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Caitlin
- Thread starter caitlin
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This is why you should do well in High School! Work hard and get good grades and in the summer before your senior year, apply to dozens of scholarships! You're bound to get some and the money will help college. Every lil adds up. Yes its alot of work, writing dozens of DIFFERENT essays isn't easy! But it does help!
I know this doesn't help Cait much now, but maybe there are other youngins looking towards college and are worried about it financially.
I was one of the top 15 students in my school (#11), and went to the state university for free (financial aid, scholarships, and NO LOANS). I walked out 4 years later with a Bachelors and no school bills. It can happen but yes its alot of work! I now go to graduate school part time and the company I work for pays for that.
As for my advice about credit, since you have no credit, you can apply for many credit cards (not all but many). Once you get one, your credit limit may start low ($200) but it can grow. Every month, buy something small with it and pay off your credit card bill every month! When I mean small, I don't mean something that costs $199.99. Treat yourself to the movies once a month, or buy a DVD, or one nice shirt. Then at the end of the month, pay it off. I will swear to you, after one year, you will be getting MAIL from credit card companies who want to give you THEIR card.
At this point, you will WANT 5 total credit lines (1 which you already have with the first credit card). Apply to 4 other credit cards, make sure they all have low APR rates and no unnecessary charges (monthly/yearly fees). READ the FINE PRINT! American Express has yearly fees so I'd avoid them.
What do you do with 5 credit cards? You pick ONE with the lowest APR, and continue to use that one, making small purchases and paying them off. Activate and rip the other 4 apart and never look at them again. Why do this you may ask? 5 credit lines is the minimum companies look for when they want to give you loans, either its for a car, a house, a boat, or school, whatever.
This takes time but you will be better off in the future! It will be EASY to get loans and GOOD loans with good rates if you have a VERY good credit score. See? During all this time, you have been upping your credit score by being on time with your monthly payments. This counts EVEN for those credit cards you never even used!!!! As long as the balance is zero (4 credit lines), and you have a record of paying off at least one credit card, you're golden.
The hardest part about all this is, as usual, the human part. Self control is A MUST!!! If you CANNOT afford something, DON'T BUY IT! It is easy to dig yourself into a huge hole and it would be very difficult to get out. This my friend is how you get bad credit. Not paying your bills on time, not just once, or twice, but every time. Temptation is very pursuasive and people often try to rationalize their decisions.
However, if you stick to the path and you stick to your budget, you will have a very good credit foundation where you can do anything, even get a loan to start up a business, if thats what you want. You're credit limit will soar, I've seen limits go as high as $25,000 or more. Enough where you can buy a very nice car on a piece of plastic!
All it takes is care and planning and self control. Best of luck Cait, and I hope you still reads this, and get someting useful out of it.
-Rock
P.S. Sorry for the long post.
I know this doesn't help Cait much now, but maybe there are other youngins looking towards college and are worried about it financially.
I was one of the top 15 students in my school (#11), and went to the state university for free (financial aid, scholarships, and NO LOANS). I walked out 4 years later with a Bachelors and no school bills. It can happen but yes its alot of work! I now go to graduate school part time and the company I work for pays for that.
As for my advice about credit, since you have no credit, you can apply for many credit cards (not all but many). Once you get one, your credit limit may start low ($200) but it can grow. Every month, buy something small with it and pay off your credit card bill every month! When I mean small, I don't mean something that costs $199.99. Treat yourself to the movies once a month, or buy a DVD, or one nice shirt. Then at the end of the month, pay it off. I will swear to you, after one year, you will be getting MAIL from credit card companies who want to give you THEIR card.
At this point, you will WANT 5 total credit lines (1 which you already have with the first credit card). Apply to 4 other credit cards, make sure they all have low APR rates and no unnecessary charges (monthly/yearly fees). READ the FINE PRINT! American Express has yearly fees so I'd avoid them.
What do you do with 5 credit cards? You pick ONE with the lowest APR, and continue to use that one, making small purchases and paying them off. Activate and rip the other 4 apart and never look at them again. Why do this you may ask? 5 credit lines is the minimum companies look for when they want to give you loans, either its for a car, a house, a boat, or school, whatever.
This takes time but you will be better off in the future! It will be EASY to get loans and GOOD loans with good rates if you have a VERY good credit score. See? During all this time, you have been upping your credit score by being on time with your monthly payments. This counts EVEN for those credit cards you never even used!!!! As long as the balance is zero (4 credit lines), and you have a record of paying off at least one credit card, you're golden.
