Pre-approval.
Free pizza. Free Subway. Free T-shirt.
And a ruined credit score.
College students are bombarded with credit card offers and incentives. We're easy targets. Students have to pay rent, utilities, tuition and food on limited funds.
As student loan money and jobs become more scarce, the lure of credit cards becomes harder to ignore. Whether you qualify for a $500 limit or $1,000 limit, credit cards have wreaked havoc on unsuspecting college students for years.
Ball State University's Miller College of Business has planned Financial Literacy Week to prevent or help students cope with financial problems.
Students should try to attend an event or two, because they could learn new tips and tricks for managing money when it is so scarce.
The economic situation has forced the country, and world, to weigh and evaluate priorities.
Needs versus wants have become the guiding principles to many peoples' spending. However, from a student's perspective, needs can be a little hazy.
After an all-night study session a late-night food run seems completely logical and natural. Money's running low. But you've got a craving that just won't stop. The food should only cost about $12. That's a perfectly acceptable charge on a credit card -ยก- so long as it gets paid off.
Impulse can take over, though, with the freedom a credit card can offer. A credit card puts that 32-inch flatscreen HD TV within reach.
Students must remember that purchases can't be made just because it's something they want.
Enduring this economic crisis will be tough, but learning how to make smart fiscal decisions and plan for the future is the only way to get through it.
The inaugural Financial Literacy Week is bringing several free opportunities to campus for students to learn about credit card management, employee benefits, the basics of investing and much more.
The worst that could happen would be to not learn anything. However, the potential gain is undeniable.
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