I've never had a credit card before...

[nonameo]

I was going to type out a story, but I decided to ditch that idea and cut straight to the point.

I am 24 and have no credit. I want to build credit. What are some good ways to do so? How long before I have a "good" credit score that I might be able to get a mortgage on a house with? I have no intention of getting a loan on a car or pretty much anything else unless it is an emergency-emergency(meaning an emergency that exceeds my emergency funds)

 

[Deeko]

Get a credit card, use it, pay it off every month.

You show up as having a "short" credit history as a negative on your score for the first 7 years, I believe.

 

[FoBoT]

the economic collapse is basically your fault then, you have to build up your debt to save our jobs

 

[xanis]

Get a credit card, preferably one with a good rewards system. Don't be stupid and buy more than you can afford, and pay it off in full every month.

 

[nonameo]

Originally posted by: Deeko
Get a credit card, use it, pay it off every month.

You show up as having a "short" credit history as a negative on your score for the first 7 years, I believe.

The only reason I care about credit is so that I can get a house. Really is it necessary to have a CC for 7 years? I mean... I will be a long time getting a house if it takes that long, and I don't want to dump all my money in an apartment while housing is cheap. I was kinda hoping for I dunno... 4 years or so?

 

[Mxylplyx]

If you do get one, cut it up the second you carry a balance. That is not a road you want to go down.

 

[Pieceofmind]

You could also go to your bank and take out an unsecured loan for about $500, and pay it back every month (hint: use the loan funds to do this). You'll have to pay some interest, but if you pay it back every month, it should be a bonus on your credit report. The credit card is also a good idea, but you probably don't want to take out the loan and credit card at the same time, because opening up too many lines of credit at one time isn't great. And btw, if you have student loans you pay back on a regular basis, you might be helping your credit score there too.
I'm pretty sure about what I'm saying here (90%) but I'm not a financial adviser, so please do your own research before taking my advice.

 

[MikeyLSU]

do you not live in an apartment and pay bills?

If you do that gets your credit score up also.

I am 27 and never had a credit card. But when I bought my first house 3 years ago I had a great credit score because I lived in an apartment in college, paid rent, energy, cable, and phone bills on time every month.

 

[Casawi]

They have these credit cards that can only be used up to the deposit you put in. You can use that if you are afraid of debt.

 

[acheron]

I never had a credit card until I was 25. I applied a couple times and always got turned down for "no credit history". Had no problem getting a mortgage though -- apparently I was good for $290k, but not good enough for a $1000 credit card. Eventually I started a job that had a credit union associated with it, and got a credit card through them.

I wouldn't worry about the mortgage as long as you're paying your bills on time. As MikeyLSU said, those get recorded as well, so when it is time for the mortgage you should be set.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: nonameo

Originally posted by: Deeko
Get a credit card, use it, pay it off every month.

You show up as having a "short" credit history as a negative on your score for the first 7 years, I believe.

The only reason I care about credit is so that I can get a house. Really is it necessary to have a CC for 7 years? I mean... I will be a long time getting a house if it takes that long, and I don't want to dump all my money in an apartment while housing is cheap. I was kinda hoping for I dunno... 4 years or so?

I'm not saying it will take 7 years until you can get a mortgage - just that until you have 7 years of established credit history, it will always be a negative detracting from your score.

 

[CRXican]

You're way behind man.


Good luck.

 

[Oyeve]

Get a low APR card. If you get a limit of say, 10k, use 2k and always pay at least twice the minimum every month. Keep the card at 2k but double the minimum payment. In six months you should have a decent credit score. Paying off the balance every month is not a good thing if you want a score higher than 700.

 

[Terabyte]

Originally posted by: Oyeve
Get a low APR card. If you get a limit of say, 10k, use 2k and always pay at least twice the minimum every month. Keep the card at 2k but double the minimum payment. In six months you should have a decent credit score. Paying off the balance every month is not a good thing if you want a score higher than 700.

I have 2 CC's and I pay the balance off every month. My score is >700

 

[sonambulo]

Uh that reminds me. What's the website to get a free credit report? annualcreditreport.com?

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
If you do get one, cut it up the second you carry a balance. That is not a road you want to go down.

Or you can just be responsible and pay your balance in full every month. Come on, they even let you set up automatic payments online, so there's no excuse.

