Hi there!
I have little or no credit at all. been married almost 7 years. The only credit card we have he signed up for years ago and we have less than $9000 in credit card or any kind of debt. My question is this. He wants me to get a visa or something to do a small balance transfer onto so I can start building some credit. I have tried a gas, VS, and some other retail type cards even a student ( i am a student) card with Capitalone. None of them have given me a card......
any advice would be great. like have you been in this situation and maybe what kind of card should I try...
Credit is an American Myth. NO credit does not equal BAD credit.
Pay off all outstanding credit bills asap.
You can even get a mortgage without credit, as long as you've paid rent on-time or early.
Capital O. is the WORST creditor EVER!
You do NOT need a credit card.
CC that are for no credit or bad credit:
www.firstpremierbank.com
www.firstsavingscc.com
www.citicard.com
www.orchardbank.com
www.capitalone.com
I had cards all through them when building my credit
I had the same problem. I had to get a "secured credit card" through my Credit Union. I had to pre-pay at least $250, but could put as much as I wanted on it and that would be its limit. I have it at $300. I think they said I could increase it by amounts of $100.
I mainly use it for gas to build my credit. And pay it off every month!
I want to build my credit so that we can buy a house some day. Good rental history my @ss... didn't do anything for me! I have 7 years of PERFECT rental history. They don't care...
You don't need a credit card. Pay off all of your debt, and live debt free. You don't need to build credit. In the future if you want to buy a house and have steady employment with a good down payment and good rental history you can get a loan from a mortgage broker that knows what they are doing. Read the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
If you can't get credit, you probably shouldn't! I would recommend listening to Dave Ramsey on AM 570, reading his book "The Total Money Makeover" and use this experience as a stepping stone to STOP having credit and living without that over your head!
I would also add that I'm pretty sure that every time you apply for credit, that shows up on your credit report, so if you've tried 3-4 times in the last 6 months, you probably need to wait another 6-12 months before trying again.
Try your bank. If you have been banking with them for any amount of time, kept a positive balance, etc. you may be able to get a credit card with them.
If not, you may have to be prepared to get a secured credit card.
There are companies that cater to bad to no credit, the interest rates are through the roof - but they have them - Orchard Bank is one. After my divorce many moons ago - my credit suffered as we split the bills, etc. They gave me a credit card....
A credit union might help you as well!!
Good luck!!
I scrolled through your responses, and I see that others have also suggested a secure credit card. That is probably the best way for you to go. Try your own bank first. I bank at a credit union, and the one they offer requires a minimum of $1000. After a year of paying the card on time it converts to a traditional credit card if you so choose.
I would steer clear of CapitalOne. They are notorious for a preposturous amount of fees. I opened a card with them years ago, and the 2nd year they charged me an annual fee for the card. I told them to cancel the card. I refused to pay the fee since I decided to cancel the card. They would not do it immediately and then began charging me non-payment fees and late charges on the annual fee (mind you there were no purchases on the card- just fees upon fees). I finally got it cleared 2 years ago, but as of last week I started receiving collection calls about it from a 3rd party.
I agree with Stacey :) My husband and I have been on the Dave Ramsey plan for over 5 years and are on Baby Step #3. His plan changed our lives. I also recommend not having a credit card and getting out of debt ~ especially in this uncertain economy. You truly don't need credit (we've been without for 5 years and it is awesome). We're building up our emergency fund so that we will have money for any unexpected expenses that you would normally use a credit card for.
I listen to Dave daily on AM 570 from 1-4pm to stay focused and on task!
Good luck with whatever you decide and let me know if you have any questions.
D.
You may need to get a prepaid credit card (you put an amount in and use it - like a debit acrd on your bnk account) with a low limit, and start off that way. Otherwise try establishing credit by buying a car or something with a payment plan...even appliances or something at a big box retailer.
Check out Mary Hunt and http://www.debtproofliving.com/ She always has lots of great advice about credit and how it works. I've been getting a newsletter from her for a few years now and her advice is usually pretty good (it's not always just credit, it's about saving money, paying off debt, etc.) She "teaches" you about it, not just informs you about what's going on.
Go into her search engine and type in words like credit and it will bring up a lot of stuff for you. We don't have a credit card but I do know that every time you apply for one, they check your score and it "pings" it so to speak so other agencies checking your score will see that as well as other agencies have turned you down so it just makes it worse.
Sorry I couldn't be much help, but I hope Mary can help you. :)
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You really do not "need" credit, it can be such a vicious thing.
If you must, then I would get a secured credit card from your bank. That is what I did when I first started out :)
I've been there before a few times. You can go with an orchard card or first premiere. They generally help people with little or no credit. It will be a small amount but it will be a start. Also you can get a secured card from a credit union, that worked for me as well. I paid on time for a year and was able to call and switch to an unsecured card. The best place to go and learn what to do about your credit is www.myfico.com and click on the community tab. It has helped my life tremendously. It all takes time but I went from having a 500 credit score to now being over 720 and it took a lot of work but I spent a lot of time on that website learning how to manage my money and how to work my credit. Good luck.
Ive worked in a dealership for 7 years and understand where you're at with this. Steer clear of department store credit cards. I always recommend CapitalOne student card to start but if you've been denied, I would try calling them. Jewelry stores will always give you credit, you just need something to show paid on your bureau to get you going. If you arent going to be buying anything soon, pay that card down or off and try again. With little to minimal credit 9k of debt is alot and creditors will steer away from that. If you can pay it off completely credit score will jump. You can also check with your bank or credit union for a personal loan to pay some of that and that will help also.
You can get a VISA card on which you deposit a certain amount of money and then use the card to use the money. I don't know what it's called but it's available for people who need a way to build a credit history. apply at a Credit Union or Bank. I've seen this advertised but don't remember by whom.
You can also get a card with your husband. As long as your name is on the account along with his, I think it will count towards building a credit history for you, but I"m not sure.
Contact one of the Credit Bureaus and ask them how to do it.
My hubby and I are in the same boat. I'm a SAHM and have for 6 yrs now so I don't have a card in my name. The cars aren't in my name because we were military and we would have had to pay property taxes on them otherwise every year when the tags were due (SC has HIGH property taxes!!!) Well we just got pre approved for a morgtage the other day and the guy said in order for my name to be on it I needed to get a credit score. Apparently since I have no credit activity (everything is paid on my reports, nothing it bad on them) that I don't have a credit score. So I had to get a secured credit card through our bank. I had to open a CD in the amount I wanted my credit limit to be and it's a 2yr term. So I opened one for $300 and I'll use it once or twice a month for say gas or something small and then pay it when the bill comes. Hubby and I have a credit card where I'm a user on, but since it's not joint, they don't have to report that on my credit reports. We could have changed me to a joint user but we were afraid that it would pull his score down when it came time to finalize a mortgage.
So I guess it is true that it's worse to have no credit at all then bad credit :)
Our bank has financial advisors so see if your's does and see what they recommend.
S.
When I first tried getting some credit I took out a cell phone. Making on-time monthly payments for you cell gives you good credit. After that I was able to take out a Visa credit card through my credit union that gave me $20,000 worth of credit.
I am in the US for three years now and when like you I couldn't get any credit facility so I went online to orchard bank and applied for their credit card and used my own money as collateral. I make purchases and pay it off or the min amount while my original money is in a savings account. After one year of having the card my score went up to 720. Orchard banks credit card is linked to HSBC.
Good luck!
