What can I do to establish my credit?

Question

It's not that I have bad credit. I just don't have enough credit. I have two credit cards, one small one for gas and for everyday purchases when I don't want to use cash and the other is used for grad school tution which I made good payments on each month. (I don't like student loans. I like to pay for college as I go and it worked very well as an un-grad. Plus I get a better intrest rate) I always make payments on time and pay much much more than my min. payment. I have a Netflix account but that goes through my credit card and my cell phone is a Tracfone. What else can I do to establish my credit? A few days ago when I went to buy my first new car, the woman said I'd have to get my parents to co-sign. I was devasted. I'm in my twenties so I hated that. She said I didn't have bad credit, its just that I didn't have enough credit established and credit companies are making it harder to get credit. What can I do? I want to buy a house next year!

Answer 1

It all starts with getting a credit report to see where you are credit wise.  I would advise you to go to annual credit report .com and pay for a tri-merged report.  This way you can see what scores all three bureaus are reporting for you.  Next, Make sure that as you are making payments on the (2) cards you already have you are not utilizing more than 1/3 of the available credit.  If you use too much of your available credit it signals that you are having a tough time financially.  This in turns results in a lower credit score.  Three credit lines should be sufficient to build and maintain great credit.  Also, you need to keep these accounts open for at least 2 years so that a creditor can see a credit history.  Also, speak with a loan officer now and show him/her your credit report.  This way you can prepare yourself now for that future investment.

Answer 2

Apply for hsbc credit card they will report the 3 major credit companies pay them on time for about 6 months you will start building your credit.

Answer 3

The best thing to do is charge on your card then pay it OFF- when you pay off balances companies increase the limits.

My first card I had a $300 limit and every month I'd buy stuff on it (even though I had the money) and then when the payment came I would pay it all off- this made the companies keep increasing my limits.

Now I have 4 credit cards and the lowest limit on one is $4000- the highest is almost $10 grand.

I also had my mother cosign on my first car- but mostly to improve the interest rate and decrease the payments- I didn't mind doing that cuz I was only 23 at the time. I wouldn't take personal offense.

I'd open up another card and buy small things and then pay it ALL off each month so that the limit keeps increasing. And if you have more than half of your card full that goes against your credit- so if your limit is $2000, don't have more than $1000 on your card or it looks bad.

Answer 4

i want to see the answers to this..

im curious to.

Answer 5

The best way I found to restore or building credit is to borrow funds just to hold them on deposit, make some interest payments, then give back the deposit to pay off the loan.  If you agree to just hold the funds on deposit, http://creditloader.com will let you borrow the funds with NO CREDIT CHECK.  After three months I was on a few bureaus

Answer 6

It can be surprising how many people don't have a credit history. There are actually quite a few older consumers without a very strong credit history. They may have never had any credit in their names. Many wives find that their credit has always been maintained through their husbands. When they apply for something on their own, they have no history. Students, young people, newly single women and many older Americans may find that they are in need of a credit history. Or perhaps you have already established credit, but it is less than stellar. What should you do?There are a few ways. The best way is to simply apply for a small loan or line of credit from your local bank. Make sure that they will report the information to the credit bureau.

http://badcreditloans.awardspace.com/

Thanks.

Answer 7

Cut up the gas card! Spend wisely with the regular

card. Keep paying your bills on time.

Answer 8

It takes time to establish credit.  Just keep doing what you're doing.  Your accounts have to be active for a couple of years to show the lenders that you are reliable and will pay back your debts.

I can understand being upset about needing a co-signer for the car but if it's possible, you should consider it.  It will help your credit to have another account that you make payments on as agreed to in the loan documents.

I'm certain that if you keep doing what you are doing (paying at least the minimum on time every month) and you have all the other things lined up (down payment, good income, etc.), you will have no problem buying a house in a year or two.

I think the rent a center thing is a bad idea simply because they charge you too much for everything and I'm not certain it will help your credit any.

Good luck.

Answer 9

You have to discipline yourself. Do not use the Gas Card unless it is also a Visa or MasterCard. Only use one of them.

Then and this is risky, but use the card alot for everyday expenses and at the same time put the money in a checking account and pay off that card every month. The more you use it and pay on time EVERY time the better your credit rating will be, BUT be CAREFUL it is easy to charge too much and get deep in debt, your credit rating will be good but you will be up to your neck in doo doo.