I've made hundreds of dollars off of my credit card and never paid a cent of interest.

Originally posted by: Oyeve
Get a low APR card. If you get a limit of say, 10k, use 2k and always pay at least twice the minimum every month. Keep the card at 2k but double the minimum payment. In six months you should have a decent credit score. Paying off the balance every month is not a good thing if you want a score higher than 700.

WRONG.

I always pay it off in full every month, and while it's been a while since I actually checked, I think my score's around 760. I think that my total credit is higher than my annual salary has ever been...

 

[xanis]

Originally posted by: sonambulo
Uh that reminds me. What's the website to get a free credit report? annualcreditreport.com?

FREEEEEEEEE CREDIT
REPORT DOT COMMMMM

I SHOULDA SEEN THIS COMIN' AT ME LIKE AN ATOM BOMB

...ok I'm done.

 

[nickbits]

I had to get a secured card with a $1000 limit because I had no credit history. I used this card to buy gas. After 1 year I was able to get an unsecured card. And after 2 years I got a mortgage no problem and my credit score was about 750.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: nickbits
I had to get a secured card with a $1000 limit because I had no credit history. I used this card to buy gas. After 1 year I was able to get an unsecured card. And after 2 years I got a mortgage no problem and my credit score was about 750.

I always found it bizarre that in college, they'll give you unsecured cards with a credit limit of thousands of dollars, but then if you graduate without one it's hard to get them...even though you now have much more steady income.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: nickbits
I had to get a secured card with a $1000 limit because I had no credit history. I used this card to buy gas. After 1 year I was able to get an unsecured card. And after 2 years I got a mortgage no problem and my credit score was about 750.

I always found it bizarre that in college, they'll give you unsecured cards with a credit limit of thousands of dollars, but then if you graduate without one it's hard to get them...even though you now have much more steady income.

Yeah, I got fucked by this as well and didn't get a credit card till I was like 22-23.

 

[Terabyte]

Originally posted by: Xanis

Originally posted by: sonambulo
Uh that reminds me. What's the website to get a free credit report? annualcreditreport.com?

FREEEEEEEEE CREDIT
REPORT DOT COMMMMM

I SHOULDA SEEN THIS COMIN' AT ME LIKE AN ATOM BOMB

...ok I'm done.

Not this one.

Use annualcreditreport.com

 

[nageov3t]

my old roommate was the most anti-CC guy I ever knew. adamantly refused to even think about getting one... he'd give me cash to buy things online for him and all the apartment-related bills were in my name.

and then he got all pissed off when he went to buy a car and found out he had bad credit.

 

[AMDZen]

I have a different story then most, but here is my 2 cents for what its worth.

I had my first credit card at 18, used it for gas and paid it in full every month. I didn't get another CC until 21, same deal with that one just used it for small things.

I never really had much credit even though I never had any issues. Until I got 5 credit cards all in 1 year and spent $10k easily on cards with 12 months no interest type stuff. Paid exactly 1/12 of what was due each month until they got paid off. Went from a 650 type score to 800 within a year.

In other words, many people say pay your CC's off every month, but it wasn't unitl I actually kept a monthly "debt" so to speak that I had great credit.

Take it for what its worth.

Oh and screw all those annualcreditreport sites. Try this = https://www.creditkarma.com/

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: loki8481
my old roommate was the most anti-CC guy I ever knew. adamantly refused to even think about getting one... he'd give me cash to buy things online for him and all the apartment-related bills were in my name.

and then he got all pissed off when he went to buy a car and found out he had bad credit.

Yep. Being anti-credit will only hurt you.

Your credit score is a measure of TRUST. Do companies that work with you trust you? If so, then your credit score goes up. Do companies that work with you want to avoid you like the plague? If so, then your credit score goes down. Do you not trust yourself enough to work with credit? If so, then you have no credit (which is middle to bad on the ranking scale). Your roommate and possibly the OP have shown a lack of trust in themselves.

If used properly, a CC is one of the best deals possible. Just about everything is easier, many things are cheaper, and you get tons of rewards. Being anti-credit is being foolish. The only thing worse is having credit and being unable to control your spending.

 

[imported_Imp]

Meh, not too big a deal. I got mine when I was 19 cause I wanted to feel like a big boy. Three years later and I'm still a pussy.