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Learn some money saving tips when it comes to outfitting yourself for the year ahead when you go to college and beware of credit card pitfalls that trap college students. I share advice from experts on how to stretch your dollars and avoid credit card debt that can cripple a student.
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college. You want the comforts of home,
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but you've got to pay the price. And
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this year, the price is going up.
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You can end up spending around $1,300,
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that's the average right now, per
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college student, uh over uh all of your
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school supplies.
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The National Retail Federation expects
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the total spending among college
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households to be $88.8 billion this
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year. That's up more than two billion
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from a year ago. But with inflation and
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tariffs now in the equation, it is more
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important than ever to find ways to save
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money on your college shopping.
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Get your budget ready. Figure out a
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checklist. Uh start with the basics.
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It's going to be really important.
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And what are those basics?
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So with a checklist, you're going to
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want to make sure that you figure out
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what do you already have. You don't want
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to buy anything that you may already
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have with you. And whenever you form
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that budget, you're going to want to
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make sure that you're covering uh for
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your tech supplies, your books, check
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out your syllabi. Uh also, if you have a
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roommate, it's really important to
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consult with them to make sure, you
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know, some of those bigger ticket items.
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You can uh chip in with them or maybe
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say, "I'll buy the vacuum, you buy the
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TV," kind of thing.
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Other money-saving tips, shop your
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house, see what you already have there.
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You might be able to use it. Sign up for
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mailing lists, which may contain coupons
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and deal alerts. Compare prices. The
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internet makes that really easy. And use
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your.edu address with merchants.
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A lot of them, if you provide your
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student email, are going to provide you
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with special student discounts or other
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school related uh deals and sales that
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are going on.
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College brings newfound freedom for
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many, and that freedom usually includes
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the use of a credit card or two. But
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those credit cards can create debt which
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is difficult if not impossible for many
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students to manage.
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The reality is that most kids at that
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age still unfortunately don't understand
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how to manage a credit card. A few
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charges here and there and suddenly the
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debt is piling up because of something
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called daily compounding interest. Which
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means your credit card balance is going
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to increase every single day without
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spending another penny based upon the
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previous day's balance with the acred
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interest. So every single day that
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balance increases throughout the billing
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cycle. If you don't pay uh that balance
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in full at the end of that billing
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cycle, you're going to get hit with all
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of that acred interest. When you've got
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a college kid who doesn't understand
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finances, let's say, do they have to put
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a limit on what they're spending? Should
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should they say you can only charge $6 a
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week or something like that?
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That's exactly what can happen. And most
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of fortunately again most of these cards
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are now have those uh uh features built
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into them. So you can set daily, weekly,
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monthly credit limits for your child or
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they can set it for themselves and that
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will create a disciplined uh responsible
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spending pattern. A study by College
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Finance indicates 65% of college
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students have credit card debt averaging
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about $3,300,
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which is difficult to pay off if you're
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making just the minimum payments.
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Because credit cards are a necessity in
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today's society, make sure your student
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is not charging more than they can pay
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off at the end of every month. When it
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comes time to graduate, they'll
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appreciate being debtree and having a
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better credit rating as they start
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paying off those student loans. Working
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for you, I'm the consumer guy, Steve
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Sprayer.
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