The Truth of Credit

photo by laurenlemon

The most troubling problem with the “debt trap” is that it already has you before you’re aware of it. When I went to school I had a vague and misty concept of credit cards, student loans or any debt instrument for that matter; up to that point my parents had always taken care of these things. While this is not always the case, with the overwhelming lack of financial education in the United States for teenagers and young adults, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. After graduation, while finally becoming independent is awesome, things are going to change quickly.

As a former college student, the important things in your life like SportsCenter, PlayStation 3, and Friday night bar-hopping are about to give way to worry about making ends meet. However, there is no point in getting depressed about it; it’s a part of getting older. Here are some of things that I wish I would have done differently.

• Get Rid of Credit Cards - When you’re 22-years-old there is absolutely no reason to have credit cards unless, you have a child or can only depend on yourself. Even then, they should be used sparingly. If you can’t afford to go out to the bar on the weekends find something else a little cheaper to do.

• Get it out of your system - You should travel as much as you can. The world is a big place, to help get perspective you should travel. You don’t have to be a world traveler but if you live in New York you should go to Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Washington D.C. & Philly. Have fun, you still have time to build your financial empire.

• Get a job you love – I’m as guilty of this as anyone. Once you spend a year or two doing something you hate, it’s hard to change. If you hate a job, don’t stick with it; you will hate yourself in the end and it only gets harder to leave the longer you stay.

• Stay Home – Not everyone can do this. However, if your parent’s aren’t pushing you out the door, you should stay. Trust me, making a mortgage payment or paying rent is not all it’s cracked up to be. This may ruin your love life but your wallet will thank you.

Things change when you start paying for them. All the cheap advice you used to get starts to make sense. You start seeing bills (i.e restaurants, bar tabs, and car payments) in terms of hours worked. An example would be if your car payment is $400 that is a 4 days of work, etc…

Trust me, if you do all of the above, the your 30-year-old self will be thanking the 22-year-old one.