Building A Credit History
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I have been using a credit card for about 4 years. I acquired my credit card through our joint bank account that I share with my husband. Every time that I will use the credit card, my hubby will pay for it and take care of all the responsibilities when the debts are due. He has other credit cards in his own name too. But I don’t care nor pay attention to how he will pay them and where he will send the payments. As a stay at home mom and a foreigner to this country, I don’t care much about this matter. I always depend on my hubby for our entire financial situation.I know being a SAHM will not be forever for me. Someday, I’ll be going to school again and then find a job afterwards. Just recently, I realized having a good credit score is very important in the US for your financial future. What if I want to apply for major credit like a home loan or a car loan? I found out, that my credit score is one of the key elements that will be considered before I will qualify for loan.
So, I asked my hubby to get one credit card in my name. About two weeks ago, my credit card arrived; but until now I have not activated it yet. Now, I am not interested anymore. As we all know, if we want to maintain our credit score, we have to pay our bills on time. This is another responsibility for me to take care of. And what if I’ll forget to pay my bills? For me, I would prefer to use my debit card. But, in order to build up a credit history, I am obliged to use my credit card now.
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December 1, 2008 am31 3:52 am
sis ako mas gusto ko pa mag ipon kesa mag credit card ahehehehe ayoko kasi ng nabibigla ako sa babayarin.. kaya if wala me pambili, mag iipon na lang muna me..
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December 1, 2008 am31 8:23 am
Mahirap din kasi ang may credit card talaga, manay. Dagdag intindihin talaga. Yun nga lang, if you don’t build a credit reputation soon, mas mahirap for you in the future.
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December 1, 2008 am31 12:04 pm
I have to admit: I think creditcards are scary! They give you the opportunity to spend money you might not have, and it’s soooo easy!
I have one creditcard, which I only use for internet purchases. To protect myself from the lure of the creditcard!
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December 1, 2008 am31 2:25 pm
It’s good to have a credit card on our name and the joint credit card from our husband because it’s help to create our credit history. I have 2 personal credit cards, but I only use when I need it, but mostly I use the one that I have joint with my husband. I am the one pay our bills and I had to pay a week before it’s due date because it’s doesn’t look good on our credit card if we are always pay late on our payment every months. It’s give me headache to balance our budget, but this is what I have been doing after I married my husband. It is also when you buy a house or car it’s good both on your name it’s give you a good credit as well as long as you fully paid each month. Hubby and I had excellent credit history.
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December 1, 2008 am31 3:31 pm
hello raqs how r u? how was Thanksgiving? mine was great. just em and my family spending Thanksgiving at home.
Same thing happened for me I opened up a bank acct and got me a check card and a credit card. I am still using my check card if i purchased something for my domains,hosting and if I want to buy some stuff I want for home and kitchen. As for the credit card? I didn’t activate it and called my bank to cancel it for me. I just didn’t like to idea of having a credit card around and get tempted to buy things that are not necessary to have. We have joint acct and i have a card that’s from my husband’s bank but I opened up my own acct. diff. bank simply because I don’t like using my husband’s income for things that are not that important. I just use the card in our joint acct when buying grocery, paying the kids school meals and all.
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December 1, 2008 am31 4:35 pm
I NEVER wanted a credit card and my husband kept getting them for those “just in case” moments, but those quickly become everything under the sun! We are admittedly in lots of trouble with our credit cards and have ruined our credit history. The lure of the card is very strong…I wish we had never gotten them. I know perfectly well that it is our own fault. I guess you just need to decide if you are the type of person who can be responsible with it or the type that will use it too much. I know now, too late, that we are NOT the type who can handle it!
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December 1, 2008 am31 5:45 pm
@ JOAN: Ako din sis para wlang iisipin but I want to make a credit history eh. Eto napasubo, he-he.
@ SASHA: Ay sinabi mo pa manay. Nung nasa pinas ako, pag nangungutang like appliances. Payable within a year pero after 3 months ay nababayran ko na. Ayuko kasing may iisiping utang eh.
@ RUNNING MOMMY: Hi mommy, thank you for passing by here. Seems like your URL is close at the moment. Credit card is only good for internet purchases because most online businesses will require us a credit card for payment. I’ll prefer to use my debit though but I want to make a credit history too. Now, I am obliged to use it.
@ LANIE: Wow, that is a big responsibility for you to handle of all the budget. Hubby asked me to take care all the bills and do the budgeting but I refused. I have been doing the budgeting since when I was 10 and I don’t want to do it again. I’ll prefer the husband will do this than me. I just want to take care the children and act as a housewife of the family. Sounds good both of you have an excellent credit history.
