On this episode of Money Talk with Tiff, Tiffany Grant dives into the always relevant topic of credit cards in "Tiffany's Take: What is the Best Credit Card For Me?" Tiffany shares her insights on choosing the best credit card, understanding annual fees, evaluating rewards, and considering lifestyle factors.

She explains the difference between secured and unsecured credit cards, and offers valuable advice for those just starting out on their financial journey. If you've ever wondered "what credit card should I get?" or "how to choose the best credit card," Tiffany's got you covered.

So, sit back, tighten those purse strings, and open your ears to learn how to make wise credit card decisions in this episode of Money Talk with Tiff.

Every Tuesday, Tiffany answers one of your submitted questions. To submit a question for an upcoming episode, visit here: https://www.moneytalkwitht.com/asktiffany. 

Timestamps

[00:00] Tiffany answers listener questions about credit cards.

[04:27] Start with secured credit card for trust.

[06:38] Question pre-approved offers, research before accepting.

Key Takeaways

• Credit Card Evaluation: Consider annual fees, rewards, and credit score.
• Card Types: Unsecured vs. secured credit cards and their differences.
• Responsible Credit Use: Use credit as a tool, not income.
• Lifestyle Fit: Only get a credit card if it aligns with your financial journey.
• Timing: It's okay to wait to get a credit card.
• Pre-approved Offers: Do your own research before applying.
• Credit Card Choices: Consider factors like annual fees, rewards, and requirements.

Connect with Tiffany on Social Media

Facebook: Money Talk With Tiff

Twitter: @moneytalkwitht

Instagram: @moneytalkwitht

LinkedIn: Tiffany Grant

You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your

money nerd and financial coach. Now tighten those purse

strings and open those ears. It's the money talk with TIFF

podcast. Hey,

everyone, this is Tiffany's take where I go over your

questions that you submitted and answer them on the show.

So the question that I receive is what credit

card should I get? And then the follow up question is how to choose

the best credit card. Now, if you are interested in asking

your question on ask Tiffany or Tiffany's take, please

go to forward slash

asktiffany. And there are a couple of ways to submit your question there, but

let's go ahead and hop right into answering this question. First, what credit card

should I get now? It depends, okay? Because there's

so many different cards out there. There's so many different cards based

on what your credit score is, so on and so forth. So

I think I'm going to answer both questions at the same time.

So when you're looking and you're evaluating credit cards, one thing you

need to look at is the annual fee. Okay? So a lot of

cards do have an annual fee, but there are some that do not. And so

I'm personally a fan of the ones that do not because I'm

like, I don't use credit cards that often in order to take advantage

of some of the fees that are required with some of the high

rewards ones. So you want to make sure you evaluate

the annual fee. Also, speaking of rewards, evaluate

the rewards. If there is an annual fee, make sure that

the rewards that you're getting is going to justify

paying that extra cost every year. Okay? And I've seen annual

fees from ninety nine dollars to seven

hundred dollars a year. So it just depends on what you're looking for,

what your pockets can afford, and what rewards you think you're really going to

use. Then another consideration is their

requirements. So all credit cards have different

requirements. I know when I was first starting out and my credit score

was not where it was today, I was able to get a capital one card.

So I always recommend to people, check out capital one first. They

have some unsecured cards. Oh, and that's another one. We'll get to that in

a minute. But they have some unsecured cards where you don't have to

have a great credit score and they have good benefits, good

rewards and no annual fee. So I was able to start off

with Capital one. And I also like them because if you use

your lower credit limit, responsibly they

will keep bumping you up. And I think with that card, I started with

$300, and once I showed them that I could use it

responsibly, then they went ahead and bumped it up. I can't remember

incrementally what it is, but I know on that card today, I have a

20,000 credit limit. Definitely look at Capital one if you're just starting

out. But also, I want to hop in the difference

between secured and unsecured. So if you see an offer or

you get an offer for an unsecured card, unsecured

means that you do not have to send in any money to get that card.

