Credit Card Thread

Hi guys,

What card would you recommend to a student starting to build credit? I went on creditkarma and it said my credit score is 666. I am a full-time student, work about 5-10hrs a week part-time at $10/hr. I have a cellphone plan under my name (with 4 lines), electricity bill, and the internet bill. I do have some money saved up from working summers, and whatever I have left over from my financial aid. So what do you guys suggest? Any other tips regarding credit building would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Quote from xMuffy : Hi guys, What card would you recommend to a student starting to build credit? I went on creditkarma and it said my credit score is 666. I am a full-time student, work about 5-10hrs a week part-time at $10/hr. I have a cellphone plan under my name (with 4 lines), electricity bill, and the internet bill. I do have some money saved up from working summers, and whatever I have left over from my financial aid. So what do you guys suggest? Any other tips regarding credit building would be much appreciated. Thank you!

First thing would be to think about the reason you want to build your credit (I love debt) score.

Quote from xMuffy : Hi guys, What card would you recommend to a student starting to build credit? I went on creditkarma and it said my credit score is 666. I am a full-time student, work about 5-10hrs a week part-time at $10/hr. I have a cellphone plan under my name (with 4 lines), electricity bill, and the internet bill. I do have some money saved up from working summers, and whatever I have left over from my financial aid. So what do you guys suggest? Any other tips regarding credit building would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Pick a student card... there are probably people hanging out at your student union giving away free crap in exchange for your application. Visa/MC is the best choice since they are universally accepted. Don't get anything with an annual fee unless you have no other choice.

Use the card regularly, ALWAYS pay it off every cycle (don't carry a balance), and stay well clear of your limit - definitely less than 80%, but less than half is better. After 6 months or a year you'll be able to move up to better cards and eventually something with rewards.

When you do move on to a better card, *don't* close the student card. It will be your oldest record, so you want to keep it. There's no harm in keeping it open assuming you don't have an annual fee.

Quote from vaultaddict : First thing would be to think about the reason you want to build your credit (I love debt) score.

Well, ideally it's to get a home later on. I think thus far I've had pretty good money managing skills so want to move on to building credit.

Quote from tadc : Pick a student card... there are probably people hanging out at your student union giving away free crap in exchange for your application. Visa/MC is the best choice since they are universally accepted. Don't get anything with an annual fee unless you have no other choice. Use the card regularly, ALWAYS pay it off every cycle (don't carry a balance), and stay well clear of your limit - definitely less than 80%, but less than half is better. After 6 months or a year you'll be able to move up to better cards and eventually something with rewards. When you do move on to a better card, *don't* close the student card. It will be your oldest record, so you want to keep it. There's no harm in keeping it open assuming you don't have an annual fee.

Would it be wise to use my card for all purchases I would be making anyways? Like gas, groceries, school supplies, and bills (so long as it falls within my credit limit)? I saw someone recommend this card [capitalone.com], is this a good choice? Would it be better to open one with my bank (Wells Fargo)?

Quote from xMuffy : Hi guys, What card would you recommend to a student starting to build credit? I went on creditkarma and it said my credit score is 666. I am a full-time student, work about 5-10hrs a week part-time at $10/hr. I have a cellphone plan under my name (with 4 lines), electricity bill, and the internet bill. I do have some money saved up from working summers, and whatever I have left over from my financial aid. So what do you guys suggest? Any other tips regarding credit building would be much appreciated. Thank you!

I believe the Discover More card is directed towards students AND gives cash back. Which many lower end credit cards do not. Probably a good place to start. Others have said Capital One will give cards to people with little or no credit history.

I believe the poster VaultAddict is one of those people who believe nothing should be bought on credit. In this day in age with interest rates on cars and houses at or below 3% it doesn't hurt to use credit.

Quote from vaultaddict : First thing would be to think about the reason you want to build your credit (I love debt) score.

Quote from xMuffy : Well, ideally it's to get a home later on. I think thus far I've had pretty good money managing skills so want to move on to building credit.

Right answer. Credit is a very useful tool, but it's dangerous if you don't have the skills to keep your spending under control.

Quote from vaultaddict : Would it be wise to use my card for all purchases I would be making anyways? Like gas, groceries, school supplies, and bills (so long as it falls within my credit limit)? I saw someone recommend this card [capitalone.com], is this a good choice? Would it be better to open one with my bank (Wells Fargo)?

