Student Debt and Student Responsibility - September at the University and the Supermarket

[nfotxn]

I hate to say the co-relation between organic produce, extravagent exotic grains, pastas and funky types of tea to Student Visa cards is really kinda irrefutable. I love how they pay a 200% mark-up on produce but then bring their own bags. Of course it's not about saving money, really. It's about image and maybe perhaps some sort of peripheral environmental concern.

In the three weeks leading up to classes at McMaster I've had but one studenty looking person come and pay with change. And to be honest it was nice to see a young person living like a pauper instead of some naïve credit toting proto-yuppie. I mean what an individual!

I guess it just burns my biscuits that I'm working my butt off and am told that it's unlikely I can get any sort of credit, even though I have two sources of income. But these kids three years my junior are basically given lines of credit which they will abuse with luxury items like premium groceries and then protest the "opressive" banks for their "massive" debt.

Tuition prices ought to be lower. However I really don't think that is always the whole story.

Comments

[antnycub.livejournal.com]

Many college campuses are swarming with representatives from credit card companies. They'll give a card to any asshole kid by the very virtue that they're at university.

"If they can afford to be at school they can afford a credit card."

The optimist (Ie; corporate spin doctor) sees this as the opportunity for the student to build their credit history early on in life so they can later become mortally indebted to the bank of their choosing when it comes time to get a mortgage.

Don't see it as a bad thing that you can't get a credit card right now. You could probably get a gas card from Petro Canada... or even a Sears card. That'll still help you build a credit rating. The unfortunate thing is that you're obligated to shop at Petro Canada or Sears.

I miss Eaton's.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the thing is that I really don't even want credit necessarily. I just want a secure way to make purchases online and access my money abroad. It has nothing to do with having to borrow money, really. And yet my only option seems to be establishing credit?

Banks always make my skin crawl.

[33mhz.livejournal.com]

Hmm. How many of them are actually just using atm/check cards with a visa logo on them? I use that in lieu of cash a lot since it's more convenient and it gives me automatically updated account of how and where I'm spending money. They also refuse to go through if there are insufficient funds in the bank, so there's no chance of someone spending themselves into debt when using it.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Because all Canadian banks work on Interac for direct payment Visa does not offer direct payment/chequing cards here.

I know it probably sounds repressed and backwards. But it's a good thing for Canadians because it means we have our own banking businesses and are not dependant on Visa for anything other than credit.

The part that sucks is that most Canadian bank cards do not work online. I have no idea why merchant accounts can't start to accept Interac branded cards though. I mean Solo/Switch in the UK is the same thing as Interac and it works for businesses with internet merchant accounts there.

That is the crux of my problem, personally. I don't actually need credit. I just need a way to make purchases online from my bank in Canada.

[33mhz.livejournal.com]

Ah. That really puts the magnitude of the problem into context for those of us south of the border. I'm glad I asked.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I forgot to point that out. Even in our globalized whatever world banking between the UK, Canada in the US seems to differ an awful lot.

[jbear70.livejournal.com]

When I was in college Citibank gave me a Visa card "out of the goodness of their hearts." I fell for it hook, line and sinker. Since then it's been a bear trying to get out from under all this credit card debt. I don't blame the credit cards that much though. I blame myself for than anything.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, it is totally about personal responsibility. That's why I think it's so unfair that people who are in college are given such financial privaledge when young hard working plebeians like me get the bums' rush.

[jbear70.livejournal.com]

I understand your point and I agree with it. The thing is though that this is a win-win situation for the credit card companies. Chances are those who graduate college will find good paying jobs and will over time pay off those debts (and continue using the cards later on it life.) Those who don't pay off the cards will have this debt over them for a while wasting money away in interest for years and years. The way I see it, it's all about making money to the credit card companies and not about rectifying the inequities in society.

[backrubbear.livejournal.com]

It took me almost six years out of college to finally tame the credit card beast.

That said, I probably still would have made about half those purchases again even if I knew the consequences, especially in those first two years. Moving into an apartment with zero furniture and just about zero anything sucked big time.

[jbear70.livejournal.com]

I would agree with you on that however I also purchased groceries and junk food on credit. That was a waste in my opinion.

[perlcub]

Just as antnycub said above: college campuses are swarming with credit card reps. However, here's the irony. Someone like me who had no viable way to pay off those card bills and who therefore avoided such reps and cards have trouble actually getting a card post college! WTF is up with that?

Credit card companies essentially want and need their customers to be in debt. It's the only way that they generate revenue on the extended stretching of the plastic (thanks to handy-dandy phrases such as "APR" and "interest rates"). So what better way than to leech onto the already broke pockets of a college student!

Ok, I'm preeching to the choir here. Credit cards, like sugar, are good when used in moderation. But hey! They got me to TO! LOL

[koobear.livejournal.com]

1: I hate that whole Third World Chic look...if ya wanna go granola, then more power to you. Do it! But don't buy overpackaged items that LOOK like they're in raw cardboard and put them in recycled bags.
2: I just paid a little over $350 for two textbooks and two workbook manuels. WTF is up with THAT? I can't believe in this day of technical advances in printing that a book (with not alot of pics, either...and not an art book where you can say reprocuction is a biggie) needs to cost $150. I feel gouged.
The thing was that when the cashier asked if that was "card or debit" I said "cash".
Well...that threw them for a bit of a loop.
I'm not sure they knew WHAT to do with cash.
Cash?
What's cash?
Is that some new form of method payment?
Is cash no longer accepted in the higher education schooling sysytem?
Have we fully switched to "card or debit"?
At the end I had to pay with debit since there was no way of processing cash at the bookstore.

[sassy-fae.livejournal.com]

Agreed!
I worked my butt off through university, both in terms of studying and making money, and I was able to pay down my debt in under a year of graduation. They did give me a credit card in university, but I made sure not to use it much.
Funny thing is, my sister is now slightly older than I was at the time, is making far more money than I did as a student, and was turned down for a credit card. Why? Because I was a student, and she works for a living. Silliness. That being said, my sister with a credit card is a bad idea :)

[thumperto.livejournal.com]

it's not just students and the credit card reps that hawk the campuses. I've been getting letters in the mail offering credit cards since I was 15. mind you I started working early, which I felt a bank account was needed but never gave in to the credit card demons. I went through college without it, and I'll hold off for as long as I can :)

[jongrizzman.livejournal.com]

don't forget dude, you JUST got that job. it's the only one in canada i can remember you having in well... you know. freelancing computer stuff doesn't really count for much since at this point, it's not a consistent source of income. based on those two facts there's no way in hell i'd give you a credit card without knowing you.

it seems you're directing this more towards the obvious "you're in university, have 3 credit cards!" crowd, (which has been commented on enough already) so i'll just stick to my points here.

give it 6 months of steady work, then apply for a credit card with the base 500 dollar limit. i'm betting you'll have a better chance then. once you're in some form of "higher education" the above will all happen to you as well.

p.s. work that but off mary! :P

[stingray1975.livejournal.com]

John is giving good advice! After 6-12 months of steady work, you should most definitely qualify for a basic credit card with a limit of $500. Or you can always wait until you attend a college or university & get a card then. :o)