It is a good idea to start out with one secured credit card.  You should use this card for three to four months and then if you feel like you are doing well you can choose to either increase your spending limit, if possible, or you can choose to get another secured credit card. The idea is that you want everything that is reported to the credit reporting agencies to be positive, so is it possible to maintain two secured credit cards without sending in any late payments?  Will you be able to afford to secure another card without letting any of your other bills lapse?

Many people like to start out with one card and then slowly over a year build it up to where they have two or three secured credit cards and they sort of rotate them. So, if one month they used one card and paid off the balance the next month they would use the other card and then pay off that balance and so on.  It doesn’t help if you have the card and don’t use it, but it also doesn’t help you if you use the card and you don’t pay it off.  It’s important that you are able to use each card and maintain a good standing, so each person needs to determine how many cards they can afford.

If you have a couple secured credit cards and you keep them in good standing for a year you will see that your credit score rises quite rapidly and after a year or 18 months you may actually start to receive credit card offers for unsecured credit cards.  At this point you can choose to go for one of these unsecured cards, but you should trade it in for one of the secured cards.  When you trade in one of the cards though, you need to keep paying on the new card just like you paid on the old card.

When you first start receiving the unsecured card offers they will be for very small amounts and you may have a lot of fees associated with them to get started.  It is alright to accept these cards, because they are simply opening a door for you.  Just remember that when it comes to your credit score and your credit worthiness you are only as good as your ability to make a payment on time, so don’t accept any more credit than you can afford to use responsibly.