Do You Have Too Much Debt for a College Student

Do You Have Too Much Debt for a College Student via Pexels.com 1. How many credit cards do you have? We all know what it means to build credit pay your bills on time, utilize a certain percentage of your credit allowance, make consistent payments (that are more than the minimum), and restrain from opening more than one credit card before youve established a career with a monthly income. If youre a college student and you have more than one credit card think again. Its not the right time in life to have that many lines of credit before you have a steady, monthly income. Its hard to restrain from opening multiple credit cards. As soon as you step foot on a college campus as a freshman, companies are coming after you to open up a credit card with them preying on the fact that youre young, inexperienced, and impulsive. If you fall for their tactics, youll soon owe thousands of dollars in credit card debt on top of the thousands you probably already have in student loans. 2. Are you paying your bills on time? If youve gotten yourself in a situation where you cant pay your bills when theyre due, and youre waiting until your next paycheck comes in, its likely that youve gotten yourself in a situation where youre too far in debt. Not only do you need to make sure you can pay your bills, but you should make sure you can pay them  on time.  If you cant, youre too far in debt. 3. What amount of student loans is  too much?   If youve taken out student loans (which its pretty likely that you have), you might be feeling nervous about how youre going to pay them back. So what amount of student loans is more than necessary? According to US News, it all depends on your anticipated salary once youve finished school. If youre going into a field where youre only going to make about $40K per year, its probably not smart to take out $100K in student loans. Its all relative, my friend. via Pexels.com 4. Whats your car payment/housing situation? If you decided to go out and buy a new car, making payments on it with your student loan refund for the semester, youre probably not making good financial decisions. The best thing you can do for yourself while youre in college is  save as much money as you can.  This includes the decision you make about where and how youre going to live. Sure, we all want a one-bedroom apartment downtown, but is that really necessary? Its financially smarter to rent an apartment with multiple roommates in order to keep your monthly payments down. Yes, roommates are annoying but at least youre saving half of what you would be spending on a one-bedroom by agreeing to set some strong boundaries and live your best life with multiple roomies. 5. What habits are you setting now, as a young adult, that will follow you through the rest of your life? If youre allowing yourself to buy things impulsively, stack up the amount of money you owe in credit card debt, and overwhelm your bank account with bills, you arent setting yourself up for success in the long run. In fact, if you think about the absolute necessities that you need now, while youre in school, its a) crappy food, b) a bit of fun money, and c) a lot of time to dedicate to your studies. Its unnecessary for you to impulsively buy things you want when youre in school. Youre likely not making very much money (if any at all). So while youre in school and roughing it is the norm, go without the things that you think you need and settle on having just the necessities. Refrain from opening up credit cards with every company that approaches you during your first week on campus. Only set up automatic withdrawal for the bills you  know  you can afford, and stay away from shopping sprees until you have a steady income. While youre at it, check out some benchmarks you should plan on meeting if youre going to be able to retire comfortably. The earlier you start, the more likely you are to be comfortable in retirement. Instead of spending every last penny you have  now, wait and reward yourself as a 65-year-old with a huge stack of dollars in your bank account. Instead of being impulsive about things you want now, while youre in college focus on the future.