for busy kids is provided by a coalition of America's credit unions, where people are worth more than money.

A complete list of individual credit union funders is available at WXXI Dawn.

Every day, America's credit unions help members with their financial needs and with programs like Invest in America.

It's only fitting that credit unions support big kids because financial education is what we do.

Learn more at Love my credit union board.

Coming this fall from this virtual picture is.

You know who I would love to see in concert hooligans?

Well, guess what?

I have tickets, I guess.

Kind of expensive.

Oh, yeah, but I bought it with my credit card.

You have a credit card?

Well, what are your payments?

I don't really know.

It's just a credit card, right?

Do you have to keep track of your payments if you don't come after you for coming?

Are you kidding?

Ignore your credit card company and they'll come find you.

Who's going to find it?

Did you hear that?

And hearing about them.

What is that thing or how do you you saw.

It right?

Where did it come from?

We got Amy.

Interest.

When the credit bill is due, she'll find you credit her.

It's gonna stop, get raided.

Okay.

When making money is the aim.

These kids, they bring that game that kids.

Should you do.

The math, they know what you know just how to make that go.

And that is right.

So learning how to mom and baby it man it does kids at all.

Brought to you by your credit score grow it don't blow it.

Yes, yes, yes.

Guys, check this out.

It holds of 50,000 song.

Do you even know 50,000 songs?

No, but I'm gonna.

I going to get paid on Friday.

Well, the thing is, I got this yesterday in the mail and it is my credit card.

Right.

But you understand that this card is not actually your credit, right?

I mean, you are your credit's okay.

Well, the thing is, if I didn't have this, I couldn't have bought this.

Well, if you couldn't, then maybe you shouldn't.

See the reason why credit cards hold so much spending power is because when you use them, you're actually using somebody else's money and you have to pay them back, obviously.

And then the way that you choose to do that can affect.

The rest of your life.

All right.

Guys, relax.

I'm going to pay this off when I get paid on Friday.

That's good.

You shouldn't be lazy about your payments because then you'll mess up your credit score and then you'll have to deal with her.

Which she.

She's with the credit card company.

Credit can follow you around.

For the rest of your life.

Well, you got to admit, though.

I'm not as bad as that guy.

Hey, guys.

Hey.

I think I'm going to go look for my bills.

Good luck, sir.

Thank you.

That's very kind of you.

I now another great moments and mystery this week I'll pass off the credit card Dateline problem 1000 B.C.

During this era, the concept of credit is born.

Greetings.

I have come from afar to purchase two goats.

That'll be 15 pieces of silver.

Might I pay you at a later time?

It's my wife.

Come on.

You know I'm good for it.

In the 17th century, star credit was first offered.

Now, in the 19th century, many stores offer their own credit plans out there.

I'd like to buy two sticks.

Sorghum Lottery 15 clown oh.

Can you put that on my down there.

Pardon.

That's right.

Oh right.

1950s they age out for Hula-Hoop.

And another great invention, the major credit card.

Oh, golly, gee, I don't have any money.

Say what?

Frank MacNamara just finished dinner that year.

He created the Diners Club card, the world's best credit card.

By the end of the year, 20,000 people were using dinner club cards worldwide.

Other credit cards soon followed.

Your total today will be $15.

Oh, well, you can put it on the card.

Ms.. Oh, thank you, sir.

This has been another.

Great moment in business.

Why don't we start giving credit?

My name is Caitlin Cage.

I'm the CEO of the catering group, and I'm a biscuit.

My company is a vending company at this point.

I have about nine vending machines of different sizes.

I have some candy machines, some soda and snack vending machines.

It started because I had a face and nation with vending machines.

I would go into the store of my mom and she would always give me a quarter to buy different items out of the candy machine.

And when I would put the quarter in the machine, I always wondered, where did the quarter go?

Hey, it was a pretty good day.

Oh, I.

Sold candy to school and I made about a thousand and I purchased my first two candy vending machines.

I realized that I needed credit when I needed to buy more than one machine and I didn't have the cash to do it.

This is my sister.

She's one of my employees.

Yeah.

She owes you money.

Not now.

Yes.

You know, I've done the first application I filled out.

They gave me the credit application.

My mother cosigned on it, and I bought my first vending machine.

