Use it like a debit card, dumbass. Only spend what you already have, then pay it off in full every month. This is how you build credit.

normally i'd say go for it but
>My first year of college alone I blew through my savings like an idiot.
makes me think you might be too much of a fucking retard

dont do it bro. its the stupidest decision you can make. DONT FUCK WITH MONEY YOU DONT HAVE

May as well start building your credit rating now.

Basically, you're going to need one sooner or later, and it's useful, but a rule of thumb is to not spend money you don't have, i.e. whenever you use it stash away enough cash to pay off the bill in full (NOT the minimum) at the end of the month, i.e. treat it as a debit card, credit to be tapped only in real emergencies (i.e. use it or not eat for a week).

Falling into the pit of $25000 in debt and frantically calling your parents at the end of the month to pay off your credit bill minimum is not a pretty sight.

>>2428432

Agreed...

If you're really serious about getting it, I'd suggest getting a card and just use it for gas (something you'd do anyway) and pay it off at the end of each month. That way, you're building credit, but you're not spending it on something you wouldn't already do. It's better to get one sooner rather than later, because by the time you graduate and such, you'll have some credit built up (I put it off and ran into some problems later, because I "didn't have a long credit history"). But seriously, if you think you're just going to rack up debt on it, don't get it till you've got a handle on your shit.

If you want to get a credit card so that you can spend money you don't have, DO NOT GET A CREDIT CARD.

If you get one, only use it for purchases you *know* you have money in the bank to cover. To say "i'll go 100 dollars over what i have, but i'll just be able to pay that off next paycheck" is bad reasoning, because then you will need 200 dollars next month after you lost 100 dollars out of your check to pay off your bill.

If you can't EAT at the end of the week, you just need another job. If you can eat, you don't need more money.

Credit cards can be of great help in the event of an emergency. As in I need to buy some medicine but don't get paid next week, not as in "dude, that 30" LCD TV looks sooo cool."

Using it as some sort of a debit card does help build good credit.

If you get one, try getting one with a low amount say like $500 or something.

Oh, and stay with a single card because soon you will be swamped with offers for additional cards and it will be very easy to fall into temptation.

Budget yourself with less money than you have.

Start building up some money.

And get a full time job in the summer, if you can.

But yeah, get the credit card. Don't spend money you don't have, and spend significantly less money than you make, if at all possible. You need to have enough money that in what would now be a crisis, you can spend money you have, rather than money you _will_ have, but then pay YOURSELF back.

Once you do this, after living like a poor fuck, get the credit card. Stop using it if you're under budget for a period of time.

idort. if you can't handle money, that is sad. i just got my first card, because i had to get it on my own, with no credit history, because my parents were too chicken to help me, because my brother charged up a card when he went to school. i know, you're saying "that's a lot of 'because's," but damnit. anyway, if you get a card, learn to fucking budget. you can't spend if you don't have the money, unless it's a small purchase, and you anticipate money (i.e. a paycheck a few days away, but you need/want a small thing now).

If you STAY PARANOID about money, having a credit card is a fine thing. I have had one forever, and it's fucking convenient.

If possible, get one from the same bank you use for checking, so you can pay your bill at an ATM. That shit is so cash.

Credit cards are fine as long as you pay them off each month.

Don't charge them up and only make minimum payments, you'll never get out from under them.

Oh, and dude, don't spend much. If you're using 50% of your credit limit, even if it's paid off every month in full, you're going to get knocked on your credit score.

My parents had this happen to them, because they had mortgages, and they never upgraded their cards to a higher limit they didn't need.

Long story short, if you're using more than 10% to 20% each month of your credit limit, it's too much.

>>2428476

What this guy said.

Don't get one until you have a decent buffer zone in your bank account. If you're running on empty at the end of the month, find a way to make extra money that you can save in your bank account, and then resume the same budget.

It's good to have a credit card for emergencies, but if you don't have extra money available you will *create* an emergency when you accidentally spend too much on your card.

tl;dr on the rest of resnponses. But I just turned 26, and I just got my first credit card. I use it like a debit card: I immediately pay back everything at the end of the month. So I don't spend anything I don't have.

The important idea here is credit history. I can't get approved for a lot of things. I couldn't get a Dell card to pay for my computer, and as such lost $100. I certainly couldn't get a car loan.

If it wasn't for credit history, I would just use my bank card as my VISA.

I suggest getting the card but ONLY for this reason. DO NOT use any money you don't have.