Credit Card help?!?

Question

My husband and I are very young (19) and don't have a lot of credit. The only thing we have is our monthly house payment ( we rent) which is 800 a month, utilities, and my wedding ring payment. No car payment, loans, or anything like that. We are getiing a credit card and we are going to buy one big thing ( probably a big screen TV) and are going to put the card away and pay that off over a few months. He has a good job ( he is a firefighter) but we need to build some credit.
So my question is: can someone explain to me about payments on a credit card ( how much?, every month? weekly?) and what a good card company would be for us? Discover, visa, Capitol one, American express???

Answer 1

Most cards are pretty much the same. Go to www.bankrate.com and check out the cards there. Find one with no annual fee, and at least a 25 day grace period (how long it takes after you purchase something before they start adding interest.) If you really are going to pay it off in a few months, the interest rate is a bit less important. How do payments work? You make the purchase, and the bill comes the following month. If you pay it all this month, no interest. If you don't, then next month you will owe interest (the interest rate divided by 12 for the monthly interest rate x the amount still owing). You need to pay at least the minimum, but try to pay as much as you can afford - if you pay just the minimum on a $4000 debt at 18%, it will take 7 years to pay off. Also, make sure your payment is mailed at least 5 days before it is due, as any late payment will mean you owe $25 - $35 more and your credit score goes down. Try to get a card with the bank you already use. If you have a hard time getting a regular card, ask for a secured card. For that, you'll put money into a savings account and get a card with a credit limit equal to that amount. Prove you can pay, and then the bank will unsecure your card and raise your credit limit. American Express has an annual fee, and with some of their cards you have to pay in full every month. Chase bank has lots of options.

Answer 2

If you have a credit account for your ring, and you have paid on time each month, then you have established credit. If you feel you need to establish more, you can apply for a credit card, but don't fall into the credit trap and start buying things you don't need-it will follow you forever.....(trust me on that one). Look for a card with no annual fee, and a low rate, although if you don't plan on carrying a balance for very long, that's not as important as the fees. Since you don't have a lot of credit right now, you may only get a card with a $200 or $300 limit; don't be discouraged, your limit will go up as you use and pay your card. Credit card payments are made monthly-don;t ever pay them even a day late, or they will charge you a fee and possibly raise your interest rate to something obnoxious. The minimum payment is usually between 2% and 4% of the total balance, usually closer to 2.5%. Don't pay minimum only each month, or a $200 charge could take you forever to pay off, and you will pay more interest than you need to. Now is the time to form some good credit habits; you should have credit established, but you should never take full advantage of your available balance. Balance transfers and cash advances usually generate a fee, so don't use them unless you have to. I've found Capital One to be a company who will grant credit with little established credit, albeit with a high rate and low limit to start, both will improve as you use the card responsibly. Good Luck.

Answer 3

your house payments, utilities & ring payment are building your credit. You only need 3 things paid overtime to build your credit. So you are already building your credit, the bad part is it takes time- about a year to show a "good" score. Getting a credit card is a very wise decision for building credit, however you need to remember to use it responsibly. If you credit limit is 5K & your big screen TV is over 50% of your limit- it's gonna knock your score down. You should only use 50% of your available balance to achieve good credit. Payments on a credit card are usually 10% of balance, but you should try to pay 20% if possible. They are monthly and you must make them on time, even one late payment will hit your score & charge you a hefty late fee. As far as the best cards- try to get something with a low interest rate- this is the most important thing to your payments. I hope this helps. The site below will help you search through the barrage of cards available.

Answer 4

An older friend of ours needed to start a credit history recently. She got a small loan at her bank to get a big screen tv also. She also paid it back in just a couple of months. Their terms were much better than a credit card's. But if you went with one, Visa was the most reasonable for us. Chase, Capitol One, and First Premier had some questionable fees later.

Answer 5

Well, there are a few things to consider when getting a credit card. First of all, get the lowest possible APR that you can, in the event that you can't pay the balance off each month you wont get hit with high monthly finance charges. Any APR above 13%, I would not bother with it! If you can pay off your balance each month, then you will NEVER get a finance charge. Also, get a credit card that has "no annual fee". Credit cards are a good way to build credit, just don't let it get out of hand with the spending, it can happen very, very easily. Also, pay attention to your Credit limit, this is the maxium you can spend on that card. A safe limit id say is about 2500 dollars, if you get something with 8000 or 10,000 dollar limit, thats dangerous! Don't get stuck with a limit to low either, like $1000, because it may be easy to go "over your limit" and then you will get hit with costly fee's. As for payments, its generally required once a month, however you can make as many payments as you like, its easy to do online with a major credit card compnay like Capital One or American Express. I personally like to deal with American Express because of the rewards points program. Well, i hope this info helps you all out. Stick to ONE credit card, and one only! Be careful with it, respect it, protect it! Many people have had their credit ruined over carlessness spending and it will follow you for years and years!

Answer 6

I have sketchy credit myself, but three years ago, it was AWFUL! I managed to get two credit cards nonetheless, one is a Tribute MC and the other is a Household Bank MC. As long as I make my monthly payments and keep my balance below, like 50% of my limit, they give me increases every six months and my score has been pretty steadily rising for the last two years. I was actually able to finance a car, which is something I used to get laughed at for trying to do.

Good Luck!!!

Answer 7

Make at least the minimum monthly payment. Never be late on this. You can get a master card at a level allowed for your credit rating.As you make purchases and make the timely payments, it increases its maximum limit.Biggest thing is to never be late on a payment. The interest will kill you if you are.

Answer 8

Its not a matter of the best credit card, but the credit card you will be approved for with little or no credit.

Two easy credit cards to get with little or no credit is Orchard Bank or First Premier Bank.

They do however come with annual fees.

Answer 9

Find very useful info and tips on getting and managing credit cards on http://creditcardmanager.credithelperhom

Answer 10

pay the most you can to get your scores back to reality