And the amount of money it was for was about $4,000.

They gave me two years to pay back the first loan, but I paid it off in three months.

February payment.

April payment.

Payment.

Because of that, they gave me a bigger loan, which was about $10,000, and they allowed me to get more than one machine was my line of credit.

These are my credit payments.

It's very important for me to make these payments on time.

I pay more than what I'm supposed to pay so that I can pay these machines off faster.

From there, I just took the money and turned it over.

And Bob, bigger machines get new locations and expand it to the point where I am now.

I've even got some machines in this building.

I use cash and credit to manage my business.

I basically go down the list of what's most important, and what's most important is my line of credit.

And so every bit of money that I get pretty much goes in to pay off the machines.

So I pay them and then I pay off every other bill that I have when I watch that phone.

And I'll tell you, it's competitive.

I know a little bit about credit at this point.

I know that I need a high credit score to get a loan from the bank, and that's what I'm working toward.

Now, if you would excuse me, I had some vending machines to tell.

You are your credit score.

What do you mean, I am my credit score.

Your credit score is a number usually between 308 50.

That represents how responsible you are with credit.

Who gives me this number?

I do.

All that information about what you're doing with your credit card is related to three credit reporting companies and they assign you a score, your credit score every time you apply for credit.

If you're late paying a bill.

Or maybe you have too many credit cards.

Or you maxed out your credit limit.

Hey, don't put it on my credit.

I'm sorry, Penelope, but you're maxed out.

Even an unpaid parking ticket.

It is going to affect your credit score.

You're serious?

Absolutely.

That credit score, your financial reputation.

Your credit score.

High score equals good credit reputation.

Low score equals bad credit reputation.

So it's crucial that I keep my credit score high.

Because if your credit score is low, you can miss out on some great financial opportunities.

You might say those financial doors are going to be close to you.

Oh, fraud.

First quarter of voting, development.

This is a credit score.

So some good credit.

Oh, always got that credit card.

Don't chase our children.

Hello, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome back to our 13th day of Continue US coverage of Joe Plato's ever changing credit score.

I'm Skip Rogers and I'm here today with Roger I guess to.

Well, thank you, Skip.

Now, last time we checked in with Joe, get a credit score.

610.

Good.

Not great.

And he was about to buy a big ticket purchase on his credit card, a plasma screen TV.

Let's go to the field.

Bring it up right now, Roger.

All right.

He pulls the card out of his pocket.

Now look in his face.

This man knows what he wants.

He wants a plasma screen.

TV and he swipes it.

And the card is, Oh, good Lord, that is a bummer.

Oh, I think he'll be on the disabled bench for a few days until he can seal off his credit score.

Absolutely.

Now we've got to go.

But afterwards marks banks and now.

His kids are taking it to the street to find out what is a credit score.

And it's score.

Score.

Credit score is basically tells you how good your credit is.

The credit score is a number that is associated with each individual person.

And it sort of like gives you a.

History of like whether or not you pay your bills on.

Time.

Tells you how current you.

Are on your bills.

Evil.

Evil number.

That can affect almost.

Everything.

Being able to buy.

Cars, getting a loan, buying a house, all.

That does a lot of different things that I heard of so.

I don't have any credit.

I'm trying to establish credit.

I do not know where my credit score is right now.

I don't know what my credit score is.

Well, look at your credit.

Score to determine.

Whether or not you've been a responsible spender.

Hey, guys.

My name's Ian Maycock.

I've been working on my credit for about two years now, and thanks to a lot of early payments and on time planning, I have a great credit score.

A great credit rating proves that you can handle your money responsibly.

I got a good credit score just from making my payments time and making sure every month to pay off whatever I had on all my credit cards.

Having a good credit scores like the chicken and the egg, you have to have good credit or else you're not going to get a loan, you're not going to get car payments, you're going to have high interest rates.

But on the other hand, you can't have a good credit score until you've already had credit and you can't get credit unless you've already had it for a while.

I solved my chicken and egg problem by getting a credit card.

When I went to school, I got there.

I paid for my books on my credit card because I was going to buy them anyways and then I paid them off the next month.

Instant Credit Score.

