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What kind of CC to get?

S

Syringer

Lifer
I made another thread about this, and am now looking for recommendations on which one to get. I'm a 20 y/o college student, making $2500 a month this summer, will have ~$8k on my checking account by the end of the year, and am looking to finally start building up my credit.

What brand should I go for?
 
The Chase PerfectCard is a good rewards card for either Visa or MC. The Blue for Students or Blue Cash cards from AMEX are also very good. I'm speaking from experience... I've got both. 🙂

Visa is more widely accepted. I have to carry both because my AMEX card does get turned down occasionally.
 
Originally posted by: Syringer
So what would be the advantages/disadvantages of having multiple cards?
Click to expand...

It can get harder to keep track of them (paid what with which card), might be more likely to spend more than you can afford, excess cards can affect your credit rating from what I've heard.

Personally I think 2-3 is a good number, I started out with a MC from MBNA and signed up for a Student Blue from Amex right before I graduated.
 
get 2 cards if you can. one being American Express and the other being either Visa or Mastercard.

for American Express, decide on either Amex Blue for a low fixed APR or Amex Blue Cash if you want cash rebate incentives.

when deciding on a Visa or Mastercard, pick out which one has the benefits that best suit you. APR 11% or lower is good, anything above 14% seems pretty bad.

and since you have two cards, use it to help your budgeting. use one card to charge everything you would have normally paid for in cash such as food, gas, and bills. then pay that credit card in full each month. then with the second card, try to pay it off in full monthly but if you cant do to some emergency or some big purchase, treat it like a fixed loan and make a plan to make set payments so that it gets paid off as soon as possible but still fitting your budget. use whatever card has the lower APR as the one where you may not possible be able to pay it off in full every month.
 
Originally posted by: Syringer
So what would be the advantages/disadvantages of having multiple cards?
Click to expand...

advantages: more money to spend

disadvantages: more money to spend, can affect your credit rating

I have 4 cards. an Amazon Visa, which I use for 99.9% of all CC purchases, and an American Express, which I keep for emergencies and almost never use. the other 2 are just kinda hanging on by my sheer laziness. I've been meaning to cancel them for years, and don't actually have a physical card for either account (one is a Dress Barn credit card that I signed up for because the girl said she was in danger of losing her job if she didn't meet the monthly quota, and the other is a card that was issued to me by my college bank).
 
Dude I had the toughest time getting credit. I was 22 before I was able to get a card. I would always hit up Mervyns and Bon Maci's but they wouldn't give me a card. I didn't have bad credit I just didn't have any. My steps were like this. and also what I recommend.

1.)Get 1 CC. If you can't get one then have someone cosign with you for 6months. Or go to the bank and ask for a secured CC.

2.)Get a cell phone so you have a small line of credit history there.

3.)Get a 500$ secured loan from a bank or better yet, Credit Union. ( I still need to do this one for my last 3rd line of credit)

I have 1 visa,1 electronics retail store card,1 sears card(co signed),and now a sleep country credit line with 1100 to pay off in 6months. Once they are paid, its off to the bike shop. 🙂


Reason why , now you have 3 lines of credit which is great on the scorecard. YOu don't have excess amounts of credit to get in trouble with. Building credit is all about showing repeated ablity to pay on time. Its better to buy a 100$ item and make 10 , 10$ payments , then you buy 500$ item and pay it off in a month. Its the credit history they want along with the multiple lines of credit, (not multiple cards). Too many cards is bad cause its tempting and harder to manage than one card plus if you have to much available credit then it can hurt you because you are considered high risk since if you were to max em all out you might not be able to pay on the loan you would be currently applying for. Rough quick answer, hope it helps.
 
Originally posted by: eno
Reason why , now you have 3 lines of credit which is great on the scorecard. YOu don't have excess amounts of credit to get in trouble with. Building credit is all about showing repeated ablity to pay on time. Its better to buy a 100$ item and make 10 , 10$ payments , then you buy 500$ item and pay it off in a month. Its the credit history they want along with the multiple lines of credit, (not multiple cards). Too many cards is bad cause its tempting and harder to manage than one card plus if you have to much available credit then it can hurt you because you are considered high risk since if you were to max em all out you might not be able to pay on the loan you would be currently applying for. Rough quick answer, hope it helps.
Click to expand...

right and wrong.

you don't have to buy a $100 item and spread out the payments. if you want, you can pay it in full every month, charge back to $100 the next billing cycle, then it all off again. credit score is not affected from carrying a balance or not. credit score is affected by payments on time. whether you pay the full balance or the minimum is independent of actually paying the bill.

too much available credit is not bad if within reason of your income. if you're income is $50,000, a credit line of $25,000 is good. the more available upto 100% the better. however a credit line of $100,000 for that same income is bad if its for general shopping, not a house or property.
 
I started with one credit card when I was 16 (through our credit union). Because of that, I have a great credit score. I've actually only ever used just the one card, because if there is ever a problem, my bank alerts me before anything bad happens - they're very flexible and will bend over backwards for me.

However, I just got engaged, and to pay off my existing balance (about $1000) and the ring (about $2500 total), I got a Chase CashBuilder Plat. card, balance-transfered $4000 off of the first card, and have 12 months at 0% APR to start paying it down/off. Meanwhile, I have a -$500 balance on my main credit card, which works out great because our car insurance is due this month, and we went on vacation.

In short, credit is a GREAT thing, as long as you realize that the minimum payment is NEVER enough and to spend within your limits.

Have fun!
 
I would pick American Express if just based on convenience because of their customer support. If you ever buy anything in any country on a credit card and the item bought has a problem, stops working, etc. you can call them up and they will refund the cost of it. For large items they ask for proof of the problem though.
 
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