<p>Should college student's have credit cards? I mean most colleges have this feature, where you input money on your ID and that acts as your credit card. Should students still have credit cards? Are they necessary? What about bank accounts? Will this affect their income taxes or financial aid in any negative way?</p>
<p>Yeah, so you can build your credit history after you leave college it will be helpful, unless you are totally irresponsible.</p>
<p>Yes you need to start building up a (good) credit history ASAP</p>
<p>Yes. You should definitely have a credit card, even if just for emergencies.</p>
<p>Yes, credit cards are good as long as you don't go overboard. Most companies (legit ones, anyway) will not give you credit higher than $500-750 the first time, so it is hard to go overboard with that. but a good rule is to just not use it unless you know you will have the money to pay for it when the bill comes. and don't use it for trivial things like food or the movies, only use it for like, buying your textbooks and stuff you really need.</p>
<p>AUlostchick, what's wrong with trivial things?</p>
<p>But to answer the question, yes you need a credit card, unless you plan on having your parents around when you need to pay for textbooks, housing, tuition, etc. or carry around large wads of cash (since you question the use of a bank account).</p>
<p>Money on your ID is not like a credit card, but like a debit card. Not too useful if you need to pay for something tomorrow but won't have the money until say 3 weeks later (e.g. waiting for funds from finaid). Also, chances are it won't work at merchants off-campus... so? A credit card should would come in handy.</p>
<p>Why should having a bank account affect anything? On the FAFSA app, you're suppose to include cash in your figures. So whether it's on you or in a bank, what's the difference? In fact, IIRC, its the same question that asks you to sum up your cash, checking, and savings amounts.</p>
<p>Income tax? You're not making any money... so no.</p>
<p>Basically like others said, credit cards are 100% good so long as you are responsible enough to keep a budget and be able to pay it all every month.</p>
<p>Yes. You might want to buy stuff and have it shipped to your dorm. Many debit cards won't do this.</p>
<p>I'm going to echo with a "yes".</p>
<p>I say don't use it on trivial things because that's how you run it up really fast. I went from having a $175 balance to a $400 balance in a month by doing this. I didn't really have a choice because I didn't have any other means of paying for things, but if you can pay for something with cash, do it instead.</p>
<p>got a debit card? know how to use it? good, get a credit card and use it just like a debit card but remember that you will recieve a statement in which you need to pay it off in full.</p>
<p>ebay gives you a 8000 starting limit. go with it. When u have 9,000 credits, u can save 100 bucks on anything u buy on ebay.</p>
<p>u can pay for your semester with the card :p</p>
<p>I don't plan on getting a credit card; my debit card's got a Visa label and it's taken pretty much anywhere (yes, I've used it to pay for things online). I wanted to get a credit card because I've heard it's a good idea, but I'll manage without one unless I find it necessary. You can build credit (good AND bad) in other ways as a college student. For instance, my sister (who just graduated from college) had excellent credit 2 years ago (I'm pretty sure just from responsibility w/ her bank account and student loans). Then she had 3 emergency room visits this year and ended up getting sent to collections (well, they threatened at least) for one of the bills because of a stupid mistake. So, she was rejected when she applied for her first credit card.</p>
<p>Lavendercloud: </p>
<p>It's really a good idea to get a credit card in order to build credit. There are several different companies which do credit scores--each has different methods of calculating. I'm not sure how student loans and the like play into each of them, but with a credit card you are guaranteed to have a credit rating will all. In my experience, bank accounts do not affect credit scores.</p>
<p>As long as you can be responsible with a credit card, then get one. There's no easier way to build your credit score.</p>
<p>To answer the OP, the ID/University based credit cards are generally worthless. However actual credit cards are quite useful.</p>
<p>Just be careful with spending. </p>
<p>I have two credit cards and currently have a debt of 1,500 and 800. I used them mainly for responsible stuff, like airplane tickets and books (ok, there's also that Wii I got.... and the cell phone...). Fortunately, my parents have my back but it's really frustrating to have so much debt. It's just another stress factor to deal with.</p>
<p>Fortunately I recently amassed a great deal of cash and I'm planning on repaying the whole 1,500 on one of my cards off! what a relief.</p>
<p>Credit card gives you more protection if you buy stuff online. If you are lazy like me and dont feel like dragging things back from stores on a bus a CC will be very useful. As long as you set up a debit so that your bills are paid automatically from the bank account you should be fine. A debit card is a VERY dangerous thing to be carrying around.</p>
<p>Yes, get a credit card. Be smart with it :).</p>
<p>Credit cards are good as long as you treat it like a debit card. Don't think of it as "credit", but that what you spend is exactly what you're paying off when you get the bill.</p>