Credit Card Approval

I pay all my bills but there are pesty dings on my credit report that are the result of of there being a difference of oppinion about the debt. They are small amounts.
For example, one bill I disbuted because I didn't owe the company anything. They wanted to charge me for researching the debt. This was a credit card processing company I used when I was in business. My attitude was they can wait till hell freezed over... Time has past so it should fall off my report by now. Another ding was from a cell phone company. I signed a contract at a store and the company said that it isn't recognized by the the said cell phone company and they want the the early termination fee ($200). Again they can wait till hell freezes over.... That also is falling off my credit report.
My attitued is if my credit is bad-good then I won't buy anything. Now this is bad when my situation is multiplied over and over then no one can buy things.
Fortunately the big items I can get credit for because they do see the big picture and see that I do pay my bills on time.
We have the problem in the US and maybe the UK now were they are very tough on loans. The result is the economy has come almost to a halt. Someone needs to find a sulution and fast. For me everything is fine. When things get tight in the economy prices will fall. Again I win!
Is the glass half full or half empty?
Sorry, spell check is not working. Who knows why?

Got it!  £5000 limit with 6 months no interest on purchases.  Yay for building a credit history!

YEAH! Congrats Dar!!!

The advisor at HSBC said I could have a credit card when I opened a current account with them, but he said since the interest rate would be very high (it's not my main bank account so my salary isn't paid into it, and I opened the account with just the £20 I had in my purse) and I already have other credit cards, I probably wouldn't want it.

I have to say I was quite impressed by a bank adviser suggesting that someone not get a credit card due to the high interest rate.

My now husband immigrated to America a few years ago to be with me (did the whole US fiance visa thing), once we were married all I had to do was go online to my credit cards' website and request an additional card with his name on it.  So we both used the same credit account.  Basically he was able to start US credit by building off mine.  Can you not do this in the UK with credit cards and bank accounts?  One would think he could add me to his bank account and credit card accounts as that would be the best thing anyway.  We don't need separate accounts, certainly not at this time.

YEAH! Congrats Dar!!!

Thanks! 

Can you not do this in the UK with credit cards and bank accounts? 

Simply adding me to his current account didn't make a difference, but when I was granted a debit card for that current account six months later, it did start showing up as a positive on my credit report.  However, I've had an Egg card in my name (for his credit account) since September 2006 and that's never shown up on my credit report at all.  I'm currently building credit (verrrry slowly!) with my debit card and my mobile phone contract.

I'm planning to try and open a credit account once I have proof of income from my new job - we'll see how that goes.  I'll have been here for two years in September.

Simply adding me to his current account didn't make a difference, but when I was granted a debit card for that current account six months later, it did start showing up as a positive on my credit report.  However, I've had an Egg card in my name (for his credit account) since September 2006 and that's never shown up on my credit report at all.  I'm currently building credit (verrrry slowly!) with my debit card and my mobile phone contract.

I'm planning to try and open a credit account once I have proof of income from my new job - we'll see how that goes.  I'll have been here for two years in September.

You can build credit with your debit card???  Really?

Well that sucks.  But at least I'll have access to a bank account and some sort of credit card. 

What is an Egg card?

A lot of me would like to not bother at all with building credit, but if we ever want to get a new house, etc, at some point, I'm sure me having credit would come in handy.

At least I don't have to think about this for a little while as I'm not to the point of even searching for job yet!

It just really sucks to be an adult and feeling like I'm 16 again...no driving history or credit history and having to do 11 years of work all over again. 

You can build credit with your debit card???  Really?

Apparently so - they wouldn't give me one when I was a fiancee (I could put money in, but not take it out ) but when I got married, even though I didn't have an income, suddenly I magically had enough credit to get one.    Since then it's been showing up on my credit report, showing that I have x number of months of positive account history.

What is an Egg card?

www.egg.co.uk - a credit company.

Apparently so - they wouldn't give me one when I was a fiancee (I could put money in, but not take it out ) but when I got married, even though I didn't have an income, suddenly I magically had enough credit to get one.    Since then it's been showing up on my credit report, showing that I have x number of months of positive account history.

How interesting!  Guess I did have a wee bit of credit. 

You can build credit with your debit card???  Really?

I would think you could if you've got an overdraft, which is basically the same thing as a credit card.

I would think you could if you've got an overdraft, which is basically the same thing as a credit card.

We have overdraft but never use it.

our overdraft is 1400 but they only gave us a credit card with a 250 limit.  i guess it's two different things really.

I've been approved for a credit card! 

I haven't wanted to apply for one until I had a stable income, so once I started my new job this week I hit up moneysupermarket.com and read about the different cards.  I was afraid to apply for one that sounded too good to be true, in case I was denied, so I just went with the basic Capital One card, and had a letter in the post today to say that I was approved!  

The APR is atrocious, but as I'm only planning on charging a small amount to the card each month and paying it off in full to build credit, I'm not too fussed.

Yay!  It's silly, but I feel just a little more like I belong here now.