financial zen

Tonight we go out with Bruce Baer, a real estate agent, to check out houses and condos.

I’ll write about our first venture when we get home tonight!

No doubt, everyone has been at that point where they want to start credit (responsibly, of course!) and have no idea where to begin.

Do you need credit? Only if you want to buy a house or car down the road without insane interest rates. Or get more credit cards. Or even get a job.

These are just examples, mind you. No Credit is really Needed if you are the cash carrying kind of person. I’m just not, yet, anyways.

I started my journey into financial slavery at the tender age of eighteen - the legal age to get credit. The easiest thing to do is to get a department store card. If you’re in college, you may qualify for a special credit card. Some of them have *great* intro rates and offers. But remember - just because they may give you a limit of $5000 does not mean that you should use it.

So what’s the point, then?

Starting your credit history, is the point! If you get a credit card, look at it like you’re taking money from your older sibling. Or Grandma. She’s got a nasty right hook, and she likes to be paid when you said you’d pay her. Get it? If you’re late on paying your card - you will be hurting (financially, and your credit score will suffer)!

Use your card for the basics and treat it like cash - you’ve got $50 in your checking? Then think of your credit card as like $50 of loaned money. Fill up your tank ($20-25 if you drive a gas-friendly car) and buy a water ($1.50). Turn around and check out your balance online, and keep an eye on it. Pay it off, don’t carry a balance.

Why?

If I gave you $20 and you said you would pay me in a month, but didn’t, would you give me at least ten dollars and promise I’d have the twenty by the next month?

No?

Well, do you think your credit card is going to take that as an answer? When they call for their money (remember, it is not your money), they’ll be asking for some of it back. And tell you you will be charged more for being late. And no, if your mommy and daddy call, they can’t convince them to forgive you for being dumb.

So, boys and girls looking to start credit - especially if you’re in college - go slow. Like you told your parents when they gave you a copy of their card, use it only for *real* emergencies, like being stranded on the bad side of town with no gas, having only water and bread in your apartment, or getting out of a Mexican prison (if they take Visa, that is).

PBS gave some great info if you’re curious about what can happen to you (even if you’re good with your credit). Check out the blogs on the right - they’re also a great source of personal finance. You may be starting - just make sure you take the smart path.