26 August 2010
How to survive college without credit sorry
Posted by selfprofit under: Business; Career; Mutual Fund; Retirement; Stock Exchanges .
Bills, budgets, spending temptations, lines of credit — across the country newly minted co-eds are facing these adult money issues on their own for the very first time. To help kids ace Money 101 — and avoid graduating with a killer financial hangover (or bankrupting the Bank of Mom and Dad, for that matter) — here's what they need to know wood burning fireplaces.
Back in the day (as in last year around this time), credit cards were as easy as candy to get on campus. Sorry, kiddos, those card blanche days are over.
Free T-shirts, Frisbees, and unprotected exposure to plastic are gone (or at least harder to come by), thanks to new credit card laws. New provisions from the Credit CARD Act of 2009 keep credit card marketing on campuses at arm's length (or actually, 1,000 feet's lengths).
Trust me, that's good news. Ask just about any grownup about their biggest financial regret from college and the answer will be: "Plastic." (Consider the $45,000 plastic albatross one of my colleagues ran up over the years.)
If you are under the age of credit consent (it's 21) the only way to qualify for a credit card on your own is if you can prove you have the means ("a job" or "a trust fund that spits out a handsome dividend") to pay the bill on your own. Barring that, you'll need an adult co-signer to get a card. (Attention potential adult co-signers: Do not sign the dotted line until you read the warning below.)
What's a credit-strapped kid to do?Short answer: Use cash (or cash-equivalents like a debit card or pre-paid credit card).
Don't be in such a rush to prove that you're creditworthy. Building credit takes time. Ruining your credit is a piece of cake.
When you're young you don't have any padding in your credit history to smooth over little mistakes. So every action — every late payment, credit application, maxed-out month — is amplified. The damage done by a few sma
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