Baby's first credit card

[jlee]

CC reward points are so depressing. 50000 points will get you some crappy ass toaster or $50 cash.

Ok so that's a bit of hyperbole but still I keep saving em up and there's crap to redeem them on.

I should probably redeem the points and just switch to a cash back card.

5,000 points gets me $50 cash (Chase).

 

[mb]

5,000 points gets me $50 cash (Chase).

I don't remember exactly what mine is. I have to sign in to actually see it and I do not want to sign on at work.

 

[Ionizer86]

Go get yourself a Citi Forward student edition. 8500 points signing bonus, 100 points for paying on time each month, 5% on movies, restaurants, and bookstores (including non-book purchases on Amazon.com). Redeem 10k points for $100 gift card.

www.citiforward.com

 

[Terabyte]

Go get yourself a Citi Forward student edition. 8500 points signing bonus, 100 points for paying on time each month, 5% on movies, restaurants, and bookstores (including non-book purchases on Amazon.com). Redeem 10k points for $100 gift card.

www.citiforward.com

Good starter card.

Another good one would be the Discover Student Credit Card

 

[matas]

I am 19, should I get one and start building credit?
and yes I am responsible with money.

 

[nick1985]

I am 19, should I get one and start building credit?
and yes I am responsible with money.

yes

 

[Fritzo]

Awful advice.

1) Use a rewards CC for every single purchase you make.
2) Pay in full every month
3) ...
4) Profit

Except college kids usually don't know how to pay off everything. When they get a card with a high limit, it's the same thing as "unlimited money".

Get a gas card. They usually have $300 limits, and you can only use them for something you need.

 

[leglez]

My advice would be to put most of your money into an online savings account. That way it takes 3 business days to get it and you won't be tempted to withdraw cash and blow it.

I am interested in hearing more about this. Do you have any suggestions of an online savings account to look at?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

blue cash is overrated. you gotta spend a bunch because it starts out at like 1%/0.5% before going to 5%/1%. And even then your rewards average out because the first $6500 or something is at 1%/0.5%, so when you average that out with 5%/1%, you're at about like 3%, which makes a 3% card just as good if you don't spend like 12k on gas/groceries/drugs every year.

@OP: Get a student card first and work up your credit that way. That's what I did, except I did it at the age of 18. By the time I was 19, I got some $10k limit card (Citi Dividend) and another $8k limit card (Costco AMEX). I revamped my CC lineup again (added Chase Freedom and Discover More) before I graduated and it's been serving me well since.

 

[Matthiasa]

Do it if only to increase your credit score, oh and rewards.
Just don't get what you otherwise wouldn't have.

 

[irishScott]

Except morons usually don't know how to pay off everything. When they get a card with a high limit, it's the same thing as "unlimited money".

Get a gas card. They usually have $300 limits, and you can only use them for something you need.

Fixed.

 

[irishScott]

My advice would be to put most of your money into an online savings account. That way it takes 3 business days to get it and you won't be tempted to withdraw cash and blow it.

Purchase all your living expenses with the credit card. Food, gas, entertainment, etc. Use the CC as if it were a debit card withdrawing money straight from your savings.

When you get your monthly CC bill, xfer the pay in full amount from your savings into your checking, and pay the CC off in full.

You establish excellent credit history, get some rewards through the CC (depending on what you get), and earn a little interest on your money while it waits for your CC statement to cycle.

This is basically my plan. Most of my life savings are in a nice little CD and a lesser amount in savings. Have been for years.

For all intents and purposes, the CC would just replace my debit card. With rewards and the benefit of my parents not seeing what I do with my own money. Nothing illegal, but the family situation is complicated. They've agreed to the system for different reasons.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

I am grade A piece of hot credit ass and it's because I hate credit. It's like the chicks who won't put out; they are more desirable.

So true.

I concur with the opinions to get a card but only use it for the basic living expenses (while you're a student) and never carry a balance.

However, I have to disagree about rewards points and spending habits. I'm aware that there are lots of people with poor financial sense who overspend and impulse shop with CCs, but if you can budget properly, it's possible.

I save a fair bit and I don't make a lot of discretionary purchases. I use my CC for gas, groceries, car maintenance, clothes (though I don't buy a lot), Internet and cell phone bills. However, if I want to buy some DVDs or a pair of shoes and it's in the budget, I'll put those on my card.

Also, when I go on vacations, I pay for flights and accommodations on my card. Most CCs also give you a bit of purchaser's insurance, so that's worth something.

