Credit, and credit card spending, are hot topics these days. Virtually every media outlet from Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show to the nightly news have covered this topic, and it is so enrapturing to the general public that states like New York have enacted legislation curbing the promotion of credit cards to 18 to 25 years olds (college aged folks). These local and state mandates, as well as the televised discussions on the matter, are not meant to hinder an individual’s free will or spending power. Rather, they are well intended “lessons” on a growing problem—the problem of twenty-something’s accumulating mass amounts of debt before they are thirty. This dilemma lends toward an the inability to buy a home, purchase a new car, go on (well needed and deserved) vacations, and enjoy the life that you work so hard for. Think about it. Is it worth working overtime just to pay off the credit card debt?

Racking Up Those Bills in the First Place

At eighteen most folks find themselves feeling a bit invincible, and at twenty-five they still have some of those same threads running through their heads. But the big difference between eighteen and twenty-five is the amount of responsibility that society emplaces upon you. Setting marriage and babies aside—for the sake of brevity—most twenty-five year olds are expected to be working a forty-hour work week, bringing home close to thirty thousand a year, and most importantly, social dogmas expect them to not be living in their old bedroom from childhood or in their parent’s basement. But, if you’ve got thirty grand or more in credit card debt, it’s highly unlikely that you will be able to live on your own. Instead you will find yourself with roommates at best, and living in your parent’s house at... at the heart of a social stigma. More poignantly, every time you roll in after midnight there will be the line of questions in the morning, and every time you walk in with a new CD there will be looks and remarks about how you mooch off of the padres. Yup, racking up mounds of credit card debt at an early age (or any age) is bound to lead down a road of self-loathing and social disease.

Social disease stems from your living at your parents house, or with not-so-likeable roommates, and that you never have money to go out and do the things that your friends do. Being the “poor man” out puts you in the position of being uncomfortable because everyone else has the money for high-end entertainment adventures, Aspen ski lift tickets, water front concert seats, or European vacations, and worse yet, you will probably convince yourself that you can afford to scurry along with the crowd. But, when you run low on money one of your friends might pick up the tab. Yeah, that will only last for so long because, as we all know, paying for someone else’s tab gets old real quick, and the sympathy factor rapidly turns into loathing and disgust. And the other end of that social disease spectrum—all your friends know how you got so broke.

1. You bought every new CD that came out during college.
2. You picked up the bar tab more times that anyone can count.
3. You went to Mexico, Aruba, Jamaica, and any other beach destination on every single holiday vacation.
4. You developed a bizarrely manifested need to see the local pizza delivery guy at your door every night, and you made yourself known as “the big man around” by always paying the bill.

Yeah, these are just a few of the stupid and careless things that you did with your credit cards, and the full list would create its own shelf in the bookstore. So before you need hindsight, and forty extra working hours in the week, take a look at the reasons for obtaining a credit card, why and when you will use it, and if any of these reasons are pertinent to you.

Weighing Out the Long Term Costs

When you are young, and living in the moment, your last thoughts are about owning a home and paying the monthly bills. So instead of focusing on these concepts, take a moment and focus on the here and now. Imagine having to take on a job shoveling pizzas and grinders at the nearby campus hot spot so that you can pay for the credit debt you’ve racked up in the past three years. This prospect might seem a bit daunting, but it takes on more prevalence when you realize that you are slaving away making pizzas and such for your party hardy friends so that you can go out with them after the shift and re-spend the “plastic cash” that you just worked eight hours of hell to make a dent in. And for a third scenario... you have a great nine to five office job, but you have to spend your nights and weekends shoveling pizzas to pay off the credit cards because your 30K a year salary won’t cover your rent, food, student loan payments, and the 30K in credit card debt that you raked up in college. Yes, my friend, these are the reasons why you need to back away from the credit card vendors, rely upon the hard earned, very dependable, and non-payment induced green cash that rests in your wallet and bank account.

Saying No to “Plastic Cash” and the Credit Gods

So now that you have a few depressing, and yet enlightening, points on the pitfalls of credit card spending take a few moments to empower yourself with the tools to avoid getting stupid with the “plastic cash,” thinking that you have to have it, or just spending it frivolously. Three easy steps, and questions, will enable you to freely enjoy life without having to rely upon the Gods of credit.

1. Getting that First Card

Most college students these days have at least one credit card, and this is a very reasonable thing to have. One credit card gives you some leeway if you have an emergency (like needing to fly home—from Berkeley to Pittsburg—for a funeral, or your car engine dies in the middle of your eighteen hour drive home), and one card will also give you little edge way with spending power. This statement does not mean that you should purchase your CDs, lunch, or cigarettes on it.... No, instead use it only when you are in dire straights. For example, your paycheck doesn’t come in for two days, you have five bucks to your name, but your period has just started and you are out of tampons and pads. In this instance, using the card for your purchase would be fine, but just remember—the minute your check comes in write and mail the payment to the credit card company. This will prevent you from thinking of the card as an endless source of money. Making an immediate payment forces your conscious to ponder the reasons why you didn’t have enough cash to pay for the items in the first place.

2. Living By the Budget

Every month, set out a chart for what you will spend. Track these expenditures with receipts, and never go to the store without a list—shopping without a list is a sure fire way to overspend. If you only have 100 dollars to splurge on the newest look, then leave your credit card at home. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you will pay it back next month because, after all, next month there will be another must have—a new leather jacket, shoes, CDs, etc. Accordingly, spend your money on what you need first, and then when you have some cash left over then use it freely and unabashedly.

3. Needing a Second, Third, Forth, Oh My!

Now, if you get to the point where you are applying for more credit cards because you have maxed out the one (or ones) that already line your wallet then go back and read the first part of this article. And then, DO NOT GET ANOTHER CARD! Continually obtaining new cards, with the hopes of merging balances, will only backfire in the long run. Often times, companies will not let you transfer balances from cards under the same parent company, the promises of low interest rates are deluded (i.e. read the fine print), and more importantly, if you got yourself in a mound of debt with credit cards new ones will not remove you from it. Debt consolidation agencies will enable you to decrease, and pay off your debt quickly, but continually searching for the golden credit ring will not.

On that note, enjoy yourself, your friends, and your adventures . . . just do all these things responsibly and with your own “green cash.” Life is hard enough; don’t make it harder by starting out with loads of credit card debt.