OMFG!!! I got a credit card!!! :D

[SCSIfreek]

dont mess around with your credit cards like I did in my earlier days of college. Spending big time and charging whatever I want. Ended up paying big time er..... two months of interest with a $5000 balance at 21.99% back in the poor days (was making $6.95/hr back then). Records of mismanagement will stay with your records for 7 to 10 years!!!! talk about roughness(imagine your buying a house :Q). Major warning would be buy only the things you absolutely needs and save the rest for rainy days.


--Scsi

 

[LukFilm]

Thanks for the tips everyone, it's much appreciated

 

[MrDingleDangle]

credit cards = evil!

 

[Daishiki]

<< Yes, cc are evil and vile things to have. I am finally finsihing up on paying off my cc all together. HOw the hell did u get an AMEX Blue card? I tried like 5times already and they reject me each time. I have perfect credit too. GRRRRRRRRR


Doesn't AMEX require you to pay off your bills every month? >>



hmm...they require me to send them proof that my income is above $20k, which is one of the requirements.

 

[sale1980]

well, its about time!!!!!!

 

[LukFilm]

:Q What a surprise Can you believe this? I thought I'd never get it! Welcome back to ATOT, BTW

 

[killmeplease]

You've been trying to get a credit card for 6 years? That's hard to believe. They damn near give them out in cereal boxes?

Are they getting harder to get or is there something in your past we are missing?

 

[LukFilm]

As someone pointed out, I'm not a citizen, so that could have been the problem.

 

[RossMAN]

<< Rossman, why would you advise him NOT to pay it off in full at the end of the month? Why would he want to hold a balance on his card? Why pay interest? This makes no sense to me. >>



It sounded like he had already intended on making a few large payments rather than paying off the balance in full every month. It's been my experience both personally and professionally (I work in banking) that credit card companies love people who use their cards esp those who pay interest. If he pays off his $2,100 balance in two payments, he'll pay a whopping $10-$20 interest, I don't think that'll kill him.

 

[killmeplease]

A word of advice:

NEVER carry a balance. I have never carried a balance , even when I was poor and it has served me well and has allowed me to get on my feet faster. If I had a balance to pay off, it would have made the hard times better but longer.

Use it for convenience and to stretch your buck in the bank until the statement is due. If you use it from the beginning of the statement start, you get 45 days free. If you need more than that, it better be an emergency. If you want something bad and/or costly, get some more reasonable financing. And remember cash advances are charged interest from the minute you take it.

Edit: i.e. NEVER EVER EVER take a cash advance. It's just stupid.

 

[MrHappyMonkey]

RossMan,

What would be the point in having him build up a balance and not paying it off till two monthes?? If you have the money, pay it off ASAP. Paying the interest fee if you have the money to pay the bill off dosn't make too much sense to me. I have had my Visa CC for about a year now and have yet to not pay off my balance at the end of each month (I overpay'd a couple times though ). I don't think I have done anything wrong...

BTW: How do you check your FICO score?

 

[goog]

What RossMAN is saying is your rating will actually be more attractive to creditors if you don't completely pay the balance every month. Makes sense to me.
They don't make any money off cardholders who pay the full balance all the time.

 

[Oakenfold]

<< Rossman, why would you advise him NOT to pay it off in full at the end of the month? Why would he want to hold a balance on his card? Why pay interest? This makes no sense to me. >>

This is a valid question,here's where it gets tricky...every financial instituition looks for different things in what they want as a creditor, thus why we have different beacon or fico scores when our credit is pulled from one company to the next, of course we wouldn't know this because they aren't supposed to be disclosing this information to us since they are NOT credit reporting agencies...I myself have paid of my cc's every month. I have never carried a balance,well until i got a bestbuy card, lol, I mean the 0% financing promotional dealios are great as long as you pay it off in the promotional period..and when your wife works there so you get employee discount too...Anyhow back to the deal of carrying a balance let's look at it like this...consider that if the balance was a conventionally financed auto..(this is my opinion by the way) if you pay off the vehicle in a matter of 6 months or less you really haven't built much credit, I would think most people would want to see you being able to PAY over a period of time..so if we are looking to build credit carrying a balance for a month or two is most likely not going to do too much, it's really how you pay that card over a period of time..Remember a credit report is a snapshot of someone's credit history..not the whole picture. Or at least that's the way I look at it, and it does help to have worked for large evil financial company's as a previous loan officer, not that I would know or anything..

