Get a secured credit card.

I don't know, but when you figure it out, let me know eh?

You will need to start small. A secured credit card will give you that amount of credit. For real credit you need to demonstrate you have a job, you pay your bills (utilities on time in full, etc.) and maybe take out a small loan from a bank or your employer's credit union and pay it back on time in full. In time you will build up some credit. Lots of merchants are looking for people to use credit. For instance Menards, Lowe's, Wards, JC Penney and they may extend you a small amount of credit on their card. It take time but it pays to pay on time and in full.

Why bother with the secured credit cards? Get one of those cards that promise you'll get one in the junk mail. Get several, but watch your spending, or you'll get a bad credit history.

Start small with a credit card that you charge less than half of the outstanding balance on. Make sure that you can pay that off each month. You can also get a CD secured loan with your bank where the payments will be taken from another account each month. There is a difference in how installment loans like the CD secured (car loans, student loans) and revolving credit (credit card, lines of credit) affect and look on your credit history. The main thing is to be careful and make your payments before they are due. Most credit cards now of days will raise your interest rate if you are 1 day late costing you a lot of money over time.

Take your bank statement to a few large stores that offer their own credit cards and say you want to open a charge account, and why. They'll be happy to have a customer like you, especially if you sometimes make only the minimum payment so that they get some interest out of you.

Buy something from a small store that grants credit. Sofa at a furniture store, for instance. Don't miss any payments. Build from there.

