Choose Wisely When Building Credit

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Mary Hunt in Dear Mary 9 Comments

Dear Mary,

I am 24 and will be a senior in college next year. I plan to apply for my first credit card to start building credit. I am also planning on traveling so I would like a card that can be used abroad. However, looking into credit cards has been difficult. I am limited in what I can apply for because I don’t have a credit history or a steady income stream. I work during the school year only. Do you have any recommendations on where to research the best credit card for my situation? Mariah, email

Credit-Card-Woman

Dear Mariah,

Banks are adverse to risk and the credit industry has tightened. That has caused banks to pull back from offering credit to students with the kind of ease they once did. As of this writing, Capital One is one of the few cards I know of that does not charge conversion fees on purchases made in foreign countries. However, credit card features are changing rapidly. Look at what Capital One will offer you. Then, go to IndexCreditCards.com for a current list of credit card offers for students. Be sure to read all the fine print and know fully what you’re getting into before you submit an application.

If you plan to use a credit card abroad, I hope you are not planning to travel on credit—and come home with a load of debt. Make a personal commitment never to allow a balance to roll over from one month to the next. You cannot afford to do that.

Dear Mary,

I recently moved into a new apartment. The refrigerator has an ice maker, but the ice from it tastes musty. I let the ice container fill up, then I emptied it, cleaned it, and let the maker start over. It still smells. We don’t use ice every day, so sometimes it sits for several days. It is not practical to turn the ice maker off because it takes too long to make ice when we do need it. How can I rid the ice of its musty taste? Julie, Ohio

Dear Julie,

I have a feeling that you need to replace the filter that sits between the water source and the ice maker itself. That filter needs to be changed routinely, in the same way you change the filter on your furnace and air conditioner.

Look in the refrigerator’s owner’s manual for specific instructions on how to do this. You should be able to pull the appliance out from the wall, follow that water line back to where it’s hooked up (probably under the sink) and find the filter in the process. If I were you, I’d go straight to RepairClinic.com to look up the instructions for your particular make and model, and find the exact replacement filter. Repair Clinic stocks millions of parts for nearly every appliance out there, no matter the age or scarcity, along with instructions for how you can make most repairs yourself.

Question: Have you used a credit card overseas? Were you charged conversion or other fees? Tell us here. 

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Posted on February 28, 2013 by Mary Hunt in Dear Mary 9 Comments
  • Janet

    For Mariah: I would first suggest trying the stores like Costco that offer an Am Ex to its members with no fees. It may be worth taking a membership for a year to get her credit started. Or perhaps she could “piggyback” on a family member’s membership. I used my AmEx when we traveled abroad and I don’t remember the fees being an issue, (China x2). Or she could try starting with a department store credit card. Once you have one card established its much easier to get another, the one you will actually keep. Another thought that comes to mind is that if she knows what airlines she will use she could sign up for their frequent flyer program and she will undoubtedly get a credit card offer from that! If she earns points for traveling abroad she may get enough points to earn a domestic flight for later.

    Fell free to edit or refute to your liking Mary!

  • Courtney

    The filter for my icemaker is actually in the top of my fridge. You may nothave to look far. Also you will want to toss the first batch after you change the filter.

  • Tracy, Alaska

    We live in Alaska and travel through Canada regularly. Do some research ahead of time and try to find out which banks are a part of your system. Once we found the bank that used our system, it was a lot easier to draw out a little cash. When we would go to a large, familiar store or hotel, we felt free to use our card. If the gas station was unfamiliar, we paid with cash. Also, let your bank know ahead of time that you are going to be traveling abroad. If we don’t, our bank gets flagged about irregular use and you may get a phone call(s) while on vacation. Have fun!

  • Priscilla

    Regarding the ice filter…If you are renting this apartment, this is a problem for the landlord. He/she may not want you messing with the fridge. Talk to your landlord first before doing anything. He/She may have the manual.

  • KK Squirrel

    when traveling through europe, purchasing fare cards and tickets for local and long distance travel is very time consuming if you wish to use either a regular US credit card or cash as many ticket purchases are now handled by automated kiosks that only take the european standard “Chip and PIN type” cards which are still very rare in the US. At the airport the lines for staffed windows that can handle the antiquated credit cards issued in the US can be so long as to be impractical. Travelers have been known to spring for taxi cabs to avoid waiting for hours to get tickets on the trains into town. Also, restaurants and shops that are not highly used by american tourist may be unable to accept the US magnetic strip cards for purchases. So expect to be forced to use cash if you go off the beaten track. Rather than taking a lot of cash with you, make sure you have a bank card that can access cash through foreign ATMs (these still work for US cards) and be sure you have enough in the account you are accessing for conversion and network charges. Also begin lobbying credit card companies to get with it and move to the embedded chip and linked PIN system.

  • Cath

    It’s been a number of years now since we could afford to travel overseas, but I remember one trip to Denmark that involved using a credit card at an ATM. At the time our bank did not charge us to use our ATM overseas, and used the interbank conversion rate, which is a very good rate. So, we used our ATM card to get small amounts of cash every couple of days, which helped minimize the amount we had left in Danish money at the end of our trip. However, we came across one ATM that wouldn’t take our card, and, as we were in a smallish town, we didn’t want to go tramping all over looking for one that did take it. I switched to my credit card, and was able to withdraw some cash with no problem. Once home, I very naively thought it would show up as a single transaction, like a store purchase would. It did not. What I later found out was they automatically divided the $60 or so I withdrew into monthly payments of $2.50, to be paid back over two years, with interest, of course. It took quite a bit of haranguing to get them to let me pay this “cash advance” all off at once. I’m ashamed of myself for not noticing that little $2.50 charge buried in the depths of my statement. I should have seen it and jumped on it right away. Alas, my bank was taken over by another bank, which recently announced they will be charging a $3 fee for each foreign ATM transaction. I need a new bank! I still believe travelers’ checks are a good back up plan for foreign travel. They work at all sorts of places, and are replaceable if they’re lost or stolen. You do have to tell the bank you’re traveling overseas (and hope they keep a record of that notification and don’t block your use overseas). Also, don’t do the other boneheaded thing I did: my credit and debit cards use to look almost identical. On one trip, at an ATM, I grabbed the credit card thinking it was my debit card and used my debit card pin with it. The machine kept the card. PANIC. Usually we look for ATMs inside, or connected to, a bank that’s open, in case of problems, and also to have them break bills into smaller denominations. Alas, this time I was outside a bank that was closed, so I had no one to go for help. I hovered behind the next customer, much to her consternation, and watched as she had trouble with the machine. Suddenly my card popped out–much to my relief. Fortunately, I didn’t have a reason to use it again for the rest of the trip. What I didn’t know till I got home was the credit card company froze the account when I made that mistake. Like I said, travelers’ checks are always a good fall-back. When it comes to money when you travel, it’s good to have a plan B, and a plan C, and even a plan D.

  • Cath

    One more comment about using travelers’ checks in foreign countries: get them in American dollars. I once bought them in francs thinking it would be easier to use them in Paris than checks in dollars. Wrong–I had a hard time finding anyone who would take them. They didn’t want their own francs!?! Besides, you can always save the ones you don’t use for the future, and you’re likely to want them in dollars if you do. They keep forever.

  • Linvo

    Not every refrigerator that dispenses water HAS a filter. My Hotpoint does not. It is about 15 years old.

  • Helen

    Regarding conversion fees on purchases outside the USA, please know that Discover Card does not charge these fees either. I just called them to confirm.