Tips for "Building Credit from Scratch"

[kallisonmk]

Hi all, first I'd like to say Thank you for these forums. I have been "lurking" for quite some time and these threads are filled with wonderful people with fantastic insight.

My question is quite vague and common however my situation may be quite unique.

I'd like some ideas to start building credit and the best strategies to be successful however I have no need for credit nor do I see myself needing credit in the future. However, I am a planner and I feel it may be best to establish a profile therefore if the situation ever arises that I need credit I have it established.

Thank you all for any advice/tips 😊

[NYC_Fella]

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@kallisonmk wrote:

Hi all, first I'd like to say Thank you for these forums. I have been "lurking" for quite some time and these threads are filled with wonderful people with fantastic insight.

My question is quite vague and common however my situation may be quite unique.

I'd like some ideas to start building credit and the best strategies to be successful however I have no need for credit nor do I see myself needing credit in the future. However, I am a planner and I feel it may be best to establish a profile therefore if the situation ever arises that I need credit I have it established.

Thank you all for any advice/tips 😊

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Have you never had any kind of credit? Do you have any negative items in your financial history? Late payments, charge-offs, collections, bounced checks, etc.? Are you a student or a mature individual? Employed, unemployed, retired? Lots of information needed to provide you with a meaningful response.

[FireMedic1]

Any credit at all in the past? Your age range, income, student loans,ect. Need a lot more info. We need a starting point to help.

[kallisonmk]

My apologies for lack of information.

I am 42 years old.

I personally have never had any form of credit. Years ago in my 20s there were medical bills negative in my CR. As well as an authorized user on a Sears card. Those have since been gone. 

Within the past year I've thought of establishing credit. Upon shopping at Bed Bath & Beyond I was decided to apply to receive a decent coupon. Of course now I learned from these forums I could've done it differently for a SP. I then decided to apply for a Rewards card from my bank and was approved for $1k.

I do not have a recent nor current employment that would be on my CR.

The approval paper from my bank had my fico at 728. However upon signing up at EX I have no FICO for all 3. AV3 has me at 622 & 685.

[kallisonmk]

"Your age range, income, student loans,ect. Need a lot more info"

42 years old, $65k-70k/yr, no loans at all.

[Yasselife]

@kallisonmk  I would start by getting a secured card from Discover, it has rewards and graduates after a year + an automatic limit increase based on your spending habits... after 6 months I'd try unsecured with a different lender, see which cards are easier to get... and keep reading the forums. 
Look for credit unions.

[FireMedic1]

Whos your bank you got the card from and how long ago. So it really isnt from scratch. Do you have a BB&B card?

[kallisonmk]

I s'pose "from scratch" in Aug 😆. I received the BBW in Aug and my bank is KeyBank... I received their Unsecured Rewards MasterCard in September.

BBW has reported once. Keybank MC isn't on CR yet.

All 3 CRA show one account BBW

[kallisonmk]

A little more about me...

Finances WITHOUT credit has been sortof "my thing". I'm the one in my family that everyone comes to for help as thankfully I'm in that position.

Throughout my years I've gotten myself into a good place currently and in the future. I have zero debt (not even a cellphone). I pay cash/debit for everything.

However last November my mother was diagnosed with cancer which brought me to reevaluate things. 

I'm also raising my granddaughter who is 5 years old.

I began to think if a situation ever arose where I would need a quick $50k-$100k would I want to put up things for collateral or use credit?

Which led me to realize that I couldn't "use credit" if I'm not even established. 😆

[FireMedic1]

Well your going to have to build some credit. You have 1 card so far. As the poster above said. You could start with a Disco secured. Every 6 months apply for another card. Any one in the military where you could join NFCU? The 50-100k in credit is years down the road. Nor do you want to rack up that much debt. Its baby steps for now.