So I want to start getting my credit score going good. I had a credit card before but after a job lost I was unable to make payments for sometime which killed my score. That was a year or two ago. I have been back at working and doing good and would like to get a credit card to help get my score back up so in future when buying house it can happen.

 

My help is what kind should I apply for? I am a student, so should I apply for a student credit card? Or one of those credit cards to help build you credit?

 

My bank offers one where I have to have $300 to give them to hold for a year and during that time I get a credit card for $300 limit then after that year I get my $300 back.

Start with getting a copy of your credit report to find out where you are right now and your score.

 

Then... we can come up with a course of action.

 

If you want, shoot me a pm or give me a call, and will be glad to help you out for about half an hour to discuss various things you can do or follow up with.

 

Most of all, there are no quick and dirty ways of doing it, a lot of times, it is just about time.

 

btw, secured credit cards are just one thing... I am not a fan because of high fees typically with them. I prefer secured loans instead.

Get the card from your bank.....you ll get the 300 back in less than a year even if they say that

Google up which store cards report to the credit bureaus

Have someone add you as,an authorized user on their card

Get a loan and pay it off in a year and a half

 

 

........i had 0 credit history and did these things....helped out very well

I f'd up my credit score during my freshman year when they were giving away cards. I thought this was the greatest thing that people would lend you money but not thinking about how I would pay it back. I got called by creditors consistently. I was lucky as my dad bailed me out after a few months of being terrorized.

 

The one lesson I took away from that is to not charge what you cannot afford to pay off at the end of the month. I took that lesson and decided to forgo credit cards. Banks would lure me to get one but I would just pay things in cash. Of course, this was many years back and trying to do anything without a credit card is hard. I finally broke down and got a debit card. This allowed me to draw money from my bank account. I survived on this for a while and finally got a credit card but with really high APR. I slowly built up my credit by paying off whatever I charged. Many years later, all the issues I had when I was younger is finally off my credit report.

 

Like Maks stated, it takes time. Before you go rushing out for a credit card, make sure you can pay off what you charge at the end of the month. You can slowly build back up your credit after a couple of years. After you graduate, paying your student loans on time will help build your credit.

^ I had a similar experience to this but not as bad. I racked up a bunch of cc debt in college; when i realized what I did went to the parents and they made a knee jerk reaction to pay it off for me. Even though they had the money I didn't think it was right for them to do that and we set up a payment plan for me to pay them back. My credit score never took a hit but I learned a valuable lesson. All bills must be paid in full at the end of the month.

 

After all my debt was paid off I made sure I had a savings buffer to ensure I didn't ever have to borrow money again, and now I know I will never again make the mistake of spending more than I have. Only thing I will buy without having the full amount for is property.

 

Now if I could just stop buying guns I would probably be able to buy more property. Gona have to figure out a way to make more money bc I'm def not gona stop buying guns lol.

You will never get into trouble with debt if you don't have any. We cut up our credit cards 15 years ago when we finally paid off the credit cards, cars, and student loans. We have never borrowed since.

 

If I don't have cash for it, I live without it...which means I live without stuff sometimes. It's just as easy to put $300 away every month to buy a car as it is to make a $300 car payment every month.

 

It can be hard to live within your means, especially when you're just starting out. I now realize that for us, part of the reason we felt we "deserved" more lifestyle than we could afford was that we grew up with a lifestyle that took our parents 20 years to achieve. We just assumed that was the way we were supposed to live. It wasn't - not yet.

 

Sorry, I can't help answer your question. I get my credit report every year and it's blank. Without any debt, I assume my credit score must be pretty low.

 

By the way, If you still owe money to the old credit card companies - you need to pay them what you owe them before you borrow from somebody else.

It's great in theory but does nothing to help your credit.

I've never had a credit card. I just got one from cabelas a few weeks ago. The rates actually aren't that terrible and the points seem decent. I'm only going to use it there or in emergencies. Don't go crazy because you have a few thousand dollar limit. If you can't pay it off in one or 2 months (preferably one) don't buy it.

