Credit Card Help... I'm Sure This Has Been Asked Before?

I'm 18 a sophomore in college and am thinking about getting a credit card.
My parent's are in debt pretty bad and have been victims of the whole mortgage/foreclosure mess thing. We got to keep our house but it has made me pretty paranoid and I'm afraid I'll end up like they are (having the bank harass us several times a day via phone...) My parents won't give me any help and don't want to talk to me about it.

Can someone please give me a little advice?
I don't know what to look for. Everyone says low interest (is that APR?) But i thought interest was only if you were late on paying? I'm not planning on making any huge purchases that I would be late on... really I just want to spend my money in advance. I only get 150/week with my part time job and sometimes as a college student, I run out before the week is over. I'm usually responsible with my money and when I borrow from my parents I pay them back within a week but I don't want to keep borrowing from them.
I'm a pretty responsible person I've had a job since I was 16 and I have a 3.8 GPA in school.
Sorry for the novel but I'm confused and they won't help me.
What do I need to look for?????
Thanks in advance.
Additional Details
when i run out of money i said i borrow from my parents which i pay back the next week. this has only happened twice.

my parents were victims. they bought our home 8 years ago when the housing market in california was great for buyers. now they owe a certain amount of money on a home that is work a third of that. it has nothing to do with reading a mortgage, how could anyone predict this happening?

thanks for everyone's advice i will wait on getting a credit card. i've had a debit card since i was 16 and have had one overdraft fee on it so i'll just keep that.

get more details ; open the second & fourth link in: www.credit-debit-card.co.cc

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The monthly interest is actually what keeps the credit card company going - their source of income. It is unlikely you would be accepted for a credit card at this time without full time employment.
The credit limit on a credit card is effectively a loan, and therefore a risk for the company offering it

I liked everything Ryan E said, until he ragged on your parents. Companies spend big bucks to develop ways to take money from good, but naive, trusting people. The schemers deserved what they got, but a lot of good people got screwed.

Stick with cash. At this point, even if you could get a credit card, it would get you in trouble. Stay away from debit cards to, because their overdraft fees are nasty. The bank of mom and dad is working for you, so stick with it.

P S The only way to avoid interest on credit card purchases is to pay the bill IN FULL every month otherwise you pay lots of interest. And cc companies will also screw you with late fees. - And don't pay to load one of those "pre-paid with my own money" cards unless you have to have a way to pay for something online (I am guessing that is their main appeal, but idk. I only use credit cards, and I pay them off in full every month.) Don't get an overly expensive cell phone, either.

Good luck in college.

Quick run-down. A credit card gives you a certain limit that you can't spend more than. You can borrow anything up to that limit as long as you pay it back before the bill date. Anything outstanding is charged interest. Interest and APR are not the same thing exactly; there are so many ways to calculate interest that the government made everyone translate it into a uniform APR (You could be charged 10% interest but it's calculated so that you're actually paying 15% per year). Jon Stewert has a great episode on it.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-february-23-2010/make-it-rain---bank-of-america

Ok, you sound pretty smart but you said two key things "I just want to spend my money in advance" and "sometimes as a college student, I run out before the week is over." Honestly, I don't think you should get a credit card. Nothing personal, but I don't think you'd make smart decisions. I mean, right now, when you run out of money before the end of the week, what do you do? You don't spend any more money, because you don't have it. Having a credit line just gives the illusion that you have it when you don't. If you had a card, when you ran out of money, you would spend a little more but you wouldn't be earning any more. Since you aren't earning anymore, there isn't any way to pay that back. In other words, Let's say you are making enough for six out of seven days, so you run out of money one day per week. You pay it off the next week but then the money you would have lived off one day that week, was going towards paying for the week prior. So now you only have enough for five out of seven days. Rinse repeat. That's why your parents and everyone else in the US is in debt.

The excuse of "sometimes as a college student" is tempting but doesn't work. Anything can be used in its place: just got fired, new job, new house, medical bills, had to move, wrecked the car, etc. When you add up all the excuses, you get the sum of living life. You'll be fine, just spend less than you make and once you get a decent full-time job out of college, don't get a card with a limit any more than half of what you earn in a month.

Finally, I have something that might sound super harsh but I mean it in the best possible way. Don't tell your parents, but there were no victims in mortgage mess. There were just homeowners who either didn't read their mortgage, or thought they could handle their money better than they actually could. Your parents thought they would make more than they did, and they're paying for that now. Don't make their mistake. Stuff happens. Budget for problems. Spend less than you earn.

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