Couldn’t agree with carlislematthew more…in fact, we have an almost identical background, having come from the UK in 2000.
Unfortunately, a good credit rating in the UK means Bupkiss in the US, so we were forced to build up a credit rating in much the same way.
We went into it in a “we’re building credit, not living on it” kind of way. Consequently, the husband started out with a credit card with a fabulous $500 credit limit, while my Wells Fargo card had $300!
The limit wasn’t the point, though, it was just using it every month. Both card issuers have now given us a much larger credit limit, but we still pay off the cards in full every month.
We also bought our first car over here half with cash and half in installments. We got charged through the nose for it, but as the loan was only $4000 over 3 years, it seemed worthwhile paying over the odds for the credit perks.
And, though I’m sure everyone does, make sure to pay bills on time. A large chunk of the FICO (over 30% IIRC) is late/delinquent payment penalties.
6 years on, my husband has a score of around 780. Mine is less – around 650 – but that’s because I went back to college for three years and am in the “no credit history=bad credit” category. Which won’t take long to rectify, I hope.
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