How do I tell my parents I have a credit card?

Question

I recently applied and got approved for a credit card. I am 19 and a student and don’t work. My parent’s don’t know that I have one yet and I am afraid they will get mad.

The reason for getting a credit card is to build up my credit so when I’m out of school and have a job it will be easier for me to make purchases, like a car.

I would be using the card to pay for school books and later paying the cc with scholarships I have. Instead of paying with cash I would use the cc to build up good credit. I also have a cell phone my parents pay for, but I want to pay it off with my cc from now on and let them pay the cc bill when I pay for the cell phone. Again I will be doing this to build up good credit.

How do I tell my parents? Do you think they will understand and be supportive? I know I will be responsible with the credit card.

Answer 1

ha, ha, ha!!!!!!! its soooo hard to be responsible with credit cards!! im 21 and i have a amex, capital one, best buy, and a kohls card!!! tooo d**n many!! i wanted to build up my credit too, i got one when i was like 18 because i too wanted to eventually buy a car and a house, etc....anyways i ended up buying stuff i figured i pay later and i just ended up taking months to pay it off and the interest just kept adding up, it wasnt hard keeping up with payments b/c I have a good job making good money, but instead of getting the thrill of spending my paycheck, that money was already owed to the credit card company. dude YOU shouldnt NOT have a credit card b/c u dont have a job, you have scholarships, scholarships are NEVER guaranteed. what if your gpa goes down for some reason? or you dont meet the requirements anymore? once you get one card, you'll keep getting more and more offers! you will keep telling yourself that its to build credit, lalala......anyways if you decide to keep it tell your parents and explain its purpose, remind them how hard it was for them to buy a house or even rent. tell them your going to need a bigger credit line later in life when you buy a house and move them in to take care of the grandkids!! anyways here are some tips for choosing credit cards, i love amex(american express) and capital one for everyday purchases. anyway great credit cards DO NOT charge yearly membership fees, with the exception of SOME amex cards, but i would ONLY pay it for amex b/c they have great benifits, also they DON'T charge you a fee to make payments online, and since you are barely starting your credit line your interest rate should be about 22%, yes its high but remember your just starting. now cards like best buy/circuit city are great too, i never charge anything to bb unless they are running a promotion if you spend so much its interest free for so long, and those promotions are always comin up. my kohls card i have it b/c i LOVE kohls, so yea. anyways please keep in mind that yes you may be responsible but it is sooooooo tempting to keep up with the joneses!! remember you eventually want to own a home, owning a piece of the american dream is what our parents came here for!!!!