Do:
Apply slowly, no app sprees, especially with no previous cards. You will likely get quite a few denials for no history and get a ding for looking for credit too much, too fast on your credit.
Follow up on each denial to find out what caused it. Post your questions here and seek advice.
Don’t take anything here personal, its not an attack on you, your CR or your spending habits, its is almost always solid advice.
Think carefully about what cards you WANT and make a plan to make that happen in a manner that has the least risk. And find out what those creditors want and or shy away from in their approval process. For example, if your goal card is a Chase Sapphire Preferred, don’t go on an app spree and rack up 24 inquiries in a single month and then come here crying because you got smacked down by Chase. In short, research, then apply. I wish I had.
Do not:
Go on app sprees for store cards (anything not Visa, MC, Discover, or Amex)
Avoid co-branded cards unless they are specific to your needs.
Avoid the flavor of the month cards that pop up here from time to time.
Don’t apply for any card that you will not use. Just because you can get it, doesn’t mean you should get it.
Ok, rant off. Lol I am sure others have tips too.
@Anonymous wrote:
Use it like it's a debit card. Pay for what you put on it immediately. With Cap1, they cut statements 3 days after your due date so make sure it is paid down for sure by then.
I would apply for Discover secured with your scores and see where things are in 6 months time. Two cards will help build more of a score by then, and the card could graduate to unsecured soon after
I would try and prequalify on Discover and see if you can get unsecured first. No HP for the prequalify and you never know if they will deny or not. Other than that, I agree with the rest.
@Anonymous wrote:So I am 27 and I am just now getting my first CC mostly because my Dad always drilled into me how important my credit score is later in life, and because I didn't want one in college and rack up a lot of debt. So I finally applied for a Cap one MasterCard on Tuesday was instantly approve with a $300 line of credit which is fine by me and now I am just waiting for the card. The only debt on my Credit report is medical from last year which I am paying off slowly. But any advice regarding a first time Credit card user and how to best use it to build up my credit score. Which is hovering at about 650 I believe last I looked.
Use it and pay it off right away. By the time the statement cuts the balance should be from $0 to $29.
Don't ever carry balances from one cycle to the next... i.e. don't ever pay interest on purchases.
Most of us on this forum like to have lots of credit cards, but you don't need more than one MasterCard.
Eventually you'll be able to upgrade your card to a Quicksilver or Quicksilver-type MasterCard which gives you 1.5% cash back on everything. That's what my Capital One MasterCard is.
I agree with almost everything that was said, except maybe for the part about never revolving a balance -- if your interest rate is low enough and the carried balance is also small enough, there are times when revolving a balance can potentially be useful, if you want to pay the balance off over time. Just for example, I am currently carrying a balance of a few hundred dollars less than $1,000 on my FNBO Amex at 7.00% V, and have paid less than than $100 in interest over a year. Interest charges are not always a bad thing, but that's jmho. The other thing is, keep in mind that 0% promos are not indefinite and will at some point end, reverting to the standard go-to APR; plus there are only so many 0% promo offers you can apply for, at any one period in time.
You may find that quite a few posters on the forum who advise strongly against carrying a balance also don't seem to bat an eyelash when it comes to paying large annual fees. I'm personally more of the opposite school of thought though: I don't mind paying occasional (negligible) interest, but I steer clear of all AFs, and no longer have any AF cards in my current set of cards. So the only thing that I can really think of to add is, be wary of cards with steep or high annual fees, and only apply for them if the AF is specifically outweighed by the benefits gained. Either way (high AF vs. carried interest), you're going to be paying the issuer money -- I just happen to prefer sometimes paying interest rather than paying a hefty AF of say a few hundred dollars or more.
