Lots of young adults in college are more concerned with the next big party or exam upcoming rather than paying a bill on time. The thought of credit scores and obtaining financing at affordable rates have never even crossed their minds. According to many debt collections, this problem is wide spread and if a student reads this and says, "This sounds like me" then no worries, you aren't alone.
In reality, most college students leave out when they are 18 under the guidance of parents who have worked for many years for to save up for this growing expense. Usually the plan is sound, but many students find the need to spend more money than the parents originally planned for. That 88' Honda Civic isn't going to cut it for a hot Facebook picture. No, students of this generation feel the need to have new cars, designer clothes, and spend money way above what they have coming in. Students acquire items with contracts, cars, and cell phones which come with a monthly payment. What happens when those Dolce jeans for $199 override the need to pay the $100 cell phone bill? The cell phone company reports on the young fashion diva's credit report that it is past due and sends him or her to collections.
Many students when faced with a past due notice, just put it aside. If the phone gets cut off, they just call mom and explain they forgot to pay it and get bailed out in the form of a positive injection of parent funds in the bank account. What the student and many parent as well doesn't realize is the student's credit is being affected. Many students will just switch phone companies and forget about the bill. This allows the collection agency to charge off the debt which could stay on the student's credit for years. They may discover it, only when it is time to make a first time home purchase and they need financing. Collection agencies are noticing this trend all over the United States and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. Students seem to only care about today and not about the future consequences of the decision to not pay a cell phone bill or past due library account off.
Collection agencies give a few simple tips to make sure students do not fall into this category. First, make a budget. Know how much money you have coming in every month. Furthermore, understand how much the bills you will have coming your way that month. For parents, keep track of your student's purchasing habits. If they're watching Akon in concert on weekends and wearing Ed Hardy shirts Monday through Friday, they may be over spending while not paying essential bills such as the cell phone. Lastly, know that a dollar saved today is worth much more than a dollar spent. The new car can wait and it isn't worth paying thousands extra in interest when it comes time to buy that dream house.
Luke McCann is the owner of DebtCollectionQuote.com and has several years of experience as both a debtcollectionquote.com debt collection operator. He has assisted many business owners to work with debt debtcollectionquote.com/collection-agencies collection agencies to recover past due debts.
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