Credit Cards

[Sparkle]

I have never had a creidit card. That didn't bother me until I considered applying for credit to get a new to me RV. I've always paid cash, but what if.... I was wondering: 1, they ask if you rent or own, don't they? What do I say when I do neither?
2, what would be the best card/cards to apply for. I want to pay it off each month, so one that I could use for gas would be handy.

[Bethers]

You rent - (you rent your space where you sit sometimes).

As to the best card - I suggest you get one that gives discount for gas purchases - as you are always buying gas. Let me look and find some of those for you. I have one (but I think there are now better ones out there) and charge all my gas purchases to it - then pay it off every month. Just keep track of the purchases so that you have the money to do so. Here are what I found to be 2 of the better gas programs right now:
http://creditcarddeals.dealsofamerica.com/fin-gas.php

I have had a problem with Discover, so I don't use them - but lots do.

Don't apply for a bunch of cards - just apply for one and get accepted, then if you want another - apply. Pay off BEFORE the due date - as boy does it cost you if you don't.

[retiredhappy]

Sparkle, you should have some credit cards even if you don't use them just in case you want to finance a new rig someday or an emergency repair. Your credit is determined by your debt to available credit ratio. I agree with Beth - find one that gives you discounts on gas or points. I have a Chase card that gives me points for anything I buy. I charge everything (my space rent, my groceries, my dentist, my gas, etc) BUT pay it off every month. So far in the last six months, I've used my points to get three $50 gift cards at Lowes and one $50 card for Pennys. The Lowes cards went to my rentor to complete the fence in my backyard and the Pennys card was a birthday gift for my daughter. You do have to be diligent in keeping track (keep receipts in an envelope) of what you've charged so you can pay it off every month. I don't use Discover or American Express cause a lot of places won't take them as they charge the stores so much for using their cards. I have several cards but only carry one; the rest are in a file folder in the rig. I have gone "paperless" on all statements and I pay them online from my checking account. The good thing about using a credit card for purchases is that you do have recourse if the product doesn't work and you can't get the company to make it good. Open a dispute with the credit card company and you will usually get your card credited back if you've returned the item. This saved my almost a hundred dollars once on a product that didnd't work and I had returned and the company wouldn't respond to my emails or telephone calls. The annoying thing about having multiple cards is the at least once a year I have to get them all out and charge something on each one to keep them active otherwise the companies will close them for inactivity and that doesn't look good on your credit report either.

[Bethers]

I agree with everything you said, Karen, except the closing a card for inactivity. That's never happened to me - which they would. I have cards I've long forgotten, in systems somewhere

[retiredhappy]

Beth, call and see if they're still active. I got a letter from Citi saying they were going to close account for nonactivity.

[AlmostThere]

On all 3 of my Free Credit reports I have old acounts. A few I opened because at the time I made the purchase, the store offered a discount IF I opened an account with them. There were at least 3 that I hadn't used in 15 yrs or more and they were still open. In fact, I cut those cards up the day I got them in the mail. I've never heard anything about them wanting to close the account because of inactivity.

[Bethers]

Some may do it - but I just received a card in the mail to my Alabama address on an account I haven't used in at least 5 years - and I never activated the LAST card lol - but I have a new one again now to not activate again. I have also closed credit card accounts without it ever hurting my credit history and rating. But having credit cards and never using them won't help your rating either. You need to use at least one of them, and make timely payments for it to give you a good rating.

[Redetotry]

Now days everyone needs to have a credit card as there are things you can't do unless you do have one, like rent a car. Also my friends DD and SIL tried to buy a house recently, they had 20% to put down, both have jobs but...they had no credit cards and had paid cash for their cars, they could not get approved. I think the parents finally had to co sign for their mortgage. If you have never had one you may be only able to get one with like a $500. limit that you have to pay off every month, then after awhile they will increase the limit if you pay on time.
Susi Orman does lots of talks on credit cards and how if you cancel some it lowers your FICA score. I was shocked to learn your FICA score determines among other things your insurance rates and mortage rates! Department store credit cards always have a very high interest rate so never get one unless you pay it off every month. No wonder stores really push for you to open one.
I Googled 'first time credit card how to apply' and found lots of links. I Google every thing!

