Managing Costs During School

How do you use your credit card(s)? Do you use them only for real emergencies, or do you sometimes use them impulsively to buy things you may not need?

• A credit card is helpful for emergencies, but emergencies rarely happen at the mall!
• Buying something on SALE is still SPENDING — not SAVING!
• Credit card debt is not an investment. In fact, it reduces your ability to invest!
• Debt from credit cards can make it more difficult to achieve your financial goals.

Plan For The Weekend

On Thursday night:
Calculate what you can spend from Friday morning until Monday morning.

• Withdraw the amount you have allowed for the weekend.
• Put all your “plastic cards” in a safe/secure place at home.
• Consider them "locked up" for the weekend!
• Then, enjoy the weekend, but spend your money wisely.

By locking up all of your “plastic” (i.e., your credit cards, ATM cards, and debit cards) you’ll have to retrieve the cards before you can use them.

The time it will take to go home to "unlock" your cards will give you a chance to reconsider if you really want to purchase the item(s) in question.

On Monday
Ask yourself the following questions:

• Did I "unlock" the cards before Monday morning? If so, was it worth it?
• Did I want and/or need more money over the weekend? Why?
• Did I want and/or need to use my credit cards over the weekend? Why?

If you have to unlock your cards and use your plastic during the weekend, you’ll be exceeding the budget you set for yourself on Thursday night.