Thread: Building credit with a secured credit card

1) No, the optimal thing is to have a small % of total limit reporting as balance, like less than 10%. I personally never carry a balance (pay mine off each month), but card companies report when they want, so I'll randomly show a balance and it works great for me.

2) Makes no difference *how* you spend the money - the credit bureaus don't look at that.

3) See my answer to #1 above. Ideally, you eventually get a rewards card that gives you x% back on your purchases or frequent flier miles or something. This way you actually make money (or gain value) by using a credit card but never pay any interest.

Yep - same answers for unsecured credit cards.

ok thanks for the info....Another question; with the unsecured card, lets say I use the limit in one day and pay the bill the same day or as soon as I see the charge on the card, can I still use the card again or do I have to wait until a billing cycle is completed?

You should be able to use it again as soon as the issuing bank shows your payment as cleared. They make money on every transaction so they want you to use it as much as possible.