@Anonymous wrote:Hello, I am 28 years old, employed full time and have virtually zero credit history. I was raised to believe that credit card companies are evil and that I should never take out a loan or open a line of credit. Little did I know at the time, this entire world runs on credit and debt... and without it, you're pretty much screwed. Unless of course you make 300k a year.
Anyway, I recently went to finance a used car and got a rude awakening. Literally NO ONE will finance me without a co-signer because I have no credit history. So here I am, about to start a rigorous journey building and establishing good credit from scratch. I signed up for a free 30 day trial at Experian.com. According to Experian I don't have enough credit history for them to generate me a score. I also just applied for a Discover It Secured Credit Card and am currently going through the approval process.
With all that said, my current goals are to establish enough credit to be able to finance a car on my own without a co-signer. So for those of you who have been in my position, what would you recommend I do? What was your first credit score? And last but not least, how long did it take you to establish good credit?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
1. I would recommend doing exactly what you are doing: starting out with a secured card and building a credit history with that.
2. I would recommend your joining a good credit union. After a while you will probably find the credit union offering you an auto loan, at a very low rate 
3. Once you have some FICO scores, think about whether you would want any credit beyond the auto loan. If not, then you're good. If so, come back to us with your scores, and a thought as to what you would like, and we'll be able to make recommendations.
I don't know what my credit scores were initially; I didn't learn about that kind of thing until about the time I joined this forum. But I can tell you from reading here that (a) your initial scores probably won't be far from 700 and (b) you'll be able to have good scores quickly.
@Anonymous wrote:First, Thank you for the replies.
Second, what exactly is a credit union and how exactly would joining one help me?
Third, the only credit union near me is Valley First Credit Union. Do you know if this is a good credit union? Would you join it if you were me?
Once again, Thank you for the replies.
A credit union is kind of like a banking co-operative. Banks have share holders that they must provide a profit for. Credit unions are essentially funded by their membership and sometimes co-op with other credit unions for financial solidity. Credit unions are in it to provide services to their members vs. stockholders, so they typically can provide better interest rates when borrowing and sometimes investing.
I don't personally have any experience with Valley First, but go in and talk to a banker there and find out if their offerings suit your financial lifestyle. If not, I have several family members that use Golden 1 Credit Union, and they share roughly the same geographic footprint. They've always been happy banking with them.
Welcome to myFICO!
@Anonymous wrote:First, Thank you for the replies.
Second, what exactly is a credit union and how exactly would joining one help me?
Third, the only credit union near me is Valley First Credit Union. Do you know if this is a good credit union? Would you join it if you were me?
Once again, Thank you for the replies.
@ChargedUp gave you a good definition of a credit union. They are usually more friendly and have better customer service than banks. And they usually have better rates. I don't know Valley Credit Union but it looks like the typical, friendly, down home type of credit union. There are lots of good credit unions in California.
If you direct deposit to your Credit Union, is very likely they may approve you for unsecured CC in short time. Low limit but its a start.
I know handful of young people that have done that with DCU.
You may also request it while your opening an account with them.
