From personal experience, living in the dorms isn’t always the most pleasant experience, and many students choose to move out of the dorms after their freshman year. There are a lot of benefits to getting an apartment, including more privacy and your own room and kitchen, among other things. In addition, apartment living can give [...]

With all of this talk about credit it is hard for high school and college students to weed out the good information and advice from the bad information and advice. Some people preach that credit cards are evil and that there is no need for a student to have one. Other people say that every person over the age of 18 needs to have a credit card. So which is correct? Do college students need a credit card to get by?

There is no doubt that the best time to consolidate your federal student loans is during you grace period. Consolidation makes jumping into the repayment process a lot easier because it leaves you with one interest rate, one lender, and one monthly payment.

Let’s start at the beginning. You’re entering school, and find out that maybe financial aid doesn’t fully cover all your expenses, like books, supplies, maybe a meal or two a week that goes under the radar. You think to yourself… “well ok, maybe I’ll get a credit card — I mean I have to start [...]

Graduating from college and getting your first job comes with a sense of financial independence. However, financial independence comes with financial responsibility. As a college graduate living on your own you will probably have rent payments, car payments and student loan payments among other financial obligations. So how do you balance building your savings with paying down your debt?

When I write about student credit I get more comments that simply say “credit cards are evil!” I can only laugh when I see this because it is so far from the truths. Today’s students have probably seen a lot of credit care misuse by their parents, family members and friends. They have seen people who have buried themselves in debt and ruined their ability to obtain a mortgate, car loan, or even a student loan.

Almost all graduates with both federal student loans and private student loans would love to be able to consolidate all of their loans into one smaller monthly payment. Unfortunately, federal student loans and private student loans do not mix well and cannot be consolidated together.

Student loan consolidation can remove a lot of stress from your life. If you are feeling burdened by multiple student loan payments to multiple lenders every month it might be time for a change.

When you graduate from college you will be faced with the need for something that they do not give you with your diploma; a good credit score. A good credit score is required in a variety of different situations. You need a good credit score to buy a house or rent an apartment, to buy or lease a car, and maybe even to get a job.

Over the holidays people often receive small cash windfalls as gifts or holiday bonuses. Extra money is always great, but it is sometimes hard to decide what to do with this money especially if you have debt to pay off. When you get extra money it is fun to go out and buy something you really want, but it is practical to put that money towards debt. So what should you really do?