Manage College Money

helping you control and manage money and expenses

Students can avoid debt problems by using pre-paid credit cards to manage student college spending. The cards are preloaded with funds to force student to live within the monthly budget:

  • budget your monthly spending amounts
  • avoid interest rate charges
  • avoid getting into debt problems
  • manage account online
  • build up your credit reporting history
  • use where credit cards are accepted

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Start With Pre-Paid Card

Student or parent gets a prepaid card for student's use in college (approval guaranteed). Student or parent adds spending money to the card based on the college budget.

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Use Card to Purchase Items

Student uses card to buy food, supplies, books, pizza, etc., (those items that are part of the student's college budget) at any merchant that accepts MC/VISA cards.

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Monitor Spending Account

Student or parent can monitor the pre-paid account electronically for budgeting purposes. Pre-paid cards can help maintain a spending budget by monitoring spending.

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Load Money Anytime

Student or parent can reload the card with additional monthly spending funds as needed. So pre-paid cards charge loading fees. So find the card with the least amount of fees.

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Protect Against Debt

Using pre-paid cards can protect the student from accumulating credit card debt. The card also helps student achieve valuable money management skills.

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Build Student Credit

Students can use pre-paid cards to build a credit history for future credit approval on auto loans, employment, home mortgages, etc. Find those pre-paid cards that connect to credit-building

Helpful Tools

Some helpful tools for tracking n' managing aid decisions:

college financial aid map (pdf print file)
financial aid checklist (pdf print file)
scholarship search sheet (pdf print file)
student aid tally wkst (excel wkst)
college budgeting wkst (excel wkst)

 

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