The hardest part about all this is, as usual, the human part. Self control is A MUST!!! If you CANNOT afford something, DON'T BUY IT! It is easy to dig yourself into a huge hole and it would be very difficult to get out. This my friend is how you get bad credit. Not paying your bills on time, not just once, or twice, but every time. Temptation is very pursuasive and people often try to rationalize their decisions.
However, if you stick to the path and you stick to your budget, you will have a very good credit foundation where you can do anything, even get a loan to start up a business, if thats what you want. You're credit limit will soar, I've seen limits go as high as $25,000 or more. Enough where you can buy a very nice car on a piece of plastic!
All it takes is care and planning and self control. Best of luck Cait, and I hope you still reads this, and get someting useful out of it.
-Rock
P.S. Sorry for the long post.
As to the apply for one credit card and then get 4 more a year later...that is crap advice.
You don't want to wait a year to pick up your additional credit lines.
loan officers ask for 5 credit lines with atleast 1year of history. so if you get one credit card and wait a year to pick up your additionals then it will be more difficult for you to get a loan for the next two years.
ripping up the additionals is a great idea. because it keeps your debt-to-available credit very low. the lower this ratio the better your credit score will be. Which increases your chances of getting approved for car or home loans. And decreases the interest rate which is charged.
You don't want to wait a year to pick up your additional credit lines.
loan officers ask for 5 credit lines with atleast 1year of history. so if you get one credit card and wait a year to pick up your additionals then it will be more difficult for you to get a loan for the next two years.
ripping up the additionals is a great idea. because it keeps your debt-to-available credit very low. the lower this ratio the better your credit score will be. Which increases your chances of getting approved for car or home loans. And decreases the interest rate which is charged.
yeah i've been looking at getting a credit card but i don't have enough control to not use it at the moment because right now i'm pretty much broke and i know i'll be an idiot about it...so i'm going to wait a little bit before that.
but thanks rock
your input is much appreciated.
but thanks rock
your input is much appreciated.
Get one and only use it to get gas. You can pay at the pump and you'll never have TOO big of a bill to pay if you only use it that way. And of course all the others will be beating your door down after a month or two of payments, so you can transfer to a lower interest/higher line whenever you need to.
That's what I do and my credit is building nicely. Almost as nicely as your thread.
That's what I do and my credit is building nicely. Almost as nicely as your thread.
imported_SuXoR
New Member
good post rock
easy words to read; hard words to live by
easy words to read; hard words to live by
The reason I gave a year is because not many companies will give you their best rates right off the bat, especially if you don't have a credit history. So after a year of good credit, most credit companies will be more likely to give you better rates. Yes alot of loan companies want a year or more of credit history, but this wasn't a quick fix plan, it was some advice to help plan for future endeavors.
And Cait, I know how hard it is to be broke, I got laid off when 9/11 happened and at the same time I was a student. It was really hard to make ends meet but I'm sure you can do it. It just takes alot of hard work and dedication.
As for Blze's question, look around and ask the company when you interview with them. I work for a large corporation, thousands of employees, so they have the resources to pay for "work training." Its part of their growth and retention policy. Many large corporations do school interviews at colleges. Many colleges have a Career Center (even High Schools have them) which help put your resumes out there so lots of companies can see it. Theres lots of resources at Universities and Colleges, if people only took the time to look =P
And as Suxor says, its hard words to live by. Its basically a lifestyle change. But its a positive change in my opinion and a good change to work towards. I'm not gonna tell you how to live your life tho, but it was just some advice offered, you dont have to take it =P
-Rock
And Cait, I know how hard it is to be broke, I got laid off when 9/11 happened and at the same time I was a student. It was really hard to make ends meet but I'm sure you can do it. It just takes alot of hard work and dedication.
As for Blze's question, look around and ask the company when you interview with them. I work for a large corporation, thousands of employees, so they have the resources to pay for "work training." Its part of their growth and retention policy. Many large corporations do school interviews at colleges. Many colleges have a Career Center (even High Schools have them) which help put your resumes out there so lots of companies can see it. Theres lots of resources at Universities and Colleges, if people only took the time to look =P
And as Suxor says, its hard words to live by. Its basically a lifestyle change. But its a positive change in my opinion and a good change to work towards. I'm not gonna tell you how to live your life tho, but it was just some advice offered, you dont have to take it =P
-Rock
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