Those Building Credit

Anyone building their credit? You probably have 1 credit card or a secured credit card. Do you get tempted to apply for other credit cards?

I just started building credit with a secured credit card. On credit karma it shows credit cards I have a good chance of getting approved for, but I've read from other people they would get denied and dent their score because it's a hard inquiry.

Anyone else feel tempted to open up more credit cards? How many do you already have?

I had my secured card for about 6-7 months before I got another one. I started with a secured card for $200. Then when I wanted to finance some electronics, I got a store card and was approved for $3000. They look at your credit history and your income when determining your credit line. Having an on time history and making about $9 bucks an hour can still get you good cards with high credit lines

Good to know thanks for responding.

On building credit, here are some things that might help:

1 Check for any pre-qualifying options first before trying a credit card application. Hard inquiries are made whenever you apply for a credit card and can hurt your credit score.
2 Stick to two credit cards max
3 Pay back more than you owe when you use your credit card for a purchase if possible
4 Discover, Capital One, and American Express seem to be most open to new lines of credit. Capital One is the best option because of later perks and limited acceptance of Discover and Amex in some cases
5 Try to utilize no more than 25% of your total credit when making purchases
6 ALWAYS pay back on time...next day if possible

Awesome tips, Ianus. Thanks, I completely agree.

I'm a little more conservative when it comes to utilization; keep it below 10% of your limit.

Also, the whole keeping a balance to incur a little interest is not true! Always keep a small balance during your first billing cycle and when your statement is issued. After, you can go ahead and pay the full balance. That way it's reported on your credit that you are paying it off and reports your utilization.