<p>College students need money??? I thought between books, tuition, and the meal plan, their needs were completely met. Gee, now I need to rethink the whole equation. :-)</p>
<p>We’re from oos and held off on opening new accounts just because handling a bunch of accounts is its own mess.</p>
<p>Son has gotten by really well with a credit card, Bama Bucks, the action card and some cash that he takes when he heads south or that the tooth fairy provides when he’s not looking. He really hasn’t needed much cash. </p>
<p>MABama: they almost don’t :)</p>
<p>College students don’t need tons of money, especially their freshman year when they have meal plans and such.</p>
<p>If you are somewhat technologically savvy and comfortable doing business online, it really doesn’t matter where your bank/credit union is located. One of my primary credit unions is nowhere near my home or UA, but I manage my account online and call them maybe three times a year. Another credit union is close to my home and part of the large credit union co-op network, but I manage it all online (it has excellent online banking software). </p>
<p>If you’re looking to control spending, gift cards are an excellent way to do so. Cuttlefish123, your D may be interested to know that at Publix Stores in AL, one doesn’t have to buy two of the buy-one-get-one-free items; she can buy one for 50% off. For those considering Bama Cash, it is not accepted at Target or Wal-Mart.</p>
<p>In case anyone is concerned about their students being able to buy food or a plane/bus ticket home should a disaster strike, I do suggest that they have some cash and a credit card. Cash always works and stores can always take an imprint of ones credit card (provided they have a working phone line or can find the imprint machine 
). After the tornado, Target could only accept cash or credit cards, not debit or EBT (though one can usually process a debit card as credit and sign for the transaction).</p>
<p>In my opinion, debit cards are definitely the way to go. Deposit a predetermined amount of money at the beginning of the semester, decide what debits they are going to use the card for (some items or everything) and let your student keep track online of their expenditures. Hopefully. they will not run out of money. If they run out of money let them know whether you will redeposit or they have to transfer money from their savings or they are just out of luck. Best to determine these ground rules before they leave for college. This way everybody is aware of their financial obligations.</p>
<p>In addition as we all learned recently, it is very important to have some cash on hand at all times.</p>