<p>Oh wow, you're so right about the restaurant thing! oy..</p>
<p>If someone gets a hold of your debit card info they can clean out your account (take all your money). If you use your credit card for purchases you can dispute charges, and it is much less of a problem if someone gets a hold of it and starts charging things. You would then only be liable for $50.</p>
<p>As you said, debit cards don't build credit. I was referring to a credit card earlier when I said I got one at 13. I opened up a new account and had my mom put her name on it. We got two cards, one with my name and one with hers (which she didn't use), so it was basically my account. Then when the bill came each month I payed with a check from my checking account. It was my complete responsibilty; I never missed a payment, and always paid in full. They never even checked my statements as they knew I could handle it.</p>
<p>Finances/credit cards aren't very difficult to understand. What I don't understand is how the general populous doesn't seem to comprehend them (not referring to 18 yr olds, or people just getting their first card).</p>
<p>A few simple guidelines:</p>
<p>Lower APR is better. This is the interest rate which makes credit card companies their profit. When you don't pay your card in full, this interest rate is applied to your balance and it makes things more difficult to pay off. Try to get something around 10-13%. However, most student cards (for people with no credit) will be around 17.49%. If you have to get one of these, try to pay your bill in full and not leave a balance.</p>
<p>Don't always go for the card with benefits. These often have higher APR's and sometimes charge annual fees. As a student, you most likely won't be charging large amounts of expensive things on your card, and the points you receive from your purchases will be few. However, if you have no credit, there isn't much you can do except get a student card (with a high APR), and the majority of these will have rewards programs.</p>
<p>I highly recommend trying Sovereign Bank's student credit card, which has a 9.99% fixed APR (one of the lowest I've seen for students). </p>
<p>Also, be sure to read the chart on the back of the credit card applications that describe the terms. Make note of the APR and the compounding rate (20% compounded monthly is not the same as 20% compounded daily). Avoid cards that use the double-statement balance method of computing interest charges. Note the grace period (legal minimum is 20...30 is more desirable). Note whether the rate is variable or fixed.</p>
<p>Some of you guys are WRONG.</p>
<p>Credit cards are great... as long as you pay them off. You get free money, float, and fraud protection. You also build credit which is very important.</p>
<p>APR doesn't matter. Just always pay off the balance. The real money is with the benefits. 5%, 1% cashback, signing bonuses, free miles, free coupons are all boni that you can hundreds of dollars a year with. I recommend the Citibank 5% cashback on supermarkets and gas stations and something else. You can save even more by buying gift certificates at the supermarket.</p>
<p>The only time you should use debit cards is for promotions like BofA's "keep the change" program.</p>
<p>So all of those Visa Check Card commercials were obsolete? I thought you do have protection with your check card.</p>
<p>Sorry if I came across wrong in my previous post.</p>
<p>My point was that a lower APR is better if for some reason you can't pay your bill in full.</p>
<p>If you pay your bill in full, the APR does not matter.</p>
<p>I believe Citibank cards require a minimum income of $12,000 or so, on top of previous credit. They aren't bad cards though.</p>
<p>"Some of you guys are WRONG." </p>
<p>We are? How's that?</p>
<p>"So all of those Visa Check Card commercials were obsolete? I thought you do have protection with your check card."</p>
<p>I'm not exactly what you mean by "were obsolete," but I believe that Visa's check card is one of the newer programs that does offer you protection similar (not exactly the same as) to a credit card. My point was, however, that not every debit/check/ATM card provides that proction. Keep in mind, also, that, even with the protection provided by Visa's check card, you can still run into trouble if you do not catch the fraud right away.</p>
<p>At the very least, I'd rather hold onto the cash for an extra 30 days.</p>
<p>"APR doesn't matter."</p>
<p>If you pay your card off every month for the rest of your life, sure. That doesn't mean it's a good idea to ignore APR completely. Some day you're going to need some short-term financing. I agree that you can benefit greatly from credit cards and even make money (and I've mentioned that several times on CC); however, it's a bit silly to just ignore the cost of your debt.</p>
