<p>No, I don’t want to have two. I’d just rather have one with benefits than one without, if I have to have one at all.</p>
<p>I found as a student, it was very hard for me to rack up enough money on my card (that I could pay off every month) to earn decent rewards. I had one that gave me United Airways miles, and after 3 years of consistent use, I was barely half way to a free ticket. </p>
<p>I would suggest to look into the State Farm Visa Student card. The student rate is at 16.99% APR (which you shouldn’t have to worry about paying it off in full each month) and you have the option of earning points with Visa Rewards. Also, I have never had a hard time speaking with State Farm representatives over the phone. They are good people to do work with in my opinion.</p>
<p>Edit: Edit actually, it doesn’t help you as much as a student if you travel a lot or not for the State Farm Visa. I was thinking about the non-student version that gives you free car rental insurance if you pay for the rental with the card.</p>
<p>
I strongly recommend that you read the book latetoschool recommended in her first post on this thread. I haven’t read it, but I’m willing to bet it covers some of the credit surprises - like the one I’m going to mention here.</p>
<p>Cancelling a credit card, because you find a better one, can actually harm your credit score. Closing an older, established account in favor of a brand new one harms one aspect of your credit rating - longevity of your established credit.</p>
<p>Now, I am NOT saying you should never cancel a card. Just that sometimes what SEEMS obvious in the way of building good credit is wrong. </p>
<p>Re affinity cards with “rewards” vs. a free card. Another great qx. A free card is also quite valuable. Even though we use an airline miles card, it isn’t the best idea for everyone - we do pay an annual fee for our card, but we use it extensively (while still paying full monthly), so it earns us huge miles (2+ free trips per year). A younger student probably can’t earn enough “rewards” to make it worth paying an anuual fee. </p>
<p>ILove Brown, you have asked excellent questions here and gotten great advice. Just be aware that the topic can have odd twists and turns.</p>
<p>I haven’t checked into it yet, but my son said he saw that BP and Shell both are offering Visa cards with 5% and 10% off (not sure which was which) all gas purchases at their stations. Like I said I haven’t looked into it yet so don’t know if there is a fee.</p>
<p>“Does anyone have a particular card to recommend whose rewards or points are most broad and flexible (say, I could use them for groceries or gas)?”</p>
<p>Certain cards from Citi (AT&T universal 5% on groceries. drugstore and gas, 1% on others)), Chase Reward (5% on groceries, drug store and gas 1% on everything else) with no annual fees.</p>
<p>check all the reward cards from Citi</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.accountonline.com/ACQ/Chooser/ViewAll?ProspectID=38400261B3504496B0F04C222E820D29&siteId=cb&SEARCH_CRITERIA_1=REWARDS[/url]”>https://www.accountonline.com/ACQ/Chooser/ViewAll?ProspectID=38400261B3504496B0F04C222E820D29&siteId=cb&SEARCH_CRITERIA_1=REWARDS</a></p>
<p>You only need to use your CC once in awhile for small purchases. D does this, and pays online, so if you hate writing checks this is the way to go.</p>
<p>Ok, I’m clueless about this, so I apologize for potentially stupid questions right off the bat. </p>
<p>Right now, I have a credit card that is an extension of my parents’ account. I use a debit card to take out cash, so the credit card is mostly just in case of emergencies. Whatever I spend on the credit card, my parents take out of the debit account later, but I don’t pay the actual credit bills–my parents do. Anyway, this does nothing for my credit…right? </p>
<p>I’m going to be a college freshman next year and I’m wondering whether it makes sense to get my own card next year or wait until I’m more settled into college or something. I’ll be living on campus with very little in the surrounding area, so I won’t have many expenses at all and I’d really just rather use cash in order to keep track of my money. (Credit makes me nervous. I’m definitely a cash kind of girl.) At the same time, though, it would be nice to establish a good credit rating and it sounds like doing so early makes a big difference. </p>
<p>I’m not worried that I’ll end up with huge bills–I’m pretty good with my money. I AM worried that I might send a bill in late and mess up my credit rating, which would defeat the purpose of setting up an account just to establish good credit. </p>
<p>How easy is it to deal with bills online? Is it really pretty hassle-free or is it as much of a chore as mailing a check? How do the deadlines work–do you always have the same deadline, and do you have to pay ON a specific day or can you pay a bit before just in case (although maybe that makes no sense)? </p>
<p>What have your experiences with your children been on this subject? Is it silly to be this nervous? I hope I’m making too big of a deal out of this.</p>