[Sparkle]

I took a look at an application and the first thing it said was that you had to have a physical address. No PO Boxes. I have a Mailing Service, I'm sure they would think it was the same as a Box. They know that they couldn't come to my house and repossess if I didn't pay. I guess I could put in my friends address and do everything online. would that affect her credit?

[retiredhappy]

Sparkle, what I said about having open cards even if you don't use them was a quote from Suzie Orman about keeping your credit score higher which in turn can keep your insurance lower. It may be that with such a credit crunch these days that the companies are getting tighter with their cards. I have a Personal Mail Box but they gave me a street address plus a box number. When I fill out forms I use the street address with "#274" like its an apartment. Never had a problem doing it this way. I chose this particular mail outfit because they DO give you a street address. What they don't know, won't hurt them. I also check "own" (I DO OWN my RV and its my principle residence).

[Sparkle]

Okay. I'll try again. I agree I should build up my credit. So far I've taken pride in not having any! But its going to bite my butt at some point.

[Echo]

Oh!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Credit cards!!!

I agree that they come in handy and that they can sure save the day sometimes. But oh goodness I hate the things. I see so many people get into trouble with them.

Karen is right as a lot of places will shut the card off and close the account for inactivity. I you miss your due date by one day or even one freaking hour you will be charged a late fee and they don't all have the same shut off time for payments. Also if you are signing up on a promo deal, miss your due date and your APR can jump to 16.99% from one late payment. Some places have a 2pm cut off, some a 5pm shut off. And that shut off is not the time zone that you are in, it is the time zone that the corp office or processing center is in. If you do you payment online always, ALWAYS set the payment to go thru or post 3 business days before your due date , because it can get hung up. If you mail it mail out 7-10 before your due date.

It's a balance of no cards and to many cards. No credit can hurt you but having to many cards can hurt you. And believe me all of the credit card providers keep track of one another. FIA Card Services is the largest credit card provider in the country. That is ultimately where one or two of the cards in you portfolio has come from no matter what name is on the front. BOA cards are provided by FIA You have no idea how many calls I have made on behalf of FIA Card Services. And we are ordered to not mention the name of what is called the service partner. If your card says Alaska Airlines??? It's a FIA card. If it says Suntrust? JP Morgan? Chase? WAMU? It's a FIA card. I forget who all uses FIA. If I wasn't so lazy I would go out to the Blazer and get my sheet of bank routing numbers. It is a listing of probably 40 of the most used banks in the country and they all pass out cards that have come from FIA. FIA issues VISA, American Express and MasterCard.

I have not had a credit card since '02' and hadn't planned on getting one ever again. But I am gonna have to break down and get one for emergency purposes. I shudder at the thought.

They have become a necessary evil!

[snowball]

Sparkle
do you have a bank? We use wells fargo and they let us get a card in fact they promoted it so the address was not a problem also with your mail forwarding atleast ours is not a post box its an actual address with a number which would appear to look like a apt number doesn't say that it is # whatever.
Sheila

[Bethers]

Using a physical address of a friend will not effect the friends at all - as many people can have the same address (think of apt buildings). If your mail service only gives you a po box, then you will have to either get a street address from them or use someone elses for this purpose.

[Liz]

Here's an example of what Karen and Suze Orman are talking about. When I had my kitchen makover from he?? done by Lowes, I used their credit card with no interest, no payment for 1 year plan. (That keeps my $$ in the bank earning interest longer). I paid it off early in a lump sum in late December. Just about 2 weeks later I got a letter from the cc co. that they were lowering my credit limit (by half)....not because I was a credit risk, but because of today's economy. They didn't need to worry, because I never plan to use that Lowe's cc again, but it did change my debt to avail. credit ratio, not in my favor. CC companies can do this whenever they want whether you pay off every month, make regular payments or not.