Question about credit cards
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Question about credit cards
| Mon, 06-04-2007 - 8:23pm |
Hi,
I mostly lurk here, but I thought this would be a good place to come for answers. My DD has just turned 16 and is driving. I would like to get some kind of credit or money card that she can use to buy gas, so she doesn't always have to have cash. I would prefer not to use a gas card, since it would limit her to a specific gas station. I would also like to be able to control the amount of money available to her at any given time. Has anyone used a secured card (or any other type)? Any other suggestions?
TIA,
Deborah

My son has one of those Visa gift cards that I can add money to (I presume from my own credit card--don't know because he just finished using what was on there and I haven't had a chance to re-load it yet. :) ) That might be an idea. The only way to limit how much she uses is to just not put that much on there, I would guess. I'm not aware of anything else that you might be able to limit how much she spends.
For the time being, if my ds is low on gas, I just send him to our local gas station and let him use my credit card when it's my turn to fill his tank. He brings me my receipt, and also his receipts when he pays (I'm matching him dollar for dollar on his gas). That way I know how much gas he is using AND I know that what I give him actually goes to gas. (Which, I can assure you, is wa-ay too much! lol)
Glad you came out of lurkdom!
Thanks! I was just reading about Visa Buxx, which sounds like what you've described. Something like that might be the best option.
Take care,
Deborah
My DD also has one of the visas that is mentioned - it's also wonderful when she goes shopping with one of her friends and wants $$ - I don't have to give her a ton of cash, but she has just as much available to her as I want to give her - and when the $$ is done, so is she! ;)
Hi - we used a Visa Cash Card when our daughter went with her friend and friends family to Florida earlier this year. We put a limited amount on it and I had the password and access code for checking balances daily if I wanted to and reloading it if I wanted to - it worked out great. We had to pay a $9.95 fee when we first got the card, but no additional fees for reloading it.
We recently got her a credit card of her very own and a checking account to go along with it. She's turning 16 in a few months, learning to drive and we felt it was time she learned to be responsible for her debts as well. By that I mean, learning how to save money, deposit money - use a bank - be responsible for what she charges, etc.
We called our credit card company and got a separate card for our dd - my name is on the account because she is underage and I'm the secure borrower to ensure they get paid. We set the limit at $300 (our option as to what we wanted it to be up to the approved limit the credit card company set - which was way higher than we would allow her to carry right now). She has the card and uses it with our permission for shopping, vacation spending money, gifts, etc. but knows that she is the one who has to write the check to pay the bill when it comes in. So far she's been very responsible about it.
We set the limit low enough so that it would not worry us if the card were lost or stolen or if it suddenly became our burden to bear - and high enough for her to have enough out there for her use when needed. As she gets older, we can adjust the balance on the card to better fit our and her needs.