January 6, 2009
Make Your Student Credit Card Work For You
By Student Credit Finance
The purpose of any credit card is to have the credit card company credit you a loan for a certain length of time. Along with this credit card will come a credit card limit. How will they determine your credit limit?
A college student credit card is specifically designed for the college student. This particular credit card will be the easiest credit card a college student will be able to obtain. The credit card companies realize they have little to no credit history but are still willing to give them a college student credit card. For this reason the limit will be set lower than other credit cards. Maybe as low as $250 to maybe $500. The credit limit is typically set by the credit score. So obtaining the college student credit card and using it correctly, you will soon find your score is slowly increasing and at the same time your credit limit will as well slowly increase. This is called building a positive credit history.
Building a positive credit history is the number one reason for a college student to obtain a college student credit card. We all know this world we live in revolves around credit, quite literally. In order for our young adults to have a good running chance we need to teach them about credit and how it can work for them as well as work against them if not treated properly.
Our young adults building a positive credit history is important and we need to teach them how to use there college student credit card. It should be used as an emergency tool. Make sure they know they can not just go charging all over town. First of all there limit is not that high and they will have to pay it back. Making there monthly payments on time every single month is critical to creating a positive credit history. Equally important is being able to pay the card off periodically. This is showing the credit card companies that you understand credit and will use it wisely.
A good rule of thumb is to never charge more than 40% of your total limit. If you can not pay it off but make the payments monthly you are at a good place and have excess credit available if needed. The credit card companies really watch the balance activities and will reward you as well as punish you if you do not use there college student credit card wisely. They can punish you by charging late fees, over limit fees and increase your interest rate for the same reasons. They are in control and want you to act accordingly. Respect your college student credit card and it will respect you.
This is the first step in your financial decision and making the right choices as well as doing the right things will help you obtain that financial freedom we are all seeking. What you do today will effect your future. Because of this it is critical you do make the right choices.
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January 2, 2009
Finding Student Credit Cards Online
By Student Credit Finance
As college students descend back on to college campuses this year there will likely be marketing tables set up credit card companies again, enticing the student to apply for a student credit card by offering free giveaways in exchange for the student’s signature on the card application. As we all know this is not a healthy practice, the fact remains that at some point most students will need a student credit card. A healthy solution to the aggressive on campus student credit card marketing is for students to seek out a credit card themselves, when they are ready. There are several websites online which offer helpful information about credit cards including Visa, AmericanExpress.com. Also, StudentCreditCards.com lists the top student credit cards as well as informative tips and insight to properly managing and using a credit card. Another excellent resource with information on selecting a credit card is page on the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) website entitled Choosing a Credit Card. Students are encouraged to obtain as much information as possible before applying for a student credit card.
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January 2, 2009
Making Good Choices Today
By Student Credit Finance
Establishing a positive credit history for a young adult is an important step. One would ask how you go about establishing this positive credit history. This is very simple. Have you been receiving those offers in the mail for a college student credit card? You have probably also seen them set up on your college campus. They are a great tool to start establishing positive credit history.
A college student credit card is one of the easiest credit cards you will every be allowed to receive. The credit card companies know you have no to very little credit established but are still willing to give you a chance. They will run your credit but this will be the one time when a lack of credit will not hurt you. They make it very easy to obtain a college student credit card.
What you do with this college student credit card once you have received it is the key to establishing the positive credit history. First of all you can not go out and charge everything till you have maxed it out. This is not showing responsibility towards your credit. What you need to do is think of it as an emergency tool. An emergency credit card will give you piece of mind when a true emergency such as flat tire or supplies for school you can not do with out comes along. This will also allow you to generally pay off your balance at the end of most payment cycles. The credit card companies like to see this and will slowly increase your credit when used this way.
Paying your bill every month on time and paying your balance off if possible is showing them responsibility as well. What you do need to do before you receive that college student credit card is compare your offers available to you. There are numerous credit card companies willing to give a college student credit card. These credit card companies are also going to very much in the rates and terms offered. You need to do your comparison shopping and choice what best fits your financial needs.
A college student credit card used to be a privilege but because of the ease in being able to obtain them is no longer treated as such. However, you need to treat it like a privilege. Why? Because this privilege will only serve to enhance your financial freedom for the future if it is used correctly today. Using your new college student credit card as an emergency tool and paying your bill every month on time will help to establish a great credit history. This in turn will help you in the future to obtain other credit card and possible car and mortgage loans down the road. Always remember what you do today effects your future. Make your future a positive one with good choices today. Your financial freedom is counting on your good choices to be made today and it will reward you in the future.
