(no subject)

[kleenexwoman]

I'm considering getting a credit card. With my current financial status (and the random medical fees, processing fees, and other crap that I just had to shell out to CMU), I can either buy groceries and pay the electric bill for the next month or so OR I can apply to graduate programs in time to get into one for the fall (that shit costs money). The problem is not necessarily having the money at all (even with the state of Michigan's economy, I'm sure I can get a job at the Taco Bell I worked at over the summer and earn back the few hundred I need when I go home), the problem is having it NOW.

It occurs to me that if I get a credit card, I can buy groceries and just pay it all off in small amounts, and use the money I have now for applications.

If you have a credit card: What's the best kind to get if you're just buying groceries and small shit? How much would I have to pay off each month, or is it a percentage? How does this stuff work?

ETA: The student account portal thing won't actually take my card, which is an Independent Bank Visa card. There is an Independent Bank kiosk right in the damn student center. The university has a deal with them and special student accounts and all sorts of things, and you can't actually pay your damn account with their card. What the fuck?

Comments

[dmilanflash.livejournal.com]

You have to use an ACH (automated clearing house) on the protal is you want to pay with a check. I am assuming you want to pay with a debit card the entry implies you do not have a credit card.

Secondly,

Contrary to popular belief, there's a lot of credit out there right now. However, you better be damn perfect to get any. Having an occupation of "student" might not do it.

You can make the minimum payment every month. The size of the payment varies by card. It is a very bad idea to make the minimum payment, because you accrue interest on the remaining balance. Then, the following month you accrue interest on the original balance and the interest. Then the following month you accrue interest on the balance, the interest from the second month, and new interest for the third month. After a while the balance on the card will become so big that you will be fined for late payments and over limit fees. Then they'll charge you interest on your late fees and penalties.

All of that is if you keep making the minimum payments. If you miss a payment you'll be sent to the lake of fire. (I'm sorry. I'm not familiar with Hebrew ideas of hell.)

If you do get a credit card, make sure you have the ability to payoff the balance every month. Sorry to sound so negative about it, but credit card companies aren't there to help people.

PEACEMAKER

[xjestx.livejournal.com]

I second what dmilanflash has said.

Credit cards are seriously bad news if you plan on carrying a balance.

[vicfitz82.livejournal.com]

If you're just buying small stuff and you intend to pay the balance off every month, get a credit card with no annual or monthly fees. This means your personal information will be less protected, but it also means you're not giving the credit comapany any more than the few cents it gets for every card swipe.

Normally these kinds of cards have higher interest rates, but those only apply if you don't pay your balance in full.

[josephwaldman.livejournal.com]

I have no idea which is the best from an interest-rate POV or what-have-you, but my advice is to make sure you get one with a cool design. That's part of the fun. Kind of like how you can read a person's personality based on what kind of design they have on their checks.