@ IREL: yup, I am only using the joint account or the credit card to purchase family stuff too. But what I have now, the one with my name on it is basta nalang para meron akong credit history. Surely most of the purchase will be my tsitsiburetsi. you know, perfumes and whatever..he-he.
@ JOSIE: It’s funny though becasue hubby and I agreed, we will use the credit card when it comes to emergency but sometimes, it is so tempting. Now, we are out of budget. We need credit card but it is all up to us how we’re gonna use it. It’s just a matter of self-control but sometimes it’s out of control. [big grin]
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December 1, 2008 am31 8:37 pm
Hi Raq! I realized how credit report is so important here in the US too. I have mine too and what I did is to always schedule a payment so I wont forget about it. I think its okay if you miss 1 payment and it wont appear in your credit history, the only thing that sucks though is that they will charge you for that and if you were late in payment they will also charge a late fee. So far, our credit report is excellent and I am so happy about that. That’s all we can be proud of is our credit report.
Good topic here! Thanks for sharing. God bless!
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December 1, 2008 am31 10:21 pm
Hi Mimi, mao bitaw nagsugod na ko karon kay kung pirmi lang ko maka attach kang hubby nga name, I am referring the joint account, dili ko maka build up og credit line for my name. Getting ready na pod ning akong credit line for our house loan kay apil man pod tan-awon ang credit line sa wife inig apply na mo. Ingon lagi ni hubby nga careful jud daw og on time inig bayad kay dili lalim kung ma bad credit. He had a bad credit history but I am glad he build it back na.
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December 2, 2008 am31 1:53 pm
It’s one lousy credit card. If you can manage being a SAHM, you can manage payment on one credit card. Think of your security and your children’s security. I hate to use what if’s but what if something happened to your husband? You can do this.
Preston’s last blog post..Death By Consumerism – Black Friday’s Walmart Murder
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December 2, 2008 am31 10:50 pm
The most important thing is that you pay off your balance every due date. That is not hard thing to remember. And as long as you do that, your credit score will be just fine.
JO’s last blog post..4th Blog-niversary!
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December 2, 2008 am31 10:50 pm
I also read the others’ comments. This will be our obligation too when we immigrate to the U.S. Dito kasi Philippines it’s easier if you don’t have credit card.
Tani’s last blog post..Wedding Theme
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December 3, 2008 am31 3:02 pm
Hi Raquel, I am back with a big jet lag! Credit cards is France is not very common. Medyo mahal kasi ang tubo. What is good here is that we can buy things and people are able to pay them 3x without interest. When we bought our computer and digicam we paid 3x w/out additional charges. We always go for debit card it is safer and we know how to really control our monthly expenses.
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December 3, 2008 am31 5:41 pm
The key to a credit card is to buy something with it and pay the bill off when it comes. Do not keep a balance because then you will be charged interest.
If you buy things online you should always use a regular credit card, you have more protection if you don’t get the product or it is damaged. Also, if steals your number, when you call the bank, the account will be frozen. I don’t know about you, but we couldn’t deal with our main account being frozen (we need to pay bills, etc), but not being able to use a credit card for a while wouldn’t hurt us.
Lisette
http://couponqueenofcorning.today.com/
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December 3, 2008 am31 8:38 pm
Hi, I enjoyed your post and wanted to let you know. I’m still recovering from my shoulder surgery, getting better every day, but still have difficulty typing for long periods of time.
peace,
Mike
livelife365
Mike Foster’s last blog post..Veg Out With Mike
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December 4, 2008 am31 6:23 am
@ PRESTON: I can manage it but I just don’t like having a debts. This another responsibility for me to take care of. Btw, thanks for passing by and welcome in my blog.
@ JO: Thank you Jo. Baka lang dahil medyo busy ako parati eh. I don’t like utang eh, usually pag nangungutang ako, binabayaran ko agad kahit 12 mos to pay pa pero in just 3 months fully paid na agad para walang iisipin.
@ TANI: Be prepaired nalang kase importante dito kung maganda ang credit history mo. Kung mangungutang ka ng malaking halaga, malaki ang chance you can get a big amount.
@ HAZE: Wow, para syang layaway plan pero nakukuha mo na ang item. Btw, welcome back Haze!
I am excited to hear your vacation updates. I’m sure there are so much to share.
@ LISETTE: Thank you for your input Lisette. What I am doing now, I am using my credit card instead the one that I acquire through our joint account. In that way, I can use it but hubby will pay for it. I’m happy to see you hear and welcome in my blog.
@ MIKE FOSTER: Thank you Mike. Just take your time. Thanks for dropping by after all. Take care and God speed.
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