Back (Spring break is expensive)

I'm back from my wonderful week on a giant floating city in the sun and away from school. It's cold and rainy in St. Louis, but the truth is its always nice to come home. I'll be getting back to the finance industry soon, and I've got the next installment of my job search coming up along with the next sweet etiquette video. But for now, some simple math.

I've mentioned credit cards a few times in the realm of personal finance, but I have yet to touch on the big problem of credit cards: credit. It's definitely a big problem with college students. This past week, while cruising the Caribbean, some people put it in a scary perspective.

Think about this. An average cruise costs about $500 (that's a little low for some and a little high for others; we'll use it to be somewhat safe). If you use a credit card to pay for the trip and only pay off the minimum each month, your cruise doesn't cost $500 anymore. At 20% interest (which is not crazy for the credit card industry) and minimum payments per month, the interest would keep piling up.

As an example, if your only credit charge was the cruise at $500 and you paid off $100 per month with 20% interest, the total cost would actually be approximately $970.

College students are notorious for abusing credit--don't take a $1000 cruise that only costs $500.