credit, how does it work Options

[Toyoca]

I just got an amex credit card. im new to having my own credit card. always went through my parents card (but it had my name on it w/e that means). i just got it cause i wanted to start building my credit. i dont completely know what that entails but i got one anyway lol. i basically just figured to get a car or house in the future i need credit so ppl will approve me. so is credit just using your card and paying bills on time? and if you do, you get a good credit score? is that basically it.

btw i got credit $2000. that sounds like a large amount to me given that i dont have that much a month lol. esp since i dont work right now. but sounds good to me lol. i just found it interesting cause my friends all started out with around 500 and i clearly didnt lol.

[bufferdan]

[/quote]
cell phones dont count positively towards your credit... any type of bill like utility phone or cable bills dont count positively towards your credit unless you are more than 30 days overdue... then they only count negatively... and paying things in full do help your credit, but not by much, so it could a very long process...
[/quote]

Care to explain how im on the high end of the credit score scale then? I have NEVER had a loan on anything, cept for the house i just bought, my credit score has been that high for years though. All i have had is a few credit cards and a cell phone. I have never had a late payment and always paid in full. Ive only had these things since i was 18 and now im almost 24.... i guess 6yrs did it huh? Most older folks dont even have credit scores that high...must be because they use the "I should get a loan and not pay my bills in full" technique that they think raises their credit.. All that does is "backlog" you... keeping balances on credit cards is a bad thing to start doing. Say you have 1000$ bill...you pay your 150$ you need to on that bill....well next month you have another 1000$ bill + your 850$ from before + interest....ohh ohh. It will just escalate from there and then its very hard to pay it off. You just cant spend more than you have... if you do then your gonna end up getting screwed most likely. The way i use credit cards is, i can buy whatever it may be on my credit card ONLY if i could buy it with cash i have in the bank also. I pretty much just use the credit card as a easy means of purchasing instead of carrying cash and going to the bank alot.

http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/ImproveYourScore.aspx

This post has been edited by bufferdan: Oct 6, 2006 - 2:42 PM

[confucious]

BUT as far as BUILDING credit, why buy a new thing on it EACH month and pay it off completely and follow this cycle: buy something, pay it, buy something, pay it, buy something pay it??? I don't think you want to be getting a youngster in this pattern.

Why not just buy something, pay it slowly and it will be reported on your credit each month? I'm guessing he doesn't plan on buying a house in a few months. If you just slowly pay it off, you'll be in awesome shape by the time you are my age.

My credit score is high too and I've been doing that since I was 16.

As far as cell phones/other bills go, it all depends on the company. Some report it, some do not.