As a college student, it’s so easy to “put it on plastic”.

You get what you want, when you want it, and you don’t even feel like your spending anything (pro), but then you get that bill a month later when your scrapped for cash (con).

Some of the advantages to carrying plastic include

1) Convenience - you don’t always have to run to the ATM to pay for something, and in the case of an emergency it’s also useful (usually, emergencies aren’t cheap and it’s highly unlikely you have cash on hand to pay for it).

2)Credit is good for you, so you can establish your credit score. When making large purchases, you need credit history to do so, and a good credit history. Unless you have upwards of $120-350,000 in cash, good luck buying a home. Good luck even trying to buy a car with cash right when you graduate.

We suggest you do sign up for a credit card, but beware of the campus sharks. When we say campus sharks, we refer to the credit card companies that hound you in your student center to sign up for their credit cards, with their flashy designs on them and a very high interest rate.

They know you don’t have money.

They know you want that free Jim Belushi “College” T-shirt. That’s why I signed up for a credit card… and I did my credit score more harm than good because I didn’t know how the credit card industry worked. Now is your chance to learn.

That’s why we’re here to help you. Keep reading to avoid our costly mistakes.

Here are some disadvantages to having a credit card:

1) There’s no emotional affect with plastic. What the hell? Emotional affect. Yes, emotional affect. Say it again, outloud children… E-mo-tion-al Aff-ect. Good. What this means is that you don’t feel your purchases when you buy something. Ok, say for example you have a $10 bill in your pocket, and you by something for $2.37. When you get your change back, you a)now have more paper money than what you started with, and b)have $0.62 worth of change in your pocket. You FEEL that extra money there.

With a credit card, or even a debit card, you don’t feel your purchases until it’s too late, right when the credit card companies got you by the neck.

2) Interest, interest, interest.

Never make the minimum purchase if you can afford to pay your bill off completely. Interest will kill you (well, if it doesn’t kill you, it will kill your pocketbook).

So yes, there are advantages, but there are also disadvantages. Before you delve into purchasing on credit, weigh the pros and cons so that you don’t make the same mistake I did.

Remember: Credit will kill you, cash will kiss you.

Bad credit score? Check out the tricks we have up our sleeve to help you out.

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