A good way for you to build your credit history if you are new to credit is to apply for a secured credit card. A secured credit card works just like a regular credit card with one major difference: a secured card requires a security deposit and your credit limit matches the amount of the deposit you put down. Since your credit line is tied to your deposit amount, a secured credit card will help you build credit history with low risk to both you and your lender – and your approval is guaranteed.

If you’re new to credit, it’s going to be difficult for you to get a regular credit card because you have no history to indicate to lenders that you are a trustworthy candidate for credit. You can prove it to them by getting a secured credit card in which your deposit acts as collateral against your credit limit. Once you have shown you can manage a secured credit card responsibly for about a year, it is likely that your credit card company will offer you a chance to apply for a regular credit card. People who are likely to have no or limited credit history include college students, recent divorcés or widows (whose credit history was in their spouse’s name), or people who have recently immigrated to this country.

The first thing you need to do to move from a secured credit card to an unsecured credit card is use your secured credit card responsibly. Keep your balance low (well below your credit limit), make your payments on time, and pay off your balance in full as often as possible. If you can do these things consistently, most credit card issuers will qualify you for an unsecured credit card after about one year.

After you’ve proved your reliability, there are three likely scenarios for making the transition from a secured credit card to an unsecured credit card. The first is that you close your secured credit card account completely after being approved for a new unsecured card. As long as you close your account in good standing and carry zero balance on the card, your entire security deposit will be returned to you. Generally your credit card company will send your money in the form of a check.

There will be several.  2010 will usher in the end of  “gotcha” rate hikes, which for so long have surprised consumers.  This and other changes, that are the result of the CARD Act, will cause the negative sentiment most consumers and Congress have towards the credit card industry to dissipate considerably, but it will be close to the end of the year before we see that happen.
Additionally, credit card companies will begin to compete with each other for customers again in 2010.  Competition in the market has been frozen because, due to record high default rates, the focus for issuers has been on loss prevention.  This will continue into 2010, but consumer credit will begin to become more readily available.

Lastly, and again due to the CARD Act, secured credit cards will make a comeback in 2010.  This is because under the CARD Act, consumers under 21 who want to apply for a credit card will either have to show proof of income or obtain a cosigner in order to be eligible for an account.  If neither of these options are achievable, secured cards will become the only option for consumers between the ages of 18-21 who are in the market for credit.

Credit card companies report you as being delinquent to the three major bureaus after you have been late on your payment for 30 days or more.  In your case, you have been late for 67 days, so your credit score will already have been affected.  Your credit card issuer reports to the three major credit bureaus every 30 days, so it is very important that you make a payment immediately to avoid being reported as 90 days delinquent, at which point your credit score will take another hit.  The effect that your late status will have on your credit score will be marginal and can be repaired if you practice responsible behavior for the next 12 months.
However, you should check your next credit card statement carefully or call your credit card company now, because your interest rate may have very well gone up (perhaps considerably) due to your late status.  Being this late on your credit card payment could have a costly effect on your wallet, depending on if or how much your interest rate has increased.  If it has skyrocketed, you should try to pay your balance off in full.  If you can’t do that, you may want to consider a balance transfer.

There are no credit cards that you can apply for with a co-signer.  All credit card offers, terms and interest rates are based on the credit history of the individual.  Credit cards are not like auto loans or home loans, in which co-signers are allowed.  If you are unable to get an unsecured line of credit without a cosigner, you should apply for a secured credit card where a security deposit serves as collateral against your loan in the place of a co-signer.
On the other hand, if by co-signer you mean authorized user, then yes, this is something that you can do with a credit card.  An authorized user on a credit card is someone who has access to usage on the account, but is not responsible for the bill.  The primary account holder is fully responsible for the bill. However, the activity on the card will show up on the authorized user’s credit report.

You can pay back the cash advance you take against your credit limit over time, just as you would any other purchase you make with your credit card.  Any cash advance you take will be added to your existing balance.  However, this is a very expensive way to borrow money, unless you plan to pay it back immediately.
This is because there is almost always a high fee associated with cash advances on credit cards, and your credit card company will begin assessing interest on the cash advance immediately, usually at a rate above 20 percent.  Unless you are sure you can afford the finance charges that are associated with cash advances, you should probably try to find another way to come up with the cash you need.

No.  An expired credit card is just like an expired library card.  You simply get a new one at the time of expiration.  Your credit card issuer should send you a new card in the mail automatically.  If you aren’t sure that this will happen, call to find out at least a few weeks before the expiration date on your card.  Once you get your new card, your credit line, balance, and interest rate should all be the same, unless you’ve been notified separately of changes in those areas.

You should contact your credit card or debit card issuer immediately and report the issue.  By law, consumer liability for debit and credit card charges is limited to $50 when fraud is reported.  However, VISA and MasterCard, who control 100 percent of the U.S. debit card market and the majority of the credit card market, have gone one step further and require that all of their credit card issuers (like Capital One, Chase, Citibank, etc.) adhere to a zero percent liability policy for their customers.  They also require that immediate refunds be granted on disputed charges.  Most other major credit card networks have applied these rules as well.

This means that you should be able to get your money back right away, including over draft fees that were the result of the disputed charge.  If the merchant admits to an error after your bank has investigated the matter, that will certainly make things easier.

You can always use whatever available balance you have on your credit card.  So yes, as long as you make the minimum payment and there is a remaining open balance you can use it.  However, in this situation you are being very risky for two reasons.  First of all, if you have maxed out your 500-dollar line of credit and only paid $50 on the balance, the interest on the remaining $450 will likely put you close to your limit.  This means that in actuality, you would not have $50 left to spend and trying to make a transaction for that amount may result in going over your limit or having your card declined.  Secondly, and most importantly, it’s never a good idea to max out your credit cards unless you plan to pay back a large part or all of the balance right away.  Potential lenders like to see that you are using your credit modestly and that you are not up to your neck in credit card debt across all of your accounts.

Yes.  This is called a balance transfer, and by doing this you can transfer the credit card debt you have on one account to another credit card account with a different issuer.  Essentially the new issuer pays your original credit card company for your debt, bringing the balance on that account to zero.  Your debt then gets transferred onto a credit card account with the new issuer.  Many people transfer their credit card balances when they find a credit card with a more attractive interest rate than the one on which they have currently accumulated debt.   And yes, many credit card issuers also use balance transfer offers as a marketing tool and will extend credit card offers that feature zero percent or very low interest rates on the transferred balance for a period of time, e.g. six months or a year.  Balance transfer offers sometimes include fees, so you should take that into consideration before you go this route.