[Proud90sKid]

Get one. Don't be like me: late twenties and zero credit history whatsoever because you used debit for everything. I did this because I kept hearing "credit was bad" all through my teenage years, so when I was in college, I just learned to use debit for everything/never needed credit- and that just kind of stuck with me because I never needed to go out of my way to sign up for a credit card. That was a bad decision.

It seems ridiculous to me that car insurance companies can charge me more , and landlords refuse to rent to me- all because I have enough money saved up to not need to borrow money in my daily transactions. Friends who were constantly broke and used credit cards, but paid them on time (often with parental money) are considered to be better with their money than me on paper. But it is what it is. Having no credit history is very bad and can be nearly as much of an inconvenience as having bad credit. With no credit history, I was paying a high rate of car insurance AFTER 25 despite a perfect driving record. Basically punished for having never had debt.

I think the best thing would be to get a credit card and just treat it like your debit : never pay what you don't have.

In the US, they are also required BY LAW to reimburse you for credit card fraud. They aren't required to do this for debit card (though my bank does).

basically: unless you are an idiot with your card, then it is actually much better to get one than not.