Credit cards!

[donnastl 0]

I am staying here in US for a year now. I am thinking of building up my credit score but my husband told me that it is best to remain in debit card than getting a credit card. I'm kinda confused. I think it's also nice to have credit card in emergency purposes. What do u think?

[Deryck and Miho 0]

Credit cards are evil

But if you must, get a low limit card and don't charge anymore than you can afford to pay off in full each month. Just my experience-based opinion.

As far as 'for emergencies' the best method by far is a savings account that you build up over time, and only use for that purpose. Believe it or not, it is much harder to fork over your hard-earned cash, than to swipe a piece of plastic.

Regards,

Deryck

Edited September 9, 2009 by Deryck and Miho

[mawilson 2,133]

I am staying here in US for a year now. I am thinking of building up my credit score but my husband told me that it is best to remain in debit card than getting a credit card. I'm kinda confused. I think it's also nice to have credit card in emergency purposes. What do u think?

I think you're a Filipina and therefore cannot be trusted with a credit card

[one...two...tree 2,762]

You can get a secured credit card at most banks if you already have a checking/savings account. I think the minimum for most of them is $300, which means you'll have to keep that much in an account as a security deposit.

Using a debit card really won't help you establish credit, but a secured credit card will show up on your credit report which is how to build a credit history.

10 questions before getting a secured credit card

[redglasses 1]

There is no use having a debit card if your primary purpose is bulding credit score.

I've had a debit card for the past 8 years and spent a lot of money with it, but I was still rejected for a credit card because my credit score is 0.

The secured credit card or ones from department stores such as Macy's would be a good place to start bulding your score.

[Dan J 277]

From what i understand, this has since changed, but I added my wife to my credit cards and it quickly helped build a credit history. So quickly in fact that it wasn't long before she got a a card with a higher limit than mine.

I don't think that's possible anymore as credit score rules as people used it to boost bad credit.

You do need a good credit score/history to get loans or other financing in the future (and to get the best interest rates), and the best way to build it is with a credit card.

[tallcoolone 102]

Just got my wife a credit score.

She applied for a couple of credit cards, but since she had no credit score she was declined, We tried department stores and Visa.

Here what we did to get her a credit score within 40 days.

I put her on my credit cards as a Joint User, not a Authorized User.

Plus I had her to get 2 secured credit cards, one from Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

You have to put down $300 for at least a year for each card. And she made a small purchase on each card and paid the bill balance.

It took a little over a month and she had a credit score of 760, which is very good for a newbie.