Well, it turns out the people at the financial aid office were slightly mistaken. I'm pleased to say that tuition is about $1000 less than the $3756 figure that I was told. It seems that there is a cap on how many units students can be charged during the summer semester, so instead of being charged for 12 units we are being charged for only 9 units. That definitely brought a smile to my face.
One interesting part of my life is that I've never had the need to own a credit card. Whenever the time comes to pay for something I almost always pay in cash. Even when I lived in Japan, the thought of owning a credit card never crossed my mind. Japan is a cash-based society and in fact charge you extra fees (around 5% I believe) if you attempt to pay for something by credit card.
Well, at the ripe old age of 27 I finally decided to get my first credit card. It came in the mail about a month ago. I've always thought the concept of credit to be foolish even before our debt fueled economic collapse in 2008. Credit cards are for people who don't have enough money, not for responsible people. Unfortunately, our society says that even if you've never been in debt, even if you've saved loads of money in your savings account, even if you have a stable job, even if you get straight A's your whole life, even if you have a spotless criminal record, even if you saved the life of an old lady crossing the street, without credit you can't get a loan for a mortgage. The only way to build credit is through using credit cards. What a racket.
Now that I've got my credit card I'm ready to use it and build my credit. I was considering paying off my summer tuition with my credit card, but then I realized that my credit limit doesn't even go that high. Frustrating.
I'll just pay it off the way I've always done it. Use the cash that I saved in my bank account.
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On a side note, classes are nearly finished and we only have 3 more tests to go! Pretty soon it's going to be "goodbye" to late-night studying and "hello" to late-night movies / partying / dating / relaxing. That reminds me, it's been forever since I've watched a movie. Avatar is still in theaters, right?
A good way to build credit is have a small monthly reoccurring change, and you pay it off promptly. i.e. Netflix, satellite radio, gasoline, cell phone, etc.
ReplyDeleteBy do thing you use your credit card and only use a small amount.
And no Avatar isn't in Theaters anymore =)
That's a good idea. The only upkeep that I need to pay monthly is an internet bill and groceries, so those go on the credit card. I can see how people can fall into the trap of buying things they don't really need just for the sake of building credit.
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