Teens and students faced with a difficult dillema. It is difficult to establish credit without and income, and for income you need a steady job that they don't have. If they wait until after graduating to start to establish credit it gets to be quite late as thats when they need to have a car or a loan or indepemdent place to live and everything comes expensive without a decent credit history. In fact, an impressive credit history can give you the edge over your competitors when applying for a job. This is why young people are encouraged to start building credit history while they are still in college. Get a gas card, departmental store or book store card where you make most of your purchases. These cards are easiest to get help you lay a solid foundation foundation of your credit history. Some credit card companies such as discover and American Express offer credit cards geared exclusively towards student and you can get cash back and other savings too when using these credit cards. If you can, get one of these credit cards and use it to pay for some of your schooling expenses. Be consistent in submitting your payments and you will surely be able to build good credit. Credit cards such as Discover give upto 5% cash back on amounts that you charge, which may be little additional money savings that you can use towards your bills.
There are a plenty of No annual fee offering cash back on your purchases available to suite your needs. Don't get carried away with trying to get too many gas cards and departant store cards and try to keep the credit limit on your credit low. Credit Cards with cash back and other cards such as book store card etc with hefty discounts is worth having. Cash back and savings on top of what everyone gets never hurt anyone.
One credit card should be enough for a student to build credit. While it’s easy to sign up and get approved for a new credit card, keep in mind that having too many cards may only tempt you to spend more than you need to. Since you do not have a regular job yet to support you, it’s best to stay away from risks rather than get too close to bad credit.
I mean all necessary expenses such as fees, books and other college expenses. Even a couple of percentage cash back on tuition fee and other college expenses may amount to a whole lot of money savings.
By paying bills on time, you can save yourself from additional charges (interest rate, late penalty) and the risk of bad credit. Make it a habit to submit your payments on time at all times.Don't wait until the last minute as you don't save anything and risk getting a mark on your credit report for being late or missing a payment.
Remember these are loans and need to be returned once you are finished with your school. The amounts add up before you know. Also, the Students loans have become major opportunity for banks to fleece youngsters by charging them high upfront processing fees. First, do your due diligence before requesting students loan from the bank. Also, see to it that you only spend your student loan to support your college education, not your personal whims. Even while in college, contribute to your student loan payment whenever you can. This way, you can cut down your student loan debt even before your college graduation.
Being frugal is very different from being stingy. Given my experience, even stingy would have have been a good thing as there was never lot of money to go around when I was in college. Frugality is truly a virtue and for young people, they can learn a lesson from those who got stuck in bad credit because of uncontrolled spending. Before buying anything, seriously consider if you can afford to pay it with your allowance. Recognize the difference between NEEDS and WANTS and avoid impulsive buying.
Set aside money for emergency and future use. Open your own bank savings account and contribute as much as you can. If you take on part time jobs during spring breaks or summer vacation, then be sure to set aside some cash in your savings account.