Getting Your First Credit Card

The day I turned 18, my friends and I jubilantly bounced into the local bodega and bought the triumvirate of youmustbe18oroldertopurchasetheseitems items porn, cigarettes and a lottery ticket. We didn't get past the 2nd page of the porn, we gave the cigarettes to a homeless guy, and the lottery ticket...well, the whole 'idiot tax' thing was reinforced. As we made our way home, one of my friends remarked, "Now all you have to do is get married, join the army, and apply for a credit card!" These were all ideas that I hadn't really considered, and frankly the only one that appealed to me at all was the last. A credit card. Growing up in a wealthy suburb meant loads of my friends had had their parents' credit cards since they were 16, but I'd always felt totally awkward to ask my parents and frankly, they'd probably say no anyway. This meant I was probably a bit more disciplined with money but the downside was that I had no idea how a credit card worked. Let me rephrase that. Obviously I knew that you packed a little piece of plastic and used it to pay for things, that it was a representation of a promise that you'd pay it back at the end of the month, hence the 'credit' part of the card's name. What I didn't now what was anything about interest rates or building credit or what were and weren't healthy spending habits.

A couple of days later I got the first of what would be several credit card offers in the mail. Mastercard, Visa, Capital One, they all go after young people because they know that most people are the same boat that I was and think it's the greatest thing ever to be able to buy a Playstation and pay for it way later.

In any case, I did what I would recommend anyone do, I asked my Mom. She told me that since I was young I was automatically irresponsible (thanks) and that if I was really going to get a credit card I should think really hard about it then compare interest rates and whether there were monthly fees and then chose ONE to start and add more later.

So I did and I ended up getting a Mastercard linked to my college's alumnae association. It has no monthly fee and the interest rates (that's how much extra they charge you if you don't pay on time) are low. It's specifically for students. I got a second one just before going abroad my junior year since it specifically had no currency exchange fee.

The idea here is that moderation is key. Want a credit card? Start out with one. Build up your credit so that other credit card companies will woo you and offer you better cards. Figure how what you use it for and how often and see whether that's sustainable for your lifestyle. It's really easy to just kind of go crazy when you spend money but you don't immediately see it drain from your bank account so be careful and keep track of what you're buying. Finally, do a little homework. Compare your possibilities and see which one is the best fit for you.