follow lifehacker How to Get a Credit Card with No Credit Ramit Sethi is a New York Times best-selling author and creator of one of our favorite personal finance sites, I Will Teach You to Be Rich . In his weekly video Q&A, Ramit answers common questions about personal finance, careers, and more. This week: How can you get a credit card when you don't have a credit history? Edgar from El Paso, TX, asks: "I'm just starting to build my credit history. I have a secured CC with a $500 limit and I've had it for 2 years and I've always paid it on time. About a year ago I called to see if they could give me an unsecured card instead. The answer was NO (for some BS-sounding reasons). How can I negotiate with them so they'll give me an unsecured credit card?" I answer Edgar's specific question in the video above, but I wanted to highlight two things to know about using your credit cards. More importantly, you're not building credit, which will cost you when you make major life purchases. For example, if you buy an average-priced house, the difference between what you'll pay with excellent credit vs. what you'll pay if you have poor credit is over $100,000. Building your credit is one of the few Big Wins you can have in your financial life. If the credit-card company rejects you because you don't have credit, go for a secured credit card. These are essentially