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Christian Credit Counselors is a non-profit organization that was created to help individuals and families regain control of their finances through the use of educational tools, credit counseling and other resources.

Tips for College Kids

Around 3,000,000 freshmen enrolled for college for the fall semester and for many students this is their first taste of personal and financial independence. A lot of these college kids are going to experience major adjustments that come with managing their academics and their busy social lives. Unfortunately many college kids will also experience the new pressures of handling their personal finances and many students develop bad habits that have potential long term consequences; the following are a few concepts that will help students with their financial transition into college life.

Get a job!

For all the aspiring entrepreneur's out there college is also a great excellent place to get your own business started. Many successful businesses people like Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook founder) and Sergey Brin (Google founder) launched their businesses from their dorm rooms.

Use Technology. If you own a smart phone there are many free resources and tools that are available that make managing your finances extremely convenient, here are a few apps and tools that will help you tremendously:

• Mint.com: This is actually a website and a smartphone application that is useful in many ways. It basically aggregates all your financial accounts into one application and categorizes your expenses for you. For example, if you went on a shopping spree and spent $500.00 on jeans at Nordstrom's, and you only budgeted $200 for clothing then the Mint application will send you an alert saying that you are $300 over budget for "clothing" for that month.
• Banking applications: Chances are if you're banking with a major financial institution they are going to have a mobile application. Having a mobile banking application is great if you want to check your balances on the go, or need an alert system that will assist you with your bills.

Avoid credit card debt. Credit card companies invest a lot of money marketing to college kids, and for good reason: they are easy targets. For many broke students the temptation of getting a credit card is just too great, and credit card companies like students because they are willing to open an account and are most likely guaranteed a decent paying job when they graduate. Credit card debt can be a slippery slope, so as a best practice, don't use a credit card to purchase a product if you can't afford to pay cash for it; only use your credit card for emergencies.

Don't eat out (or eat out rarely). Going out for pizza and beer is a college tradition but if you make a habit of going out too often it's not only going hurt your wallet, you're going to pack on the "freshmen 15" faster than you can see "extra pepperoni"! So do your bank account and body a favor, save your money and make your own food.

The most healthiest and economical way to go about your meals is to set up a meal plan. You are probably going to want to get a membership to Costco, buy bulk, and prepare your meals ahead of time in Tupperware a week ahead of time. If you're really diligent and selective on the types of foods you're buying you can get your meals down to under $2.00 a meal, that's going to be roughly less than $200 a month, which is pretty good. Another tip is to stay away from Top Ramen, yes it may be cheap, but it's probably not going to be the healthiest choice for you.

Use public transportation. For students that are in a major metropolitan area, or if you live on campus than you may be able to forgo buying a vehicle altogether. For the most part, using public transportation will save you money. You have to consider the cost of fuel, car payments, insurance and general liability that comes with driving on the road.

"Does this place have a student discount?" Ask this question wherever you go, "Do you have a student discount?" Who wants to pay retail now-a-days? Take advantage of that plastic student ID card in your wallet, and pull it out at every opportunity. Even if a business doesn't have a student discount policy, if you ask nicely at the register you may get lucky and get 10% chopped off your purchase. So don't be shy and flash that student ID at every opportunity.

Got a budget? There's no better time to start a budget than in college, good habits need to start early, so break out a spreadsheet and budget out all your expenses. Starting a budget is pretty easy stuff, you just have to get your bank statements together for the past two months and categorize everything you spend money. There are basically two types of expenses, fixed and variable. Fixed expenses are bills that don't fluctuate, things like rent, insurance, car payments, or tuition for the semester. Variable expenses do fluctuate and include things like entertainment (movies, sporting events etc.,), clothing, restaurants, and groceries. These expenses will fluctuate depending on your spending habits. Variable expenses are the most important part of your budget because these are things that are within your control to a certain degree and can be adjusted to meet your financial goals.

Using applications and websites like Mint.com will actually budget and categorize everything for you, so use this tool to your advantage and break down exactly what you're spending money on every month and adjust accordingly.

Most college graduates start their career out with over $23k in student loans, so a young person going out into the job market is already burdened with a lot of debt. That is why it's a good idea to establish some solid, personal finance habit early that way you can be set up for success