Advice for choosing next credit card

I'm looking into getting a CC since I would like to establish better credit. I don't think It would be a bad option since I pretty much spend a #$%^&*( load on this truck already but buy everything cash.

I have always had a fear of CC companies because my mother was in debt for awhile, I was just wondering if anyone has any good things to say about any certain CC company. You know like which ones have the best plans, or best customer service. Thanks in advance, I take a lot of advice from my fellow taco family.

 

get the lowest interest rate you can find and pay it off every month also look for no annual fees.

Do you like to travel? get a card with mileage points
cash back? these are tricky and you typically get one check a year.
Stay away from capital one
or anything associated with HSBC

Personally I like American Express but it's not for everyone and many places don't take AMX because the user fees are ridiculous.

 

Right on thanks brotha, BTW I was following you for awhile and checked out your build a few times, why are you going back to stock??

 

If you buy everything with cash now, and plan to pay the card off after every purchase, then plans etc, don't really matter. Just go with Visa, it's the worlds most popular card and is excepted almost everywhere. I had the trifecta, for years; Visa, Master Card, and American Express, and the only one I every really used was the Visa... so I eventually got rid of the other 2. If you are doing this for a credit history, don't use it if you don't have the real cash to back it up.

Frank

 

There are a couple reasons, I need more space, power and something more practical than a reg cab truck. My truck's been listed on CL and Auto trader for about 3 weeks now and i've only had one person interested but he was unrealistic about trading an 04 WRX STI with 140k on it and me adding 3k cash to the deal. So it's going back to stock to be sold/ traded easier. I'm sad to see it go but it's time for something bigger.

 

I use to work with wells Fargo and bank of America ....my recommendation if you don't want to pay a yearly fee is the bank of America 123 card. If you plan on paying what you spend at the end of each billing cycle then interest is not important.hope that helps

 

unless you can't pay it off for some unexpected reason. I still say got with the lowest rate you can find/get Just to cover your ass if you can't pay it off in full.

 

Good point.. but to OP states that he buys with cash only... and is worried about getting into debt. So no cash to back up CC purchase.. wait till you have it.

Frank

 

I have the Venture CC. I get 2 air miles for everyone dollar spent. I pay it off at the end of the month. They have another that gives 1.5 air mile for every dollar u spend. Interest rate is good as long as u have a good credit score. They also offer gas, cash back and other stuff if u don't want air miles. Go to Bankrate.com or Consumer reports. They both list cards according to interest, air miles, etc. I charge everything to my card and I am enrolled in their auto pay. I rack up air miles and I really like that. But u must pay it off every month if u do that. If not just charge here and there and and pay off every month.

 

Venture has no yearly fees as well.

 

I've had the same Citibank card since I was 18..... (16 years). My husband and I use this card for 95% of things we buy and we pay it off monthly. And I mean everything...gas, groceries, Amazon, clothes, etc.

So, for us.....interest rate doesn't matter because we pay it off monthly.

In the 16 years of having this card, no hassles, no worries. I don't know how they do it but they always spot fraudulent usage before we do. They've alerted us of about 5 times where someone used our card for purchases. All we had to do was fill out a report/affidavit and were never expected to pay the charges. Citibank actually goes after the vendor/retailer who allowed the purchases.

And yes.....the sole reason I got the card when I was 18, was to build credit for the future.

 

I got a discover with 24 months no interest, it may not be accepted everywhere, but it is a great card with a great online interface.

 

If you are going to pay it off, get something with the best rewards.

Wife and I just got a Capital One card with 1% cashback and then a bonus .5 % of what ever we spent that year. Pay it off every month and don't look back. It will help build your credit.

 

I have a Visa through our credit union at work as well as the Amazon Visa which is awesome if you shop on Amazon a lot. I pay mine off every month. Only time I'll purchase something if I can't pay it off right away is if the vendor accepts PayPal then I'll use the no interest no payments bill me later option.

 

There is nothing wrong with CCs if used correctly. They are a great tool to build your credit, just don't fall for their crap and make sure to pay it off every month.

 

I have the Capital One Venture card,2 miles for every dollar spent. the way I do it, is I use it like my normal debit card and as soon as I buy something, later that day I'll set up payment through my credit union's web bill pay. Not sure if this is doing anything helpful for my credit report (don't have any issues in that department anyhow), but I never have to worry about missing a payment.

 

I just set an automated payment up that will always pay the minimum amount. That way I can never have a late payment. I then go in once a month and pay the full amount that is due.

 

APR doesn't mean anything if you pay it off each month.