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December 30, 2008
Plastic Is The New Cash
By Student Credit Finance
The use of cash is beginning to fade away as plastic, in many forms such as college student credit cards, charge cards, and debit cards are taking over. You have probably started to receive all those student credit card offers in the mail, or are seeing them on the college campuses wanting you to sign up. The end of high school and the beginning of college is a perfect time to start thinking about a college student credit card and what it can do for you.
Some of you are probably thinking, ya I can go on a shopping spree, by all those cd’s or games I have been doing without cause mom will not buy them for me. Wrong. That is not what it is all about. A student credit card used wisely can be the best tool every to start building your credit history and score. I know, it is time to think like an adult.
As a new college student you probably have no or very limited credit history. A student credit card can change that and get you on the way to a healthy credit history and score. First of all, you will never find it so easy to obtain a credit card as you will a college student credit card. The credit card companies realize you have little or no credit and are still willing to give you a change. They will look at your credit but will probably go ahead and give you that card any ways. They are actually looking for loyal customers. If they give you your first chance at a credit card you will probably be loyal to them and keep using there services.
You, however need to treat this new student credit card with care and respect. By making your payments on time every month you are building a good credit history. By using your new college student credit card as an emergency tool is also helping to build the credit. Further more, by not every going over about 40% of the allowed credit balance you are also busting your score. By using your credit card sparingly and for emergencies the chances of you not over charging and being able to pay off your credit card monthly bill most of the time will be huge in increasing your score and showing you simple have the responsibility to handle the credit.
This kind of behavior will in turn get the credit card companies to slowly increase your allowed credit. By simply continuing this type of behavior with your student credit card, when you have graduated and have that great job, you will be able to buy that new car with no problems what so every. They will not ask for a co-signer either cause you have already proven yourself.
So go ahead and get that first credit card BUT ONLY when you are educated and ready. Treat it well and it will treat you well. What you do today always affects what you can accomplish in the future. Insure your future is a great one.
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December 26, 2008
College Students And Credit?
By Student Credit Finance
As a college student you need to start thinking about adult things such as credit. For some college students this is something they have been taught about from there parents and they will be successful, usually. However for others, credit is kind of a mystery to them. How does it work and what is the purpose for it? Unfortunately, the world we live in today requires us to have credit. And not just credit but good credit. Bad credit will only hold you back and in many cases is worse than having no credit at all. Because of this you college students need to start thinking and planning now for your future credit history needs.
I am sure you have already started to get those offers for student credit cards. Have you just been throwing them away? Well, do not do that any more. What you need to do is start looking at each individual offer and see what they are trying to offer you. If educated and informed, a student credit card can be a good start; you just need to know what to look for.
First of all, a student credit card will most likely be the easiest credit card you will ever obtain. Why? The credit card companies already know you have very little or no credit history and are still willing to give you a card. It will be a low balance credit card, but still a very viable student credit card. The things they will offer you are 0% interest rate for the first 6 month, but you need to ask what it will go up to after the initial 6 months. They may offer different kinds of credits on certain purchases such as gas. It could be a good card, but read the fine print and ask the questions, they are standing right in front of you at this point.
OK, so you have decided which credit card best suites your financial needs. This is good first step. Now you need to know how to use it. I know you just go swipe the card. True, you do, but that is not what I am talking about. I am now talking about using your credit wisely such as in an emergency situation. You can not just go charge everything and expect this credit card to work for you. If that is the way you think you will loose that card in record time. You have to remember you are in college so the funds are not exactly rolling in. You will have to make a monthly payment each and every month on time. When every possible you will need to pay it off as well. If you charge it up every month you may be able to stay on top of it for a month or two but then you will see what I mean.
Being responsible when using a student credit card is the key. You are a young adult and need to start thinking about what will affect your future financial independence. Using your college student credit card wisely will do this for you.
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December 23, 2008
Slowing the Boat Down!
By Student Credit Finance
As a parent of a 13 and 15 year old, I can not imagine the day when they start getting offers for student credit cards. I will probably try to toss them from the mail box before they get a chance to see them. This is probably what many of you parents will think and do once your child gets of age to start talking and making arrangements for college. Scary times. My 15 year old just got her permit. I can not imagine her getting her drivers license let alone a student credit card and going to college. It is all going too fast.
Unfortunately, are children do grow up. There is nothing we can do about it, but try to teach them to do right and make right decisions. Here is a clear opportunity we can all take advantage of with our children. Instead of throwing those student credit card offers away, use it to your advantage as a learning tool. This is the time to start teaching your children about life and how it works. Have you found it simply works on credit. I know I have. Credit is very important in today’s world and someone needs to teach them the right way as well as the wrong way to handle and use it.
