Joanna asks: I am a 21 year old college student, graduating in a year and a half. I’ve been blessed to have gotten by so far with little debt, mostly because of financial aid and scholarships. I have about $1,500 in savings and hope to have a job soon. I’ll need to get a new car soon; my current one needs up to $2,300 to repair it.

I plan on trading in this car once it is repaired and I have a steady income, but I need to figure out how to get it fixed first. I know I need to build credit as well, so would you recommend putting the repair on a new credit card so I can make small payments until I get a job (the one I am hoping to get pays well and will allow for much larger payments once I start)? I don’t want to drain my savings to fix this car just in case something else happens, but I do not like
debt. If it does sound like a good plan, what credit card would you recommend? I only plan on using the card for this one big repair cost, and once that is paid off, only small purchases to build credit, occasional big expenses for no more than a few hundred dollars for electronics and/or possibly small trips. What would you recommend? [...]