adulthood: how does it?

[etben]

So, okay: I have never in my life had a credit card. This is something that baffles a lot of people, but it's true! My name is technically on my parents' card - it was supposed to be one of those "use it WISELY, pay it off, build credit" things parents do, but I have literally never once used it. Because...idek, paranoia? Being stuck in my ways? Failure to Adult? I have a debit card, I have a checkbook, I am FINE.

Except, okay, I'm 25, having a credit card is not actually an unimaginable thing to do, and possibly actually a good idea. Except...where do I even start? I have five accounts with four different banks (...don't even ask, my family does savings in a way that is the most special), do I talk to one of those? Except the bank that is local doesn't offer credit cards, so that's out. I get mailers from Southwest and stuff, but I feel like that is...somehow not a good plan? AUGH THIS IS SCARY AND BEWILDERING, GIVE ME ADVICE, I seriously have no idea what the fuck I am doing with this nonsense.

Comments

[etben.livejournal.com]

Hiiiiii! I super approve your thoughts and feelings! Thank you so much for sharing with me - the thing is, I knew or had guessed most of those things? but I was less clear on how they stacked up in terms of relative importance, so your comment is super helpful. And, yeah - I have fuckloads of student debt, ahahahahaha what, but no actual consumer debt, which I hear is better than the other way around? So there's that.

I'm defffffinitely not planning on actually changing my spending - the impetus for all of this was that we have to get plane tickets to visit my family in Oregon this Christmas, and J pointed out that if (as is always a possibility) my family flakes and we need to change plans in a hurry, we're a lot better off having purchased tickets on a credit card than on a debit card. And that's one of my "level up as an adult" tasks for this academic year, anyways, so I figured I would consult Aunt Internet for advice!

One question: I get that the pre-approved mailer offers are probably mostly bullshit, but what is the deal with applying through a (legit) bank's website? Also bullshit, or not a complete disaster?

[mistresscurvy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a lot of this really IS common sense, but it can feel really intimidating to just ASSUME that when no one really teaches you it! And yeah, in terms of both your credit score AND your ability to obtain more credit, having student loans is much much better than having credit card debt. Paying back your student loans will actually improve your score over time, too!

And yes, those are exactly the sort of purchases that having a credit card is good for. The one thing to keep in mind that in order to increase your available credit over time, you'll need to actually USE them some, but like I said, that will happen naturally over time (and as your salary presumably increases and your debt load decreases as you pay down the student loans).

I actually have no idea! I applied for both of the cards I linked to above online, directly from the credit card companies themselves. I would imagine that applying via a legit bank's website would be totally fine though!