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Originally Posted by onesnowyowl
Yes, but you can build credit without using a credit card. I built credit by paying my bills (utilities) on time. So no, you don't need a credit card. I've never had one and I never will.
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I've said this before and I'll say it again: I bought a house without any help from the credit bureaus. I had never had a credit card, nor bought anything on a time payment,; on the other hand, I had never been late with utility or medical bills. The credit bureaus didn't have me on their radar at all.
What I did have was:
* The downpayment, and significant additional savings.
* A good job.
* A couple of landlords who vouched for me as a tenant who paid on time.
The mortgage company was a little surprised when the credit bureaus told them they had nothing on me; but I explained that I had no credit history because I always paid cash. And they accepted that. They simply asked me to state as much in a letter, which I did. I suppose they wanted some legal assurance that I wasn't a super con man who'd whipped myself up a new identity.
In short: you do not need a credit history to make major purchases. All credit cards do is allow you to buy things that you don't have the money to buy. And this is unwise.
I do keep debit cards for convenience, but they draw directly from my accounts.