It's just a regular credit card. So the money, the

credit limit that you get on there is yours to spend. Of course,

use it responsibly. Use credit as a tool, not as income.

So use it and spend it. Use it and pay it off and keep

that going. But there's also such things as secured

credit cards. And with secured credit cards, they require you to

actually send money in. That is your security to the

credit card company saying, I'm only going to spend this amount,

and they'll open up a credit line for you

using that money that you sent in to secure it. And then that's

what you can spend up to. Hey, it's Tiffany. Are

you interested in starting a podcast? We can get up to two months. Of free

podcasting service from Lipsin with. The code money talk.

Get your show on Apple Podcasts, and. Spotify anywhere you

want. Get critical stats to help you grow. Find all the tools and support

you need to sound your very best, and you can even do video, really

bring. Your podcast to life. With Lipsyn, you can use code

again. Money talk, to get two months of free

podcasting service. This is what I use to get my podcast to your

listening ears. Enjoy.

So, a lot of people with credit that

is less than ideal for them, they'll go ahead and start with a

secured credit card, and that's a good way to just inch your way in.

This is all new to you, or your credit is not

where you want it to be. Having a secured card can help,

because even though you send the money in ahead of time, so you're telling them,

you can trust me, this is my money. They still report it for

you like a regular credit card. So that's a good way to inch

into it. The next thing you should think about when you're looking at credit

cards is, how does this fit into your lifestyle? Okay,

so my thing is you should only get a credit card if

you know you're going to be responsible with it. If you are just starting

out on a financial journey and you haven't gotten the

basics down and you know that you're going to be using this for

income versus as a tool, then I would say, just stay away for

now. Don't set yourself up for failure. If you know that you're not

already there and you hear people in your ear, oh, you need a credit card,

you need this. Or you get all these offers and you're like, oh, you feel

tempted. Don't set yourself up for failure. It is okay to take your time.

I know I didn't get my first credit card until I was like 23

or something like that, maybe 24. For that reason, I knew I

was not ready. I didn't want to go the same route as I saw

others around me. And so I was like, I'm just going to wait until

I get my money situated, then I'm going to go ahead and get a card.

And honestly, credit is a long game anyway. So even though I waited

that long after like about a year or so, I was

ready to get my house and do other things. Don't feel

pressured, especially if you're 1819, don't feel pressured

to go ahead and jump into that card immediately. You don't

have to. You could take your time and you can wait until you feel like

you're responsible to do so. Those are my tips on how to

choose a credit card and then also using that

to figure out what credit card you should get. I will say,

do not go for those pre approved offers and stuff like that come in the

mail when you are trying to go for a credit card. Do your

own research. Don't just go face value with what they send because of

course they're going to make it seem like it's the best card in the world

because they're trying to get your business. Do your own research, go

straight to the website, see what's out there. A lot of times there's

sign up bonuses and things like that you can take advantage of and you can

find all that stuff on your own. You don't have to do the whole pre

approved offer thing because actually what's been happening is,

for instance, on credit karma. This was some big news is that

they were saying that people were pre approved, then they go to apply, get the

hard credit inquiry, and now they do not qualify. The

pre approved offers thing, honestly, I just ignore it for

myself. But I would say go ahead and go to these

different websites like Capital one, maybe American

Express, visa, whatever ones you're evaluating and look at all their

options and see which ones fit best for you. So

hopefully that answers your question. Like I

said, if you are interested in asking your question on Tiffany's

take, go to forward

slash ask Tiffany and I will be happy to answer it

for you. Bye. Thank you for listening,

joining and being a part of the Money talk with TIFF podcast this week. You

can check TiFf out every Thursday for a new Money Talk podcast,

but if you just can't wait until next week, you can listen to previous

podcast

episodes@moneytalkwitht.com

or follow TIFF on all social media platforms at

moneytalkwitht. Until next time, spend wise

by spending less than you make a word to the money wise is

always sufficient.

Mary.