Over the years, I've only used my rewards points to get a gift card that I used for a microwave. But they add up quickly. I have more than enough points to get a good flatscreen TV for free, for example, but I don't want that right now.

I've never carried a balance in the 8 years I've had a CC and I never plan to. If you're responsible enough, it's really not a problem.

 

[matas]

so if I get one student cc now, later on when I want to get a new cc what do I do with the old one? If i cancel it the credit goes down, does it not? which student one should i get? halp!

 

[yh125d]

I should get around to asking for a limit hike on mine. USAA Platinum something or other I got a year and a half ago when I was 18, hasn't raised from $500 despite good credit

 

[matas]

I should get around to asking for a limit hike on mine. USAA Platinum something or other I got a year and a half ago when I was 18, hasn't raised from $500 despite good credit

I don't need more than $500, but if it hasn't increase in a year and a half then it sucks.

 

[mmntech]

I'm a 22 year old college student, zero debt of any kind, zero credit history. Any recommendations?

There's two routes you could go here. A store card or a bank card. A store card, like a Sears card, is a great way to build a credit rating. They're fairly easy to get and manageable. A bank card is a little harder to get and you'll only get a small limit. Maybe $500 to $1000 tops. A bank card makes sense because you can actually talk to a teller if there's a problem. Unlike Capital One. Long story.

Whatever you get, just make sure you pay it off in full at the end of every month. Treat it like a debit card. Don't carry any debt on the card.

 

[Tristicus]

dont do it.

Dawt

 

[yh125d]

I don't need more than $500, but if it hasn't increase in a year and a half then it sucks.

$500 is plenty for me to put all my gas and stuff on it then pay it off, but I'd like it to be higher for example, to buy my laptop last summer

 

[mb]

5,000 points gets me $50 cash (Chase).

2,500 $12.50 Check 0.5%
5,000 $25.00 Check 0.5%
7,500 $37.50 Check 0.5%
10,000 $80.00 Check 0.8%
15,000 $120.00 Check 0.8%
20,000 $160.00 Check 0.8%
25,000 $250.00 Check 1.0%
35,000 $350.00 Check 1.0%
50,000 $500.00 Check 1.0%

Amazon:
12,000 $100 GC 0.833%
6,500 $50 GC 0.77%

Shell
25,000 $250 GC 1.0%
12,000 $100 GC 0.833%

I guess taking cash is actually the best deal now that I've broken 1%.. sigh..

 

[zCypher]

I hate credit cards and I suck at managing money. I know people who make way less money than I do yet somehow manage to have credit cards with much higher limits, and use them too. I shudder at the thought of holding a balance of a month's worth of income @ 18-20+ % interest. Been there, done that. Fuck that shit...

Now i just keep a very small limit card for online purchases that I can't make otherwise.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

While I suppose asking these questions doesn't bode too well, if I have a checking account with one bank, is it still okay to get a credit card from another bank and transfer money back and forth through them?

I currently have a checking account through HSBC and apparently they don't have a student credit card, so I need to look elsewhere

 

[zCypher]

While I suppose asking these questions doesn't bode too well, if I have a checking account with one bank, is it still okay to get a credit card from another bank and transfer money back and forth through them?

I currently have a checking account through HSBC and apparently they don't have a student credit card, so I need to look elsewhere

That's really not an issue. In some cases there could be advantages to keeping them within the same financial institution though. I've held various cards with various banks simultaneously regardless of whether I banked with them, and them sucked equally.

 

[mb]

While I suppose asking these questions doesn't bode too well, if I have a checking account with one bank, is it still okay to get a credit card from another bank and transfer money back and forth through them?

I currently have a checking account through HSBC and apparently they don't have a student credit card, so I need to look elsewhere

The only diff is if you get a CC where you have a checking account the CC bill payments are usually instant, and if you are using two different banks it might take 1-3 days... so basically don't wait until the last second to pay them.

 

[coloumb]

I'm a 22 year old college student, zero debt of any kind, zero credit history. Any recommendations?

Depends upon what you want it do to for you. Do you want a credit card that will give you points for things you buy? Then get one specifically targeted for whatever points you want [ie: Sony credit card - points for Sony items. Expedia card = points for flights. Alaska Airlines miles card - points for airline tickets. Discover card - cash back depending upon what month it is, etc].

Just remember to pay off the entire balance each month to avoid any charges..and you're credit score should be godlike for when you really need to borrow a large sum of cash at the lowest possible interest rate.