 

[Nutdotnet]

What kind of card did you get? You say an American Express card but those you HAVE to pay off your balance every month.

Did you get the AMEX Blue for Students?

 

[Jen]

Lukfilm congrats to you........be carefull with credit card debt. My dad was a heavy user of credit cards left a big mess when he passed away




Jen

 

[LukFilm]

<< What kind of card did you get? You say an American Express card but those you HAVE to pay off your balance every month.

Did you get the AMEX Blue for Students? >>



Yes, it is Blue for students. 8% APR for first six months, then 13%. I think those are good rates, what do you think? So do I have to pay it off every month?

 

[astroview]

LukFilm what is your citizenship anyways?

 

[LukFilm]

I'm from the Czech Republic. NO, it's NOT Czechoslovakia (since 1993) and NO, we were NOT part of Russia or Yugoslavia Just teasing, but I get that a lot, so that's just for educational purposes

 

[astroview]

Yea, I thought you might be from that area, I've driven through the Czech Republic a bit. The roads were better than Poland, where most of my family is.

 

[Nutdotnet]

<<

<< What kind of card did you get? You say an American Express card but those you HAVE to pay off your balance every month.

Did you get the AMEX Blue for Students? >>



Yes, it is Blue for students. 8% APR for first six months, then 13%. I think those are good rates, what do you think? So do I have to pay it off every month? >>



That's fair, I just got my first card not to long ago as well. A Discover for Students card, my APR is 18% !!!

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Welcome to the world of debt

 

[Evadman]

<< Welcome to the wonderful world of debt. >>



Bwhahahaha!

 

[d33pt]

damn hookers wouldn't accept my amex.. where do you go to get ones that do?

 

[ultimatebob]

Congrats on your first credit card! Just keep these two rules in mind, and you won't get yourself in trouble:

1) Don't buy things with a credit card that you can't afford! It should be painfully obvious, but some people just don't seem to understand that you have to pay off these things eventually. The longer you wait, the more it will cost you.

Personally, I don't buy big ticket items with a credit card unless I have at least TWICE that amount in the bank. I want to be certain that I can pay off that statement in a week or two after it comes in the mail, even if I run into some unexpected money problems along the way.

2) Pay off your credit card balance IN FULL whenever possible. Credit card interest rates are usually much higher than any other kind of loan, and can quickly add to your outstanding balance. Of course, if you follow rule #1, you'll have no problem with rule #2.

Also, one final tip... Don't rush to pay off your credit card bill before the due date! Ok, this is a bit controversial, but hear me out. When you get your credit card bill, you usually have 2 or 3 weeks to send it in. If you wait a week or two to pay off the bill, it gives your money some extra time to earn interest in the bank. If you send in the check right away, that interest ends up in the credit card companies' bank instead! I don't know about you, but I WANT that extra buck or two of interest! It usually takes less than four biz days for your check to arrive to your credit card company, so you can wait to send your money in until a week before the due date.

 

[fishlet]

Congratulation, LukFilm!

I guess the reason you didn't get a credit card in six years is you applied too much credit card in one year. Normally if you apply more than 4 credit card in one year, the credit card company will pay attention to your new application. They will wonder why you need so many cards, wether you can pay the charge.

Different credit card company has different standard to measure your applilcation. This include
1. if you have saving/checking account,
2. the longest time you ever hold a credit card,
3.how many inquries authorithed by you in your credit card report. That is why don't apply too many credit cards in a short time.
4. how much you earn,
5. how many credit cards you have.
6. your total credit card limits, even you may only use two or three of your credit cards.


If you never have a credit card, wants to have one, the simplest and easiest way is go to your bank, apply a credit card issued by your bank. Normally your application will be approved, since they have your money.

Use your credit card wisely. Don't carry balance for too long, at least pay minimum. Then you can apply the second credit card.



Enjoy your credit card, Luk!