As a high school student I heard many a horror story of people who had gone off to college and racked up thousands of dollars in credit card bills. Of course, at the time I thought that there was no way that could possibly be me one day.

 After all I was a responsible teenager. I did my homework on time, paid any bills I had in a timely manner, and only bought things when I had the cash with me to purchase them. No sir, I would not be irresponsible in such a way.

 But after about the 20^th credit card application came in the mail I just could not help myself but to fill that little paper out. I mean I wasn’t really going to qualify, right? Wrong.

  Not only did I qualify but if I paid my bill on time for two months my minimum would be upped from the 500 dollar limit I started with. Fantastic, I thought. I could buy anything I wanted! Clothes, shoes, dinners out, anywhere that Visa or MasterCard was accepted. This was awesome!

That was until the first bill came. It was no longer so cool anymore. I could just pay my minimum balance, but if that’s all I did it would take years to pay it off. Plus, how was I supposed to keep up my spending without having room on my card to spend anymore?

            And that did not even include the fact that the interest rate was outrageous. I could be paying on a 100 dollar purchase for months with interest that high.

 I am a firm believer in the fact that credit card companies target innocent, college students who do not know any better.

 They suck us in while we are young, so when get in the real world we are stuck in a vicious cycle that we cannot get out of.

 My dad has told me before, “Oh, well so and so just lives off of credit. They have nice things, but their up to the eyeballs in debt.” I now understand that concept.

 Not only will many of us as college students owe back thousands in school loans, but will also be stuck with that monthly credit card bill for years to come.

 If you do not already have this burden, don’t weigh yourself down with it. It will only prove to be troublesome.

 And if you already do, just try you best to chisel that bill away one month at time. It will eventually be a distant regret.