I need to start fixing my credit. My credit score is about 610 so I know I am not getting one of those 0% APR cards. But, I am also not going to pay these guys $ 200 and something dollars in activation and one time fees to get a credit card with a $ 300 limit! I don’t mind getting a card that you have to deposit $ 200 and keep it in the account for say six months. But, I’m not just giving my money away. I know it will probably have a high interest rate which is ok since I won’t have more than $ 50 bucks on it at a time. I don’t mind paying maybe a one time $ 30 activation fee either. I am shooting for a credit limit between $ 500 and $ 1000 but that is flexible also. Anyway, please tell me about a card you know of or got when your credit may have been bad. Thanks
P.S. No lectures on credit please. I am responsible just lost my job last year. I can handle a low limit credit card
When I was 18 I got my first credit card and it was through First Financial Bank, USA (www.1fbusa.com). They opened it with a $ 500 credit limit and a 16.24% interest rate if I’m not mistaken and this was about 5 years ago and I had absolutely no credit to start with. No credit is just as bad as poor credit so you may want to try them out.
However, I’m not sure if you’re aware of this but opening up additional credit cards doesn’t actually help your credit score. Not immediately anyway. The best way to enhance your credit score is to pay down your current balances so that your Available Credit to Total Credit ratio is higher. Simply put….if you have 3 credit cards open with $ 500 limits on each (Total credit of $ 1500.00) and you’ve got $ 1300.00 in balances, your ratio is pretty low because you don’t have much available credit to work with. But if you’ve got a $ 500 balance total, your ratio is better and will look better to the creditors.
Another big mistake people make is closing credit cards. DON’T DO THIS! Your credit score gets HIGHER once your credit cards have been active for three years! It is the easiest possible way to raise your credit score. And again, you are killing your Total Credit when you close accounts. If you close one of those $ 500 accounts, you are taking that amount away from your Total Credit. This looks bad to creditors because it will, again, damage your ratio.
One more credit faux pas, don’t spend and pay off immediately. A credit check doesn’t reveal your history of payment so if you’ve been spending money and paying it off every month, that will not show on your credit check. What will show is the $ 600 charge you just made that hasn’t yet been paid off for the month. Your credit score reflects whatever activity is currently taking place so you need to be aware of this when contemplating how exactly to manage your accounts.
http://www.capitalone.com
i got one and its great every three months my limit goes up. ive only had to pay for what i’ve put on it.
capital one is the only card i use.
and they approved me and i didnt have any credit until i got this card now i get approved every where
I switched to Capital One – I use my credit card for everyday purchases then pay what I bought every week. Plus I earn rewards which I can put back on my card. They also have a liberal savings account plan. I would go with Capital One, use the card for everything, pay the balance every week and collect the rewards or have them credit your card with it. I make money on my savings account and I make money on my credit card account. Can’t beat that with a stick!