Solutions for College Students With Credit Card Debt

College students tend to work part time and have little extra cash. As a result, some students use credit cards for purchases such as food, gas, shopping and dining out. Credit cards are okay if used responsibly. Regrettably, a number of college students use credit cards excessively and acquire huge balances. Paying off cards and managing debt helps improve credit scores, which opens the door to future financing opportunities.

Check Around for Better Rates

Creditors often charge students higher interest rates because of their short credit history. But after years of paying on an account and making timely payments, students can negotiate a better interest rate or transfer their existing balance to a credit card with a cheaper rate. The lower the interest on a credit card, the easier it is to pay off the balance because creditors will apply the majority of a payment toward the principal owed.

Increase Work Hours

Part time is working less than 40 hours a week. Because college students take classes and need time to study, some may choose to only work 10 or 15 hours of week. But if dealing with huge credit card debt, working these few number may not reduce the balance quickly. Increasing the number of hours worked, and using the additional income to make higher monthly payments, helps pay down debt faster.

Shop Less

Buying unnecessary and expensive clothes can keep college students deep in debt. Learning how to live on a budget and using cash as a primary payment method helps keep credit card debt to a minimum. Responsible habits are key to managing credit and debt, which includes only buying affordable items. Paying off credit card balances each month alleviates the headache and burden of dealing with high balances.

Shred Credit Cards

Credit card accounts help build a good credit history, but if unable to control spending, shredding the credit card or cutting up the credit card helps reign in use. It's counterproductive to make higher payments each month to pay down balances, and then pull out the credit card to charge additional purchases.