I'm looking to get a credit card. I'm a 19 year old college student with just about no credit. I've had a debit card for a while now, but I want to start building credit. Can someone recommend a good card/company to apply for? I don't know much about cards so any info is greatly appreciated. :)

I use Chase PerfectCard, and it's awesome. It was my first credit card, and I get 3% rebate on gas, and 1% on every other purchase. I pay my bills automatically and check my statements online. No hassles so far!

No annual fees
20 day grace period for new purchases

My advice as a parent is, "Don't get one yet. Wait until you're a bit older. You'll understand why when you're 25."

Since I'm not your parent however, I'll say this...

Find a card with no annual fees.
Find a card with a decent grace period on new purchases (at least 25 days).
Find a fixed rate card. The rate might be a bit higher at first, but it'll probably save you in the long run if you carry a balance.

You can try looking at www.interest.com and go to their credit card page and you can compare a bunch. Good luck.

capital one does a lot of lower limit credit cards. one bit of advice, dont use the card like an atm. only purchase what you can afford to pay off at the end of the month. and make sure you do pay it off every month. interest will add up, plus it will help your credit score considerably.

capital one does a lot of lower limit credit cards. one bit of advice, dont use the card like an atm. only purchase what you can afford to pay off at the end of the month. and make sure you do pay it off every month. interest will add up, plus it will help your credit score considerably.

I concur. When you get established, THEN look for the recs TownDrunk gave you. You probably won't qualify for any card that has all those recs right now, but if you do what Lurch said, you'll be able to do that in a year or two.

Most of the credit card companies are so eager to get your business that they will throw themselves at your door if you let them know you're there. Credit is still pretty loose.

An easy place with a low threshold to get started is Capital One. We once got our dog pre-approved for credit there. The interest rate doesn't matter IF YOU PAY YOUR BILL IN FULL ON TIME EVERY MONTH. If you sign up for their mileage program, you can get your miles refunded in cash once you've spent enough (one RX8's worth get's you about $300 back).

DONT DO IT is all I have to say.

I say get it and just make payments on time. Don't go crazy and buy stuff you can't afford. When I was in college, I just used it for emergencies. I always paid off my bill on time. I think it's better to start building the credit as early as possible as long as you don't go crazy spending. I'd only buy food on the credit card and if I wanted to buy a video game, I'd use cash. Only necessities stayed on the card. That way, I would never spend too much.

the first 'credit card' i ever got was a gas card, it was good cause i could only use it at the gas station, so no worrys on buying a tv with it, or a bunch of car parts....and I had to buy gas anyway, I always paid it off at the end of the month, after about a year with that I got a credit card for Bestbuy, they can look the account up off your drivers licence so you can use that card as soon as your approved, I bought the digital camera I wanted and put it on the card cause they had 0% for 18 months at the time, when the actual best buy card came in the mail I cut it up...so i wouldnt be as temped to pick stuff up when im there. After the camera was paid off, about 12 months, i bought a laptop from dell, and used the dell card, I got a low rate there, and paid half the first month and payed the rest of it off the 2nd month. Then I bought the mazda and got a great rate. Now that I have all that the only open accounts i have is my gas card and the loan on the car. I just got a bank of america visa, 0% for 1 year, 8.5x% after that, no anual fee, and a modest limit, I will use the credit card, and try to get most of the balance off every month while its 0% but make sure and have a zero balance when my 0% is up. After that I will more than likely ditch this card and get something with 0% again or something with a low fixed rate. I have a good credit score (780) and not many open accounts so im in good shape. Part of that is due to the fact that from day one my parents (who have perfect credit) added me to a few accounts they opend, of course i wasnt able to use the accoutns....but having my name and SSN tied to them helped my credit before I even needed to use it.

I am very greatful for that. I can pretty much now get any loan I want, Im only 21, i live at home and Im a full time worker/part time student but when Im looking to buy a house in 5 or so years, or even when I get an apartment in the next 1 or 2 years I know ill be able to get the best rates and loans possible.

*** another thing to add to that is get a line of credit from your bank, dont use it but keep it open till there is something you need to buy, then borrow from the line of credit, if youve been with your bank for a while and your account is in good standing you should be able to get something like 1000 bucks from them, my friend used this to buy his wheels and had them paid off in a few payments.it helped him out and he was able to open a larger line of credit with a lower rate after that.

Definitely get a card - it will really help you get some credit. Many people have suggested Capitol One - I suggest you get a Discover card instead. They will probably only give you a $250 or $500 limit (which is good, cuz you don't need a big limit yet), and the interest rate won't be too much. If they give you a larger limit, call them and ask them to reduce it. At this point in your financial career a low limit looks much better than a high limit.

Charge something to it every month( Doesn't matter what - a $2 purchase is just as good as a $50 purchase), then PAY IT OFF WHEN YOU GET THE BILL. That's the second most important part. The first is to make sure you don't max the card out, and never never never miss a payment or go over your limit. If you're going to be late making a payment (maybe you misplaced the bill and forgot about it - it happens) CALL THEM and explain. They will be happy that you took the effort, and probably won't report the late payment.

If you miss a payment or exceed your limit you will have "defaulted" on your account, and your interest rate will go up to 20% - 30% and it will be permanently recorded on your credit record. It will be very hard to get a loan after this, and any other credit cards you get will have a higher interest rate than you could have gotten otherwise.

