Even if you always pay cash for your purchases, it’s important to establish and maintain a good line of credit. Credit used wisely allows you to finance big-ticket items such as homes, cars and college tuition. Your credit history can also be important in cash transactions; for example, most car rental companies and hotels require you to secure your reservations with a credit card even if you do not use it to pay their fees. There are some easy ways to build good credit.

Open savings and checking accounts in your name and keep them up-to-date. Over time this will demonstrate that you handle your money responsibly. Find out if your employer can deposit your paycheck directly into your account.

Apply for a loan, or cosign a loan with a relative who has good credit. This works as long as you are scrupulous about meeting all payments, but you will pay interest.

Buy something on credit. It seems like the old “you have to have money to make money” quandary, but there are several ways to do this when you are just starting out. If you have a job, many merchants (such as jewelers or car lots) will allow you to buy something and make payments on it over time.

Get a credit card. Department-store or gasoline credit cards are much easier to obtain than major credit cards such as MasterCard or Visa and can often be approved right away. If you pay off a credit card balance completely every month you will not have to pay interest on the charges, though some companies do charge an annual fee. Make sure you know if yours does.

You can also get a “secured” major credit card – this means that you deposit a certain amount of money with the company, and then they issue you a card with a limit that matches that amount. On your credit report it shows up like any other credit card.

Remember, “credit” means that you are borrowing money – you will have to repay it, usually with interest. If you think you will run a balance on an account (as opposed to paying it off completely every month), know how the company calculates interest and be sure that you can afford the payments. Pay at least the minimum balances on every bill, every month. It is much harder to repair bad credit than it is to establish a good credit reputation from scratch.