In the real world things are slightly different from the college student world. For instance your credit score matters– a lot! I, like many other early 20 somethings, made a mess of my credit when I started getting offers left and right. The emails seemed so enticing, no interest or instant approval! I got carried away and before I knew it I had quite a bit of debt with a little bit of money and an interest free deadline rapidly approaching. So I ended up in a pickle and ended up paying off these cards and silly purchases for years to come. It’s taken three years to get my credit back off the floor but I’m getting it their slowly. So I figured I’d share three quick tips with my readers to save their credit– and their sanity.

1. Be realistic with yourself and with your funds. If you can’t afford whatever you’re tempted to swipe, in full, within the next 30 days– wait. If you’re mulling over a big purchase that’s more of a want than a need, reassess and maybe save up at least save and swipe the rest.
2. Baby steps are key. Open a line of credit and use it for recurring charges you’d pay every month anyway and arrange for auto pay so you don’t forget your bill. Things like your monthly metro, amazon prime membership or even the gym, are great smaller charges to use your credit for.
3. Stay on top of your accounts. Don’t open too many accounts for many reasons; one being it’s easy to forget about one and get hit with a late fee and another is it’s harder to monitor them for fraudulent charges.

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