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18 year old trying to build credit!

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GOALIS850
Established Member

Re: 18 year old trying to build credit!

Great! Thanks bluesnowman! I would love to have the gold premier, but I think that I'm just going to wait till I have a full time job and I am done with school for that lol for some reason having a card like that scares me. Anyways why are you waiting only 6 months to do more inquiries? I was advised to wait more. Lastly how much is to many inquiries in one bureau? Thanks!

Message 21 of 53
GOALIS850
Established Member

Re: 18 year old trying to build credit!

Sorry I forgot to ask: NFCU only gave me a $500 cl when do you think I should ask for a cli?

Message 22 of 53
CreditChampion
Frequent Contributor

Re: 18 year old trying to build credit!

6 months.....the amount inquries deemed too much are very subjetive and it varies by creditor. I would say at most 6 to get established....but that might be pushing it with some creditors. Also, as you gain credit history creditors become less concerned about inquires.

Fico Scores:800+Club

Marvel MC 25K AMEX BCE 18K AMEX Blue Sky 13.6K AMEX BCE 13.5K AMEX Zync
NPSL(AU) Citi Double Cash 14.5K PenFed Plat Rewards 14.5K Citi Forward 10.3k Discover it 9.5K Wells Fargo Cash Back 7.2K BankAmericard Better Balance $700 Chase Freedom $500 Capital One Quicksilver $6K Capital One Platinum (AU) $500 Capital One Secured Card (AU) $251(Closed) PenFed PLOC 14K
PenFed Promise 5K
Message 23 of 53
bluesnowman
Frequent Contributor

Re: 18 year old trying to build credit!

Goal, why does it scare you? I'm only a year older then you  and only with 7 1/2-8 months of credit history. As long as your credit is decent, you should not have a problem getting approved for it. It's a charge card, I use it to charge small stuff, and for the larger things, I would call in and let them know. I always pay on time and before the statement cuts, so I have really no debt whatsoever. I only carry a small balance (3-7%) when applying because it maximizes my fico scores, and it imporves my chances of getting approved. I am waiting because I have a total 3 on EX and 2 on TU and EQ. The more you limit the inquires, the less your scores get dinged. And If I apply now, I probably would get approved, but for a low limit. Also, it gives time for the inquires and the accounts to age a little bit, because it shows my creditors I am not desperate for credit. I use small amounts on my cards, and in turn it is very easy for me to pay them off. Just be responsible and stay under the radar, and getting credit will be easier, you could wait more, and that is your decision, personally when I have all the cards that I really want, then I am going to stop applying until I need a car loan or mortgage. Inquiry wise, If you have less then one year of history Amex will pull all 3 bureaus (from general reading around the boards.), other then that they are a known EX puller. Chase varies between all 3, but usually EQ or EX (EX with me.) Chase and AMEX and especially Barclay's are extremely inquiry sensitive. They can deny you if you have too many inquires (again, it shows desperation to the potential creditors.) I would say have a max of 2-5 on each bureau, because each HP is going to be on there for 2 years. 

Good luck!

Bank of America: Cash Rewards.- 4.2k. 4/25/12 (CLI Increase 6/15/13, CLI May of 2015, sept 2015), Citi: Forward- 4.5k. 10/27/12 (CLI on 2/8/14, SP, CLI on 9/26/15 sp). Discover: More- 7k, 10/27/12 (Increase 6/1/14, CLI in May of 2015, SP 9/2015) Amex: PRG- NPSL (closed 12/13/13). 11/24/12. Chase: Freedom. 5/1/13- 5k (EX CLI HP 9/2015) Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus.-3.6k. 6/15/13. Amex BCE-2k. 12/7/13. Amex SPG-5k 12/8/13 (CLI on 9/2015) Capital one VentureOne Visa Signature-10k (9/6/15). Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard-4K. Last App: 9/6/15. Total cl: 45,300
Message 24 of 53
espnjunkie
Established Contributor

Re: 18 year old trying to build credit!

