just a survey.Do you have a credit card at 18?

[fluffysamantha]

just a survey guys.Do you have a credit card at 18? How many student credit cards you have?

[gt0163c]

Before I was 18 I had a card on my parents' account but with my name on it. And the understanding that I was to use it only for emergencies, approved purchases (airline tickets home, Mom sent me to the grocery store, etc) or I should have a check in the mail no more than 24 hours after I used it to make a purchase. The first time I used it to buy concert tickets when I was in college, I got a phone call from Dad the next day. I assured him the check was already in the mail and that was fine.

At a fairly young age my parents taught me about how credit cards work. They always paid theirs off each month. And I knew I was expected to do the same with mine.

At some point between 18 and 20 I got my own credit card. But I don't remember exactly when. And I've always paid it off each month.

[Xin Lu]

I didn't get mine until I was out of college and earning money. I just never needed one because I never spent any money. Then after I graduated college I wanted to buy a computer, and didn't have a credit card. So I applied for one with my bank,and they gave me a card with such a tiny limit that I had to ask my dad to order the computer for me anyway. Not having debt could work against you sometimes.

[hermione]

I didn't have a credit card at 18. In fact, that was something that never even crossed my mind at that age; my only pre-occupations were riding my horse and surfing (and college, of course ). I got my first credit card at 24 after a bad experience with trying to buy a car with no credit history and started thinking about building some.

[amyschiff]

The only one I got at 18 was for overdraft protection for my checking account. It rarely got used and if it did it was for some reason like my debit card wasn't scanning properly.

I got a real one when I was 24. I didn't have much trouble with credit history-- I had cosigned with my mom for my car loan at age 20, which helped me get the credit for a cell phone, which helped me get credit for my AmEx card.

[72Tiger]

not at 18. sometime in my twenties I had a few. Now in my 30's I no longer have any. good riddance.

[rstlne]

I had an American Express card piggybacking on my parents' card. I didn't get my own credit card until many years later, by which time, I was well on my way to tightwadness.

[froogurl]

I did not have any credit cards until I was 21 or so - didn't really need one and didn't give it much thought. My sister-in-law got into a lot of credit card debt in her late teens-early 20's and my in-laws had to bail her out. It's been a recurring problem for her. We did not let our daughter apply for a card until she graduated college. It was part of the terms of our financial support. Once she graduated and got her first job, we encouraged her to apply for one and she had no problem getting it. We really wanted our kids to have a good financial start with no debt and no student loans. One down, one to go!

[KelR1]

I got my very first credit card at age 16 (my mother co-signed). This was not the best idea. I was not financially savvy enough at that age to handle it, and I ran it up to its limit (which wasn't all that high but for a HS student with only a PT job it was a lot of debt).

[Lynnae]

I got my first credit card at age 18 on my college campus. Not a wise decision.