Credit Cards for Single Moms are a Good Thing
By Lana Hawkins
I was talking to a friend of mine recently, a single mom. She was in the process of buying her first home. She was able to make the payments and had a down payment all set, but she had not enough credit history to secure the mortgage.
She told me that the mortgage guy said she should apply for two credit cards. Wow! Silly me. I thought everyone, except the credit card addicted, had a credit card or two. I guess if you paid cash for everything you needed you'd be a very lucky and disciplined person, but for me, using a credit card makes life way easier and it improves my credit rating.
Who wants to carry around cash all the time? First of all if you spend it then you need to go get more. I don't have a cash machine at my house and I hate driving or going to the bank. Then there is the safety issue. Pull out a wad of twenties and it might look like an opportunity for someone to try and take them from you.
Why? Because I pay it off every month. Even if you don't like the idea of having a credit card using one and paying it off every month establishes you as a good credit risk.
It takes a few months for the credit companies to find out how great a lendee you are though, so if you are contemplating needing a real loan for real estate or financing college, get a credit card or two, spend a little every month. Put it into your budget and don't forget about it. Pay it off on time or early, and your credit score should go up.
You can use a department store credit card for this, or a gasoline card or a regular old Visa or MasterCard. I don't recommend a debit card either. A debit card is like having direct access to your bank account. If someone gets a hold of it and figures out how to spend it, well bye-bye money.
With a credit card and some personal responsibility, you are never going to lose more than fifty dollars. Check with your credit card company on the details.
If you use a Visa or MasterCard make sure to find one that doesn't charge you a yearly fee, or has a high interest rate. Having some kind of bonus associated with it is a plus. This could be frequent flyer miles, new car rebates, or cash back.
If you have a real problem with credit cards and run up the balance then have to pay high interest fees, this is probably not for you. Or maybe you could have a friend or a parent hold them for you so you can't use them. Just maybe put some monthly recurring payment on it but keep the card away from you. Or not.
About the author
Lana Hawkins is the author of Mom Pays for
College blog. If you're a single mom that needs to finance an education get the free audio and a detailed report covering many ideas on how single moms can earn money for college. Go to Free Report and Audio - How Single Moms Can Pay for College
. from http://www.FreeArticlesAndContent.com
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