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You need to be honest with yourself in that you can be financially responsible with your college student credit card and you are the only one that can answer that. If you were not sure, then perhaps a secured card would be the best place to start. This is where you make a deposit with the card issuer, say a bank or credit union, and then your credit limit is the amount of your deposit. This is actually a great place to start and to learn fiscal responsibility and to get used to getting into the religious habit of paying your credit card bill on time every month. You would learn about how the interest can add up, and unfortunately, how late fees can also add up. But it is a lesson that you will learn quickly, and the good news is that you will remember that for the rest of your life.
Depending on which of the three major credit bureaus you check, your credit score varies. Typically, credit is scored on a scale of 0 to 850 and the higher the score the better. Did you know that prospective employers can check your credit? They see it as an indicator of your level of responsibility. The credit bureaus also take into account the amount of credit that is available to you. If you make $20,000/year, but could charge $50,000 a year, that may report negatively on your credit. That means that letting your credit card companies up your limit periodically is not always a good thing. It’s probably wise to decide how much credit you really need and set that as your limit.