<p>Get the Citibank Platinum Student whatever - 5% cash back on gas station/supermarket purchases, 1% on everything else. </p>
<p>If you have no credit, your student loans will need to be cosigned and crap like that.</p>
<p>
[quote]
your student loans will need to be cosigned and crap like that.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>um, not federal student loans</p>
<p>your credit rating can affect so many parts of your life and people really don't realize it. a lady at my work ended up loosing her job because of her credit rating. another lady at work has a 16 percent interest rate on her new car loan because of her credit rating. it also can play into what rates you get for insurances and things like that.</p>
<p>i got my first real credit card when i was 16. it's a capital one visa. my mom had to sign that she would be liable if i didn't make my payments, and that was it. i made them all at the end of the month, it established credit for me, and didn't harm hers at all. i pretty much use credit cards for everything. gas, purchases, online things. i use my debit card to withdraw money from my bank to use when i go out for lunch or dinner. </p>
<p>i just recently opened up another capital one account that gives me cash back for my purchases.</p>
<p>also, many credit cards come with insurance on them.. for example my card has travel and rental car insurance. so if i ever go somewhere and i rent a car, as long as i put it on my credit card, i have extra insurance on that car, and there is no need for me to give enterprise (or whomever) more of my money.</p>
<p>i believe the last time i got my credit score it was around 760.. which i think is pretty good for a 23 year old.</p>
<p>fendergirl, is there any way to get your credit score without any strings attached such as signing up for a service?</p>
<p>
[quote]
is there any way to get your credit score without any strings attached such as signing up for a service?
[/quote]
You can get one from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus on their website. Their report, which includes the score, will however cost you a fee.</p>
<p>There's an alternate way to get one free credit report (no score however) per year due to new legislation. There's a specific unified site for that.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.annualcreditreport.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.annualcreditreport.com</a></p>
<p>Be careful with the cash back cards - they often charge a fee.
However, if you'll get back more than it costs, go for it.
I was interested in that same card but the annual fee turned me off.</p>
<p>No you weren't, this card has no annual fee.</p>
<p>Whoops! I just double checked my bookmarked pages & the card was through a different company - i'll definitely have to check out the capital one card now!</p>
<p>You mean Citibank.</p>
<p>I don't have any fee's on my capital one card. and i always pay it off at the end of the month.. and i usually end up spending 300+ per month, so it's a great kind of card for someone like me because i charge a lot and it's nice to get some back.</p>
<p>and dima, you can get your credit report from any of the three places for free.. it's just you have to pay like 10 dollars to see your actual score. I don't know if you're interested in that or not. I paid to see mine because I was curious what it was when i graduated college. I think the fact that i have out student loans and a car loan and multiple credit cards has really helped my rating. plus i started establishing credit at 16 so it's probably a bit higher than someone who started when they were 18.</p>
<p>As mentioned, you cannot get your credit score without paying.</p>
<p>The score that you see from Transunion, Experian and Equifax (when you pay) are not your actual credit score--they are called FAKO scores, since they are calculated using each agency's own proprietary forumula. It is not the same score that someone else sees when they check your credit and can be off by as much as 50 points.</p>
<p>The only real way to see your actual credit score is through <a href="http://www.myfico.com%5B/url%5D">www.myfico.com</a> (FICO, or Fair Issac, is the company that developed the formula that calculates your credit score). You can get all three credit reports (one from each agency) with a score for each, but it costs about $50. It's good to look at each credit report since each agency is going to have different information (one of your credit cards, for instance, may only report to Transunion, so it would only show up on that credit report), leading to three different scores despite the fact that they each use the same formula. The cost of your debt and approval decisions can be based on which agency your bank (or whatever creditor) uses. I highly recommend doing so before applying for something major (like a mortgage).</p>