Using Student Credit Cards Wisely
Using Student Credit Cards Wisely
Student credit cards can cause quite a bit of trouble if you are a person who uses their student credit cards too often or too freely. Many college students think that their student credit cards are like a free pass to spend as much money as they want, but all credit cards can really hurt your credit score for a long time if your student credit cards are abused.
Credit card companies target college students with student credit cards. The assumption is that many college students have little to no experience with money, so they will make lots and lots of charges if they are offered student credit cards. The sad news is that this proves too often to be the case, and many students find themselves deeply in debt because of unwise spending on their student credit cards.
The wise thing to do when you are preapproved for student credit cards is to tear them up and throw them away. If you feel that credit could help you, however, or that you will be able to manage them responsibly, then you might consider applying for one of these college credit cards and seeing if you can use it to build, rather than destroy your credit rating. StudentCreditCards.com has a lot of good information on student credit cards.
If you decide to go for student credit cards anyway, then you should not apply for one or maybe two student credit cards. When you spend on your credit cards, keep directly in your mind the fact that you will have to pay on the credit cards and that they will charge you interest for the money that you spend.
Never spend more than you can afford to repay. This means that you should immediately pay off your credit cards every time you get a statement from them. Do not max out your student credit cards, do not spend more money than you can afford on your credit cards, not even “just this once”, and do not lend your student cards to friends for their own needs, no matter how dire it seems.
Student credit cards can be a big help in building your credit, but only if you spend wisely. If you do not, your student credit cards can do the complete opposite, destroying your credit instead.
Student credit cards.com @ December 20, 2007