Jenn: Easy, Painless Ways for Students to Start and Build Credit

Editor's note: We challenged all of our finalists to "Write a financial related post"

‪Credit cards. They can either be terrifying or representative of a wonderful life of magic, plastic dollars that get you cool stuff RIGHT NOW with no additional thought required!‬

‪Oof, until you get the bill, that is. ‬

‪I definitely thought credit cards were magic, plastic dollars that got me cool stuff and I could pretty much avoid thinking about until I got out of college. That's a pretty brilliant plan and all but when this mentality started as a SOPHOMORE that meant I was already 2.5 years up to my eyeballs in debt before I started thinking about it...and then my student loans hit...and then, I did what any self-respecting college-age braniac would do...I got another credit card. And then another. And then...You can probably imagine where this little dog and pony show got me. ‬

‪Luckily the spending limits on the (cough) 5 cards I ended up having post-college were all set low so that was my safety net as I thought about all the SHOES I didn't have yet but DEFINITELY NEEDED, TODAY...because when my cards got declined, I had the embarrassment to add to my lesson learned.‬

‪There's a better way to build credit than opening up a high-interest card or accounts at your favorite stores like I did. There is way too much temptation there. Here are a few other ways I've found to start building credit that let you take the leap, but don't quite give you enough rope to hang yourself with:‬

‪1) Open a checking account. The first step to making sure you build a solid record is to start a relationship with a great financial institution! Vantage Credit Union can help you out here, of course.‬

‪2) Get a card for somewhere MEGA boring or normal that you go to often enough but aren't tempted to splurge all crazy, like a gas station or a general store. Even if you buy 27 bags of Cheetos and a wholesale brick of 50 energy drinks some day I'm pretty sure at the end of the month you could still handle sorting that one out. (Financially, anyway...please don't drink all those energy drinks at once...) Companies like QT and Sam's Clubs have some good options.‬

‪3) Finance your car, even if you have enough cash saved up or set aside to buy it outright. Sometimes you can do this through a dealer or your bank or credit union. I did this through Vantage, myself! I got a settlement for an accident that totaled my last car last year and it was almost enough to just buy a new one...but not quite. I took out the remainder in a small loan from Vantage, set up auto payments each month and voila! A year later I am the happy full owner of my first purchased car AND I built some of my credit back in the process. If you have someone willing to co-sign for such a loan, while not as powerful as having one fully in your name, this can help you your foot in the credit door as well.‬

‪Once you're rolling with some stable financing, keep these few basic in mind as you start managing your balances and learning more:‬

‪-Don't max out your card. A good rule of thumb is to not spend more than about 30% of your available credit.‬

‪-Dont close unused accounts. Even if you open a credit card at a lumber store or something, use it a few times for household repairs or maintenance, then forget about it, just keep it open! Though you may find it useful to cut up the card itself to remove any temptation.‬

‪-Always make your payments on time. For me, I like setting up auto payments where I can for either the minimum amount each month or the full monthly balance if I'm really on my game! If the credit card company you sign up with doesn't offer it, see if your bank or credit union offers bill pay that you can automate.‬

‪A good credit history is necessary to have when you go to buy a new car, a home or even start a business, so make sure you get started early and play it right!‬

Jenn

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