I am not anti credit card, I am anti this.....from the OP: I have zero concerns with him amassing debt. You don't have to amass debt in order to have a good credit score. Quite the opposite actually. From what I understand, payment history and amounts owed in accordance to the amount of the line are the most important factors FICO takes into consideration when factoring a score. Here's a good trick people might want to try. It takes 1 month for a credit card company to show on the monthly statement that there is a zero balance. Say you pay a credit card off on the 15th and the statements come on the 30th. That zero balance will not show on the statement until the next 30th arrives 6 weeks after the card was paid off.You want to a maintain a zero balance with continued use as much as possible, and continued does not mean constant. So you get 2 cards and alternate their usage. When 1 gets to the point where you can pay it off in 1 month, stop using it and start paying it off while you use the other when needed. Once you have a zero balance, do the same with the other card. Shelve it until it's paid off and wait for the statement to reflect that before you start using it again. Both cards get continued use and both cards will show responsible spending (hopefully) that fosters responsible payments. http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx Remember, most college students have a limited income from part time jobs. Their spending should reflect that. If they have a $5,000 limit and only make $1,000 a month, which amount should they spend on credit per month? They are young adults now and shouldn't be using mom and dad for this purpose. Only spend as much as you make and the formula above should work.

Those tiny amounts add up though. I have little experience with this, but it sounds like Turbo Tax is more knowledgeable in this area than an old-fashioned professional.

Can't you find a tax write-off for this sort of thing? Especially if the books are school specific? Regardless, there is still information in those books that have to be valuable to someone somewhere. I would think.

Many creative people struggle with this when they are first honing their craft. One thing you can mention is that there is always the option of recording your thoughts and then simply transcribing them. Not only will it get the exact thoughts on paper, it will get the writer mentally conditioned to do this without the need for recording them first.

I don't see there being a bad time of year to visit a college. You're not there to see other students anyway, you're there to see the operation of the school.

If your son/daughter is doing this for the purpose of getting a career in sports medicine, look at schools with a good sports department, like Penn State. This is in the medical field and this is a very stable field that is always looking for qualified people.

The whole of the original post by Gina worries me. In my opinion, a young adult needs to learn personal finances by way of living within his/her means. Credit cards do not foster this mindset, whereas paying with cash does. After you get into the habit of living within your means, a) You would be responsible with credit and, b) the whole notion of having lines of credit and debt would seem rather redundant. http://www.daveramsey.com/blog/7-characteristics-of-debt-free-people

That, and make sure the credits received at the current college are easily transfferable should a school transfer be necessary. Other than that, I think you have everything else nailed down.

If the college in question has message boards online or off, check to see what the graduating seniors are selling off. This might be the wrong time of year to start doing this, but year after year the fresman, sophmores, etc....can do this to save on the ongoing supplies they need. You mentioned yours is hard on appliances, so this could be counted as an ongoing supply. :)

While mine wants to go to college, she hasn't chosen which one she wants yet. She doesn't have a wish list either. I figure that since she is still 16, I'm not going to rush this part of the process. I want to give her a little more time to pinpont what her exact interests are, her srong suits in her Junior and Senior years and what any career placement tests have to say.