person who paid in cash got nothing in return. As long as you are responsible this is awesome! There's also the whole point system, but that's too long to type up. Personally I'm a fan of cash back :nod:

[WildBillyT]

+1 I can cover every single cent that I spent on my CC BEFORE making the purchase. Could I simply pay cash? Yes, but that would require a trip to the bank, and withdrawing money. It's an extra hassle that I do not want.

Besides being a hassle cash does not provide rewards/cashback bonuses that CC's do. Rewards/Cashback is my secondary reason for using my cc's everywhere; here's why. My CC's range anywhere from 1% on all purchases up to 20% on certain merchandise. Let's say two people go to the store and they want to buy an item that is 100 dollars. One pays cash, he pays 100 dollars and gets the item. The other person pays with his CC, he pays 100 dollars and he is on his way too. When the payment gets processed he either gets 1 dollar back or 20 dollars back at the end of the billing cycle. Which means that the price of the merchandise is anywhere between 80 and 99 bucks. The person who paid in cash got nothing in return. As long as you are responsible this is awesome! There's also the whole point system, but that's too long to type up. Personally I'm a fan of cash back :nod:

And I am splitting hairs since interest levels are really low at the bank, but the $ is sitting in your account compounding interest for extra time.