for starters, I'm a 23 year old in the USA.
So when I lived at home, I took out a loan to buy a car, which my parents cosigned on, this was my primary credit-building exercise. I ended up paying that off by time I was nearly out of college. Through scholarships, grants and working, I was also able to pay my student loans from the tech school that I attended by time I graduated.
Since then I got a credit card from my local credit union, where I've used it sparingly. I've had this card since 2014, it expired once, and they sent me a new one. It's never had a credit line higher than $1000, which I'm sure has something to do with me never using it.
I believe my primary reasons for using debit over the credit are:
I don't like buying things that I can 'buy' rather than afford. If I used the card, I literally paid it off that same second.
I don't own a car or anything anymore so I don't get random bills that sneak up on me that would require me to pay with possible money I didn't have
Debt in general just scares me, I've seen family members struggle
$1000 is too low for stuff that I would actually need credit to buy
So my main questions are:
If I'm not actively using my card is it hurting me (no credit is bad credit).
Should I look into getting a different card with either a higher limit or better rewards to incentivize me to use it?
What would be some beginner ways to start working my credit card into payments (I pay my lease and utilities through paypal and hook it to my bank debit so I don't have to pay the fee.