A student credit card is going to come with a minimal credit limit so handling it can be much easier than one would think. Set down with your child and explain what a student credit card can do for them in the future if they handle it correctly in the present. Handling it correctly would be using it wisely, making the monthly payments on time every single month and paying it off when every possible. Explain to them that these simple actions are creating a credit history and score that will benefit them in the future.
Having a college student credit card will also give them as well as yourself piece of mind, especially if they are going to college away from home. If they have an emergency they will have the convenience of the student credit card to get them through what every the emergency is, even if they just need to go home for some reason. Teaching them how to handle the card, they will be able to have the maturity to save the card and use it only when needed.
As parents, it is our responsibility to teach are children ever thing we can. This does include how to handle and use credit. If you do not teach them how will they know. This could be a very costly lessen if just done by trial and error. Do yourself and your child a favor, do not through that offer away. Set down with them and teach them. They will thank you. Maybe not for a couple of years, but, they will thank you. When they are successful and in a stable job and there credit history is working for them. They will remember you took the time to set down with them and teach them how to become successful.
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December 20, 2008
Student Credit Cards And Students
By Student Credit Finance
College is the last care free step you are going to have before real life begins, or at least it should be. College students should be able to go to sleep each night with the only thoughts of responsibility being the Math exam tomorrow morning. They should still get to live in a world where although they can not afford much more than the occasional late night drive through McDonald’s or downloading the latest hit single, at least they are not worrying about paying a mortgage yet, most forms of insurance, utility bills, or the college student loan that is allowing them to get an education.
Not. Time to wake up to reality. Unfortunately in today’s society we need to learn about credit and financial issues early in life. A great way to start that education is a college student credit card. A college student credit card is easily obtained in college and one should take advantage of it to use this credit card as a tool to get to financial freedom for the future.
You have probably already received many offers through the mail or seen them set up at your college soliciting applicants to sign up. What you simply need to remember is each offer and student credit card will be different and hold many different kinds of benefits. Make sure you compare the offers like the interest rate, front end fees, back end fees, payments terms. These are all very important features that you must look at and understand. Look at them through a pair of mature eyes, not the eyes of someone that just wants to go charge it up to the max and get that gaming system you have been wanting for a while. If this is all you want to do, you should probably walk away from a student credit card. You are only going to hurt your financial freedom with this frame of thought.
Look at this college student credit card as a tool that will, if used correctly, create a good credit history for you and continue to raise your credit score. If you pay your monthly payments on time every month and even pay it off when you can, this is the first step to upping your credit score. This is very important for your financial freedom. Using your card as an emergency tool is a smart way of thinking and will also benefit your future financial freedom.
So, I say go for it. However, think about it as well. Talk to your parents and friends. Find out what the do’s and don’ts are. Pay attention to the financial issues your friends and family members have gotten them selves into because of credit. Learn from there mistakes and go into it with a mature head and the right thoughts. Only then can you lay your head down at night and only worry about the next morning Math test. This is a small part of financial freedom as well. Not worrying about your financial situations.
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December 16, 2008
Chose The Credit Card That Will Benefit You
By Student Credit Finance
How do you plan to choose the right credit card for you? I am sure you having been receiving all the offers in the mail and seeing them set up at the school trying to get you to sign up. Student credit cards are good financial tools when utilized properly, just make sure you make the right decision when choosing the one you will take.
There are many good things about having a college student credit card. For example, it will help you build your credit, being approved is much easier than a regular credit card, and the introductory offers can really be some good benefits.
How do you think they will help you build good credit? Buy using the card correctly and making the payments every month on time you are starting to build your credit. Using it correctly is also a big bust for your credit score. Buy using it sparingly and for emergencies you will probably not run your credit up to the limit and will be more likely to pay it off at the end of the month. Showing that you can handle having credit and not charge it up to the limit every month is showing a good track record and will help bust your credit scores.
Becoming approved for a student credit card will be far easier than it will be to obtain a regular credit card later on in life. The credit card companies understand that you do no have any credit or have very little and are willing to take the chance on you to do the right things. They will give you a smaller limit than most other credit cards, but you need to prove yourself here. When I was in college the first time there was no such thing as a college student credit card, so consider yourself lucky in today’s world.
The last thing I wanted to share with you is the benefits and perks that student credit cards will offer you to get you on board. Most of these benefits are good, but they will not be beneficial to everyone. You need to pick the benefits that will best suit your own financial situation. Some of the benefits they may offer are things like 0 percent introductory offer which can be a good one for everyone.
