<prompt> Human: My girlfriend and I are 18, and her mom has been recommending that the two of us get credit cards, buy something moderately expensive from fingerhut at 20mo, then pay 30mo until its paid off to build our credit. This sounds ineffective and risky and like a waste of money to me, however. Is this actually a good method, and, if not, is there a different thing we should be doing?  <response>: Im sorry that you have people in your life giving you bad financial advice. You should get a CC, put 20 worth of groceriesgaswhatever on it per month and pay off the -statement balance- when your bill is generated, which would be 20. You dont need to pay interest when trying to build your credit. And youll probably need to start with a secured card if you have no credit history. 