Don't get overly enamored with the color of the card just yet. As a student with a part time job it would be very difficult to spend enough to justify the 175.00 annual fee. Focus on budgeting and paying your bills in full every month for awhile first before worrying about prime cards.

“The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.” ~Unknown
Citi Prestige World Elite Mastercard ($35,000.00), Merrill+ Visa Signature ($25,000.00), Amex BCP ($29,700.00), Amex Green (NPSL), Capital One Quicksilver World Mastercard ($10,000.00), Chase Ink Business Bold (NPSL)
TU-778 (12/03/2014))
EX (Plus) - 777 (10/21/2013)
EQ - 735 (April 2013)
Message 25 of 53
MovingForward_2012
Valued Contributor

Re: 18 year old trying to build credit!

Hi and welcome to the forums!

I would wait to run more inquiries. Too many inquiries can lead to future denial. It takes a year for the INQs to stop hurting your score, and 2 yrs for them to fall off typically. It sounds like you already have 3 so far (2 CCs, and an auto loan)? What is the monthly payment on the auto loan? How do you plan on using these cards?

Charge cards are to be paid in full every month. They come with no limit but also no grace period either for the majority of them.

I am 32 years old and was there, with credit cards being thrown at me during college (creditors are more conservative now due to all of the defaults back then). Some scholarships were only for a year or two so after that I started having financial problems due to my tuition. I was making $20 an hour part time through a engineering co-OP & rent, car payment, other related bills & CC bills, & limited help from parents, I defaulted and couldn't catch up. Plus, my senior year I took 21 credits and had to cut my hours down to study and graduate and so I took an unexpected financial loss. After graduation, I had to file a Bankruptcy-Ch 7 and it has ruined my credit for a long time. I had much higher credit limits back then as in the early 2000's, if you maxed a card out and paid the min due each month, you were rewarded with higher limits and given I was literally starving, I used it for my advantage in that moment. If you do that nowadays, creditors frown on that and may take things away instead of give more. The BK is just being removed from my credit report Aug 2013 & just recently have I been able to get decent credit from prime lenders..

My best advice to you, don't charge what you can't pay cash for EVER! Don't get into the min monthly payment spiral.

I truly think the two cards you have now are good enough to get your feet wet. Just focus on using those and paying in full every month. I believe after 6 months to a year, your limits will go up too.

Think about the future as well. What will your income will be (after taxes) when you move from the dorms to an apartment (for example) and what additional expenses will you have and use credit with the future in mind.

What starting salary are you expecting at graduation? Does your current job come with guaranteed employment after graduation? if not, plan for a possible lag in employment as the economy is still recovering. I found out the hard way that $55K (which was my starting salary in 2002) wasn't as big as I thought. Always budget your expenses given what you expect to take home after taxes, benefits, etc. I make $92K or so now and that is the amount that has truly given me freedom. I still have to budget but it is much easier.

Credit card companies look not just at score but credit history, INQs, debt to income ratio. So having a bunch of maxed out cards on your salary will get you instant denial so get in the habit of paying 95-100% of your balance each month.

Ask to be an Authorized User on some of your parents cards that have high limits. This will help your score as long as they aren't maxed out. Charging up to the max limit and paying isn't good either as creditors consider cards maxed out at 90% of limit. It also shows irresponsibility as no cushion was left for emergencies or an annual fee.

As others said, this is a marathon. Take it slow, and your credit will prosper. Take it fast, and you will crash and burn. So I vote for gardening time. Smiley Happy

This post is not to discourage you but to encourage your financial prosperity so you have an idea on what path you should take to never have to file bankruptcy or deal with charge offs, collections, etc. I speak from experience and I am telling you these things to help you NOT to hurt you, so on that note, please consider my comments constructive.
Cards: Orchard Bank ($1100) | Cap1 Cash Rewards ($2500) | Chase Freedom ($1000) | Best Buy ($2500) | Discover It ($1000) | Barclay Rewards ($2500) | Current scores: EX FAKO: 684, CK TU: 649, FICO EQ: 680, FICO TU: 698, FICO EX: 658 Happy Homeowner Since 2/6/13! Smiley Happy Last App: 4/5/13 Gardening until July 2014
Message 26 of 53
daybreakgonesXe
Valued Contributor

Re: 18 year old trying to build credit!


