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COLLEGE SHOPPING AND STUDENT CREDIT CARD PITFALLS
Aug 24, 2025
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
0:53
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
1:14
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
1:21
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
4:12
Sprayer.
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[Music]
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