College Candy

Picture this: You’re thirty-five, and still paying for your Sophomore Spring Break to Cabo. It sounds crazy, but it’s a reality for many cash-strapped graduates who maxed out their cards during their college years. Most college students boast a wallet full of plastic, and will spend years paying off the balances.

College cards are often a necessity (ranking right up there with tequila shots and coffee) during your four years, unless you have a big fat trust fund or a wealthy eccentric uncle. A multitude of costly expenses fall outside your tuition bill. Some are necessary, like food, books and transportation, while others are luxuries, like clothes, alcohol, trips and concerts. Here are some tips to avoid the debt trap that so many students fall into.

Compare offers

Be as choosy with what you put in your wallet as you are about which boys you let sleep in your bed (Editor’s Note: When alcohol isn’t involved). There are tons of credit card offers out there – don’t just take the first one you stumble upon.

Do your research: check out the finance charge, annual fee, cash advance fees and late payment fees. The finance charge can be as high as 25 percent on the unpaid part of your bill, and the annual fee can suck up a hundred bucks each year. For cash advances, most cards charge a scary amount and high interest. Read the fine print, and look at what a late payment can do to your rate (hint: just one late payment increases your interest rate). Try sites like credit.com or bankrate.com) to compare cards and score the best deal.

Screw the free-t-shirt

Forget the free-t-shirt/ water bottle/ random-crappy-thing-that-you’ll-never-use-again. Don’t apply just to score free gear. With every application, an inquiry is made into your credit history. This can pull down your credit quicker than a drunken frat guy drops his pants (or yours). Push through the crowd of over-eager credit card pushers – its okay to say no.

Timeliness is next to Godliness

The due date for payment is not a ‘suggestion’. Be religious about your payments and mark them in your planner, iCal, e-mail calendar or PDA. Use programs like Mint.com to keep all your spending and bills in one easy to access dashboard. Mint sends helpful reminders when bills are due and keeps track of your balances. Set up online payment for easy access, and do your best to make timely payments.

Do the math

If you’re spending $600 a month, and your income is damn near zero, you’re heading for debt disaster. Work out a budget and determine how much you can really afford to spend each month. Evaluate where your yet-to-be-earned dollars are actually going – is it beer, books or boots? Try and separate your needs from your wants: eating is a need, new going-out pants is not. Even cutting out one bar visit a month – I know, how very tragic – will bring down your bottom line. As boring as budgeting may be, it will help you understand where your money is going and where you need to cut back.

Look at the alternatives

If you’re spending like a wild woman, but not pulling in any actual income, its time to consider the alternatives. At the risk of sounding like your fiscally focused father, it might be time to get a job. If you’re not currently working, consider slinging plates of food at the local diner to fund your living expenses. (Please avoid the pole.) While you might have to defer to the plastic occasionally, a paycheck can take a big bite out of your monthly bill.

Be future-focused

Sure, skipping payments for a few months might not seem like a big deal now, but it will bite you in your metaphorical ass later. When you get out of school, virtually every potential employer will be eyeing your credit report right along with your resume. A shady credit history will turn off employers and prevent you from getting that dream job. Just like you want to woo that fine-looking boy with a swimmer’s build in your economics class, you should want to woo future employers as well. (And the benefits will last much longer than a hook-up with swimmer boy). To boot, applying for an apartment or financing a car will be hindered by your crappy credit – and who wants to live in a cardboard box under the freeway? These negative marks will stay on your credit report for a whopping seven years. So, you’ll be missing out on great opportunities long after you’ve worn out the soles on those Visa-funded gladiator sandals.

Two-thirds of college students have at least one credit card, and 55 percent of students received their first card during their freshman year of college, according the Institute for Higher Education. Of those college students with credit cards, 20 percent have four or more. While carrying a card can seem inevitable to get by during your four years, making irresponsible decisions and building hefty debt isn’t. Be smart and don’t make decisions you’ll regret later.

Bad credit stays with you a lot longer than a jagermeister hangover. And feels a whole lot worse.