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Posted: 12.12.2002
There's a time and a place for that - and it's called college
This has been a problem since long before we were both in school, and I'm sad to say that we both fell victim to the trap back then. The average credit card balance for a college undergrad is now $3,066 according to CNN. At George Mason University, 77.4% of students have credit cards, 73.4% have maxed them out, and 66% have used one card to pay off another. Another study found that "21% of students who applied for a credit-based loan from Nellie Mae in the summer and fall of 2001 had credit card balances ranging between $3,000 and $7,000".

Do I blame the credit card companies? Heck yeah. But I also blame the skyrocketing cost of tuition and housing. Credit cards, in a sense, are an extention of your student loans. Sure needless purchases are made with them. But sometimes given the choice of ramen, or a burger, you want to take the burger. It's just figuring out how to pay for it 3 years later that gets to be the real problem.



Hey boy take a look at me...let me dirty up your mind...



I was feeling so good...and then you bring up credit cards...ug

¤ ¤ credit: je | 12.12.02 at 03:09 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

amen.

¤ ¤ credit: The Avocado Couch | 12.12.02 at 03:13 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Yeah, took me years to finally put that train-wreck portion of my life behind me ... ugh.

On a side note: do you go to Mason? I live near there!

¤ ¤ credit: tj | 12.12.02 at 03:20 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

correction ... i meant to write "DID you go to Mason?"

¤ ¤ credit: tj | 12.12.02 at 03:21 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Nope -- I went to the University of Ooooooklahoma!

¤ ¤ credit: robyn | 12.12.02 at 03:25 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

You know, the converse problem to this is avoiding credit cards entirely while you're in college, which is what I did. I fear the things, I KNOW I'd abuse them. But now that I'm out of college, and found out that I have to build credit if I want anything (the boy wants a house, unfortunately, and his credit is ass), and the ONLY way to do it is guess how? By having a credit card! And do they offer non-college students great credit card deals? Hell no!

I probably should have done what my roommate did- she has big debt, but "I'll have great credit." Grrrr. So much for being rewarded for being good.

¤ ¤ credit: Jennifer | 12.12.02 at 03:30 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Yeah, figured that out when I saw the "What's a Sooner" section.

Please don't mind the idiots.

¤ ¤ credit: tj | 12.12.02 at 03:31 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Man that sucks, but I'm definitely one of them. I can vividly remember getting to the end of the semester a couple of times and charging my bill so that I could register for the following semester. It's a huge vicious cycle. I'm still paying off that stuff.

¤ ¤ credit: C.C. | 12.12.02 at 05:16 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I think that a major part of the problem is that no matter how much college you have, it's still very near impossible for an early twenty year old to get a job that pays enough for them to set up house; get, keep, and maintain a decent car; and pay off the loans that keep them fed through college.

¤ ¤ credit: a different Bill | 12.12.02 at 05:26 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

exactly. I KNEW credit cards were a bad idea and i still got them. 4 of them. those companies were on campus like every other week giving your free stuff if you signed up. i would even put zero down when they ask how much money you make. most often they assume that if you don't pay it off your parents will. well, mine wont. so I am. mostly.

¤ ¤ credit: Ruthie | 12.12.02 at 06:24 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I have 2 kids in college right now. My son goes to a small, private college; my daughter to a community college. (Before you go off on a sexist tangent, the community college was the only one that had the career program she wanted.) My son has taken out loans to pay for a portion each semester. My wife and I have helped with the rest, after his summer job money has been exhausted. He says he gets at least one credit card snail-mail per week. We still get two or three for him per month here at home. Our daughter is getting the same mailings. So far, our son has been rather prudent and researched the cards well before applying for one. We have told our daughter to completely ignore such mail, as money is like water in her hands. Neither one has the means to pay off any type of credit card debt at this time, but that doesn't stop the companies from calling!

Kind of makes me wonder how many personal bankruptcy filings have been due to this and how many credit card companies have gone under because the owners can't pay the bill?

¤ ¤ credit: Bill | 12.12.02 at 07:17 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Except for car repairs or online textbook purchases, I forced myself not to use mine, and if I did, I stuck to the 'if you can't write a check and pay it off at the end of the month' policy my parents drilled into me, it worked, although I get about 5 card offers a week!

¤ ¤ credit: christina | 12.13.02 at 04:42 PM | link--this ¤ ¤




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