Need a bit of the RL financial advice from anybody willing to lend it.

So I don't own a credit card, because I've generally gone through life with the opinion of:

That's Bait

But I'm looking at making a big purchase in the near-ish future and while I could just pay for it upfront, it would put a dent in my bank account to do so and it's made me think mmmmaaaaybe this is an opportunity to dip my toe in the pool, spread the cost out over a few months instead of paying it all at once.

So. Any advice on credit cards you think are good or make for good first credit cards, would be appreciated!

credit cards are fine as long as you stay on top of getting the balance to 0 pretty quick. the recommendation is to use it for the small monthly auto payments and just pay it off each month. using it for big ticket money items is fine but doing that too much is how they lock you into debt hell

I've used a credit card vs cash for nearly 20 years (but I am in Canada mind you) so they are much safer than debit cards, plus I love the tap and pay thing. The trick is to get a card that costs nothing but also gives you some payback so you get a bit of money for buying stuff with it. In my case the Costco Credit card has a 1% cashback

As others have said, it is best to pay as fast as possible

I usually try to pay back everything each month, or at the very latest, the month after

I've disputed about 4 things total over the years, and got my money back each time. It would have been really hard with a bank (one time it was online fraud where the perpetrators bought some ontario city bus cards at 100$ a piece, I know which store probably used my credit card info too)

I nearly had to argue in regards to an Air Canada plane ticket during Covid, but thankfully Air Canada backed down after the goverment ordered them to issue refunds

Some cards also include additional insurance (aka you automatically have traveler's insurance in some)

And as was said, try not to spread your payments too much, because the amount they add is always ridiculous like 21% or something

Credit cards are really best when you can pay with them and want the insurance / premiums they come with

satanyael: also has great advice since a lot of stores have financing with 0% APR if you get their credit card

So don't do big purchases unless I can get it at low or zero interest, it's better to use a credit card for regular expenses that you can immediately pay off to improve your credit/take advantage of perks like cashback?

Is that the general gist?

yep

yep

I use mine for gas

yep

Yeap, that's how I see it. When I bought big things, I had to money to pay for it or we split with me and my partner

if you want to go for a credit card, know that different cards may reject you if you don't have any credit history/low credit score. back when I was churning I'd use nerdwallet as one resource to figure out which cards to go for

IIRC some card application processes also involve a "hard pull" on your credit, which could ding your credit score, so there's no point in applying for a hard to get card and hurting it for nothing

if you have more established credit history, you can look at cards that give bonuses, like cashback or miles. One of my favs gives me 2% back on everything