You want to look for a good credit card, one that doesn't have hidden fees, it doesn't have things that you'll have to pay every year.

You can't afford to do that.

You need something with a050 liabilities and a low rate.

My friends have some problems with credit, whether it be my one friend dad bought this.

42 inch LCD TV.

On my credit card and then I kind of got in the car accident and I missed a few.

Payments but was already only making the minimum payments.

So I'm probably going to pay off this 42 inch LCD TV and.

Tom 40.

Or my one friend Laura, I.

Had a $5,000 loan for college that my parents got me and I would have ended up having to pay $30,000 on eventually because they had such bad credit.

I had to cancel the loan.

The best credit score is an 850, but most people don't achieve that.

A good score is about seven 5850 below 750 to about 600 is still good.

But you should do some things to improve your credit below 600 and you're talking bad cars, bad houses, maybe no house, maybe no car.

Here's my credit score.

I'm not at 850 yet, but I'm trying to be here.

My five rules for getting a great credit score.

Rule number one, you have to apply for the credit card first or else you're never going to get a good credit score.

Rule number two Always spend within your means.

Don't go out and buy $1,000 TV like my friend Ed.

If you can't afford the TV in the first place.

Three Pay your credit card off regularly.

Don't keep a balance on your card because that will ruin your credit score.

Make sure to pay it off every month and have the money waiting in your bank account to pay the credit card off.

Rule number four Don't open too many credit cards at once.

Everywhere you go asks you to open a credit card.

If you have a bunch of credit cards, you won't realize the balance you have on each one and you will end up in debt quicker than you can imagine.

Rule number five If you want a credit score like this, you have to pay off all your other bills on time.

Car payments, house payments, make sure they're all paid on time and paying off your credit cards will be a breeze.

Getting a good credit score is like a game of hockey.

Aim high and if you don't get it the first time, just keep trying.

That's how we do it.

Charge This is where you.

Place it best cards.

I'm Jared and I'm an entrepreneur.

My business is growing very fast.

In the short period time that I've started it, if I had good credit and could do the advertising that I want to do, gosh, I can only imagine what what my business would be like and how successful it would be.

So here we have the book of bad credit.

Some of the ways that I've gotten bad credit, driving infractions, tickets that I still owe money for $885.

Can you believe that?

When I was about 18, I started getting these payday loans, the quick money loan with the intention of not really ever paying them back old cell phone debt, parking wherever I want.

My cell phone bill got to $700 and I can never afford to pay it.

So I just said forget $100 for parking tickets.

$885 348 Collection 8125 $348.

I mean, the list literally goes on 35 to $40000 worth of debt.

My credit is just pretty much shot.

So here's just one of the many bills I get on a day to day basis.

How much money do I owe them?

$675.77.

I guess they found me.

They always find me the consequences from having bad credit consequences, not being able to finance a newer vehicle.

Consequences.

Shoot, I used to not be able to have a bank account consequence, so I wanted to go to school.

I wouldn't be able to take out a student loan.

Consequences.

It's very difficult to buy a car.

Consequences.

I can't grow my business consequences totally having bad credit.

It really holds me back from being a successful person.

Definitely learning my lesson now and paying paying back ten times more than I would have if I would have just done it right the first time.

Hey, Alex, what you doing?

I mean, I'm building a house of credit cards.

I see.

This is exactly like building your life out of credit.

Miriam, can you please be careful?

I've been working on this for, like, an hour.

Okay, so when you're stacking up debt like these credit cards, you have no real foundation.

So you run up one credit card, and then you get another one to pay that one off, and then you get another one to pay that one off, etc., etc..

But if some sort of financial earthquake or wind should come through, then okay.

I get it.

It can all fall down.

But my house of credit cards.

So you see credit can help to build things up.

But you have to have the money to back it up.

From New York Georgia Info speaks this is playing footsie coach.

Credit cards are not more money or free money.

They are debt and they are the worst possible debt you can ever find yourself in today.

Judge Nympho gives you the tough talk on credit.

Credit card debt mounts up so quickly, people just don't focus on it.

If you have, for example, $5,000 in credit card debt and you pay minimum payments of $150, it will take you over 18 years to pay back that debt and you will have paid nearly 40 $800 just in interest.

People don't realize how quickly credit card debt can get out of hand.

