@Anonymous wrote:
Thank You so much for this post! I have just turned 18 and as a newbie who has just entered the credit card game recently, your post is incredible helpful!
I have to agree - using my credit cards like debit cards seems to give me the most positive results thus far in regards to my scores - I will have to circle back and let everyone know about CLI and paying in this regard.
Best to you
Welcome to the board, and adult life! This is a chance for me to talk to my younger self. I did not get my first card until i was 23 and getting ready to leave college. At that time, I just had an ATM card (which was a newish thing back in the 80s). My spending cash largely came from on-campus jobs and occasionally from my mother. The first card, an Amex Green card was largely to prepare for my first job which I'd already accepted to begin in July of that year.
It sounds like you already have your first card or even cards. My advice is to slow down on procuring more. You have a long credit life ahead of you. And the most important task now is to begin a history. If you choose to use one of your cards, only do it knowing you have the cash on hand to pay it off immediately. You don't need to be carrying a balance except in emergencies.
Lots of what you read here (including this thread) is all about the "gamification" of credit. We play the game of getting new cards, credit line increases. It feels good to get new stuff, new limits, etc. But don't lose sight of what this is really all about: access to opportunity. Your next (maybe first?) car? That only happens due to opportunity. Your first job out of college? Some employers pull your credit to see what kind of risk you are to employing. I nearly lost a job opportunity in my late 20s since my credit was poor at the time. Student loans and refinancing them? Credit opportunity. You find your future spouse in college and want to buy your first house? You get the idea.
Again, your job right now is proper management of what you've got. At age 18 you don't need much. When I got my first card, the world wide web didn't exist....you waited for your statement in the mail and then mailed a hard check and hoped it got there on time. Now you can do everything on your phone. So if you use a card? Pay the card quickly before the statement date. Your "game" is to establish a pattern of good behavior that leads to future opportunity.
Good luck.