<p>Any advice for a clueless freshman? (I’ll definitely check out that book when I get back to the States.) Sorry to have written such a long post.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>The process is very hassle free. You will get an email that tells you that your bill is ready. You click on the URL and you will be sent to the credit card site. After putting in your password, your bill will pop up. After you check it, you click on the button that says “Pay Now”. You put in the amount of $$ to be taken from your checking account and click submit. You’re done.</p>
<p>You’ll have to do some set up work to allow the credit card company to access your checking account.</p>
<p>Credit cards usually have a 30 day billing period, so the date of your bill may be different every month–but it is usually around the same time of the month.</p>
<p>If you can, I’d get a credit card for emergency and for building credit.</p>
<p>for a card in your own unestablished name, they’ll sock you will a near 20% interest rate with a $300 limit(and act as though it’s a big favor on their part to shake you upside down) but the online paying is clear, detailed and easy and you can do so as often as you wish, which you might need to do more often than you think when your generous spirit picks up the tab for your suitemates at the neighborhood mexican restaurant where you happily converse in your fluid spanish as your lucky new friends bask in your kind confident worldy ways. It doesn’t matter too much how you remain supplied for cash, whatever is more convenient, but the penalty for late payments makes my blood boil so you might set up an automatic minimum payment from your debit acct to your credit acct(if you use the same bank because it does make sense to check which banks dominate your local college area so you can avoid cash withdrawal charges, another bloodboiler)to insure some payment is always made by the due date in case you get so caught up in your happy studies that you lose all sense of time,…</p>
<p>rorosen,</p>
<p>My first card had an absurd APR of like 18%. Since then, I’ve built myself up to the point where I regularly get offered less than 10%, and usually around 8.9%.</p>
<p>But it was a bit of an uphill struggle.</p>
<p>your empire has to start somewhere,…</p>
<p>Yes, but my empire of spiders and creepy crawlies that infest my home here in Japan aren’t to responsive to easy capital. :p</p>
<p>no, to gain an empire you’re supposed to invest!!!</p>
<p>ZING! </p>
<p>(10 characters)</p>
<p>Just had a question:</p>
<p>I’m signed on with Bank of America for Savings, Checking. I’m thinking about taking on their college credit card, but … am wondering if I should go with another bank instead of BofA? Thoughts?</p>
<p>One advantage of staying with them might be convenience. My kids have all of theirs with Wachovia–so when they pull up their online account all the accounts show (checking, savings and credit card). makes it reallly easy to transfer between.</p>
<p>tlaktan…how are you? how did the year go?</p>
<p>To answer your question, it makes no difference. Except just one login.</p>
<p>Son has ING direct - Wachovia - Chase Credit Card</p>
<p>get $100 for opening Sony CC after first purchase (all are no annual fee cards.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=pr_p_sonycardoffer&Dept=computers&INT=sstyle-hmpg-sonycard-SonyCard_%24100_cardcredit[/url]”>http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=pr_p_sonycardoffer&Dept=computers&INT=sstyle-hmpg-sonycard-SonyCard_%24100_cardcredit</a></p>
<p>or get $100 from Chase Visa after first purchase and kickback of 5% on groceries, gas. 1% for others. Call 1-888-787-0329, Offer Code HG1, expires 10/31/06</p>
<p>or get $50 for getting Charles Schwab CC</p>
<p><a href=“https://promo.schwab.com/AD046/AD046Home.asp?campaign=ccop06&mp=ccop06b[/url]”>https://promo.schwab.com/AD046/AD046Home.asp?campaign=ccop06&mp=ccop06b</a></p>
<p>
Wrong! 
This is one of the times when you will probably be happy to be wrong. We found out, by reading it right here on cc, that S was building a good credit score just by having had the “extension” card you talk about. I didn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes.</p>
<p>If you check your credit score via one of the free methods online, you will likely see that you already are on your way to a good credit history.</p>
<p>As to whether you should get your own credit account now, I think it’s optional and up to you and your parents. Our S didn’t get his own, uses the card just for expenses we plan to pay for him (eg, airfares) or reimburses us if it is for a discretionary expense of his own. Doesn’t use it too often, so it’s not a hassle. If you’re going to use it a lot/think it’s time to learn to handle your own bills/think it would be a hassle to continue the reimbursement arrangement - then get your own card.</p>
<p>If the card will have a high interest rate (I am going to shout this next phrase): YOU SHOULDN’T CARE BECAUSE YOU SHOULD PAY IT IN FULL MONTHLY EVERY TIME. DO NOT CARRY A BALANCE WHERE YOU WILL BE CHARGED INTEREST. I think you should be more concerned about getting a low or no annual fee card.</p>