
03-04-2005, 09:07 PM
Just going to weigh in on this.. I deal with finances every day so I've gathered a bit of knowledge on the subject...
First of all, forget the idea of putting a car on a credit card. It's ridiculous.
With that out of the way, there are only two good reasons to have a credit card: building credit and emergencies. You should never get a credit card because you want something and don't have the money to front for it. You'll regret it later when you're making payments and not doing anything but knock off the accrued interest.
If your interest is building credit, I suggest applying for a Capital One card (they are the easiest creditor to get approval from without making a deposit or paying an annual fee) and ONLY paying for a single expense with it. For instance, when I was sixteen, I only used the card to pay for my gas. I would pay this off before the end of the grace period (usually 20-25 days) and never accrue interest on it (my first card had a 19% interest rate oOo: ). This way you're not wasting your money on interest and you also build your credit score.
When determining credit scores, there are only a few main things at which they look. The number of accounts you have, the number of recent inquiries on your credit, the credit limits on your revolving accounts and whether or not you have been paying on time. Contrary to popular belief, spending more money on your card and paying it back down does not increase your credit score.
There are a lot of really good reasons to build your credit, especially if you are interested in buying a car or a house in the future. If you have great credit (it takes 3-4 years to build, be patient) you can get that awesome 0% APR for 60 months on a car or finance a house with no down payment.
So there you go. beer:

Chairperson, Coastal Carolina Students for Ron Paul 2008
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