Just remember - it's a credit card. These people are loaning you money and if you don't pay them back in a couple weeks they are going to charge you for the loan.

oh! And also - don't get rid of your card when you "out-grow" it. You can apply for another if you need to, but your credit score goes up when you have long-lasting accounts. If you're thinking of getting rid of it try to convert it to another use (i.e. use it as a gas card and put all of your gas on it). Use it occasionally to keep your account status active, but pay it off as soon as the bill comes in.

go to circiut city/auto motive store ect. start your credit there then pay it off within 90days .this is what i told my daughter to do. now after about 4 purchases she has excellent credit.
i'm 43 years old and i have only 1 credit card and i never use it .if i do it gets paid off when the bill comes in which credit card companys hate.i believe if you can't pay cash for it you don't really need it .but then again i'm sure your not at that level yet so just becareful.just remember paying the min payment just gets you in debt for life.

go to circiut city/auto motive store ect. start your credit there then pay it off within 90days .this is what i told my daughter to do. now after about 4 purchases she has excellent credit.
i'm 43 years old and i have only 1 credit card and i never use it .if i do it gets paid off when the bill comes in which credit card companys hate.i believe if you can't pay cash for it you don't really need it .but then again i'm sure your not at that level yet so just becareful.just remember paying the min payment just gets you in debt for life.

A good standing account for a retail store (best buy, sears, etc) doesn't look as good on your credit report as one from a bank. It's better than nothing, but getting an account from a bank would be preferable.

Get a Mazda Rx8 card and if you use it only to buy what you can afford, replaces stuff you would normally buy with your debit card, you can probably earn your way to some MS parts. :D

Get a Mazda Rx8 card and if you use it only to buy what you can afford, replaces stuff you would normally buy with your debit card, you can probably earn your way to some MS parts. :D

i saw that rx8/mazda card...i want one just for the cool factor. id put all my car parts on it. :p

I got a secure card, and then 6 months later I bought my car, and 3 months later I got another card. I try to keep a slight balance on my card because I read somewhere that if you pay it off quickly they are less likely to give you more credit because they make money on the balance you carry. I tried it on one card and 2 months after getting the card they upped my line of credit by 125%.
So now I carry a slight balance. usually between 15-20% of the card. Which is very manageable and I can still pay it off no problem if needed.

I would recommend you apply for a SHELL credit card. Then, ONLY charge for all of your gas purchases at Shell. You get 5% back in credit when buying gas from them, or 1% from other purchases. Keep in mind that you want to only charge for gas. That way, you can keep your gas bill separate, AND build a credit. Personally, that 5% back in gas credit is awesome..for a $40 fill, you get back $2 in credit the next time you fill up..so, almost a whole gallon for free!! ^_^ Here is the link:

http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=home&FC2=/html/iwgen/shell_for_motorists/credit_cards/zzz_lhn.html&FC3=/html/iwgen/shell_for_motorists/credit_cards/credit_cards.html

Thanks a lot everyone. I've got some research to do on different cards it looks like. I tend to do alright with my money management, so I think I'll be ok with not going crazy. I only want one to use for and EZpass and to help build credit. I'm not going to buy much with it, the occasional thing here and there but nothing big. A little birdie told me to use about 33% of the limit of the card, and that seems to be very manageable. :)

I use Chase PerfectCard, and it's awesome. It was my first credit card, and I get 3% rebate on gas, and 1% on every other purchase. I pay my bills automatically and check my statements online. No hassles so far!

No annual fees
20 day grace period for new purchases
Yes.

The cards I would suggest (if you can get them)

Chase Perfectcard. 3% gas, 1% every thing else, and the other stuff, but MOST importantly... the money back is auto deducted from your bill so you don't have to accrue a certain amount nor cash a check.

Citi Dividends Card. 5% gas, groceries, drug stores, 1% everything else. Sounds better, right? But you have to accrue money though and then request a check after you accrue a certain amount, then cash the check.

Shell. There's two shell cards. I'm talking teh 5% on Shell gas, 1% on everything else. Better than the Chase Perfectcard if all you use is Shell since it acts similarly to the Chase Perfectcard with the money you make back being autodeducted from your bill.

Amercian Express/Costco Card. You NEED a Costco membership for this one, but it's good in that you can use it for dining out (where it's accepted) and get 3% back, and 2% on travel (where accepted). You also get 1% back on everything else and you can use it in Costco. But you also have to accrue and request the money back.

For a while I was using 3.

Dividends for groceries.
AmEx for dining and travel.
Perfectcard for gas and everything else.

I didn't renew my costco membership so I'm down to two now.

Thanks a lot everyone. I've got some research to do on different cards it looks like. I tend to do alright with my money management, so I think I'll be ok with not going crazy. I only want one to use for and EZpass and to help build credit. I'm not going to buy much with it, the occasional thing here and there but nothing big. A little birdie told me to use about 33% of the limit of the card, and that seems to be very manageable. :)
Careful with the 33%. A balance of any more than 25% of your total available (revolving) credit will drop your FICO. The higher the percentage, the bigger the drop. See www.myfico.com for more information.

I would not worry to much about establishing credit at 19 and in college, you will probably have student loans, rent, bills, etc that will reflect on your credit history. I would recommend to get a credit card make sure you get one with no annual fees, low interest rate, don't worry about the percentage you use on it just make sure to pay it off at the end of every month, trust me it can get away from you fast. Best thing to do would be to just set all of your recurring bills go there (cell phone, electric, cable) and just cut up the card and pay it off every month. That way you will have credit life and not have to worry about over extending yourself like 70% of college students do.