Brehs, what credit cards do y'all recommend for folks building credit/in school?
- Thread starter satam55
- Start date
Get a secured card with a $300 limit. I was told by a banker that you should always leave 30% on the card...Never go over 30% and always pay more than the minimum back. Do this for a year without missing payments. Then kick it up to $500 or so when you get a refund check from school or taxes... Do that for a year and keep going up. You will see your score increase.
You should make it a point to not spend money you don't have and/or can't replenish. By this I mean don't buy a $200 item with no income and $0.17 in your savings. One of my friends kept a couple grand on his card thought the latter years of college and he wasn't working. I wouldn't doubt he's still got a nice chunk he's paying down.
Also open a savings account if you don't have one and make sure it's no fees. Another part of credit that people don't know about is that they take into consideration how many accounts you have open and how old they are. I had to buy a car from a dealer a year or two back and they came back with a credit score in the 700s. My parents opened a checking account for me when I was a baby so I had 20ish years of history on it getting me off to a good start.
Also open a savings account if you don't have one and make sure it's no fees. Another part of credit that people don't know about is that they take into consideration how many accounts you have open and how old they are. I had to buy a car from a dealer a year or two back and they came back with a credit score in the 700s. My parents opened a checking account for me when I was a baby so I had 20ish years of history on it getting me off to a good start.
Yinny
Sweet and Sour Patch Mom
Unless your credit is jacked you don’t have a real need to go secured.
Best College Student Credit Cards for 2017: What Are The Top Options?
Best College Student Credit Cards for 2017: What Are The Top Options?
Get a Capital one. You can get an increase every 6 months and it’s a soft inquiry. They might start you out with $500 but farm it and you’ll get an auto increase
Flywin Lannister
Superstar
This obsession with increasing your credit score.. so you can borrow MORE money and owe somebody MORE money and make that person MORE money (interest rate) it's.. odd to say the least. Especially when it's so ingrained culturally that nobody stops to think: is it actually smart for me to owe someone money.. wouldn't it be smarter to make sure I cake up so I can buy what I want or at least I can make a decent downpayment on what I want?
Can someone explain why the first go-to answers are 'do this and that to get your credit score up!' instead of 'DO NOT get a credit card. If you don't have the money, don't buy things, work, save up and then buy it'?
Free game, we as black people have to build so this is at least how I do it:
-I do not use credit cards and have no outstanding loans.
-I do not buy things I don't have the money for TWICE (this rule is super powerful and avoids a lot of regrets)
I for instance want to buy a car and a house now. I don't have the money for buying this house, but I'm saving to buy a car cash (2nd hand). I was told that the smartest thing tax-wise to do was get a loan, but I'm making sure I actually have the money in the bank when I take the loan (because again tax wise it's smarter). If it wasn't, I'd buy it cash.
The house: I'm not sure yet how to handle this. But honestly, besides a house, I would never want to use credit. Do more people handle money like this or do y'all use credit for cars, house, interior of the house etc.?
Can someone explain why the first go-to answers are 'do this and that to get your credit score up!' instead of 'DO NOT get a credit card. If you don't have the money, don't buy things, work, save up and then buy it'?
Free game, we as black people have to build so this is at least how I do it:
-I do not use credit cards and have no outstanding loans.
-I do not buy things I don't have the money for TWICE (this rule is super powerful and avoids a lot of regrets)
I for instance want to buy a car and a house now. I don't have the money for buying this house, but I'm saving to buy a car cash (2nd hand). I was told that the smartest thing tax-wise to do was get a loan, but I'm making sure I actually have the money in the bank when I take the loan (because again tax wise it's smarter). If it wasn't, I'd buy it cash.
The house: I'm not sure yet how to handle this. But honestly, besides a house, I would never want to use credit. Do more people handle money like this or do y'all use credit for cars, house, interior of the house etc.?
