What was your first credit card?
My first credit card was an Advanta VISA card with a really low limit.
How did I get it? I signed up for a free t-shirt during my first few weeks as a freshman on the campus at Purdue University.
What did I do with it when I received it? I went and charged it up!
It was so easy! Yet, it began a ten year mess of debt. I was a huge loser with credit cards. Maybe you have done better. Maybe not.
So my question today is:
What was YOUR first credit card?
AND
Did it help you or hurt you?
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My first credit card was a Best Buy credit card.
I got it when I was told the myth that it came be use d as a tool. The interest rate was 25%, which is ridiculous and I quickly grew tired of it so I paid it off and chopped it up.
I made each payment on time and did not spend the money unless I had it. I just got tired of being in debt to someone even for a hundred dollars.
My first credit card was from Capital One. I thought it was cool because I got to pick the cute picture that went on the front of it! I chose an ocean scene! :o)
At first I tried just using it as a gas card so that I would not have to balance my check book as often. I would pay it off each month. But then I started using it for EVERYTHING and quickly maxed it out.
For a long time I would pay the minimum payments, and the “over the limit fee.” By the time the next months interest would roll around, it was enough to knock it BACK OVER THE MAX LIMIT! So then again I would pay the minimum payment and the over the limit fee. This went on for about 4 months before I realized that I needed to knock a significant chunk out of it!
That was 3 years ago, and I have long since payed it off and chopped it up! I am proud to say that other than my home, I am 100% debt free!! :o) YAYYYY
Thanks Joe!
I got my first credit card in college. They (Visa) had tables set right outside the bookstore when everyone was getting their books for the semester.
a Providian Visa Card I got at 24 that I “needed” to build “credit” with. It hurt because I ended up spending more money then I did with cash and had a harder time keeping track of things.
Thanks to my first card, I’ve been paying the balance in full every month for over 15 years. I never carry a balance.
I used my Penn State University MBNA card for a cash advance to buy a car. I charged about $500 and it took me about 5 months to pay it off. The interest and fees piled up quickly and it scared me into being more careful.
I got a student card from MBNA. It had a pretty mountain scene. A few years later I ran up the balance. It then took me a year to pay the dang thing off. I chopped it up and never looked back.
I had a Franklin Bank VISA. I got it in college, right outside the bookstore. I think I might have gotten a free t-shirt or koozie.
It was the first in many poor financial decisions!
Citibank…$600 limit. I remember the day I received it in the mail! That was the first and last credit card I had. Because I did not understood how the balance went up when I stopped paying it. How can you still charge me for NOT using the card???? LOL
I was young and foolish. I had a good 3 year run with that credit card!
LOL…this came across my reader while I’m with our staff watching Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey.
I signed up for every clothing store company credit card while in college so that I could save a whopping 10%… foolish.
My first was a Providian, at 18. By 21 I had over $15,000 in credit card debt, at 24 I filed bankruptcy. The worst part about it, is not the effect on my credit, as 12 years later I have a credit score over 750; but rather, the habits that were created. Even today, I struggle with the desire to purchase what I want with credit because of habits created so long ago.
Credit Cards HURT me…and still have a hold today, if I let them!
My first credit card ended up being 17 credit cards. My husband I and I had just gotten married, we were making good money at the time and every department store or credit card company was looking good to us. After about 4 months of not worrying about paying the bills, my husband had a job cut back–now he was the bread winner of our household. There was no way we could pay for all those cards. They all ended up being charged off and have finally came off our credit report. That was about 14 years ago. We learned a valuable lesson and have turned the cheek when it comes to credit cards. We either pay cash or don’t get it. The class was awesome and we are finally on a budget! We should be debt free in 8 years which includes the house!!! Praise God!!!!
Amex gold charge card was my first card and only card for the longest time.
My first credit card was a MasterCard when I was an intern at our church in Denver in 1973. One week after I received it I was in Texas for a regional church meeting. I received a phone call that our then 10 month old son was having emergency surgery at Children’s Hospital in Denver. I was able to go to the airport, put down my card, jump on a plane and get home to be with my wife and son.
BTW, he is now 35 years old.