What to do with a Student Credit Card
What to do with a Student Credit Card
From: StudentCreditCards.com
A student credit card can be very useful is it is used wisely, but a student credit card can also put the unwary student deeply into debt. The best way to use a student credit card is to make purchases with the student credit card to build up your credit score, and to make full payments when the bill comes for your student credit card. To do otherwise can lead to credit trouble and can cause your student credit card to harm your credit score instead of helping it.
When you get a student credit card approval in the mail, consider that the way that student credit card companies make their money is by charging interest on the amount of money that you charge to the card. If you carry a balance on your student credit card, then you are putting money in the pockets of the student credit card company, and are risking financial trouble of your own.
To stay out of financial trouble with your student credit card, keep a firm grip on your spending. Instead of using a student credit card as a way to buy things that you otherwise could not afford, use your student credit card as a substitute for the cash that you have. Put your cash straight into your checking account and spend your credit card on the things that you would normally pay cash for. Pay off your student credit card in full each month, and you will be building a credit history, and possibly earning reward points if you have a credit card that offers them.
The wrong thing to do with a student credit card is to use it to buy things that you otherwise could not afford. You should also avoid paying for things with your credit cards as a substitute to cash and then spending your cash as well instead of using it to pay off your credit card. This can get you into deep financial trouble as the money that you spend on your student credit card is increased by the fact that you are being charged interest on the student credit card as well.
The best use of a student credit card is to increase your credit score, and not to serve as a source of money.
Student credit cards.com @ February 15, 2008