It’s that time of the season again, the fall, when you pack up junior’s items and ship them off to college. You remember the days when you had to pack up your bags and attend college as well. As we all know, the older you get, the more you want to go back into your youth and change the things ways were. From saving your money to fixing those costly relationship mistakes, these were just a few things that many human beings would love to go back and change.

Believe it or not, a lot of people that are into their focused career wanted to go back into college and change the way they used their credit card. Credit card companies are set up all over campuses and are targeting kids without jobs and uninformed kids. In the long run, the companies are hoping that the child doesn’t read the terms or services and racks up a hefty balance, so that they are paying it off for life.

A credit card is only a danger if your child isn’t informed on the issues. Like drugs and alcohol, you must inform your child the importance of paying off your student credit card. If they’re not informed on the issue, you may find them racking more debt than you could ever imagine. This is why it’s important that you inform them.

A few key notes that you should supply to your child before they are head off to college are the importance of the APR rate, what bankruptcy can lead you to, and how important your credit score is. If you emphasize these three important factors to your child, he/she may be more informed than half of the college he/she is attending.

The biggest mistake most college students today make is that they have the mindset that they can pick up a credit card and spend, spend, spend, and not have to worry about paying off the bill for a while. They assume that they can pay it off a little at a time until they get a well paying job that will pay it off in full. What they don’t realize is that these credit card interest rates add up very quickly. Every dollar that isn’t paid off in full, the interest rate will be applied to that unpaid balance. So, if you have a $5,000 unpaid balance your interest rate of 20% or so will be applied to this total.

With most student credit cards, the interest rate will usually be a little higher than most credit cards. This is because it’s a child’s first credit card and he/she has to prove that they are responsible adults. If they’re not responsible with their money, they will find that their future will soon lead to bankruptcy.

In the long run, a parent must inform their student that a credit card isn’t necessarily a danger but they should inform them how important it is to pay off their credit card. They must enforce that they should only spend what they can afford and to treat the card as if it were cash. If these steps are applied, a parent and child can sleep well at night.