Finding The Right Credit Card
I remember the lecture my mother gave me a few weeks before my first day of college. She sat me down and said, “I have something important to tell you.” Right about then is when I rolled my eyes and braced for the, “Young men are the devil’s spawn and should not be trusted,” and the, “You are going to a place where there will be great temptations,” speech. What I got was not really a lecture, but a talk about how it was time to start building my credit.
I really never gave that topic much thought. I always thought that getting a credit card was for grown ups, and Lord knows I didn’t quite feel like a grown up at the time. She told me I should start thinking about applying for a credit card. She also warned me if I did so, she would NOT bail me out if I started charging up the world. That alone scared me. I had a full time job, but what if I couldn’t handle the payments? What if I went temporarily insane, and decided to charge everything I could. It was too much for me, and I told her, I didn’t want to hear any more nonsense about me getting a credit card.
She of course persisted for the next two weeks, and I finally told her that I would look into it. I then asked the million pound question, “How do I find the one that is best for me?” She blank stared me. Then she blink. Then she shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t know, that’s your problem.” Cue the crickets.
So there I was, eighteen in 1992, trying to get a credit card, but not knowing where to start. Luckily on the fist day of classes, I was in the school book store and found an ad for a student credit card. Without giving it much thought, I applied and to this day I still have a card from that company. Was that the best way of going about it? Probably not. I suppose if I did the research I could have found a card with a better interest rate, or a better limit.
Now days, the internet has changed the way people research topics. I’ve found the best way to find a good product is to find a site that helps you compare similar products side by side. Are you interested in credit cards that offer airline rewards? How about credit cards that offer hotel and travel rewards? Maybe you are just looking for the credit card that would be right for your business, or one with low interest rates. There are even credit cards for poor credit.
Some people feel loyal to certain credit card companies, it’s only natural when you’ve had them for so long, but why not see if they can offer you a better card? Your time is precious and getting the best credit card for you is important to your lifestyle.
Establishing Credit with a Student Credit Card
One of the best ways to establish a credit report is to acquire a student credit card. However, there are a few things you should be aware of if you decide on this. One of this is the fact that your credit report will be kept and maintained by credit bureaus. Thus, whenever credit companies want to look up your credit history, they will contact these bureaus for it. Information on your payment patterns and outstanding payments for your student credit card, both good and bad, will be recorded here.
Essentially, no one can legally change the contents of that report and everything remains in there for up to a decade. Thus, it is important to maintain a healthy credit report by making payments on time, starting with your student credit card. Having a good credit report has a huge impact on loans and on future applications for other forms of credit services, including other credit cards. For instance, low APR cards are everybodys favorite but they are usually reserved only for those with good or excellent credit histories.
In order to acquire an excellent credit history, it is best to pay up your monthly outstanding balances before they are due. This may be harder to achieve if you are a student as you do not have steady income and therefore need to plan your expenditure accordingly. Use your credit card only when you really need it, and set payment reminders in your personal calendar each month.
Some students practice credit card surfing by using a 0% APR student credit card, maxing out the credit limit and getting a new card for their upcoming expenses. This does huge damage to your credit report as you are basically living off debt even before you have the ability to earn your first paycheck. Whats more, when the 0% APR term is over, your interest rates will escalate and your debt will snowball rapidly. At this point, your credit report will be tarnished, leaving you with a pile of debt that you struggle to pay off and high interest rates for future credit applications. Your only option now would be to adopt a credit repair strategy, which will most likely be painful on your ludicrous lifestyle.
