Building Credit once in the States

[Kyle]

I know that the topic of building credit has come up from time-to-time. For many, getting that first line of credit is kind of hard. Today, my wife was approved for her first credit card. The idea behind the card is intriguing. . .

 

http://www.capitalon..._01_T_CP17917AW

 

For us, I don't really care about the APR as I try to make sure credit card debt is paid off at the end of each month. I also added my wife as a joint loan holder on our car which gave her a brief credit history prior to applying (she has been on the loan for about a year). I suspect the auto loan helped w/ the approval.

 

Anyway, this is just an FYI

[dnoblett]

Wife applied for and has a JC Penny card, and an AMEX gold card.

 

We bought a car last fall I tried having her finance it in her name, nope credit is good, but has not established a history yet.

[david_dawei]

She owns and controls all the money... what more does she need

 

Actually, very good topic for our situations here. An easy way is to get the card where you need to put money in first and then can use it based on that balance. It can take a year to get a positive result but then they bump it up and even flip it to a true credit card. Lots of ways and hope members share some more.

[Amaro]

She owns and controls all the money... what more does she need

 

Actually, very good topic for our situations here. An easy way is to get the card where you need to put money in first and then can use it based on that balance. It can take a year to get a positive result but then they bump it up and even flip it to a true credit card. Lots of ways and hope members share some more.

 

The technical name for that is "Secured Credit Card" I did that for my wife and after 8 months we applied for a non secure credit card and she was approved! Before any of that, we couldnt find a single place that would give her a credit card, now the offers are spamming my mailbox!!

[Randy W]

Often, the department store credit cards are the easiest to get. My wife started out with a Macy's credit card. The only problem we had was that she liked to "buy" things, and then take them back the next day when she decided she didn't like it. I managed to convince her that that wasn't a good idea.

[Beachey]

She owns and controls all the money... what more does she need

 

Actually, very good topic for our situations here. An easy way is to get the card where you need to put money in first and then can use it based on that balance. It can take a year to get a positive result but then they bump it up and even flip it to a true credit card. Lots of ways and hope members share some more.

 

The technical name for that is "Secured Credit Card" I did that for my wife and after 8 months we applied for a non secure credit card and she was approved! Before any of that, we couldnt find a single place that would give her a credit card, now the offers are spamming my mailbox!!

 

I did the same thing. I have a checking account that is associated with my mortgage that I basically don't use. I had to add my wife to the account as a joint holder but then they allowed her to apply for a $500 secured credit card in her name only. My name is not on the credit card account at all. We did end up having to give them a copy of her SS Card as the number was so new they questioned whether it was real. Once they approved the card they pulled the money.

 

I also added my wife to most of my credit cards as an approved user. (Though I am keeping the cards :-) ) I am not sure this is going to do anything.

 

I will pull my wife's credit report in a few months and see what it shows.

[Kyle]

I thought about a secured credit card, but I didn't have the 500.00 at the time needed to load on it. I can't remember which one we looked at

 

Another option for those enrolled in school is to take advantage of the credit card offer booths which are often set up for new students at the beginning of a school term. That's when I got my first card. It's also when I discovered ebay and the dangers of impulse purchases but that's another saga altogether. . .

[smokiessky]

Li got her 1st crdit card all by herself. I applied for that same card Kyle she got turned down the first time. They sent her a preapproved

application and i filled it out only in LI's name and she got the card. She never had any help from my credit

[credzba]

We went to Costco within 3 months of my wifes arrival in USA.

They wanted us to buy a years membership, and that included an American Express card.

We applied in my wifes name, and it was approved, with a 500$ limit (I think).

 

We used the credit card for grocery purchases for a year, and paid it off every month.

It slowly grew in credit limit, and now 3 years later it has a $10,000 limit.

 

I have never pulled my wifes credit report, but she gets offers in the mail, so I guess it is good enough.

Next car we buy, I'll try in her name.