Quote:
Originally posted by hiredgun
It's actually relatively easy to find a credit card with no annual fee. Do yourself a HUGE favor and pay off your credit card each month! Not only will you build a great credit rating but you'll save yourself a lot of money and a lot of headache from debt piling up.
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This is so important that I have to quote it and add my two cents. A girl I work with turns 19 tomorrow, and already has three maxed credit cards. She pays more each month on interest than I spend on purchases. Only use "buy now pay later" on things you NEED but can't afford, not things you want. The more money you have to spend on interest, the less money you have to spend on toys.
Here's how I do it. I have my card set up to automaticly pay off the entire balance every month. Nothing to send in, I just need to make sure the money is in my savings account. So I just carry a check book and mark off my purchases the same way you would with a check, making sure I don't go over how much I have in savings. This gives the convenience of a debit card with the (usually) better fraud protection of a credit card. And since I'm paying it off in full every month, no interest. So I don't care about my APR (I honestly don't even know what it is) and instead use the card with the best bonus program I can find. I like the Discover gas card (up to 10% back on gas, up to 2% back on everything else). If you're just using it for online purchases, a visa might be better since it's accepted slightly more places, but as long as you pay it off every month and have no anual fee, it's all good.