Plastics for Students?

I can’t count the times I’ve moaned and bemoaned about how purchase-happy credit cards make me. But really, a plastic in my hand turns me into a shopping fiend. The first time I got a credit card, I went crazy and ran up outrageous tabs buying shoes, dresses, and trinkets - all things bright, shiny, colorful, and pretty. By the time I got billed for those impulsive buys, them pretty things I buried myself in debt for lost their appeal.

I’ve a more sensible relationship with my plastics now, thank God. I only whip them out when I absolutely have to and for the past five months, I haven’t used them at all! It’s not that I stopped wanting things; I still do. I just pay for them in cash. Still, if there’s one point in my life when a credit card would have been a lifesaver rather than an unnecessary temptation, it would have been my college days. Show me a student who’s not always short of funds and I’ll show you Santa’s shaving cream.

Student credit cards are the answer to delayed allowances, health emergencies, and other expenditures parents forgot to factor in when they wired their sons’ and daughters’ stipends. I was always short of funds when I was in college. The only reason I didn’t starve was because I was thinner than a stick and thus needed little nourishment. Oh, and my then boyfriend (who is now my husband) kept me well-fed but I digress. The point I’m trying to make is this: wouldn’t it be nifty if students hereabouts can get their own credit cards? Of course, they’d have to be responsible for everything they purchase on credit. After all, it’s their card so it’s their purchase, their responsibility; and while they might be tempted to go on a charging spree in the beginning, they would eventually learn that with great purchase limit comes great responsibility. They will also learn that not all credit cards are created equal — and that they can have their pick of the best ones from StudentCreditCards.com and other similar sites.