I feel like this forum needs the little "off-topic" coffee cup icon for this thread.
Anyway, I'm looking at moving into an apartment (instead of the house I've been sharing for the past couple years) sometime in the next few months. It will be the first time I've rented from an actual rental company rather than just a private individual. The applications I've seen all require credit checks. Here's the thing - I know I will fail these credit checks because I have no credit score. I've never taken out an actual loan or used a credit card in my life (which I consider something of a personal badge of honor, but is evidently not so impressive in this particular context).
In order to develop a credit score, I'm thinking I'm going to have to actually get a credit card, but that's a new and novel world for me so I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations as to what card I should get. Limits and interest rates aren't really an issue, since I would only use it to develop my credit score (i.e. make very small purchases every once in a while and pay them back immediately). I know that there are certain cards that you get through various retailers that can get you certain discounts and stuff - maybe you guys have experience with that. Since I'm a student making essentially no real income, I know I'm not going to qualify for any of the fancy cards.
The other suggestion I've heard is to get my name put on a family member's already-existing account, like one of my parents' accounts, but I'm not sure that idea would thrill them.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
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