Financial Dunce has Epiphany

A few months ago, I received some advice from an old friend. He’s a realtor and I told him that after graduate school my next big life goal was to own a home. He told me that if I wanted to take out a mortgage on a house, I need at least 24 months of really good credit history in order to get the best deal on a loan. Well, this made a lot of sense. Two years was a substantial amount of time to show the bank that you are financially responsible. Yet here is the rub for me. I have absolutely, positively no credit history. I abhor credit cards! The thought of owing people money makes me cringe and I just know that being in credit card debt would put me in a perpetual state of anxiety and worry. So what is it that I do when I don’t have the cash on me? I whip out my glorious debit card. Purchasing products or services with my debit card causes me to only buy those things that I can afford as I know that the money I spend will be coming directly from my checking account. Plus!!! (here’s the best part), no bills! So I know all my payments are made on time, because I don’t make them. They are made for me.

But of course, no matter how wonderful debit cards are, they do not give you a credit history. First thing I did, as I was still nervous about getting a credit card, was take out a Federal Perkins Loan (subsidized) for graduate school. Yet, it will not do me a lot of good now, since I won't graduate for 2 or 3 years. So what do I do in the meantime? I apply hesitantly applied for a credit And unbeknownst to me, the financial dunce I am, you need CREDIT to get a CREDIT CARD? I’m sorry but that made no sense to me? So if you need some credit history to get a basic, no frills, credit card, how do people get their very first credit card?

Then it dawned on me. The light switch over my head turned on and shone brightly, angels with huge wings began to sing “Hallelujah,” and I raised my hands to the skies and said “by George I think I’ve got it!” Alright, maybe it wasn’t so dramatic, but for a financial ignoramus, like myself, I was proud to have thought of this. So to answer my question, how do people get their first credit card? The parental units, mayhaps? A loving father or mother may put his or her adorable son or daughter on their account and get them a separate credit card for their own use. And my father, who has the best credit history on the face of the planet, can co-sign a credit card for myself, which I will use, (wisely of course), so I can build a nice credit report of my very own.

I hope this idea works, and that this epiphany doesn’t turn out to be a complete washout. At this point, I can only be optimistic and hope that my dream of a home sweet home all my own isn’t just a castle in the air.