Teen in need of some credit advice?

I am a college freshman, and being so i have virtually no credit history, I am trying to establish a credit score so that this summer I can take out a small car loan on a pre owned car, (less then 5k) and want a good score to try to back it up. I have money in my saving and checking, make a good amount of money for where I am at, but any application i fill out online just states the same thing ';insufficient credit history'; what can I do?Teen in need of some credit advice?
Your just going to have to keep building your credit history up. You obviously dont have enough information that shows youd be a reliable person on your credit history. Wherever you live, put all the bills in your name.. A lot of power/phone/water company's do report to the Credit Bureaus.Teen in need of some credit advice?
Get a secured credit card...the kind where your credit limit is equal to your security deposit and use that to build a history of on time payments. This is a good way to build a solid credit history.
Start small - and don't worry, I'm 32 and still have insufficient credit to buy a car, haha! Whatever you decide to do to improve your credit, make sure you make all your payments on time, pay more than the minimum due, and you'll be fine.





There are stores that cater to teens - like Gap and American Eagle - that might be able to set you up with your first credit account. There's no extra fees on those, like annual fees or application fees, stuff like that, so they won't cost you, as long as you use the card and pay the balance in full when it's due.





I agree with the person that suggested a secured bank loan - just go to your bank, ask for a secured bank loan, and they'll help you define what amount, what payment, and what form of security, etc. Last time I did one of those, it was $500, I put $500 in my savings, they gave me $500, and then each month they automatically withdrew the payment amount from my savings account out of the $500 i'd put in there. It's a no-brainer, you don't have to do anything.
Go to the bank and get a credit card. I got mine when I had no credit history at all by applying to one of those card for college student where they only asked for my program and license. Mine only had a 300 dollar limit but you gotta start somewhere.





Buy simple stuff and pay them on time every month. It's important to use the credit card when you have the money to pay for it at the moment and not when you think you can earn that money by next month. Don't spend to the point where the debt is close to the limit of the card (that doesn't help the score). Anyway, ask the people at the bank.





The other thing you can do is to get your parents to sign for you. I don't remember what's it called but it's basically a paper that states that if you don't pay for the car, your parents are going to have to pay for it or their score will be affected. Your not-on-time payments will affect their score as well.
Sometimes your bank should be able to allow you to set up a secured credit card, and move it to an unsecured credit card. Also, some times going with a department store helps IF AND ONLY IF you can afford to pay off what you're going to buy the next month. Another little trick is get a loan from your bank - say like 300 dollars, and offer 300 dollars for collateral, and pay it off starting the following week, in like 3 weeks, do it again a few times - it should show some creditability.