I'm Just a little.

When I think $100,000 into goods would cost me five or 6000 a year long to.

One of the most important things about using a credit card is knowing when to use it and when not to.

Using your card correctly can be very convenient.

It's true.

It can make things a lot easier for solve.

Using it incorrectly is also convenient and it could ruin your credit.

Don't you agree?

In general, you might want to use a credit card when you're unexpectedly caught without cash.

Or if you're buying something that would require you to bring a large amount of cash to the store.

Like a stereo or a laptop.

These are items that cost more than you're likely to have on hand in cash.

So using a credit card is a lot easier.

But it's still important to be responsible with your purchases.

There are two main ways that people get into trouble with credit cards.

The first is using credit to pay for a life that you can't really afford.

The second, and even more dangerous, is to pay for everyday items with your credit cards.

And did not have the discipline to pay off that balance at the end of the month.

That's true.

Right after lunch, we'll go into this in more detail.

You want credit, you've got to pay attention to the rate of interest.

This isn't very interesting.

Substitute Teacher I'm not.

Talking about interest in here.

I'm talking about high interest rates out there, out in the world, out in the world of credit.

Still not interested.

Well, you better pay attention to the interest.

You've got to pay interest on time every time.

Otherwise your interest rates will shoot up, shoot up, jump up 20%, maybe 50, 150%.

And then where are you going to be?

Where's substitute teacher?

Another day older and deeper in debt, and then you're going to owe more in interest than you owed for the original of whatever it is that you bought.

You buy that.

Wait, buy, buy what.

With the fine print.

When you use credit, you just got to watch out for high interest rates.

By substitute teacher.

Bye bye.

But not on.

Credit.

You look at the teacher, I'm one.

I'm 18.

I'm already 1700 dollars in debt.

It started because me and my best friend were going on a vacation to Costa Rica and my parents gave me a credit card so I wouldn't have to carry around cash.

It was only to be used on an emergency basis.

It was just a credit card.

Didn't occur to me that it was real money, that I was really spending, and so I just kept using anything gas, food, clothes, purses, makeup, anything I could get my hands on.

I spent it.

I knew I had a lot of money that I needed to pay back, but it didn't really occur to me because I had a job and I figured, you know, I'm getting money, I'll pay it off.

And then when I come around to it, I was probably paying 150 to $200 every month on it.

The only problem was that I had paid $200, but I would spend it in the next two weeks, so the balance would never go down.

My parents took my credit card away and I got a debit card.

Now she has a debit card to use.

She can't spend any more than she has.

I spend what I have, and so I have to live within my means.

Divide 1700 by 150.

But See how long that's going to take to pay that back.

11.3 for about 12 months, 12.

Months or a year.

Now, the problem is this is going to keep collecting interest and at this interest rate, it's really going to start to stack up right.

I've been getting money from cutting my friends and families hair and doing side things for them.

So all that money goes in the bank and gradually I'm slowly paying it off.

Hey, these kids don't run up your credit card bills.

How important is it to have good credit?

Well, without it a lot of opportunities will be closed to you.

I'm capital Peg.

The way you handle credit can affect you for the rest of your life.

Take my assistant, Brian Baxter.

My credit score keeps falling.

What do.

I do?

It's simple, Brian.

Pay your credit bill every month, every 14 months.

What are you for real?

You got to pay your debt, bucko.

Every month you here's a dance.

You can learn the biscuits.

Four step, the good credit shuffle Grab a partner and let's get that credit score up.

Step one Open an account at a financial institution.

It can be a bank, a credit union, a brokerage house.

Take your pick.

Just make a deposit, say one or $200.

And coming in a close second, pay your bills on time.

This is one of the biggest steps in establishing good credit.

If you're responsible with your own money in the institutions you choose, you can prove to lenders that you can be responsible with their money, too.

Step three Get a prepaid credit card.

You can get them at the bank.

That becomes your spending limit.

And finally never maxed out.

Let's do that again.

Never maxed.

Out.

That shows that you only use credit for things that you need and it will save you from drowning in debt.

And that's how you do the bills, get good credit, shuffle.

Once I started paying off my credit cards, my credit score went up.

Oh, this is one of my favorite films.