Knowing that a college credit card can be an important tool to be used responsibly is the first step to maturity. Get your student credit card and let the credit card company as well as your loved ones (mom and dad) know you really are the mature responsible person they raised you to be. You have to grow up some time. The college years seems to me to be the perfect time to start a new era of doing the right things all the time.
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December 12, 2008
Debt Education
By Student Credit Finance
Is a college student credit card and your young college student a deadly combination? It does not have to be! If you have done your job in teaching them about credit and debt they will do fine. It is still scary when we think about our children having credit cards and gas cards and all that debt. I can feel your pain.
On top of a college student credit card debt a college degree itself has become a necessity in today’s world. And college students are doing what ever is necessary to pay for said college degree, including taking on much more debt than they should. An average college student debt level has more than doubled in the last twenty years, and nearly two thirds of all four year college graduates will have to have several college student loans.
As college costs continue to grow, more and more college students will have to borrow to pay for their degree. What can we do about this for our college students? Really, the only thing we as parents can do is strive to teach our young college students a couple of things.
- What is Credit?
- How to manage it?
- What can it do for you?
Let’s start with number one. What is Credit? Credit is a time allowed for payment for goods or services obtained on trust. When we are given credit we are given the opportunity to buy something or have a service performed for us with out payment. This is a heavy responsibility that is not always easily obtained. So we move on to the next question.
How to manage it? Credit is a privilege. For a college student, having a student credit card is the beginning of there credit history and score. We all know how important it is today to have a decent credit score so we need to do the right thing and make the right choices. By using your student credit card as an emergency tool while in college, you will learn to keep the debt in control and manageable. After all, you are going to school full time and maybe working part time. You really do not have a large surplus of funds laying around so you have to manage what you do with that card and make sure you are able to make the monthly payments every month on time. Paying it off if possible is a huge score buster.
Our last question, what can it do for you? This is the big one. Using your student credit card as an emergency vehicle allows you to make your payments on time and to have the funds when a true emergency does come up. You are teaching your self how to handle your credit and debt. It does take a lot of while power, but is so well worth it. When you graduate you are going to have debt that had to happen in order for you to obtain the college degree. Do not put your self in the situation to have credit card debt as well to go along with the student loan debt.
Understanding the three simple questions above will only help to insure your college student’s success not only in the financial world but in all of life.
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December 10, 2008
Credit Card Mistakes
By Student Credit Finance
“Did you get your student credit card yet? Ya, I did too. Let’s go on a road trip.” Stop, rewind. These two will probably have a tough credit history ahead of them. Why? Because that student credit card is not for a road trip or impromptu vacation. That very precious student credit card you have just received is for emergencies. What are emergencies? Remember last month when you got that flat tire and you had to wait a week before you could get it fixed because you had no money? That was an emergency.
In the young life of a college student it may not be so easy to distinguish between I want and got a have and I really need this for school. I hope you will allow me to offer some helpful advice and tips. You are a college student because you want to learn. Well, set back and listen to an older college student that has been in your shoes and learn from her mistakes.
I remember the first time I received a credit card. They did not offer “student credit cards” in my day so it was just a regular visa or master card. Of course, this was Many, Many years ago. However, the credit game really has not changed all that much. If I knew then what I know now, financially, I really would be much better off. I am not saying I am poor and destitute, but I am saying to this day I have struggles with credit and do not always get the best interest rate on things that really make a difference such as a home. It is a reality that your credit history will follow you. Yes, things do drop off after a certain (long) time frame, but it puts you in this category of thinking. What do you think, “It is already screwed up, and here goes another mistake.” For most of us, we almost always know when we are about to make the wrong decision. You can fill it in your gut. Listen to it.
Now is the time you need to rewind and back up. Yes, you have made a mistake, but do not keep making those mistakes. Give your credit history a chance to recover and move on to the good part. You see, my credit history follows me because that was my frame of thought. It is not now, but I am older and should have learned many years ago. Some people really are thick headed (me). Do not give way to bad self talk (yes, I like Dr. Phil), and talk to yourself like you would to your best friend. We almost always give our best friend the right advice. Do the same for yourself.
As I said, now is a time of learning, there are bound to be mistakes along the way. Just do not get caught up in the “mistake pattern”. As long as you learn from your mistakes and move forward with better decisions it is all good. So what you need to do now that you have received your first student credit card is enjoy the fact that when an emergency does come up, you will be able to take care of the situation and not put your future financial freedom in jeopardy.
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