Wow, I didn't realize there were student cards offering rewards now. The Capital One card looks like a good choice for Visa/MC, paying an effective 1.25% if you pay on time, but the Discover offers better cashback (5% on quarterly rotating categories) - but not everybody takes Discover so it's a tradeoff. Take a look here [creditcards.com], I see Discover is offering a $20 bonus as well.

You could always go for the app-o-rama method and apply for both on the same day - the theory being that neither bank would be aware of the other application while it's being processed, so the multiple applications shouldn't influence your chances of being approved for either. Of course you'll take a hit on your score due to the two hard inquiries, but that will fall off soon enough.

Re: using it for all your regular purchases - yes, to a point. As long as you're confident you'll be able to pay it off at the end of the cycle (you have the money in the bank) *and* you don't get too close to your credit limit.

In my opinion, credit is very beneficial to about 5-10% of our population. The other 90% or so are either too scared, too irresponsible, or too narrow minded to use it wisely. It's usually a combination of all previously stated reasons that keeps the ~90% where they are, and keeps the 5-10% where they are. Now, I've seen and know people with FICO 760+ (and am proud to be one of them) and above scores, and it does not necessarily mean that they are good or knowledgeable about their credit. It's all about effort and hard work, and having the humility and determination to learn about credit and all its glory.

Some say a true SlickDealer won't do credit. Some say a true SD'er won't carry a balance. I say, a true SD'er would be someone who can have as many revolving accounts as some small banks may have (ok, maybe that's exaggerating a bit), can carry balances, but not pay any interest on any of the accounts and perhaps even make money off the money revolving around (as per BT offers, investing the money borrowed, flipping the money back into the accounts before any interest hits, etc). Now there's a true SD'er who also knows how to handle their credit profile.

Quote from xMuffy : Hi guys, What card would you recommend to a student starting to build credit? I went on creditkarma and it said my credit score is 666. I am a full-time student, work about 5-10hrs a week part-time at $10/hr. I have a cellphone plan under my name (with 4 lines), electricity bill, and the internet bill. I do have some money saved up from working summers, and whatever I have left over from my financial aid. So what do you guys suggest? Any other tips regarding credit building would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Get a discover more student card, I am a student as well and started with credit cards about a year ago. My CK score is now 752 and I have several more cards. If you want I can do a referel for the discover more card where you get 50 and I get 50 right off the bat. PM me if your interested. If you have any other questions just PM me, I was is the same boat as you but my credit is now awesome.

I'm one of those people who puts EVERYTHING on a card to maximize rewards but I always pay it off.

I'm currently using the Priceline Rewards Visa. It gives me the equivalent of 2% back on everything plus 5% on any Name-Your-Own-Price reservation on Priceline. Expenditures on Priceline not only give you bonus points, but can be refunded for discounted point amounts.

In the end it's actually MORE than a 2% card. I'm doing better with this then I did with the PenFed card in it's heyday.

Quote from xMuffy : What card would you recommend to a student starting to build credit?

Be prepared for , but it's not personal. Credit for students has dried up over the last few years because of company abuses. You may have noticed the disappearance of campus tables from credit card companies and boatloads of freebies. Too many students got in over their heads with easy credit and went way into debt.

Having said that, Citi Forward for College Students [citi.com] seems to be giving students a break. They're 2 for 2 in my undergrad circle so far. I think it is returning the cashback equivalent of 1.75%.

anyone know of a credit card that has a large cash signup bonus?

i'm thinking about getting the SouthWest Plus card but it's only redeemable in airmiles or $500 giftcards (i'll probably have to cash it out as Amazon giftcards).

Chase sapphire preferred is 40k points after 3k spend which is redeemable for $400 cash. I was able to ask them to bump it to 50k, I said I heard there was targeted offers for 50k and they honored it for me (big YMMV).

There was a barclays NFL card with $400 statement credit after $1000 spend, but I think its dead.

Quote from bta15 : Chase sapphire preferred is 40k points after 3k spend which is redeemable for $400 cash. I was able to ask them to bump it to 50k, I said I heard there was targeted offers for 50k and they honored it for me (big YMMV). There was a barclays NFL card with $400 statement credit after $1000 spend, but I think its dead.

i had the Sapphire when it was $500 and also the NFL card. that was dead in mid September i think.

Well, I think if you got the southwest card and got an amazon card for $500 you could send amazon payments for $500 to someone you know.