It's the story of a young man burdened with 12 credit cards and thousands of dollars in debt.

Thousands, thousands and thousands.

Thousands.

Let's watch.

Oh, yeah.

Wow.

My name is Zinn, also known as the Urban Ninja, also known as the almost legendary Zinn.

I'm Zinn, fighting hard for a good credit score.

So it's how do I make my money?

I make my money by doing stunts.

I do a lot of live shows.

I teach kids martial arts, a couple of TV shows.

I've been on American Gladiators and the first Asian Gladiator and newer, stronger, smarter, and I would say more handsome.

When I do make money, I usually spend it on candy, comic books, video games.

This bike right here, I paid for this baby in cash because my credit scores six.

I've got a few credit cards in my pocket.

My mom says I have about 11 or 12 credit cards right now.

And when I say my mom, it's because every month or so she she gets me to sign these papers.

And I'm not sure what these papers are.

So I finally ask her, What am I signing?

And she says, It's for credit cards.

I've signed like over 20 of these.

How many do I have?

And she tells me you've got about 11 or 12 of them.

The plan was to use a new credit card to pay for the old credit cards.

The flow of that plan is it accumulates a lot of debts.

So while I was doing this, my credit was doing this and definitely determined to chop them up.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right.

You know.

I still have maybe nine cards left, so I've got a lot of work to do.

After I discovered I had all these credit cards, start paying them all off.

And I think we're down to 9500.

Yeah, good.

Wow.

Yeah, yeah.

Once I start paying off my credit cards, my credit score went up.

My ultimate goal to pay off all that debt and reverse bad credit.

The good.

So I have problems, but we're.

Putting our finger on it.

So let's say you use your card to buy a triple shock collar macchiato.

At first it's just one cup of coffee on your card, how much can really be?

And then all of a sudden, someone's coffee on a card and it's think it's coffee and there's 200 cups of coffee on your card.

Everything looks good on your time.

So it just take.

Slow down coffee, girl.

Thanks a lot.

Shut all this Houston secret and ruin it for you.

And now another viewer submitted video.

Got a credit card is on the loose way word.

When the bills came out.

Susie, Susie.

Sighing was almost got the card, but it jumped away like a frog.

Hey, it's a wild goose chase.

Wild like a goose.

And I'm out on the case.

Jump through the forest and in some alleyways.

This wild goose chase is totally crazy.

Oh, credit card is on the loose.

On time and in full.

Do the bills get paid?

Credit affects life in lots of ways.

Most of us kids are just beginning our financial history.

This is the absolute worst time to make mistakes with your credit.

Unfortunately, it's very easy to make those mistakes if you're not careful.

So now is.

Not the time to mess up.

Oh, that reminds me.

I have to make a car payment.

I ha hailing.

Great day for a soda.

Yeah.

And how would you pay for the use of cash?

All right, I know how to use my credit responsibly.

I've paid off all my debts, and I'm doing well.

Good for you, Austin.

Trust me, whatever that thing that credit monster was, it will never, ever, never, never, never, ever, ever, never went limp.

Let me finish that thought.

Well, oh, yes, never, ever, never, ever catch me on a credit drop.

What's that.

Rock?

Hey, where'd you get that tie there?

Rock hard.

You like it?

Well, it's all right.

I've got it on credit, RUTH.

Oh, no, that's some good credit on the credit.

Credit?

I get it.

You owe me money.

You owe me your money.

Okay?

I know you know.

You both owe me money.

Credit cards.

All right.

So now you've heard some of our stories, and we want to hear some of yours.

Maybe you are a friend that start your own business or throw some ideas to help the community.

Yeah, we want to hear about those.

So go to boost gifts dot com.

And share the good news.

Who knows?

Maybe you'll end up right here on the show.

Well, not exactly right here, but yeah, on the show.

How about here?

No, not really.

Come on.

Right here.

No, not there.

Production, funding and educational outreach for busy kids is provided by a coalition of America's credit unions, where people are worth more than money.

A complete list of individual credit union funders is available at WXXI Dawn.

Every day, America's credit unions help members with their financial needs and with programs like Invest in America.

It's only fitting that credit unions support these kids because financial education is what we do.

Learn more at Love My Credit Union Board.