ehh i dont and ido. i have a problem and i am materialistic and cant drive around a cheap beater for the winter… i have a car in sight i would like to pick up but i just gota wait for my bank to get its power, and do some talking with them…
it will build your credit score but small purchases don’t help other than making that number go up. Take me for example, my credit score was close to 800 but since i never bought anything over 200 with my credit card i still had an averave rating.
debit to income is lower thus lower score 
X…
untrue
Keeping the lowest balance possible is best for building credit. Useage to limit ratio > . for credit rating
PS - Credit companies have no real way of getting your actual income information, they only go on what you tell them and others you make when applying for credit
That said
both 0% from 12 to 15 months
I just hate carrying around a balance in general… i used to charge 2g plus a month…and paid it in full every month… now i’m down to about 500 but i still pay it.
I have heard that paying a little each month shows that you can make consistent payments…but who cares… i will pay in full and show them i can make full payments.
who cares if you can make consistant payments? It’s better to have available debt and not use it than be in debt
^^ also word. although i havent checked my credit score in years, my limits have continually gone up just by paying off the full amount as soon as possible… so something must be working right.
Unless you need to use the credit card for a necessity (food, text books, medical bills) DO NOT DO IT. Wait until you can afford to PAY for it. Credit cards are evil. They can very quickly turn into financial suicide. The only thing they are good for is building good credit to help you get lower interest loans on things like homes.
I’m not trying to give you shit. I am speaking from experience and trying to keep you from going down the same road I have. I’ve spilled my financial situation on here before looking for advice so no need to do it again, but lets just say that I’ve been using credit cards to fill in gaps in my budget. Now picture using expanding foam to fill gaps in a foundation wall, only you underestimated how much the foam expands and all it really did was spread the gaps and now you have structural problems. Get it? Interest is like expanding foam. Make sure you don’t have too much and don’t underestimate how much it can expand.
Good luck with whatever you decide is the right decision. :tup: Just make sure whatever card you get has no fees attached. After that maybe find one where you get 1% back or something like that.
The amount you pay doesn’t really affect your credit score. What matters is how old your history is (i.e. get at least one credit card when you’re young and keep the account open indefinitely) and that you make your payments ON TIME, whether it be for the balance of the card or the minimum payment. Also debt:credit ratio is important. i.e. keep your balances low and your limits high.
if you control your CC spending they’re > check cards
airline miles/bonus points/5% cash back, etc… FTW
the key is to NOT change your spending habits. If you want to get a card b/c it’s 0% for x # of months, fine do that. Buy the thing you want to finance and cut up the card.
True. I have kept a balance on the card a few times just for credit building purposes and it seems to work. When I bought the Subaru my credit was better than the salesman…it may not be saying much but he was impressed.
You guys know you don’t have to speculate how to build credit right? It’s not some hit or miss type of random thing that you are forced to try and figure out patterns from. If you’re out of school and managing your own money I’d highly suggest reading this book: http://www.amazon.com/Money-Book-Young-Fabulous-Broke/dp/1573222976
I wish I had read it sooner than I did.
Since I don’t expect anyone to go buy it now just because it would unlock the mystery of credit and give you knowledge not heresy for planning your finances, here are some cliffs from wikipedia:
Makeup of the credit score
Credit scores are designed to measure the risk of default by taking into account various factors in a person’s financial history. Although the exact formulae for calculating credit scores are closely guarded secrets, Fair Isaac has disclosed the following components and the approximate weighted contribution of each:
* 35% punctuality of payment in the past (only includes payments later than 30 days past due)
* 30% capacity used: the ratio of current revolving debt (credit card balances, etc.) to total available revolving credit (credit limits)
* 15% length of credit history
* 10% types of credit used (installment, revolving, consumer finance)
* 10% recent search for credit and/or amount of credit obtained recently
The above percentages provide very limited guidance in understanding a credit score. For example, the 10% of the score allocated to “types of credit used” is undefined, leaving consumers unaware what type of credit mix to pursue. “Length of credit history” is also a murky concept; it consists of multiple factors - two being the oldest account open and the average length of time an account has been open. Although only 35% is attributed to punctuality, if a consumer is substantially late on numerous accounts, his score will fall far more than 35%. Bankruptcies, foreclosures, and judgments affect scores substantially, but are not included in the simplistic pie chart provided by Fair Isaac.
Further, Fair Isaac does not use the same “scorecard” for everyone. The scorecards are segmented so that there are over 100 different actual scoring models that are applied to different individuals based on different ranges of input values (some scorecard segmentations include: age, depth of credit history, etc.) The implications of this segmentation are that while the approximate weighted contribution above may be an average across all scorecards, individuals will receive different scores or weightings based on the scorecard segmentation that they fall into. Some consumers have noticed their scores decreasing by small amounts for no apparent reason.
Current income and employment history do not influence the FICO score, but they are weighed when applying for credit. For instance, an unemployed individual with no other sources of income will not usually be approved for a home mortgage, regardless of his or her FICO score.
There are other special factors which can weigh on the FICO score.
* Any monies owed because of a court judgment, tax lien, or similar carry an additional negative penalty, especially when recent.
* Having above a certain number of consumer finance company credit accounts also carries a negative weight (critics say that this causes a vicious cycle, locking people into continuing to use consumer finance companies).
* The number of recent credit checks also can weigh down the score, although the credit agencies claim to allow for credit checks made within a certain window of time to not aggregate, so as to allow the consumer to shop around for rates.
Even this definition kind of sucks because it’s not a “closely guarded secret.” Just read a book and take the guesswork out of credit.
I read maybe 2 posts in this thread… all I have to say is that Amex will PWNZOR you if you are late or “forget” to pay them.
i don’t know i love my amex blue, i got it last nov when buying an lcd tv with intentions of using it for 0% interest for 15 months.
i started out with a $2000 limit, but i ended up charging things i could afford at the time, and paying most of it off each month. i’ve had a balance since i’ve had it, and they bumped me up to $10000 after only 7 months of owning the card. i’ve charged/paid off over $6000 since i’ve had the card, i use it all the time.
I also got an amex blue for the 0% interest to buy my bike, no problems with it. I was sitting near the initial $2000 limit for a while and they bumped it up to $12,000 pretty fast for me too.
I never said anything about them not being any good. I had the blue card too and all was fine for me. I know people that do collections for Amex though. You just don’t want to be late or miss a payment. They are 10x worse than most Visas or MCs.