What You Need To Know Before You Apply For A Credit Card
The article below is from a series of finance related articles about Student Loans …
Before you go and decide to apply for a credit card to buy those new clothes, you may want to take a step back and carefully consider your purchase. Being away from home at college is a liberating time. You are surrounded by new people and have a new set of responsibilities to handle. Applications for MasterCard, Discover and Visa credit cards are all around you. We live in an age of “instant” gratification.
Instant approval credit cards may seem like a welcome source of relief when you find yourself desperately needing school supplies or in need of the basic things. However, almost always, the ability to easily apply and get one can lead to massive financial problems. Student credit card debt is out of control. Students are flooded with bank credit cards, MasterCard or Visa credit card offers and many do not give adequate thought to the consequences of how easy it is to abuse their use.
No one doubts that college is costly. Tuition, room, board and associated expenses can deplete savings accounts very quickly. You, as a student, may have such a demanding class schedule that working a part time job is just impossible. This is especially difficult if you take part in school activities, such as sports or academic organizations. Most parents cannot afford all the additional expenses incurred by student life, not to mention if there are off campus expenses and luxuries wanted.
The key to understanding how to use a college student credit card, is one based on “need” only. Most students must have some form of funds in case of an emergency and it comes down to the student knowing the difference between an emergency and a simple desire. Apply for a credit card and when it arrives, put it aside for real emergencies. Do not go around applying for every credit card offer you receive. Pay careful attention to the interest rates and any associated fees that the lender requests.
Apply for a credit card and use it with great caution. Do not continuously apply for those college student credit cards just because you can save 10% off your purchase. Eventually, you will have to repay the balance and you may not have the credit available should a real emergency happen. Try to remember that going out with your friends for a night on the town does not qualify as an emergency!
For more resources on borrowing money, go here: Borrowing Money
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