Any ideas on how to establish credit?

I am needing to establish some credit. My house and bills are all in my father's name being I have no credit. I want that to change. But first I know I need to establish some credit. What are some ways I can do so? I can't buy anything on monthly payments or get a cell phone... any other alternatives?

1. Open a checking account- While opening the account doesn't directly build your credit, it does create a relationship between you and the bank by being an accountholder. Banks love to cater to their preferred customers that have accounts in great standing by offering loans and credit cards. Also, having a checking account not only helps manage your money, but it gives you the most powerful tool in building credit, a checking account to help pay your bills on time. Most banks and credit unions offer online banking with billpay that can make it easy for you to pay your bills on time, which is important in building credit.

2. Open a secured credit card- Secured credit cards are the easiest credit cards to get, mainly becuase a security deposit is placed upfront in order to establish a line of credit in the same amount. For example, if you deposit $250, your credit limit is $250, and so on. The deposit isn't used to pay for any of the purchsases on the card unless, it was charged off and sent to collections, so you would have to repay it just like a regular card either in full or minimum monthly payments. The deposit is sometimes linked to a savings account, so it earns interest while you're building credit, so the deposit isn't sitting there. You can think of this as building credit with a savings account. The more you deposit, the higher your limit, which is good for your score because it creates a cushion between the total debt you owe and the credit you have available. Also, by continuing to add to the deposit, you're also creating an emergency fund at the same time. A good way of using the card is by making small purchases ($20/month max) and paying on time every month while adding to the deposit. Usually after a year or so, the card either converts or upgrades to a regular card, and most importantly, the deposit is given back, which you can place in a savings account as an emergency fund.

3. Enroll with PRBC- PRBC is America's Alternative Credit Bureau, providing a helpful service to the over 50 million people with limited or no credit history. If you pay your monthly bills on time, PRBC can help you build credit to qualify for a mortgage and better interest rates.On-time payments for the following bills are not reported to the traditional credit bureaus:

Rent
Cable
Phone
Daycare
Insurance
Electric
Natural Gas
Cell Phone

The only time your payments for these bills are reported to the other credit bureaus is if they're missing or late.With PRBC, your on-time payments count. You build credit for paying your bills on time, even if you have no credit history. PRBC has teamed up with Fair Issac, the creators of the FICO score to introduce the FICO expansion score which helps people build credit. Here's a link that explains more in detail:

http://www.fairisaac.com/fic/en/product-service/product-index/fico-expansion-score/

* put one of the bills in your name. The telephone bill maybe
* apply for a credit card, and always pay the bill in full
* apply for a loan at the bank

You have several options to establish credit. If he's up for it, the easiest way would be to have your father co-sign for a credit card or loan of a small amount(Gas Card for example) or a Department store card(Macy's, Best Buy, etc).

Other alternatives are pre-paid credit cards, where you put money on the card up front, and spend only what you put on there(Most of these companies report to the 3 agencies).

There are also starter cards for people rebuilding credit(I think Orchard Bank has one). They start you off with a small credit line(I think $75-$250). The problem with these cards is that they charge high annual and signup fees, sometimes to the point where 80% of your opening credit line is already spent on their fees.

Hope this helps(NOTE: Beware of building credit when you are young. I did it when I was 18, as do alot of teenagers. They get a little credit and spend WAY over their heads, and end up completely screwing up their credit for years to come. I am still suffering, paying 21% interest on a car loan).

Good luck.

I see all of these people saying Bills(Utility, Cell Phone, Rent, etc) help your credit. That is a FALSE statement. These bills will only affect your credit NEGATIVELY if they are not paid.

store card
credit card
check your credit rating on line

The easyist way i did it was to go to us cellular and get a phone. Iknow u said that you cant but I was in the same place about 1 year ago. I just went to US Cellular and they helped me get a phone and i've had credit every since.

Building credit is really simple you will just need to use it in a smart manner. Credit cards are the best way to boost your score that I have seen. They are easy to get and easy to maintain. The best thing about a credit card vs a gas card is that your credit rating will raise and you can use that for other things later. Gas cards usually just give you some free gas.

get a credit card and make sure you make your payments on time Check out www.fastcreditcardapprovals.com and compare them all side by side on rates, fees and rewards.

Unfortunately the world revolves around credit. You do need it...and to say all it gets you in debt is a stupid, ill-research statement. I have several credit cards...they have 0 balance. Why? Because I have a business and to buy things online I can't write a check (some I could but then it takes longer to get things done and sometimes the mail doesn't always deliver right). Why? Because I wanted to buy a house...I put down over 20% and was able to get a very good interest rate (under 6.5%) and very low mortgage payment (under $600 a month). Why? Because I HAVE the money, but sometimes it's easier to put it on a credit card and pay the balance online then going through paper (checks) or stopping by the bank.

Actually, you should be able to get a cell phone. They usually require a deposit that they will hold for a time (like a year) and it's probabbly a lot. Verizion says $400 last time I checked.

Any bill in your name will work to help get you credit.
A good amount of money in your bank...then ask the bank for a card.
Get a secured credit card (your credit line is linked to one of your assets).

Why would you want to?
The only way to build credit is to borrow money and make payments on time. All it gets you is debt.

You have to borrow money and make payments on time to get a high credit score so that you can go out and borrow money and make payments.
It makes no sense. You will never get ahead financially making payments.

If you pay as you go.
If you live on less money than you make.
You will not have to obsess with the fico (I love debt) score. You will have money.

The world only revolves around credit if you let it.

The only time you might have to borrow money is for a home (which you already have). You can do that without a fico score. It's called manual underwriting. It's not a sub prime loan. It's how home loans were givin' before all the fico score worship. You can get the lowest interest rates available.

Get a debit card. It will do anything a credit card will do except get you into debt. You can buy things online and you get the same protection as a credit card as long as it has a Visa or Mastercard logo on it. It says so right on there website.

Check out http://www.daveramsey.com and listen to his radio show. He has lots of great advice on money and debt. It doesn't cost a dime to listen.

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