conversation: User (JoJo_Pose): "Long story short, I had a shit load of debt I preferred to ignore.\n\nThey came after me, I did nothing.\n\nEventually I was garnished by court order and the debts were paid off a year ago.\n\nI had a car loan with an obscene interest rate that I recently paid off (well, insurance did, it got totaled).\n\nNow I've been getting these offers from Capital One...I have no current lines of credit at all.  The only debt I'm still paying off are student loans.\n\nShould I get a card to have an active line of credit (that I'll barely touch because I don't want to get into the same mess Past Me did)?\n\n\nEdit:  Wew, I did not expect this thread to blow up like this. Thank you everyone for your advice. I've double-checked the letters and 2 were from Capital One, and 1 was from Credit One.\n\nThe terms of Credit One's are like what someone else mentioned earlier, interest beginning charge from the posting date of any purchase, immediate $75 charge when opened, etc. I'll be avoiding that one.\n\nI've applied to Capital One and was approved with a line far bigger than what I was expecting for someone in my situation.  I know I have to be careful.  My road to recovery begins."
  Self: "I was in a similar situation years back.  I eventually got one of Capital One's secured cards with a starting $450 credit line.  You essentially pay them $450 right off the bat and that's your credit limit.  \n\nI used this cards for a year on gas and select food, paying on it responsibly.\n\nThis made a huge impact on my credit and I've since gotten a couple other unsecured cards and a newer car.  My car loan is higher interest atm since I got it only a year after I started with the card but I plan to refinance now that I may in better shape.\n\nThe Capital One path worked great for me and their mobile app is fantastic."
  