I started establishing credit in 1997, where I was able to sign up for a Discover Card, through my parents long term account. I think I may have started out with a small $500 credit limit, or something reasonable for a young person just starting out and learning how credit worked. Back then I was not concerned about rewards, or even establishing good credit, since I was ignorant to what a good credit history really meant. Instead my credit card was there to act as an emergency or pay for things that cash or check would not cover. My parents had instilled in me though that I needed to pay off the card every month and to not carry a balance. What I did not know was that the expansion of my wallet (new lines of credit) was at the mercy of the credit card companies by offering the simplicity of cotton team wear.

Sometime there after I remember being convinced at a baseball game to sign up for a Capitol One MasterCard because they were giving away a free hat of my local sports team. I thought, wow, this is awesome they are giving me a hat for free, and all I had to do was sign up for a disposable credit card. I figured I would cut up the card when it arrived or toss it in my drawer. I was proud to wear my new hat, but knew nothing about how it affected my credit history. It was a cheap gimmick, I’ve come to learn, to entice innocent people to sign up for credit unknowingly on how it will affect them. Luckily for me, even while I was young, my parent’s lessons for establishing credit by paying my balance in full each month would last a lifetime. I used that MasterCard for years actually, all the way through college, until the account was finally closed, by me, from lack of use.

From 1997 up until probably 2003, I never really knew anything about my credit report or score and just opened and closed credit lines at will. It was not like I was opening and closing accounts all the time, maybe once or twice a year, but still I had no idea of the implications of such a decision. If a store offered a discount on my purchase, and if it was a large enough item (new television, etc.), I would open up a card to save an additional 10%. It was the easy days of credit and the companies were able to lure new customers by simple means.

The good news is since I always paid my balances in full, and did not go wild opening and closing cards all the time, it really did not impact my credit scores much. I’ve always had stellar ratings amongst the three credit bureaus, and continue to work and improve my scores more and more each day. Over the years, I have always been able to qualify for the highest qualifying interest rates on my existing home, new cars or other items. Today I’m much smarter about opening and closing accounts at will, as well as maintaining high lines of credit and excellent credit scores.