As hundreds of thousands of students are heading off to college, almost half of them will be carrying at least one credit card. What's more, students will be inundated with opportunities to apply for even more credit cards once they arrive at school, through on campus promotions and applications in their mailboxes.

Baby Phat Prepaid Visa® RushCard NO MONTHLY or ANNUAL FEES!

With so much "easy credit" available, it is critical that young adults understand how important it is to live within their means and avoid getting into ballooning credit card debt. Poor credit decisions made in college can often follow today's student for the rest of his or her life.

Like it or not, credit has become an important part of modern life. Learning to handle credit wisely is a major step toward becoming a responsible adult. With this in mind, young people must educate themselves on credit matters before taking on the responsibility of a credit card.

If you are spending all your income, and never have money to save or invest, you’ll need to look for ways to cut back on your expenses.

When you watch where you spend your money, you will be surprised how small everyday expenses that you can do without add up over a year.

If you buy a cup of coffee every day for $1.00 (an awfully good price for a decent cup of coffee, nowadays), that adds up to $365.00 a year. If you saved that $365.00 for just one year, and put it into a savings account or investment that earns 5% a year, it would grow to $465.84 by the end of 5 years, and by the end of 30 years, to $1,577.50.

That’s the power of “compounding.” With compound interest, you earn interest on the money you save and also on the interest that money earns.

Over time, even a small amount saved can add up to big money. If you are willing to watch what you spend and look for little ways to save on a regular schedule, you can make money grow.

As a student, you just did it with one cup of coffee.

It’s easy to forget how much you’ve charged on your credit card. Every time you use a credit card, write down how much you have spent and figure out how much you’ll have to pay that month. If you know you won’t be able to pay your balance in full, try to figure out how much you can pay each month and how long it’ll take to pay the balance in full.

Today you may be a young student...but it's never to early to plan for financial security.