What is the best method for building up your credit?

Question

I'm just a college student who only uses his debit card...I've probably used my credit card once in my life. Does anyone have suggestions on how to easily enhance my credit? Thanks.

Answer 1

If you live off campus, try to get most of the utilities (water, electric, internet, etc.) in your name.  Also if you have the money in the bank go ahead and charge things to your credit card.  Just make sure that you pay the full balance every month so that you don't have to pay any interest charges.  But the most important thing is to not get into debt because that is when you credit score starts to deminish, and don't miss any payments or this will also hurt your score.

Answer 2

The best you can do is make a purchase on your credit card and then make payments on the balance over a stretch of a few months.

Answer 3

Use your credit card for every day thing and pay it off in full every month before the due date.

I have done this for the last 2-years and raised my score over 150-points and earned over $1,000.00 in cash back rewards, not bad for using someone else's money for free.

Answer 4

As simple as it sounds you just buy stuff and pay the bill in full it would be best though to use a local credit card so when the bill is due the 15th of the month you can walk in there the 13th with cash or a check.  And keep your money a few extra days as opposed to sending it in the mail.

Good Luck

Answer 5

I'm going to elaborate a bit on the earlier suggestion that you just buy stuff with your credit card and then pay it off.  That's totally correct by the way, but there's an optimal way to do it.  Here's what you do in a nutshell:

1.  Find the college student rewards credit card(s) that will pay you the most for your normal expenses (more detail on this in a moment).

2.  Funnel most/all of your normal expenses through your student rewards card(s) without max'ing them out.

3.  Always pay your monthly balance in full and on time.

If you do that then you'll get the following:

1.  Build your credit quickly

2.  Avoid interest and fees

3.  Earn great rewards (e.g. cash back, gift cards, etc.)

You can use this rewards calculator to find the student rewards card(s) that will pay you the most in rewards for your normal expenses:

http://www.creditcardtuneup.com/?card_ty...

A couple of the better cards are the Citi mtvU card (5 percent rewards at restaurants, book stores, and entertainment venues; 1 percent elsewhere) and the Citi Diver's Edge for College Students (3 percent rewards at gas stations, grocery stores, and drug stores; 1 percent elsewhere).

Answer 6

get a credit card and actually use it

Blue from American Express®

http://www.cardlister.com/CreditCards_de...

Citi® Platinum Select® MasterCard®

http://www.cardlister.com/CreditCards_de...