General questions about loans.. Please help.

It is very hard in our modern society to find reliable information about money.

Money as a subject has been twisted and perverted and hidden with one purpose in mind: to confuse the public and thereby take advantage of them.

There is no area where this is more true than with credit and lending.

You hear over and over -- repeated like a mantra -- that you need to borrow to build up good credit. And then when you do have good credit, you can buy things, like cars, and boats and houses. You can get large screen TVs and cell phones and furniture and monogrammed doilies.

For most people credit and borrowing is the black hole of finance. It is a trap for the unwary.

Look around your town. If there are any 30 story office buildings, they are banks. It's like Las Vegas. Where does the money come from? From suckers.

If you never had any credit in your entire life, if you never took one loan, and if you diligently saved for everything that you need, buying only what you really need, not what you merely want or imagine that you need, at the end of your life you would probably be quite wealthy, and almost undoubtedly much better off than you would be otherwise.

Take car companies for example. Do you know what their primary business is? It is not the manufacturing of cars. It is finance. The cars are just a way for you to commit your future to them.

If they weren't making cars they would be making something else. It doesn't matter what. And they would still be trying to get you to sign over your future.

Beware of all the places you pay interest and stop it. This includes car insurance payments and anything else where there is an extra fee for the monthly payment. That interest you are paying belongs in one place, and that is your own pocket.

This includes a mortgage payment if you have one. If you have a mortgage pay it off. You should be able to do it in 5-7 years with discipline. If you don't have one then don't get one. Save your money and pay cash.

The poor spend their money on necessities.

The middle class by things they don't need on credit and live their entire lives like slaves to the moneylenders and never know what it means to be free.

The rich invest their money where it will return value to them.

If you operate like the rich -- no matter what your current income level -- and invest your money where it will return value, in time you will become rich, whatever your current income.

Moral of the story: Never borrow money.

At 18 you should be saving money and not borrowing it. Establish credit with a checking account and bank savings account. Look for a bank that gives free checking...some will do so for students and other reasons like keeping a minimum balance. NEVER bounce a check or bounce your account if it comes with a bank card that takes cash out of your account. Most places will let you view your account online so you can keep tabs on it.

Get a credit card and charge a few SMALL items on it, paying off half one month and half the next. Then in another month or so, do it again. You don't get any points for paying off your balances in full every time. Never get a credit card where they charge you a fee for getting one. NEVER use the cash option and shred the checks they send you or ask if they can quit sending them, and NEVER go up to your limit. Just use it to establish a good creditor history.

Some larger stores might extend you credit. Pick one and do the same as with your credit card to establish a history for yourself. Buy a few small items that don't run up your balance very high and pay it off in two months, half on the first bill and the rest on the next one.

Just don't let yourself get in the habit of financing your life with credit, but you do need to establish a rating, so use some, but go easy on what you charge.

Once you get decent cash in your bank account, put a bunch of it in a CD and see if the bank will let you borrow against that for a few percentage points over what the CD is earning--which, unfortunately, is basically nothing at this point in time.

The whole idea is to establish yourself as a good risk.

30% interest - absolutely DO NOT do that. It's beyond crazy and quite a ripoff -- and it truly is NOT necessary.