As a college student, you are extremely busy preparing for the next stages of your life while still trying to have fun and maintain social initiatives. It is an exciting, yet intimidating time in a young person’s life where tons of information is acquired, all toward being a successful professional. However, overlooking the costs that enable college students to attend their universities is a big mistake. Making smart financial decisions before, during, and after college is the best way to stay out of debt and get ahead.

Protect Yourself from Student Loan Scams

Both young and old college students know just how expensive paying for an education can be. It’s smart to apply for scholarships and financial aid in an attempt to reduce that cost, but unfortunately, there is no shortage of fraud and scam artists trying to take advantage of students in need. If you’re going to apply for any sort of student financial aid, it’s important that you know how to protect yourself and your finances.

Any kind of scholarship or loan that requires you to pay any sort of fee in advance is almost certainly a scam. These scams appear in a variety of forms: fees for a scholarship that you supposedly won, or an application fee, or an advance loan fee. If someone offering a scholarship asks for your bank account information, be very wary. If you don’t want to give out this information, a legitimate scholarship should be willing to send you a check for deposit.

There are also scams that promise to help you find scholarships in return for payment. Information about scholarships and student loans is easily available from a wide variety of websites, the Department of Education, or from your educational institution. Again, never feel that you should have to pay out money to anyone in order to receive a scholarship or a student loan.

The Federal Trade Commission suggests some key phrases you can watch out for in avoiding scholarship scams. Some of these include “Information available nowhere else” or “Scholarships guaranteed, or your money back.” It also offers downloadable guides for finding scholarship money and avoiding scams, with even more tips for avoiding fraud while finding the money you need to pay for school.

Finding a Job in a Tough Economy

Even though the economy is slowly beginning to recover from the financial meltdown, millions of people are still unemployed. For someone who has been out of a job for more than a year, it can be hard not to get depressed and lose hope. Those student loans need to get paid off sooner rather than later, so here are a few tips on being proactive and finding a job.

• Create a professional email account. As you search for jobs, you'll undoubtedly be filling out numerous online applications, which will require a valid email address. Creating a unique email address will make it easier to keep track of your job updates and information.
• Set up a Linkedin account. Having a well-maintained profile on the professional networking site Linkedin.com is a must for any job seeker. For starters, your profile will rank highly on Google if someone searches for your name, and second, the site makes it very easy to view job openings and connect with people for career networking.
• Create a professional business card. You can do this for free or very economically on a variety of printing websites. Try websites like VistaPrint.com for affordable rates and professional cards. Include your name, position, phone number, email address, and professional networking web addresses.
• Create and update your resume. Assuming you already have a resume, take some time to polish it. Remember, this is the first interaction potential employers will have with you. If your resume doesn't stand out among the hundreds of others, you're probably not going to make it to the next level.
• Devote a minimum of one hour a day to your job search. If you don't have a part-time job, you should be devoting 40 hours a week to your job search. If possible, treat your job search like a full-time job. No one is going to work harder than you when it comes to finding a job.
• Treat every job you apply for like it’s the one you're going to get. Send in a cover letter every time. Briefly describe your interest in the job and the skills that make you a great candidate for the position. After you've sent in your resume, send a follow-up email the next day. Then, conduct a follow-up call if you can. If not, send follow-up emails once a week requesting more information. If you do get an interview, be flexible. Unless you have a life-threatening emergency, take whatever time slot they give you. Once you're in the interview, be interested, but not overeager. Someone who appears confident will be more attractive than someone who appears desperate.
• List any side jobs or part-time work as employment. Employers are more likely to hire someone who is currently working, so whether you babysit on the side, do contract work every now and again, or work a part-time job at a carwash, include that on your resume as your current occupation.

Focus on Improving Your Credit

After landing a job, you may need to improve your credit score now that you have more consistent funds. Improving bad credit takes planning and commitment, but the end result is extremely rewarding. Here are some basic guidelines to improve your credit score.

• Pay all your bills on time. Catch up on any bills that are past due as soon as possible. Then, pay everything else precisely when it is due, or before if you can. Set up reminders for yourself: mark due dates on the calendar, put calendar reminders in your phone, and place bills where they are highly visible. Most importantly, don't wait until the deadline to mail the check – mail it three or four days early to ensure you avoid late fees.
• Don't open new lines of credit. Another way to improve bad credit is to pay off all your existing credit cards and loans before opening a new one. If you absolutely have to open a new line of credit, choose one of the lowest available balances so you have less trouble paying it off. Short-term, discount loans or payday loans are always a better idea than opening a new credit card account because their repayment terms are shorter and less flexible, the payments are set, and the APR is usually lower.
• Don't bounce checks. Bounced checks end up costing you more in the long run than you might realize. Before you write a check, ask yourself if you have all the money in your account at that moment. Don't write checks assuming you have the money to cover them – take the time and check your account. Also, don't write checks based on payments you are expecting; only write them when you have the full amount in your bank account.
• Don't let your loans or bills go to collections. When a lender turns your debt over to a collection agency, the lender ends up losing most of their money anyway. It doesn't sound like fun, but call the lender if you foresee problems repaying your loan. Most lending companies have emergency plans or helpful substitutes in place to give you an extra chunk of time to repay the debts.
• Plan! Rebuilding your credit takes time and commitment, so plan your next move ahead of time. Write out a long-term plan; put it on the calendar or fridge where you can see it. Check off milestones along the way to encourage yourself!
• Use Discount Loans for Emergencies. Discount loans don't require traditional credit checks, so even if you have poor credit and can't get a bank loan, there's still hope. Most people use discount loans for unexpected expenses related to bills, medical issues, car repairs, and other types of financial demands.

Why is APR Important?

APR stands for annual percentage rate. This number is used to convey the cost of credit and describes the amount you pay annually for taking out a line of credit.

The confusion with APRs comes when you compare lenders’ fees. One lender may have a high APR and the very next lender may offer a significantly lower one. Why? Lenders can calculate discount payday loan APRs differently—there is no national standard. They are allowed to include transaction, processing, tax, and service fees in the APRs and also cover any other expenses they, as lenders, may incur in loaning you money.

What keeps lenders from charging exorbitant rates? In 1968, the Truth in Lending Act was passed; it mandated that lenders fully disclose their APRs and describe the fees factored into them. So, if you see a lender offering a low APR and several up-front fees and another lender offering a high APR and no up-front fees, ask questions. It’s a good chance that the second lender incorporated their fees into the APR, and you’ll end up paying them back more money.

What if you are considering taking out a loan? How do you avoid high APRs? Try using an APR calculator to compare between lenders, or consider taking out a payday loan. While a payday loan APR appears very high, the terms of the loan are very short, usually between two weeks and six months, so you’ll actually pay back less money than a long-term loan.