It's great in theory but does nothing to help your credit.

 

Works even better in practice. Being out of debt is so much easier than being in debt. And, since I'll never borrow again, my credit score isn't that important.

Evil "Student Credit Cards" are the worst things out there.. I dont mean that because of the fact that they are "Student" cards, i just mean its too easy to get them (typically) and WAY too easy to spend on them.. I got 3 or 4 of them in my freshman year in college, and was maxed out on all of them before the first semester was done.. it honestly took me years to recover from that because i got over limit fees and late fees and every other type of fees added in (i was a student, i had no money). So those $500 limit cards ended up with over $3k on them.. and i had multiple cards, all with the same problem..

 

advice to OP - listen to Maksim.. give him a call to go over things. he is 100% right that there is no quick and easy way to fix bad credit.. payments and time is what is required, and i know that very very very well.. and whatever you do, dont spend on credit more than you actually have to cover it.. that is how you get in trouble (pay balance each month in full).. and its one of the hardest things to do.. but doing that will repair your score

Call maks.. forget the card...

There is a web site called creditkarma.com where you can for no cost find out your credit score and monitor it whenever you want. They also have lots of offers. The best rule of thumb is only use credit cards for convenience and pay them as soon as you get the bill. I have never paid anyone interest on a credit card my entire life. I have a stack of them about four inches high sitting in front of me - everyone wants to send me one. Its the old rule of banking you can't get a loan if you need one but if you don't need one you have no problem in getting one.

 

Basically if you want to fix your finances never borrow long-term for short-term purchases. That means you don't pay for a one week vacation with a credit card and then take two years to pay it off. Keep your borrowing to things like houses and maybe cars and you should be fine. Also learn to save money. Pay yourself first, safe some money every paycheck no matter what.

I faced the same dilemma in getting my credit established as an (legal) immigrant.

 

I went and got a secured credit card from Sterling Bank and Trust in Michigan. I deposited $500 and got a $600 line of credit. I paid it in FULL every month to avoid interest charges. I don't think my card had an annual fee and I got interest on the deposit. Eventually I got offers for other cards and I took those. Sterling stopped offering the card so I canceled mine. I got my deposit back in full.

 

I then was able to take out other loans like a car loan and a mortgage, and other credit cards. One of my credit cards I have now has a limit of over $50,000. Lord alone knows what I'd use a credit card to buy something for that amount.

 

But the bad part is that I got into debt, partially because I ran a consulting business and it didn't go so well. Still paying it off but it is not that easy.

 

So a secured credit card is indeed one way to establish your credit. But don't treat credit cards like free money and pay that bill off every month. Also, don't use up all of your credit (don't "max out" your credit cards). The fees aren't bad if you shop around.

 

Another alternative to getting a loan is to use conventional underwriting where you submit more documentation and the look over it. This is typically done for 15 year mortgages where you don't (or can't) use your credit scores. You likely will have to put down more money. Used to be 20% for a typical mortgage, today it may be more.

 

I'd stay away from bad credit credit cards and auto loans because they rape you with the interest rate.

 

But as maks said you can get started with a copy of your credit report. It is free at http://www.annualcreditreport.com

Thanks everyone!

 

Maksim, I will PM you and then maybe we can have a chat about everything.

 

I have has credit cards before and was doing great with them, paying the full on time every month and all. I just lost a job an had no income but bill were due so I got screwed.

 

I figured now I'd like to get it back up to help my score so when I look at buying a house and need a mortgage I have a good report to help achieve that. I know first starting out the credit card will be used for minor things like gas or food. And what I tend to do is, as soon as I will use it say for gas, say it was $80 to fill my tank I will go to bank and take that $80 out and put it in my safe so I guarantee have that $80 for that bill.

 

Now with checking your score, can't you only do that once a year? Or if you do it more then once it can hurt you? I checked mine in 2012 I believe in August, so should I wait?

The free report is only once per year. You don't get scores with those.