Credit is one of life’s great catch-22. Say you’re fresh out of high school and want to get your first credit card. Who dutifully fill out forms and wait for the answer, only to discover that a couple of weeks after you have been rejected. Why? Because you have no credit history. How to establish a credit history? Well, you get a credit card, of course …
It is a frustrating puzzle, but fortunately there are some easy and inexpensive to build a credit history.
Tutorial: What you should know about credit cards
Are you sure you have no credit history?
First, make sure you really do not have a credit history by getting a free copy of your credit report. You might be surprised to discover that due to a gym or a student loan, you actually have a credit history. It can be very short, but may be all you need.
If you have recently been rejected by a credit card, you have the legal right to request a free copy of your credit report from the agency’s credit card company used to review your credit history. The three major credit reporting agencies are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. If you have not recently been rejected by a credit card, you can still get a free credit report. Federal law allows you to get a free copy of the report from each agency once a year.
No need to pay to see your credit score (or lack thereof), and if you need to know your score or are just curious, you can use a free online credit score estimator tool to get a general idea of your score by answering a series of questions. (To learn how your credit report is calculated and how you can improve your score, read the Consumer Credit Report:. What is in it and five keys to open a better credit score)