Buckshotram

What is a good credit card that gives you cash back ect. Alreddy have a visa debit card but wanting to start charging a little each month to start building my credit. thanks Tom

Totallyrad

Fixed interest rate, no annual fees.

Timmay2

Without credit history youre going to be looking at 20%ish for interest rates.

If you want one mainly to just build credit, look at getting one that offers 5% cash back at certain gas stations.. and use that for all your gas purchases for the month and pay it off monthly.

Timmay2

You can compared cash back offers and such at this link.

http://www.creditcards.com/cash-back.php

Haulin_in_Dixie

they charge what they want in interest. I have a 784 credit rating, paid off $22,000 down to $2300 in a little over a year but they have a 23.9 interest on my account. Best thing you can do is forget credit cards. Go cash.

jwb600

Ive got a couple cards and wish I didnt have them. most of the time you can get a good rate thru your local bank.

Haulin_in_Dixie

I have gone to straight cash. The only CC I use is the debit card and then only for internet purchases. I also send mostly postal money orders for payments, get tired of the checks getting converted to electronic transfers.

1-2-3

Cash only here. CC's with cash back and free miles is hideous. Why would anyone want to spend $2000 to get a $75 plane ticket, or spend $2000 to get $25 back.

Think about it. CC companies aren't in the businees to give you money. If you can ever come to realize the bad with cc's, you can save tons of cash by paying cash only. It's simple. Add your intrest and fees, and you can easily pay $1000 for a $70 tank of gas. Why would anyone want to do this?

edwinsmith

I only use debit cards where they are free to use. No cash back unless it comes out of my account. IMHO cash back is just a sales tool. I'd rather have a lower interest rate.

My debit card also works like a CC but then the merchant has to pay which I don't like because the costs are figured into the price. This is why you'll see discounts for debit card use and stores like Wal Mart that prefer debit cards.

Besides there is no frickin way I'd pay 20%+ for using a CC.

Edwin

t-boe

The best credit card is the one you don't have. I got rid of mine and my wife's. It was the best descision we've made. No credit card bills = cash in hand.

Timmay2

Now now, before we lecture him to death do some basic math.

A first credit card isnt going to have jack for a limit, probably $1,000 tops. Even at 20% interest, thats $20 a month interest if he has it maxed out. No ones gonna go bankrupt on their first credit card.

Especially since hes trying to build credit, its almost necessary.

20% interest is maybe 200 a year if he has it maxed..

Imagine trying to get a home loan without any credit history..

150k @ 7% for decent credit = $1000 a month
150k @ 9% for no credit = $1200 a month

200 a month more to get a decent size loan if you dont have credit.


And if you pay the balance in full every month, you dont have to worry about interest.

We all know we dont do that.. but maybe he can!!

Buckshotram

I get what yall are saying about how they get you with the crazy rates but I just want to charge for when I get fuel so I can start building credit. I also cary cash as it irritates me to have to stand behind the guy in line buying a drink and bubble gum and using his 3diff credit/debt cards because the first two wouldn't take.

HOHN

Credit cards are part of modern life. Plain and simple. It works like this: when you need credit, you can't get it, and it's expensive. But you do it anyway to establish a credit history, which will let you obtain credit you don't need from people who are tripping over themselves to give it to you for little to nothing.

Credit cards are neither bad nor good--- they are just tools. Just like a knife can be both a murder weapon or a butcher's livelihood, so it is with CCs.

I haven't paid a penny in interest rates or fees on a single credit card in over 4 years. Yet I have received a lot in return. I've gotten all kinds of freebies for opening up certain accounts (it's nice to save $200 when buying suits!).

As for cash back, we put all kinds of purchases on our Discover card. Often times, we get to double the "cash back" through promo offers with different businesses. It's FREE money.


The trick, of course, is that you can never spend on a credit card what you don't have waiting in savings to pay off. You simply cannot EVER carry a balance to make a CC work in your favor.

Sure, some cards have promo interest rates that are 0%, but unless you can absolutely pay it off within the (usually) 6 months, you are probably not coming out ahead.


Credit card companies invest TONS of money into research, trying to find the people they can make money off of. If you have ever filed bankruptcy or had late charges on a CC, you will get TONS of credit card offers because you've been tagged as a potential cash cow for them to milk dry.


So I highly suggest that a person maintain up to 3 or 4 credit cards. Just be absolutely certain that you own them, and don't EVER let them own you.


There are two things in America that account for almost the entirety of financial hardship in this country: medical expenses and credit cards. These two lead to bankruptcies more than all others.

You can't control whether or not you get cancer all that much (maybe smoking), but you CAN control how many credit cards you have, and how you relate to and use credit.

Heck, even on my modest income, I have a card with a $20k limit on it, because my lender knows that I'd never let it get that high, and I have a track record of paying even 2k monthly balances in full.

We use credit cards almost exclusively for save-to-spend things, like big ticket items you'd want-- electronics, travel, etc. Rather than pay out the cash we've saved, you put it on the card, pay it off right away, and get freebies AND a better credit rating out of the deal.

JH

ajg617

The only credit card that I use consitently is american express. I opened 20 some odd years ago for two reasons - you had to pay your bill in full every month and the company told me I had to get it. Back then, AMEX did not offer you any other options. They've relaxed that restriction now but I have never not paid it in full in any month. That's the key or you will be in debt over your head in a year. Once you start using a credit card you will get all kinds of offers from other CC companies.

Keep in mind though it can affect your credit rating. As a lawyer up here found out, his insurance company rated him soley on his credit score (which is supposed to be illegal in NH - but alas there is a loophole). So when his wife opened up a new Visa account his auto premium went up $112 a year - no other changes. That's a lot of interest! Also, from a credit score standpoint, having a company close your cc account because you are not using it (maybe interest rates too high) is not a good thing - it will lower your credit score.

Haulin_in_Dixie

there is also one good way of using them. If you can get a promotional rate that stays, you can pay off a vehicle on a non collateral loan. That is where my high balances came from.... Paid off the Dodge with $12000 left at 4 1/2 percent and if I had health or other problems, they could not touch the truck. I will probably do that with this Freightliner next year.