I am 21 years old and I am looking into getting my first credit card. Obviously im not just going to go out on a shopping spree when I get it but I thought that I should eventually have at least 1. I was wondering which is the best one to start with? Im currently a college student so is there some sort of student card that would be good? I was also wondering if its going to be a problem that right now I dont have a job. I do work, at the same place for 2 years now, but its only during summers and winters when im off of school.
American Express. And get the green one not the blue or plum one. They force you to pay everything back each month. Plus the benefits are great. Visa/MC and Discover are debt traps. Stay away if you can.
Really America Express? Some of the people I have asked have told me not to get an American Express, that it wouldnt be good as a first card. I was looking at the Citi card for college students. It seemed pretty good to me but are these kind of cards just ripoffs?
No. I'm bullshitting you. Why did these people say that? All credit cards are ripoffs. To me, AMEX forces you to be more diciplined as opposed to Visa/MC/Discover who will let you pay those concert tickets off for years. Trouble is a face value $30 ticket will end up costing you triple or more. And then watch what happens when you are one day late with your Visa/MC/Discover card. Your 12% rate all of a sudden becomes 28%. Do yourself a favor. Get the AMEX, only use it for travel and emergencies and use your debit card for everything else. Othrewise you will be paying for it forever.
Used to work in credit cards mate and will advise the same as Matt, Credit cards come in two flavours: Charge Cards Amex green card No limit on spends (not sure about annual fee) but 100% of the balance has to be paid each month, no debt and you are free and easy. Credit cards VISA, AMEX, MASTERCARD, DISCOVER These have designated limits and will allow you to pay a minimum payment between 2-5% each month, the danger is in the offers, up to 56 days interest free is exactly that here is an example: your statement date is the 2nd of the month (when they send it out to you) you make a purchase on the 3rd of the same month for $500 you have the 31 days of that month and the 25 they give you to pay 31+25 = 56 days. Now if you dont pay back that balance by that due date (26th of the following month) you pay interest on your next statement. HERES THE BIT FOLKS DON'T REALISE! The interest on the first statement includes what is known in the banking world as "Bill defered Interest Charges" which means on the 1st statement after the balance is not cleared the interest is backdated to the date of purchase. 9 years working with Credit cards and banks in the UK taught me this!
I use a Sony Visa card. got it in college through a friend's fundraiser and still have it. never carried a balence on it and paid the bill on time, every time. if you are going to not carry a balence and pay on time every time, i don't think it matters where you go. best part about the card was I had no clue how many points i had and after 5 years I had over 40,000 so i got a $500 camera for free!
It really doesn't matter which card you get. Just: 1. Don't use it a lot. My strategy with my first card was to buy a tank of gas for a trip home every 2 months or so. Paid it off immediately when the bill came. 2. Don't keep it on your person daily. That avoids the temptation to use it. If you don't have any credit, this is a good way to build a high credit score. Having a great credit score (above 725) is like having a discount card for life. EVERYTHING becomes cheaper. Insurance, mortgages, deposits on utilities. You will get more and better job offers. In one of my MBA classes, I learned that people with high credit scores, on average, get 10-12% more in salary offers than people with average credit. If you have poor credit, forget about high-level jobs. I hope this helps.
I agree, American Express is the way to go. After dealing with Mastercard and Visa, I have made the switch, and I couldn't be happier. To be fair, both Mastercard and Visa are getting better, especially in conflict resolution. I had 20 charges to my Visa card that were not mine, and they quickly got me a new card, floated me the money back, quickly conducted an investigation and made the float permanent once they found the perp. I was happy at how well they handled it. But American Express does all that and more, and they often have better benefits and lower rates.
read what people have to say about american express. they and their allied agencies will keep hunting you even if you do nothing, even after you die http://www.consumeraffairs.com/credit_cards/american_express.htm
also don't get one from so-called credit card banks such as providian (now washington mutual), and directmerchantsbank. capitalone also should be avoided in my opinion. these are the ones often screw up your life and with so many complaints and class action suits. don't know much about the rest
If by "best", you mean "losing market share at unprecedented speeds because it sucks so bad", then you got a point.
1. Credit cards pass out cards to college students like candy. No job. No problem. Just have an address. 2. My advice to you would be to sign up for a credit card that has tons of rewards/etc....but NEVER EVER use it. All you are going to do is cost yourself money. Sometimes you will accidentally make a late payment - $30. Sometimes you just can't pay it off as you are a poor college kid without a job - 30% interest rate. It is a racket. You open the credit card account, don't use it. If you have to use it, pay it off the next month no matter what. THe issue is that anyone who gets one usually hits an emergency period where they don't have any money/income coming in. They then run up a couple of hundred dollars on their CC, but can't pay it. If they don't stay on top of it and get it paid off immediately what originally would have cost them $500 now has cost them $1000 with interest, fees, etc. F all of that. Get your card if you feel you must, but don't EVER use it. You will be better off, I promise.
My first credit card was a Discover Card. I got it about 2 years ago when I was 18 and starting college. I haven't carried a balance over and I don't plan to. It's really all about self control. I don't like carrying cash on me too much either. However, is it a good idea to get an Amex card though? I'm only wondering because it sounds like the card is thought of higher and I know Discover is probably the least accepted card.
yeah get your CC as soon as you can so you can have some sort of credit rating for later when you wnat to get land/house or car ..the MOLS over here
If American Express requires a full payoff, then why not just pay cash when you purchase it? My philosophy on credit cards is that I will not carry a balance, been there done that and its a loosing game. Pay it off in total every month, if for some reason you can't, then no more using the CC at all until the balance is paid off. And ya, the "interest free" for some period has the catch as described earlier, you really need to watch this with the "interest free balance transfer" offers you get with credit cards, sure transfer several thousand interest free, just make sure you pay it all off before the period ends, or bam, interest back to the beginning.