@GOALIS850 wrote:

Oh wow! That's awesome information! Thanks! I'm not really sure if the pulls are spread throughout because I can only see my trans union score so far and it says that I have three inquiries so far, not including my first hard pull for chase when I was just 18 that I can't seem to find. Do you think  I should apply (in a year or so) for the citi forward or discover more student versions or the real thing? And also what kind of cards can I put just anual income and not personal income? I mean I can back it all up with account statements were I am in their as a joint acct. Again Thanks!


I think in a year it's best to apply for the student versions. It makes approval a lot easier, since the main requirement to get the card is being a student, and your scores will hopefully rise and enable you to get the low APRs and high limits! I believe both the Discover app and the Citi app will ask for annual income. So far, I've only seen Capital One ask for personal income. Hope that helps!

Message 27 of 53
CreditChampion
Frequent Contributor

Re: 18 year old trying to build credit!

Also, before you apply I would add yourself as an AU on your parents or trustworthy relative and or friend. Just make sure their account has perfect payment history and no negative reporting.

Fico Scores:800+Club

Marvel MC 25K AMEX BCE 18K AMEX Blue Sky 13.6K AMEX BCE 13.5K AMEX Zync
NPSL(AU) Citi Double Cash 14.5K PenFed Plat Rewards 14.5K Citi Forward 10.3k Discover it 9.5K Wells Fargo Cash Back 7.2K BankAmericard Better Balance $700 Chase Freedom $500 Capital One Quicksilver $6K Capital One Platinum (AU) $500 Capital One Secured Card (AU) $251(Closed) PenFed PLOC 14K
PenFed Promise 5K
Message 28 of 53
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: 18 year old trying to build credit!


@GOALIS850 wrote:

Oh wow! That's awesome information! Thanks! I'm not really sure if the pulls are spread throughout because I can only see my trans union score so far and it says that I have three inquiries so far, not including my first hard pull for chase when I was just 18 that I can't seem to find. Do you think  I should apply (in a year or so) for the citi forward or discover more student versions or the real thing? And also what kind of cards can I put just anual income and not personal income? I mean I can back it all up with account statements were I am in their as a joint acct. Again Thanks!


Welcome to the forums; generally speaking when starting out, if you can qualify for the student versions of the card, I highly recomnend them.

 

The biggest thing when establishing credit is simply number of tradelines, and never, ever missing a payment.  2-3 revolving cards is fine (personally I recommend 3 but it's not necessary), and student cards are still easier from an underwriting perspective though in your case with documentable income from a part-time job, you can take either route and be fine.  Longer term non-student cards have some advantages in terms of growth; however, if you're responsible with your usage and payments, frankly by the time you graduate you'll be qualified for just about anything and the starter cards are unlikely to receive much use at that point.

 

As another thing, since you have some discretionary income from the sounds of it, look into doing a secured loan; I'm 99% confident NFCU offers these, and they're a cheap way of establishing an installment tradeline on your reports.  If you can afford to part with 1K (think that's NFCU's limit, USAA I know is 2500) and put it in an account for a year or more, it's a solid method of improving your credit profile as well (mix of credit, additional payment history).  Also plays well for auto loans these days as well with the way the auto-enhanced score appears to work according to several underwriters.

 




        
Message 29 of 53
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: 18 year old trying to build credit!

Hi and welcome to the forums!  I think you are off to a great start!  I would wait until you hit the 6 month mark with NFCU before asking for a CLI.  You can ask for one online with no issues.    I agree with others that it would be best to gain another 6 months - 1 year of credit history before you apply for anything else...   Also, look into a secured loan with NFCU... its a great way to build installment history.

 

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 30 of 53
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