3 Things College Graduates Should Avoid

Graduating from college is a big accomplishment. You’ve spent the past few years of your life working your tail off to get your degree which is something that should be celebrated.

But at some point after you graduate, life will come knocking at your door.

Here are 3 things you should avoid doing after you graduate from college.

1. Getting into credit card debt.

No, I didn’t say, “don’t get a credit card”. If you know how to use it, then by all means use them. But do not, and I mean do not, get yourself into credit card debt. Credit card debt is the worst type of debt you can find yourself in because of the enormously high interest rate you will pay (usually in the 20-30% range). And since this interest rate is so high, it can make getting out of credit card debt an absolute nightmare.

Be smart and don’t spend above your means.

2. Forgetting about your student loans.

One thing to note about student loans is that you typically have a grace period of about 6 months after you graduate before you have to start repayments. But when that time is up, it's time to start repaying. Don’t make a mess of your finances so quickly into your career. Remember that you have student loans to repay. Otherwise, if you forget, you will be hit with late penalties that’ll cost you money and hurt your credit.

If you don’t have student loans then count yourself lucky.

3. Not Knowing Personal Finance Basics

School probably didn’t teach you much about personal finance. You may have only learned things from your parents. You may not know anything at all. That’s okay. It doesn’t matter where you start on your personal finance journey. All that does matter is that you do take the time to learn smart money decision making. 

Learning personal finance basics will help you enormously in the long-run in reaching most life goals you have, as most goals involve money.