The 5 BEST Credit Cards for Beginners

What's up, you guys? It's Graham here. So, I just want to mention really quick that I still get emails and comments about the video I posted the other week about burning all of my credit cards with a not a flamethrower.

For anyone that didn’t fully understand that, that video was meant to be entirely satirical, with some light-hearted humor thrown in. That was not to be taken seriously by any means. The way that credit cards work is that if a credit card is lost, stolen, or damaged, the credit card companies replace them absolutely free of charge. So, just as proof, I already had all my credit cards replaced. There you go! They're right where they should be—in my wallet.

With that said, I recently made a video about the five best credit cards to get free stuff. But I soon realized that a major complaint to that video was that it wasn't really applicable to anyone who's just starting out or who doesn't really have any credit history, and that was way more people than I expected.

So, this video is meant for all of those people just starting off in their credit journey, and also for everyone else who just likes getting free stuff because let's be real here: who doesn't like getting free stuff? Make sure to smash that like button if you guys enjoy getting free stuff and also for people who want to pay $0 in annual fees to do so.

And also, all of these are cards that you're meant to have for life. The thing is, when you're just starting off in building your credit score, part of your score is calculated by the age of your oldest account. So, if you ever cancel your oldest credit card in the future, it reduces your average account age and therefore, it ends up bringing down your score.

So, these are cards you shouldn't cancel, that you're gonna keep forever, that you keep active, that are really gonna form the foundation of what you build your credit score from. So, with that said, let's get into it and we're gonna start off with number 5.

Now, I've mentioned this credit card before, but I'm gonna say it again because it's that good of a card. But that would be, if you're just starting off, the Discover It Secured Card. This is hands-down the best credit card if you're just starting off and want to build your credit history. If you're 18 years old and getting your first credit card, whatever it is, this is what you should be doing right now.

Like, pause the video and go and apply for this card. Like, I never tell you guys to pause my videos—because, don’t pause my videos—but if that's you right now, just seriously pause the video right now and go and get this card. You will thank me years down the line when you built up your credit history.

What this is, is a secured credit card, which means that you don't need any prior credit history to apply. All they ask instead is a refundable security deposit, and then they give you back a credit line in that exact same amount. For example, if you go and give them a three hundred dollar security deposit, they will give you back a credit card with a three hundred dollar credit line.

From there, just make minimal charges on the card, pay it off in full on time, and repeat that for about six to eight months. After doing that for eight months or so, chances are they're gonna give you back your deposit, and then you're going to keep whatever credit line they give you.

Now, the good thing about this secured credit card is that they offer some pretty good perks. Usually, with secured credit cards, they offer nothing. I mean, there’s very little advantage to using them besides that you’re just building your credit. But with this one, you get two percent cashback on gas stations and restaurants, and one percent cash back on everything else.

Their dashboard also allows you to check your credit score so you can see how you're doing on your credit score journey. So, with all of that said, it's a really great card for all of those just starting out. I highly recommend it, and this is a card that you could get and keep forever because it's absolutely free.

So, with that said, let's go into number four. This one was mentioned by you guys a lot in my last video, and many people were upset I didn't mention this one because for a lot of people who don't do really a lot of traveling, this is probably the best card you can get in terms of cash back.

And that is the Citi Double Cash Rewards Card. So, this is really a phenomenal card that you should plan to keep forever, and it's perfect for those that aren't gonna be doing a lot of traveling, but who want the best cash back option possible. This is really like the holy grail of cash back.

This is because this card gives you a whopping two percent cash back on all purchases. It gives you one percent cash back when you buy something and another one percent cash back when you pay it off. And the best part about this cash back is that it is consistent among every single one of your purchases. It's not like you get revolving categories or like two percent back on gas stations or three percent on restaurants—it's just two percent on everything.

In the long run, this is just a great credit card to have. Two percent cash back on everything, no annual fee. It's pretty simple, it's pretty straightforward, and just plan to keep it forever.

And for real though, this is really one of the best cash credit card options out there. Just imagine that anything you buy with this credit card automatically just becomes two percent cheaper—everything! And that really starts to add up over the long term.

Alright, so with that said, number three. And I got a question for you on this one: do you want a hundred and fifty dollars for just a few seconds of work? Well, if your answer to that is say no more, fam, then I got the perfect credit card for you—and that is the Chase Freedom.

Just for signing up, they’re going to give you a hundred and fifty dollars cash back after you spend five hundred dollars in the first three months. Now, this should be pretty common sense, but I do have to mention it because it seems like some people see this and they get very triggered and they don't understand it. But what I mean is you have to spend $500 to get $150 back. That doesn’t mean that you should go out and think like, “Oh no, how do I spend five hundred dollars right now?” That should not be your mentality.

Instead, you gotta make sure you spend money you would ordinarily spend anyway. Like, if you would ordinarily spend five hundred dollars over three months on groceries or gas or at restaurants or wherever, just put it on the card to get the money back. Don’t go and worry yourself, like, “Oh, what do I have to spend $500 on?” Like, come on!

I mean, this should all be pretty common sense here, but some people just don't seem to understand it and then get very upset and write angry comments, so that's all I have to say about that. And just a hint, that also means you could buy my program—the Real Estate Agent Academy—with a $50 off coupon for "ThankYou50" and get an extra $150 back on top of that just for signing up with the credit card. So, it's a pretty good deal.

