Nasty plastic

Easy to get, not so easy to manage

by Martha Harris
One of the easiest things to do while in college is spend money. At first, it is only a few items, food, drinks and maybe a phone or car insurance bill. Then, there are video games, clothes or an unplanned weekend trip. Students are happy because they are getting everything they want and need. However, at the end of the month, they have no cash, and the only papers that are flowing are the statements and bills from the credit card company’s printer.
Credit Card Debt, one event of the women’s wit and wisdom program, was presented by PSECU’s Marleen Latzman to educate students about budgeting and signs that a student is in debt.
Students should know their account balance, and keep in mind that the bank can sometimes be wrong or not up to date. For example, if the bank says the balance is $500, a student thinks he or she has money to spend; however, a $200 check hasn’t cleared yet. Later, when it does, the student might have little or no money left, which causes them to start the cycle of debt.
”If you don’t keep a budget, balance your checkbook and no how much your credit limit is if you have a card, you are already heading for trouble ,” Latzman said. ”If you don’t know how much money you have and how much you already spent, that is a bad sign.”
It is simple for students to be approved for a card. According to the Department of Education, 50% of all college students receive credit card applications on a daily or weekly basis. They apply for many of them because they want the rewards, the offer sounds good or sometimes, they need to pay for something, and a card is the only way. According to City Bank, their card has ”no annual fee, no minimum income or no cosigner required.” The Discover® Student Card application states, ”0% interest on purchases for six months; •5% to 20% Cashback Bonus and more at top retailers such as iTunes.com, Target.com and Barnes & Noble.com; •5% Cashback Bonus® in popular categories that change four times a year like travel, apparel, gas, restaurants, movies and more and •Unlimited cash rewards that never expire as long as you use your card.”
”I received 12 credit card applications during my first two weeks,” sophomore Autumn Umburger said. ”but I only applied for one because I needed to finish paying for classes and fix my car.”
Another possible problem, in addition to spending money on something a student wants, is identity theft. This can happen when a student is distracted at the ATM, and he or she leaves the card sitting on the machine or leaves it in the slot. Someone’s identity can be stolen if the card is taken at the ATM or somewhere

else, especially if the person wrote his or her PIN (personal Identification Number) on the card. Finally, it happens with unwanted credit card applications.
Many”” students simply throw these away without destroying them, so a good thing to buy is a paper shredder,” Latzman said. ”Anyone walking by a can or dumpster can go through the trash and grab your offer, fill it out and receive a
card in your name, and you would never know it until you started receiving statements saying you owe thousands of dollars.”
Finally, according to Latzman, if students have a card, they should be able to make the payments on time and only use one card.
”If you can only make the minimum payment, pay the bill late, don’t know your balance, the balance keeps going up because of a large bill with acquired interest or you have to transfer the balance to another card, those are all signs of debt,” Latzman said. ”When you go out, put your card in a safe place, and take out a certain amount of money from the ATM. If you carry the card, set a limit, and if something you want is too expensive, wait till you have the cash or know you can pay it off soon. If you keep track of your balance, spend more on your true needs than wants and make a little more than the minimum payments every month, you will be able to avoid debt and paying bills for many years.”

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