As the title says, I've had no credit card in 17 years, after a Sears card of all things terrifed me into "going dark" and closing all my accounts. I missed a payment being young and dumb on a low amount, and I got some heavy legalese threat letters that scared me into "cash only" ever since. Card I was approved for was a Capital One Platinum Mastercard, $300 CL. It's so silly, but I was terrified at taking the offer, followed by elated when it approved even at such a low CL!
The only reason I wasn't scared enough to apply was because I'd been flexing my credit know how on my husbands accounts after lurking here. He had no credit either, his history came from mortgage and auto loans and paying all our bills on time. I've gotten his credit established through Nebraska Furniture Mart, Care Credit, and a Chase Freedom Unlimited card in the last 5 months. His scores have seen a giant jump, we usually retain no balances and make payments hugely over the required minimum. Done applying for anything for now.
All my lurking here has enabled me to do this and not feel like I'm messing up or hurting our financial history. We have a mortgage and an auto loan, and not being "cash only" types at the time would've helped our interest rates out a lot. I'm proceeding happily, but ever cautiously.
