How to Avoid College Debt Caused by Credit Cards

Once you turn 18, you're a free man or woman in Los Angeles and the country and the credit card companies know this.  This is why credit card debt is the most common form of college debt in the country when it comes to college students, next to student loans of course.  

More and more college students are not only graduating with degrees, but many are graduating with thousands of dollars worth of credit card college debt.  The bad side of that education is that it didn't teach them anything about avoiding debt or how to live a lifestyle without charging everything to the credit card.  Yes, there are college graduates who are still paying off their pizza and bar tabs ten years later.

If you're a college student trying to avoid college debt, then it's important that you understand what happens when you charge everything to the card.  Let's say you’re a college student in Los Angeles with a student credit card and you were lucky to get a 10% interest rate.  This is actually sort of unreal, as most student credit cards come with an interest rate of around 18%.  But, suppose you charge around $3,000 to your card on a variety of expenses.  If you pay $100 a month with that 10% interest, then you're going to need 36 months to pay off your bill.  That is also assuming that you never charge anything else to your credit card.

So, if you're trying to avoid college debt and racking up a credit card bill, then there are a few things you can do:

• Leave the credit card at home, unless you're certain you won't use it for anything else than an emergency.  Needing pizza at 2am doesn't qualify as an emergency, but buying a new car battery does.
• Use a debit card instead of a credit card, just make sure you have the cash in your checking account to cover your purchases.
• Buy used text books and if you buy them online, charge them and then pay the bill off.  Or, use PayPal because it pulls money directly from your checking account.  More and more online merchants are going to PayPal.
• Always, always pay off your credit card bill each time it comes in.  This means that if you don't have the money to pay it off in a few weeks, then don't charge it.  

Following these simple credit card rules as well as always paying your bill off will help you to reduce the amount of college debt you accumulate.  You are probably going to have student loans to pay off anyhow, so don't increase your college debt anymore than you have to with a credit card while going to school in Los Angeles.

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