After I went bankrupt in 1990, I didn't want to use credit. Credit hurt me because I thought that if I hadn't used it, I would have never been bankrupt. I felt that way, whether it made sense or not.
Not long after that, I realised that if I wanted to do what I needed to do for work and travel, I would need a credit card to make reservations and pay for everyday things. I didn't find what I was looking for until I learned about the idea of a secured card.
With a secured credit card, I could use the Visa and MasterCard networks to do everything I needed to do, but I also had a safety net in case something went wrong. People I gave the card to didn't know I had been bankrupt or that I still had credit problems. They also didn't know that almost no other creditor in the world would give me credit at that time. I didn't get the credit, that's for sure.
The benefit of a secured card is that your credit limit is the same as the amount of cash you put down with the card issuer. And that's what made me feel good about carrying a secured card: if something happened and I couldn't pay the bill, I already had the money in the bank to pay off the balance! If something unexpected happened, I would never be in debt if I used the secured card, which was a relief.
The next thing I found out made me feel even better. The bank I chose, which has been bought and sold many times since then, also reported how I used my new card to the credit bureaus. This helped me get my credit back on track. After the bankruptcy ruined my credit, I needed help to start building a new credit history that was better than the old one. And that's exactly what the secured card did for me.
I was very happy to find out that the money I put in the bank also earned interest. This meant that while it was saving me money in case of an emergency, it was also making me some money.
After going bankrupt, I will always be grateful for the secured card. It helped me get back on my feet in the real world of transactions, protected me in case of a financial emergency, and paid me interest on my deposit.
Detailed List of Secured Cards: http://myvesta.org/cards/
Some people tell me, "Steve, I can't afford to put down a deposit to get a card." If that's the case, I tell them they might not need a card at all. "Safety First" should be your motto when it comes to using credit.
