Someone teach me how to adult please. I'm 23 and never had a credit card. I just find them so stupid. I mean seriously...

Someone teach me how to adult please. I'm 23 and never had a credit card. I just find them so stupid. I mean seriously, imagine for a moment this. If they didn't make you build up credit why the fuck would you ever want a credit card instead of a debit card? I see no advantage to a credit card. I have money in my bank, I use my debit card to buy shit. Why would I want to use a credit card except for the fact that it builds up credit? I'm obviously missing something. What don't I understand here?

27 and still to have a significant need for a credit card. You aren't missing much.

I never understood them, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I only use mine for gas because I can get points and pay it off immediately.

Literally the only reason I can think of to get one is to build up credit. What is credit? Fuck if I know, everyone just says you need that shit. It's this made up number that's most likely bullshit.

Debit card
>Money in the bank
>use debit card
>money goes from bank to store
>done

Credit
>money in bank
>use credit card
>get bill from credit card
>give money to credit card company
>money leaves bank account

like seriously i'm cutting out the middle man by using a debit card. It's so much easier and makes more sense.

for some reason, Line of Credit is a very important thing for your bank if you're looking to purchase a large thing like house. actual financial savings don't mean much, they want to see that you can pay and budget to your mean instead of your wants.

If it's important for you to own a house in the future then building that credit is a good thing to do.

just use the card when you have the actual funds, transfer funds and pay it off, no interest payed, up'd credit

I put everything on credit, it builds credit and you get rewards. derp

I got one so I could build credit to avoid being turned down on apartments.

BUT GAS IS LESS EXPENSIVE IF YOU PAY WITH CASH!

It's so stupid holy shit I hate being an adult this shit sucks so bad. Like i'm about to walk into my bank and say "listen bitch give me a credit card. I'm going to walk into a 7/11 once a fucking month and buy some stupid candy bar for a dollar then pay it off imediately. Don't worry about me building up debt. Don't worry about me not paying my bill. Don't worry about me spending too much. I'm buying 1 fucking candy bar a month and forgetting I have the damn card until next month."

OP: Aside from keeping my feet dry and comfortable, as well as socially presented, why should i wear shoes?

fucking dumbass

OK. You need a credit rating for loans later in life.
A credit rating just proves that you pay off what you owe as soon as possible. It allows you to even get a line of credit on any real estate property you own, which allows you some leeway if you don't have that much in the bank.

TL;DR: Just get a secured credit card. Google what it is. Use it for online purchases. Done.

>not having a card with ~2% cashback
>Not getting everything in life 2% cheaper for free
>being "financially smart"

wearing shoes makes more sense. My debit card does the same thing a credit card does except for build credit and it's a lot easier and convenient since the money goes directly from my account to the store instead of me needing to take an extra step to pay the bill.

A credit card is good for people who live paycheck to paycheck, nothing more. If your car needs a $2k repair, when you're strapped for cash it's nice to know you've got a fallback plan. Downside is that $2k ends up costing you like $2.5k over 5 months.

I've had credit cards for ten years now and it's super easy to be irresponsible with them. That's what the banks plan on you doing.

Sidenote: if you're in debt, you have to keep working to pay it off. At one time they called that "indentured servitude." Food for thought

That's the bas thing about your shitty country. I don't have a credit card because the same reason you don't and I don't need to build credit in my country. I can buy a car and they will only look on how much I make and how stable my job is and how stable my previous jobs have been. I'm 26 and an aircraft dispatcher, I make enough not to need a stupid credit card and I get free flights on my airline which make it useless to earn miles.

I was in the same mindset but wanted to buy a house.
Credit score was in the fringe but kept getting dinged for "not enough open accounts."
Got the lowest limit card I could from the bank ($500) and use it for gas only. About 30% utilization per month (which is optimal)
Rewards are 1% always and 3 months of the year 5% on gas. Got back $75 in rewards in year one, plus bonus $100 for spending $500 on card in first 3 months.
After a year, credit score improved 100+ points and my interest rate was lower when I bought the house - it will save me something like $10k over life of the loan.
I still use the card since I am making purchases of gas I would anyway and come out with a couple free tanks a year in rewards.

that actually made a lot of sense. Credit cards are for emergency's. That I can get behind. Thank you.

But emergency's don't happen often so i'll still need to do my candy bar idea from

That's a dumb comparison faggot.
What you mean is, if I have no shoes, should I borrow someone else's and repay him with 2 pairs of shoes later

Higher credit lets you raise your credit limit, take out more loans, purchase a house, rent an apartment etc

If you are over 18 and have no concept of credit, then you have never done any of the above and are therefore a manchild.

tldr don't worry about credit if you get autism bux

If you don't plan on going in debt (taking loans, mortgage) you don't need to 'build credit.' I've never used a credit card in my life. Always payed cash for everything straight up. My bank harasses me for having no credit score or whatever and I just tell them to fuck off.

Credit is ok if you're buying a house or some shit.
Debit is good because you can carry it instead of cash so there's far less damage if you get mugged.

How the hell are you suppose to know about credit if they never teach you?

I googled what a secured credit card is. So correct me if i'm wrong but it sounds like a prepaid credit card essentially? Like I put in $500 and I spend $500 and YAY I just built some credit? That sounds perfect and i'm going to try and get one if that's the case. Obviously i'll do more research first but thank you for the idea

this so fucking much

Can't tell you about loans, buying a house, or anything about financial security but if you want to find the area of a triangle i'm your gut.

Owning a credit card and paying off the balance shows that you are responsible and gainfully employed enough to pay off debts. This shows that you'll be able to pay off future debts that take longer to pay off, like a mortgage. Other than that, they don't really serve a purpose except for making rich people richer and poor people poorer.

OK. You make a security deposit of however much. That's your limit on that card.

HOWEVER, that deposit does NOT pay off what you owe on that card if you don't pay it off.

Do NOT make that mistake. It's a regular credit card with a limit, and you get some money back once you close your account.