Saturday, 30 July 2011

Which Is Better, Student Loans Or Credit Cards?

By Alice Nance


Prospective college students who are looking into student loans should make sure that they calculate their finances properly so as to get enough funds. Things to consider are the tuition fees, books, room and board, living expenses, and food.

Financial difficulties can be avoided if students apply for the right amount of money.

These days, it's very common for college students to have trouble with their credit cards. Most college students don't know the harm that credit cards can do to them. Students can hardly resist credit card offers. So they accept the offer without thinking of any consequences. Credit cards oftentimes appear to be a quick fix or a type of "free money," and they then become the remedy students think they need.

Comparing Student Loans And Credit Cards

These two are as alike as the night and day. Like student loans, credit card debt must be paid back. There's a huge difference between the two, though. With student loans, there are interest rates are fixed depending on the type of loan, the credit rating, the amount of loan, repayment terms, and others factors.

However, there's usually a catch when students receive those "amazing" credit card offers. Finance charges are very high, some even reaching 22 percent! The problem is that students don't consider the finance charges when they accept credit card offers. They don't consider it to be very important and would just think about it later.

Some students who haven't taken out enough student loans to cover their college expenses resort to credit cards to pay for necessities, books and even rent! What happens is that students use credit cards to take out cash advances, which have a greater finance charge than just regular charging.

The Debt Cycle Never Ends

Some students have more than one credit card. Students get another card when they reach the limit on one card, and so on. With the high interest rates and finance charges attached to these credit card offers, students easily can rake up more than they bargain for. Financial situations worsen when students only pay the minimum monthly payments for their credit cards. This is because finance charges will only accumulate. It can be so hard to pay off all your credit card bills.




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