That College Kid

Educate yourself on credit

As a student with a fixed income, I’ve been tempted with credit cards. I even have three, although the limits are rather small and aren’t maxed out. But one of the biggest problems I’ve seen is that people don’t know what they’re getting themselves into, which nowadays, I think is ridiculous. There’s so much information out there so you can be educated on credit and not get yourself in too deep.

It may not be fair that credit is an important part of society now, most people can’t buy a television without it, let alone a car or a house. Credit scores are even looked at during the employment process. Nonetheless, you should still be smart about borrowing money or you’ll end up paying way more than you should.

Credit Me is a large website that has an incredible amount of information about credit cards. They have a list of resources, FAQ’s and my favorite, the Ultimate Guide to Perfect Credit. Also, they have a list of student (and other) credit cards comparing the rates and terms of each one and listing what kind of credit you need to be approved (good, bad, none.)

Tips to build your credit without hurting it first

• Don’t apply for too much credit at once - this will hurt your score
• If you take advantage of 0% APR grace periods, which is okay to do, be careful of the fees you’ll incur afterward. Sometimes they’re awful.
• Don’t take out cash advances. If you really need cash for something, use the money you’d otherwise spend on food, CDs, etc. that’s in your bank account and put those purchases on your card. Regular interest is better than cash advance interest no matter how you look at it.
• Don’t simply apply for a card just because they’re giving away free t-shirts. You might miss a $50 yearly fee because you’re distracted with presents.
• If you can’t get credit anywhere else, try a in-store credit card at a store you frequent, but only after carefully looking over the terms. Put a small amount on the card, pay it off at the end of the month to avoid interest. Do it again each month for the next six months and apply for a better card somewhere else.
• Remember, that if your score is low, there’s nowhere else to go but up. If you play the game right, you can have great credit without paying too much to the companies.

Posted in Money with no comments

New Layout

I am in the process of uploading and debugging a brand new layout for That College Kid. Please bare with me while I get everything straightened out. There will be errors, some might be fixed by the time you refresh the page. I’ll update this when it’s finished.

Edit: For the most part, the new layout is in place. I still have a few things to add, but there shouldn’t be any problems. Please let me know if there are. Thanks.

Posted in That College Kid with 1 comment

Tips to stay away from overdraft fees

One thing a lot of college students get into is debt. And one easy way to cut some of that out is to not get slammed with overdraft fees. They occur when you spend more money than you have in your account and they’re designed to benefit the bank.

Let’s say you have $200 in your checking account. You go get gas and spend $40, then you go to the grocery store, spend $67, and on the way to the mall, you stop and get ice cream, then spend $190 shopping. Most banks post the most expensive item first, even though it didn’t come first, so instead of getting one overdraft fee, you’ll get three. They do this for “your protection to make sure mortgage payments get posted before luxuries like movie rentals.

Unfortunately, it’s not designed to help the consumer so some tips I have for you are to always know what’s in your bank account.

Keep track, whether it’s in a check register, in a spreadsheet or writing it on a piece of paper.

Setup overdraft protection. Most banks allow this, although some only let you link to other accounts with them, which isn’t always helpful. Some banks will even give you a small line of credit that has a reasonable interest rate.

Keep a little extra padding in your checking account (if possible, I know living on a budget doesn’t always allow for this) that way if anything comes up, you’ll be semi-prepared.

Make purchases on a credit card and pay the bill off at the end of the month when it comes. If your limit is low and you’re likely to go over, this isn’t the best option, although my student credit card only charges me a higher interest rate if I go over my balance. It’s good to know the policies.

Also, some banks, especially if you have a student checking account, will be forgiving if it’s a first or even second offense. Simply go to a local branch and ask politely. Bankers will usually forgive at least one of the fees. If your parents have large sums of money in the accounts, that can also be used as leverage if necessary (don’t always recommend it though, mostly on a bank error.)

If you get a lot of financial aid money, sticking it into a high-yield savings account when you don’t need it can help build up some extra money. A large sum like student loan refunds can earn enough in a semester to pay for an entire set of books at 5%, but I only suggest this if you’re better with money and don’t go over budget very often. Also, getting an account with easy, fast and free online transfers is a good idea if you’re going this route.

Posted in Money with 4 comments

Considering the switch?

I’ve had people come up to me when I’m on my Mac and ask questions. “Is it really much easier to use?” or “Are they worth it?” In short answer, it depends on who you are and how you plan on using your computer. The switching debate has been around for awhile and I want to put in my two cents because even though they aren’t worth that much, it might help someone out.

Before you decide whether or not to switch to a Mac, ask yourself this question: “What do you plan on doing with your computer?” If your answer is writing a paper here and there and checking your email, then stick with a PC. Why buy something expensive you’re barely going to use? It’s not going to make a difference what computer you’re on if you’re just using Microsoft Word anyway. If you’re going to play games, stick with a PC, obviously. But if you’re going to be spending a lot of time on your computer, especially if you’re designing, you might want to consider a Mac.

