Try for either an unsecured or secured loan and pay it off. You will save on the interest and DON'T use the card anymore. Do not close the account, just cut the card, closing will lower your credit score.

If you can not get a loan or another credit card, then do whatever you can to pay more then minimum. With today's problems with the banks, they are going to raise the formula to figure minimum payments, and you will have to pay more anyways or sink even lower into the credit hole.

Hope this answers your question.

I'm looking through your question, and I don't think you ever indicated how you were hoping to pay for these courses. It looks like part of the problem is that you don't have any idea what it's going to cost you yet, so let's start out trying to guesstimate that.

I'm assuming that you're a Florida resident – I can't imagine anyone crossing state lines to register at HCC. Florida residents pay $78.24 a credit hour to attend HCC.

I'm also going to assume that you're planning on registering as a full-time student – that's a minimum of 12 hours, and it's probably the equivalent of 4 classes. Hauling out the old calculator, 12 credits at $78.24 each works out to $938.88. Some classes have extra charges – laboratory fees, for example, but for the sake of argument, I think we can assume that you're going to be looking at a tuition and fees bill of a little less than $1000 for the Fall semester.

I'm not surprised that they'll want you to give them a bank account or a credit card to sign up for extended payments – I suspect that the TIPS program requires that you agree to allow them to auto-debit your checking account or auto-charge your credit card. You can understand, I'm sure, why they're not just willing to take every student's word for it that they'll "pay this later". Bank accounts or credit cards = sure thing.

Assuming that you don't have $1000 in cash lying around – and that you're otherwise ineligible to sign up for TIPS (because you don't have a bank account or a credit card), the next most obvious choice is to turn to financial aid. You mentioned that you completed the FAFSA form, and I think you must have been offered a Stafford loan.

The government-created and government-backed Stafford loan program is the cheapest and best available form of educational loan. The interest rate on the loan is low and fixed, you'll pay it back over a maximum 10-year period (which won't even begin until 6-9 months AFTER you graduate from school (or drop out), you won't need a credit check or a cosigner to qualify, and you'll be able to request a temporary postponement of payments if you encounter financial difficulties when you get out of school. You're not going to find a deal that good from any other lender.

Let's assume you borrowed $1000 each semester for 2 years at HCC: It would take you 8 years and 9 months to repay that $4000 at a monthly payment of $50 a month. That sounds like a long time, but $50 a month isn't too bad. You can always pay more, and pay it off faster.

If you were offered a Stafford loan, and you decide to take that route, you'll need to notify the financial aid office that you are accepting the loan, and they will direct you to a list of lenders who make Stafford loans.

When you choose a lender, your next step is to go online and electronically "sign" the legal agreement (called the Master Promissory Note) between you and the lender. The Note says that they promise to mail the money to your school – and it says that you promise to repay it according to specific terms. Make sure you read that – they're all the same, but you need to know exactly what it is that you're agreeing to.

The nice thing about starting out a community college is that their tuition fees are reasonable. You can get into the college thing without running up a huge amount of debt, even if you have to pretty much fund your education with Stafford loans. Students who choose more expensive educations face semester bills that far exceed the maximum borrowing limits on Stafford loans, so they're left wondering where they can find another $10 or $15,000 to borrow. Your $1000 a semester bills are well within Stafford limits, so you'll be fine.

As for mom not paying for it – If you spend any time reading the questions that are posted here everyday, you'll soon discover that an awful large number of students find themselves in the same boat. Hopefully, if you go ahead and take the loan, your mom will at least float you the $1000 for the couple or three weeks it might take for your loan money to come in. At that point, your school will refund you your payment, and you can return it to mom.

I hope that helped you, even a little bit. Best of luck to you!!!

You can download your own copy of the FCRA at the web site I have listed in the source area to validate my answer.

I'm not sure what you mean by "I had to surrender my car." If you gave your car back to the bank, that could possibly hurt your credit score.

Making the minimum payments each month shouldn't hurt your credit score. I wouldn't worry about it.

Eventually, you'll get a descent job and you'll be able to pay your bills off completely,

Good luck.

I'll give it to you straight forward. I HATE when people tell you to not use a credit card. These are the same people who don't know how to use one properly.

Here's your answers –

1. Since my main reason for it is to build a credit score, how much should put on it a month?

Building credit takes time. When I first started, I just put about $25-50/month on the card. Make sure you pay it back in full and never miss a payment. Your credit score will slowly rise

2. Is it better to pay the minimum amount due, or the whole thing a month?

It's always better to pay the whole thing, if you don't, you're going to pay interest rates. Pay in full, you don' t have to pay any interest rates.

3. How to I make a bill payment? I don't have any checks-do I need those to make a payment? Can I do it online? Can I make a payment using my debit card?

There are a few ways you can pay. You can either pay directly on your account online. You can link your checking/savings account to your account and they can simply withdrawl their cash. You can use what I do and pay via billpay.

4. It says the credit line is $600-does this mean thats the minimum amount I can put on it a month?

That's the maximum amount you can put on your card. Don't go over this per month or you'll pay a over limit fee. Just spend what you can afford.

5. Not sure what my interest rate is. What should I know about interest rates?

An interest rate is going to applied to the balance you don't pay off. Let's say your bill is $50 and you only pay $25, the interest rate will be charged onto the $25. If you pay in full all the time, you won't have to worry about this.

Good luck with your first card, they really do have a lot of rewards. Just spend what you can afford and do it on time