When starting up school, it’s time to start looking for a credit card. The first thing that comes to mind is a Student Credit card. As you do your research on credit cards, you find that there are a lot more different types of cards out there. Even though this may be your first credit card, you probably won’t be eligible for most of the higher reward cards. Cards such as airline reward cards, gas reward cards, and others are just a few I can name off the top of my head.

A student credit card is basically geared toward a student, hence the name. Credit card companies will offer these to students attending college who are looking for a small line of credit. Since credit card companies know this is your first card, they will technically give you a small limit usually around either three hundred or five hundred dollars. From there, you will have to prove that you can be responsible and pay off the minimum payments. We strongly recommend that you pay off the card in full.

Now if you have attended our glossary as of late, you will notice that a term “secured credit card” is located there. A secured credit is geared toward an adult with bad credit. It’s basically a repair fix type of a credit card. Just imagine a gift card. You have to put money on it to spend it. What is the point of this you might ask? This will help the people with bad credit repair their credit. Let’s hope you never get to that point.

When looking for a credit card, most people will recommend that you go toward the student credit card route. You will find that the APR rate will usually be a lot higher than most credit cards. Even though most cards offer a nice 0% intro rate, you have to read the terms and conditions when it comes down to it. Some companies will hide the fact that if you miss one payment, that 0% will become void and you will have to pay that awful high interest rate.

Now we’re not saying that a secured credit card isn’t for you, it could be. It’s ideal for someone that is afraid to apply for a credit card that knows he/she will max out the card having irresponsible spending habits. You can apply for one of these secured credit cards and throw a few bucks on it knowing that’s the only amount you have to spend. Therefore, this helps you with your spending habit, learning to organize your money a lot better. Once you get familiar with the credit card, you can then move up the ladder to a student credit card or another type of card.

The main thing when applying for a credit card is that you’re responsible with it. Make sure you never go over the limit and also make sure that your bill is paid off on time. Responsibility is the key word here. If you follow that word, you shouldn’t have trouble in the credit card world.