What, seriously though, for anyone building your credit who just wants a great card to have and who likes free money, this is a great credit card to get and hold long-term. Oh, and by the way, speaking of free money, in terms of cash back, they offer 5% cash back on revolving categories up to $1,500 a year, as well as 1% cash back on everything else.

Now, in terms of cash back, this credit card is not as good as the Citi Double Cash Rewards Card, but the sign-up bonus of $150 definitely makes this card a lot more attractive in the short term. In addition to this card, you're gonna get purchase protection, which means that anything you purchase on this card within the first 120 days that gets damaged, stolen—anything like this—is covered up to the first $500.

This means that if you go and buy like a $200 jacket and it gets stolen, the credit card company will reimburse you for the cost of that jacket within the first 120 days. This is a great perk to have, and all of this for the low annual fee of nothing.

So now, number two. Without further ado, we have the almighty Quicksilver card by Capital One. Now, Capital One holds a very special place in my heart because this was the first unsecured credit card I ever got. I think at the time when I applied, I was 21 years old, maybe 22 max, and it gave me a $1,000 credit line, which at the time I thought was really cool to have.

I was really excited about that, so Capital One has been a very good credit card for me. Now, this is a great card for a few reasons. The first reason is that, like the Chase Freedom, they're gonna give you $150 back after you spend $500 in the first three months.

So, my same thoughts here applied to my last example in terms of the cash back. But this one is just slightly better because they offer one and a half percent cash back on all purchases, and in addition to that, you also get no foreign transaction fees. For anyone who does a lot of international traveling, this is a great free credit card for you to get.

So, for anyone out there who wants the free $150 and who wants one and a half percent cash back on everything, and if they travel and don’t want any foreign transaction fees—because who pays those? Those suck! This is a great credit card for you to get that costs the low price of free.

So now, number one. And this was one of my first credit cards I ever got; this is one of my favorite cards, and I used to use this card for pretty much everything. I did love this card, and that would be the Bank of America Cash Rewards Card.

Now, this one offers a slightly higher sign-up bonus than the other ones do. They offer $200 back when you spend $500 in the first three months. When it comes to cash back on a really low spend amount over three months, that is phenomenal.

In addition to that, you get three percent cash back on gas stations, two percent cash back on restaurants, and one percent cash back on everything else. And also, in addition to that, you'll get a 10 percent bonus on those rewards when you redeem that cash back into a Bank of America checking or savings account.

Now, one little life tip I do want to mention when it comes to this is that the reason Bank of America does this and they offer such great rewards is because they believe you're gonna go and open up a Bank of America checking or savings account, which is all fine. I mean, I have one until they try to hit you with one of their bull $12 a month monthly maintenance fees.

Like, why do they? It costs them nothing to maintain! It's basically, "I want some of your money because you don't keep a lot of money with us." So, if you do this, just make sure to keep a minimum of $2,500 in the account at all times to avoid that monthly maintenance fee.

Otherwise, if you don't do that, they will bleed you dry with $12 a month and it sucks. You should not be paying $12 a month just to keep a checking or savings account or to redeem any cash back rewards. So, just a quick life tip here: if you're going to go and do this, at least keep $2,500 in a Bank of America account at all times.

But anyway, assuming you're gonna do that anyway, this is a very sweet offer and I highly recommend it. One other great thing with this credit card, if you really want to maximize the rewards and return here, is that they offer 0% interest on your charges within the first 12 months.

Now, what I would probably end up doing with this is just realistically put all my spending on the Bank of America card for the first 12 months while it pays zero interest and just keep all the money I would normally spend to pay off that card in an allied bank savings account earning two percent interest.

So that means for me, I make 2% on my money in a Bank of America account and I get 1% cash back from Bank of America. So basically, I'm getting a free 3% back on everything that I buy for the first year.

Now, 3% might not seem like a lot of money—which it really isn't—but for very minimal work, 3% does tend to add up, especially over a year. And again, like every other credit card that I mentioned here, this card costs you absolutely nothing to keep.

So, this is a card I recommend you get—keep it forever and have it be a part of your credit foundation of your oldest active credit lines. And those that I just mentioned are the top 5 credit cards if you're just starting out and building your credit history.

These cards are all absolutely incredible to get, to keep forever, and they're all absolutely free. They will cost you nothing to keep. The goal should be to open these cards, get the sign-up bonus, keep them active, put all normal everyday spending on the card, pay it off in full, keep them without paying any interest and without paying any annual fees—and just reap all the benefits.

These cards are really all meant to form the foundation of your credit history so that later on when you go out and you apply for like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Amex Platinum, and you start getting into credit card churning and start getting a lot of these free trips and travel perks and all of these amazing things in the future, if you decide to then cancel those cards or get rid of them or anything like this, it doesn't really impact your score because, again, you've formed a very solid foundation of old credit lines that kind of keep your history intact for the most part.

And that is pretty much all there is to it. And like I said before, disclaimer: use credit responsibly. Don't spend credit on things that you wouldn't ordinarily spend money on. Don't get your spending out of control. Don't—basically just don't be bad with money! You know, just self-control and don't be bad with money in that.

And that's pretty much it. So anyway, you guys, thank you so much for watching. I really appreciate it. If you watched the very end and you haven't already subscribed yet, make sure to gently smash that subscribe button. I post three times a week—Monday, Wednesday, Fridays. If you want to be a part of it, feel free to subscribe.

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