Are You Part of the Plastic Generation?

Free Money! Go to any college campus during registration and you'll see students signing up for a free coffee mug or T-shirt, and of course a credit card – the required act to get the mug and shirt. They've automatically become part of the plastic generation.

As a college student, you may get many "free" credit card offers when you open your mail. The card companies don't seem to care if you have a job or income, so why should you care? And so you start slapping that card down every place you go.

Has any of that happened to you yet? If it has, are you using your card responsibly?

a reality check
According to a study of college students with credit cards:*

• Half of them are already having trouble paying credit card bills.
• More than 50% say credit card debt affects their ability to study.
• A quarter of them think about dropping out because of credit card bills.
• Thirty-one percent will be forced to cut class load and take a job to pay credit card bills.
• Nationwide, 150,000 students under 25 will declare bankruptcy this year alone.

What happened? They just got chumped by the banks. Banks know that about 75% of students will keep banking for decades with the first bank that gives them a credit card – even if the students ruin both their credit and their school opportunities with that bank's credit cards. That's why the banks are throwing plastic at you. They know they'll own you down the road, whether you pay or not.

Don't be a chump. Don't fall for easy plastic.

our advice
1. Don't get more than one credit card. If you have more, cut up the extras, and pay the balances off, but keep the account open if you have enough self-discipline. Having access to credit you don't use can help your credit rating, while closing accounts you don't use may hurt. Consider a credit card from DCU, a financial institution you can trust.
2. Never make only "minimum" payments on cards. Pay more.
3. Don't charge! Pay cash or use your DCU Check Card.
4. Read our "5 Credit Cards and Free Goodies" article on the Show Me web site and learn how to correctly handle your credit cards and balance your checking account.

Cheers,
Will

* Source: University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma College Student Credit Card Study.

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