The University should add one more course to their curriculum — Credit Cards 101: How to manage credit cards without getting yourself into debt.
This is not to say that all students who own credit cards will/do go into debt. However, the fact is that there are many college students who do get themselves into trouble when using plastic to pay for most of their purchases.
Some students do not know the added items that go into using their credit cards, such as: penalty fees, interest rates and changes in rates.
Most students do not realize that if they do not pay off their charges for the month on their credit cards, the amount that is left unpaid is not just carried over to the next months balance, but it has extra fees attached to it.
The best idea for a college student is not to get a credit card until they are financially responsible and prove to be. Many times students may think they are able to handle a credit card and may think; I will not go into debt, I know how to manage my money. However, it is easier than one might think. Once debt occurs, it is hard to pay off.
A good idea for students is to use a debit card or a checking account for their purchases. This way, the money that you are able to use is limited to the amount of funds that are available in your account. If a student uses a debit card they are able to keep track of how much money they are spending after each purchase. With a credit card students are not always able to keep a record of how much they have spend and are likely to exceed the amount of money they have to pay it off.
This leads to the next point, which is — if you don’t have the money to pay off your credit card balance for the month do not make the purchases. One of the worst mindsets of students who have credit cards can be: I’ll just pay it off the next month or I’ll get some money somehow to pay it off. If you don’t have the money to pay off the bill then obviously you don’t need to purchase that new stereo, or that new CD you have been wanting.
A good hint of advice would be that if you know you are not going to have the money to pay for it later, don’t buy it now. Just wait till you have enough money where you are able to get it.
Credit cards may be one of the worst items to give a college student, especially in their first years. However, students need to learn that we are in college now and we have to start acting like adults, which also meaans learning how to be financially responsible. Credit cards can be good, but they can also be trouble.