@Flywin Lannister I see what you're getting at but good credit is essential to favorable loan terms and loans, when used properly, are good forms of leverage. Rather than using solely your funds, you leverage a percentage of other people's money immediately freeing up the rest for other potential investments. OPM
What I want The Coli to start understanding is that while white people do have a headstart on us, they did by leveraging slave labor. They used us. Why would we try to separate and do it on our own? Use them. There's nothing wrong with trying to raise enough capital to take over a white owned business that generates stable income. It's admirable to do it from scratch but if you can buy 20% of a business and take a share of profits why go through that hassle?
If you've never seen it I recommend watching The Profit on CNBC. In a nutshell the guy invests in underperforming businesses and turns them around. He'll invest a certain amount of money for xx% of ownership and share of profits. Imagine doing this for businesses that are already pretty solid. You'll be investing in an asset that doesn't even require you to be actively involved.
The Coli always wants to shout build your own but seem to only want to do it on the backs of black people. If we're going to build for longevity then we can't limit ourselves like that. Treat white folks as a usable resource.
What I want The Coli to start understanding is that while white people do have a headstart on us, they did by leveraging slave labor. They used us. Why would we try to separate and do it on our own? Use them. There's nothing wrong with trying to raise enough capital to take over a white owned business that generates stable income. It's admirable to do it from scratch but if you can buy 20% of a business and take a share of profits why go through that hassle?
If you've never seen it I recommend watching The Profit on CNBC. In a nutshell the guy invests in underperforming businesses and turns them around. He'll invest a certain amount of money for xx% of ownership and share of profits. Imagine doing this for businesses that are already pretty solid. You'll be investing in an asset that doesn't even require you to be actively involved.
The Coli always wants to shout build your own but seem to only want to do it on the backs of black people. If we're going to build for longevity then we can't limit ourselves like that. Treat white folks as a usable resource.
DrBanneker
Space is the Place
Personally, I would have a credit card in college only for emergencies. You absolutely must pay the balance off every month. If you can't, you are using it to finance an unsustainable lifestyle and building bad financial habits. If it is only for emergencies look for the cheapest card you can find with either a secured credit with a low maximum or a basic card with no cash back or airline/hotel points.
I personally would get a card from a Black owned bank like OneUnited or another local Black bank. Look at local credit unions as well if you are eligible to join.
I personally would get a card from a Black owned bank like OneUnited or another local Black bank. Look at local credit unions as well if you are eligible to join.
DrBanneker
Space is the Place
BTW, if you want to build a good credit score, why not save a bit each month to start paying down your loans. I know they aren't due but early payments on principal will ease the interest a lot later on, especially if you borrowed a lot.
this is awful advice.This obsession with increasing your credit score.. so you can borrow MORE money and owe somebody MORE money and make that person MORE money (interest rate) it's.. odd to say the least. Especially when it's so ingrained culturally that nobody stops to think: is it actually smart for me to owe someone money.. wouldn't it be smarter to make sure I cake up so I can buy what I want or at least I can make a decent downpayment on what I want?
Can someone explain why the first go-to answers are 'do this and that to get your credit score up!' instead of 'DO NOT get a credit card. If you don't have the money, don't buy things, work, save up and then buy it'?
Free game, we as black people have to build so this is at least how I do it:
-I do not use credit cards and have no outstanding loans.
-I do not buy things I don't have the money for TWICE (this rule is super powerful and avoids a lot of regrets)
I for instance want to buy a car and a house now. I don't have the money for buying this house, but I'm saving to buy a car cash (2nd hand). I was told that the smartest thing tax-wise to do was get a loan, but I'm making sure I actually have the money in the bank when I take the loan (because again tax wise it's smarter). If it wasn't, I'd buy it cash.
The house: I'm not sure yet how to handle this. But honestly, besides a house, I would never want to use credit. Do more people handle money like this or do y'all use credit for cars, house, interior of the house etc.?
you're making generic statements that only apply to people with poor credit and poor spending habits. a good fico score allows you to spend less by using a bank's money instead of yours. credit cards also provide several layers of purchase protection whereas cash/debit cards offer none.
What you mean by a soft inquiry?