College Credit Cards: The Other Side of the Coin
Why College Credit Cards Aren’t Always a Good Thing
When you head off to college, you’re supposed to be taking steps that are securing a better future for yourself. However, with college credit cards the effects of college can do just the opposite. A college student can ruin his or her financial future before they even graduate into the real world. So how do you avoid the college credit card trap?
The Predators
As useful a tool as college credit cards can be, the fact of the matter is there are a lot of predatory college credit cards out there. The goal of these credit card companies is to get a college student to charge as much possible while paying off as little as possible. By constantly increasing credit card limits when the balances reach all-time highs, college credit cards may be getting students into debt a lot more quickly than they had ever bargained for.
What to Do
When heading off to college, don’t be afraid to apply for a college credit card, just don’t use it unless it’s an absolute emergency. You may want to let your parents hang onto the credit card for you so that you are not tempted to make impulse purchases. Just remember, everything that you charge to a college credit card needs to be paid for, and it’s a lot harder to pay off a credit card balance than you may think.