Credit Card for 18 year old

[codex57]

Oh, I never carry a balance. Those interest rates are just too high. Still, when I heard it was better to not have such high limits, it sounded logical to me. I mean, a bank probably doesn't look too highly on a college kid with $90,000 in total limits which is what I had at one point.

 

[Kirby]

Go with the Staples Card. As an employee, they will likely see that as a plus, as you may suggest it to customers, so they get an additional benefit. When I was 18 I worked at Sears in the hardware dept. They actually encouraged young employees to get a Sears card just for this reason. That was how I got started. Just use it VERY wisely. It takes a long time to build a top notch credit rating, it is very easy to destroy it quickly.

There are some excellent suggestions on about.com:
http://credit.about.com/cs/creditwise/a/blwobuild.htm

Here is what appears to be an up front explanation of how students can build credit, and although it is a web site for Chase Platinum, what they say pretty much summarizes and validates what a lot of the other posts here are saying.
http://www.studentplatinum.com/education/establishing.php

 

[epj3]

I'm actually looking at best buy's financing options. As a few people said, these are some of the best ways to start building a credit rating.

A few of you said that if it's just to buy the camera, dont do it -- but the reason I came on and asked about it is becuase i am concerned about my credit, and even though I'm aiming to buy a camera, I'm also thinking of trying to build a decent credit rating since i'm young and will need to get student loans within the next year or two -- where I will need a little bit of credit.

Best buy seems to have some really good offers -- wether I will get accepted or not is another concern, but some of their options look very attractive.

Thanks to everyone who posted!! I'd rather find out how to build a credit rating from people who are on a bmw website most likely becuase they've built a good credit rating, than my parents who are in debt (no offense to them.)