Why Apple? The Mac community will tell you a thousand times over that Macs just work. And they do, usually. There’s cases where they break, where their hard drives crash and so on. But the amount of those cases are significantly lower because they’re higher quality. Apple is an American company and while Dell is, too, tech support for Dell is in India. Apples are more expensive, but if your Apple lasts you ten years while your Dell lasts you two, what’s the better deal? Even if the Dell was only $500 and the Apple was $1500, you’re saving money.

Another thing Mac users will testify to is that they work right out of the box. And that’s true. You don’t have to customize anything. No tweaking all the settings, no uninstalling fifty trial programs you didn’t want in the first place. (Although Macs do come with trial software, such as iLife, you can simply delete it if necessary, and that’s only one trial, not twelve.)

Honestly, my favorite thing about Macs is the software. People can say what they want about the hardware, the GUI, but my favorite is the software. I’ve found so many freeware programs that do exactly what I need. I do have a PC also and when using it, I get sad that I don’t have my Quicksilver or my Cyberduck. Yes, Windows does have freeware, but the quality of those programs just isn’t the same. I’ve also yet to find a good Windows equivalent to Coda (yes, I know it’s not free, but it’s worth it.)

Another thing in the debate is the Mac community, or cult if you will. They’re right. If you have a Mac, you’re automatically in a secret society where members help each other out, simply because they own a Mac. I still don’t know why this is, but it’s true. I’ve instantly liked someone because they belong to the Apple fan club.

There are many reasons to choose a Mac, reliability, aesthetics, or even the community and many reasons not to, price and the fact that they aren’t as common (big effect on students) . But the bottom line is, the decision should be based on what you’re going to use the computer for because I can tell you it’s not worth it to pay $1500 for a Mac you’re just going to check your email on. If you’re going to be an amateur movie director, by all means, get a Mac. All that software comes with it. But if you’re not, spend the extra money on something more worth your time.

Posted in Computers with 2 comments

Pownce

I was given an invite to Pownce, a new social networking site partially developed by the creator of Digg, Kevin Rose. It’s a way to share notes and send files to friends. It has a nice interface on the website and even a desktop application. I just set up my profile today and it’s quite nice. The website is very user-friendly and very Web 2.0. I like the simplicity of the design and the features. Settings are easily customizable and everything looks great.

It’s easy to publish notes and send files, but it’s not entirely for me and I’ll tell you why. I’m not entirely sociable. I don’t have massive amounts of friends that I need to send things to. As of right now, I have one friend on Pownce (Geoff) and I added another designer. I plan on meeting more people and developing a network, but as for now, it’s not entirely important. I was very anxious to check out this website because I’m a big fan of [the concept of] Digg.

That said, thanks Kevin Rose, Leah Culver, Daniel Burka and Shawn Allen for creating this new social networking site. I’m sure many people, especially college students, will love it. I already do and it’s not entirely useful to me.

Thanks Geoff, owner of Gearfire, for the invite.

If anyone needs an invite, let me know. I have six left.

Posted in Reviews with 2 comments

Reader contests and why I love them

This post is a little off the topic of college, but since most of our readers are bloggers as well, this is still helpful. The biggest trend of Web 2.0 is the whole SEO thing. Optimizing your website for search engines and getting enough clout to have daily visitors that aren’t your best friends is tough.

One trend that I’m seeing is contests, and that is a trend that readers love. It’s great to get paid back for being a visitor and making the blogger money. It’s a reminder that bloggers aren’t just doing it for the money.

While reading through my long list of blogs, I came across a new one, Average Joe Blogger. He’s on a quest to become a problogger (who isn’t?) and is offering a sponsorship giveaway. There are different ways of entering, such as posting a summary of the sponsorship and linking back to it or posting a review of the website.

Amy of The Blog World is also thinking of creating a contest and is currently looking for ideas of what to give away. (I suggest advertising space myself.) I’m sure in the future, I’ll have a contest for readers, but until I actually have something to offer, I’m going to hold off.

Contests can also be a great way to get new visitors. If you have people link to your site to get an entry, you’ll have many new visitors and some (or most) of them will become regular readers. They also make me like the blogger so much more because they haven’t forgotten about their readers who make them all their money.

Posted in Computers with 2 comments

Pick a Prof

Right before registration, I was sent a letter about a website called Pick a Prof. For $10 a year or $5 for 4 months, it allows you to look at reviews other students have written about professors at your university. They offer additional services, which I haven’t seen in any other websites.

They have grade histories, a schedule planner, student reviews, and textbook pricing and exchange. The website does have a lot of information about the services they offer, but unfortunately, you can’t try anything out until you buy a subscription. It was very helpful when scheduling my classes because I wanted to make sure I could find time to work and study without being overloaded. I didn’t use the professor reviews this time because as freshmen, we were limited because of our first-year seminars and our advisers helped register us during orientation.

It also has a Facebook application that helps to find classes with your friends. The professor reviews are collected online, but also from end of semester evaluations. Grade histories are straight from university records, so they’re not biased in any way. I also love the schedule planner. Sometimes it’s hard to make sure you get the best times for classes and make sure you’re not going to mess yourself up. They’re planner gives you a view of what you can take when, how long it will last and make sure you have room for work, sports, etc.

Some universities even pay for you to use this service. My mom’s school, for example, lets you have free access to Pick a Prof if you can validate your school’s email.

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