About 12 years ago I was in the same boat. I had assumed that since I did not own a credit card, did not go into debt, etc. that I had a great Credit Rating - Nope. Truth be told I had worse credit rating than the spouse who was in debt up to the eyeballs. You should have both a savings account and a checking account in operation. A secured checking account (one backed by a savings account that can cover X amount if you are over drawn in the checking account) comes with an ATM/Credit Card all in one in most banks. There are two kinds of credit score 'history' that you need to accrue with credit cards. 1. Ability to promptly pay more than just the minimum payment. With the exception of say American Express, if you leave a balance on your card from month to month, paying more than the minimum (which means paying more than just the interest) you get a 'history' of good faith. It adds to your score. you are wiling and able to be in debt, and able to sensibly pay off that debt over time. 2. Use it or lose it History. Do Not get your credit card, make $200.00 in debt for the first month, then pay that off at the end of the month and 6 months go by before you use the card again. That will have a NEGATIVE impact on your Credit Score. Use the card every month - the more you use it the higher your credit score goes (Yeah its a sick process). Yes be prompt in your payments, yes continue buying stuff - carry a small balance on each card - what ever you can afford to pay off - no more than that - less is ok, more is bad, bad, bad. Time, prompt payments, and carrying a continuing debt with the card will, over time, send your score upward. And later down the road you will get a larger credit card - you know gold, platinum, ect - each having a higher carrying capacity. Your best bet is to start off with the ATM/Credit Card through your bank - once you have been doing that for 6 months as outlined above you will start getting applications through other banks. Banks and lenders will come to YOU, you will not need to go to them. They get notified when fresh meat is in the waters - like sharks they will circle you, they will eyeball you and they will set traps. As your credit score goes up you become a more tasty meal for them and more sharks will appear. Aim for a Visa, a MasterCard and later an American Express Card. Visa and MasterCard will come quickly, American Express tends to take a while. Visa and AC will allow you to carry an ongoing debt, making minimum payments (Always pay more than the listed minimum - always) AmEx will want you to pay it off at the end of the month. How these cards operate should determine your use. When you do get your second application for a credit card approved and have that card, go and purchase something, and start the process of buy and paying it off - seeking to maintain a couple three hundred of debt on each card, paying it promptly at the very least more than minimum. Paying it off may have a negative impact on your score. Credit is based on history, if you pay it off and do not carry a debt you do not have a long term 'history' of being able to deal with a debt. Do that for an additional 6 months. Pick a (just one) department store - Sears, Macy's, JC Pennies. Apply for one of their 'small' cards. If it is approved then every 3 months go to the store and buy 'something'. We use our JC Penny card for haircuts and socks. I think we bought a toaster for a wedding gift once in the past 10 years with the JC penny Card. A monthly visit to the hair salon for two people (A hair cut and a style) has resulted in JCP sending us and approving our application for one of its preferred customer cards - That took several years. Now you should have A savings account, a checking account, 2 use everywhere Credit Cards and a department store credit card. Continue to use those for the next decade or so - the more you earn, the more you use. The more you save up in bank, the higher you let them go. Use them for 'solid' things like food store (something you need all the time, something you should be able to afford). Stick to your guns - it is so easy to whip out a plastic card for things you don't need. I keep my cards in the safe her at home, pulling them out as needed and using them ONLY for what I intend to use them. Everything else I carry cash. A gas card will come to you - eventually. Unfortunately the companies that give out cards also are the ones with the highest gas prices. We have a shell card around here 'somewhere' we don't use it, instead I use the Visa at the Mom & Pop gas station - spending less on gas, while still continuing my ongoing debt. Your best bet is to save money in the savings account - at the very least have enough money in there to cover your credit card debt. Meaning if you have $5,000.00 in credit card debt, have $5,000.00 in the savings account. It gets tricky - one just one missed or late payment to any of the Card carriers will result in the interest payment on ALL credit cards going up. Even bounced checks via the ATM card will impact your Credit Cards. On the Visa, MasterCard and eventually the American Express carry between $200 and 1000.00 continuing debt (total). Your best bet is to use those cards for specific purposes. We were 'lucky' to have a dog with allergies. She needs a shot ever month. We used one credit card for 'vet bills' Granted we were charging less than $50.00 a month on it, and paying it off - but just that tiny amount built our history. A few emergencies later we soon had the card at $2000.00+ (all owed to the Vet - we carried that over time meaning we paid twice the minimum payment (Something along the lines of $125.00 per month) still using the card to add $40.00 a month. We had that card secured - We have one savings account that backs up our credit cards - it has a little over the max limit of all of our cards combined. We could always have paid it off - we did not, we carried the debt continuing our history - pushing our credit scores upward by making larger than minimum payments (something like $250 to $300 a month). We actually have three savings accounts with three banks. 1 covers the credit cards, one is our general 'savings' that covers checks, and is were we deposit 'extra money'. The Last is our nest egg/retirement and down payment on the house/property we plan on getting. These are regular savings accounts - no high interest fixed year blah blah blah crapola - these are plain savings accounts that accrue low interest - we 'played safe' with our money. Mind we do have a 401K each (spouse) and I have an IRA: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/dollardiva/19990903c.asp .. for the differences and more information. My IRA actually does help my credit score - slightly to somewhat. Of course we live in a single wide trailer on two acres of property that I tend. We pay a small rent, the rest of our 'rent' is made up by my tending the property. We could have stayed in the city, we could be renting a 2 story house for $1500 to $2500 a month, instead we sought out our cheapest alternative, and decided to bank that extra money. We have cut out a lot of 'extra's' Yes we did purchase a brand new stove, refrigerator and Projection HDTV in 2001. We took on a 'temporary' credit card with Sears. Not only did these things improve our life, but also reduced our energy bills and helped our credit scores. We did not just decide one day to go out and buy - it was part of 'the Plan' established 4 years earlier than that. I do not have an Xbox, an Iphone and the latest gadgets and technologies - I might want them, however we have "The Plan" which will, eventually result in a new home, an early retirement and most likely result in my having better stuff in the end. We each make careful choices when using our money. Bills, savings then 'fun'. Of course we do not have too many bills - we have carefully managed electricity - reducing our electric bill substantially through careful use. We have a few premium Cable Channels - not all - carefully selecting and decided what our viewing habits are. We have approximately $15,000.00 in the savings account backing our combined credit cards (two people). We have nearly $30,000.00 in our regular savings account - our 'general funds'/check covering/extra money account. We have over $65,000.00 in our Retirement/Down payment account. On average we have socked away $763.888 a month for the past 12 years. this comes to about $190.97 a week - between two people that is $95.49 per person. The reality is that starting 12 years ago we both decided to put $400.00 a month from each of us in savings - in accounts that we do not touch - Two of the accounts are 'emergency' funds that will not be used unless we lose a job and have to pay off some credit cards, or unless there is an emergency that we have to fund. The house/Retirement fund is for our 'dream home' down payment. Although we have over $110,000.00 in the bank and could go out and buy a new home today paying at the least half of the amount (maybe more with the housing crash) we are sticking to our 15 year plan (in three years we are going to bu property and build the house). That money in the bank has made us targets for more credit applications than you can shake a stick at. We have banks from other countries sending us applications, we have loan companies offering us substantial loans for stuff. 5 years ago the Truck threw a rod (through the oil pan - very sad story) We took out a loan for $5000.00 for a new engine establishing our loan lender line. She told us to maintain our loan, paying it off by their payment plan to build a history. That little loan sent my credit score soaring. And continued doing so until the loan was paid off. Opportunities to establish new lines of credit will come to you. The more money you have in savings in a bank the more application and more banks that will come to you. Seriously read the fine print of all applications. Be a huge pain in the arse of the representatives/loan officers - question, question, question and demand detailed answers about the fine print. Ask them how a missed payment through another credit lender will affect your credit with them. Ask them what is the minimum and how do they play a roll in your credit rating. Ask them which credit rating companies they go through. More often than not if you show interest in getting or building up to a larger loan/line of credit through any lender they will all but fall over themselves to help you to help your score/rating so you can get a bigger loan and carry more debt. Again it is a sick process, one that should keep you ever terrified of the notion of debt. Thoughts like sharks in a feeding frenzy should come to mind when you walk into the bank/lender company. If it doesn't then you have gotten complacent and will fall prey to the pitfalls of the credit con. Good luck.

Check out www.123applyforcredit.net. You can apply for American Express and virtually all other credit and gas cards online. Also several other plans on establishing credit.

Try building credit using a secure credit card from Credit Score1st. After you make 6 payments on time, you may start to receive unsecured credit card offers. Never use more than 25% of your credit limit, as that will hurt your credit score. http://www.creditscore1st.com