When should You get a Credit Card?

[kiarasam06]

Hello-
I know this is posted on here somewhere, but I can't decided when to start finding and apply for a credit card. I was discharged in 6/08. So new. I noticed lots of people get a Orchard Bank one. I discharged on one of those...so am I SOL to get another one down the road? Anyway-Just really looking for a time frame to get a credit card---??

[soleprop]

my opinion: you should get a credit card when you can honestly say your budget covers all current expenses and a fair amount of possible emergency expenses (like a car repair) and still have $100/month disposable income, without needing a credit card.

oh, and you should have $500 or more in savings, too, with no plan to need to use it.

then you could get a credit card if the rate is low and with the commitment to paying it off monthly.



(can anyone tell i'm creditshy?)

[magyar123]

Depending on how much was discharged on your previous Orchard card, they might issue you another one after about 6 months but be prepared for loanshark level interest rates and a hefty annual fee.

[cool33097]

Did you clean your credit report??

[PaKettle]

I totally agree with soleprop that one's finances should be in some decent order before getting more credit.

But a low-credit line like $500 with BestBuy Mastercard or Orchard should work and you can't worry too much about getting in "too deep" with the low credit lines these companies usually give you.

Do check your credit scores with all 3 bureaus, dispute all the mistakes (chances are you'll find plenty!), and that will raise your credit score more than getting a credit card will... Then after the score is up around at least 570 or so, Orchard or HSBC (BestBuy) may approve you - they did, me. I started applying for credit around 4 months after my BK discharge, after I had a chance to raise my score with disputes.

[AMISLANDER]

Agree with the above posts.

The longer you wait to obtain a credit card the better the offers you get will be...i.e.:

Cards without yearly fees vs. fee based cards

Cards with lower interest rates ... my first was a Hooters at 29%, $75 yearly fee......HA!.....I now have an interest fee for one year, no yearly fee, interest rate of 9.9% coming up in February 2009....whole different ball game.

Why would anyone having gone through BK want to rush out & get credit cards....way beyond me....?

Yes, you do need at least one cc in today's world....

But give it a break....

[PaKettle]

Agree with the above posts.

The longer you wait to obtain a credit card the better the offers you get will be...i.e.:

Cards without yearly fees vs. fee based cards

Cards with lower interest rates ... my first was a Hooters at 29%, $75 yearly fee......HA!.....I now have an interest fee for one year, no yearly fee, interest rate of 9.9% coming up in February 2009....whole different ball game.

Why would anyone having gone through BK want to rush out & get credit cards....way beyond me....?

Yes, you do need at least one cc in today's world....

But give it a break....

There are legitimate reasons. I travel and when traveling you sometimes need to put a thousand dollars down on a credit card or they won't rent to you. I suppose you could give them $1000 in cash but I'm not sure they'd even do that... Also, if you can get a good card (as I was lucky enough to get only 5 months after BK), the card can waive some of the needed insurance when renting a car, saving quite a bit of money. That's just one good reason to rush out and get a credit card after BK, from my own personal experience.