lark77

I've seen multiple posts on here that express concern about keeping credit card utilization above 0% while not carrying a revolving balance. At least one person indirectly offered a solution to that, but I'll reiterate it.

The amount of credit being used on an account is shown on the credit report as the ending statement balance of that account. It follows that the ending statement balance has to be greater than 0 in order for a credit line to be shown as utilized. Once the next statement begins, the balance can be paid in full, and no interest will accrue. It's all about the timing of the payments. A credit account can have NO balance whatsoever for 29 out of 30 days in a month, however just as long as there is a positive balance on the account on the day that the statement ends, the credit report will show that balance.

My girlfriend has no credit history whatsoever, and we've struggle with trying to build up her credit so that she can qualify for a mortgage. The challenge is that it's hard to get credit with no credit history, especially if you don't want to pay for it.

Fortunately, I think we've found a solution. I have several open credit card accounts, and I learned that I can add her as a joint owner of the account. The best part for her is that it doesn't require a check of her credit, so she shouldn't have a problem getting approval. It also doesn't require a check of my credit. That's a big issue for me since I'm waiting for multiple hard inquiries on my credit report to expire so that my score can rise above the magic credit score of 760. Adding her to one of my accounts, particularly an account that I'm not utilizing, will help my credit score because her use of that account would further increase my credit history. We just have to make sure that she doesn't over-utilize the credit.

Italian81, the vast majority of people need credit in order to purchase a home. For most people, that is unavoidable. For people who choose to not use credit until they are ready to buy a home yet don't have the cash to buy it completely, they are in the worst situation because they can't get approved for loans.

It is true that banks look to make money off of its customers. Otherwise, they wouldn't offer credit if they didn't think it would be profitable. However, it's not difficult to turn the tables on them.

I concur with astroathena in multiple ways. I have the Freedom card and the ESPN card that was previously offered by Washington Mutual before it was bought by Chase. They are VERY different cards. The bonus categories are really what make the Freedom card 1st in its class. The 5000 bonus points or $50 cash back with the 1st purchase is nice, too. That's worth as much as $5000 in spending.

The $12/month limit that Nikolas claims as one of the strictures of the Freedom card applies only to the bonus categories. I've earned as much as $24 in a month, possibly more. Once the bonus categories are maxed out, every dollar spent that would otherwise earn 3 points earns 1 point instead. The rewards are reduced but not eliminated. I've had my card for almost 13 months, and I'm in the process of redeeming $350 from my card. I'll get $250 in a check and then apply another $100 to my statement balance. Fortunately, I only have to use $200 worth of points in order to redeem the $250 check because that is one of the special offers with the Freedom card. So picture this: if you can manage to earn $400 worth of points (40000 points), you can redeem them for 2 $250 checks or $500. So, the $50 cash back bonus doesn't stop with just the first purchase. It can be reclaimed for every 20000 points that is accumulated.

I switched to this card from the Capitol One No Hassle Miles card because the return on the Freedom was simply much greater that what I was getting from the No Hassle Miles card. While I average over 1% earnings on my Freedom card, I was only getting 0.8% earnings from the No Hassle Miles card. Also, the 10000 point bonuses ended after 2 years compared to the $50 bonus that I can make with every 20000 points that I earn on the Freedom card.

If you're concerned about the interest rate on this card, you probably shouldn't get one. Otherwise, you'll end up rewarding Chase instead of letting Chase reward you. Using a card like this works best when you charge everything you can to it while having the ability to pay if off at ANY time.