I’ve never borrowed money for anything. Sure, I’ve spent it on things like rent and groceries, but those are expenses we all have to deal with. Borrowing money is different because it’s not just about how much you will owe at the end of your term; it’s also about how long it will take you to pay off that debt. And while some people may understand this better than others, there are plenty of reasons why college students shouldn’t borrow too much student loan debt:
No one will hire you
If you borrow too much, it can be difficult to find a job. You will have to pay more for health insurance and may not be able to get a loan for a house or car. This means that if you do manage to find work, you’ll likely have less money than when you started out because of all of these extra expenses!
If your parents give you cash or gift cards for Christmas and birthdays (which are often considered “free”), then this isn’t really helping anything at all—it’s just giving them another excuse not to tell their kids no when they ask for something else later on down the line!
You won’t have the money to start your life correctly
The first reason not to borrow too much is, ironically, the most obvious: You’ll have trouble paying it back.
Borrowing money to pay for college isn’t exactly cheap. In fact, according to The College Board’s annual survey of undergraduate debt levels published earlier this month (the survey includes loan amounts from all types of lenders—including federal loans taken out through the Department of Education), about 60 percent of students had outstanding student loan balances at graduation.” The average amount borrowed by students graduating with bachelor’s degrees in 2012 was $25,500,” the report authors concluded. “That means that seniors had an average total monthly payment on those loans of $380.”
But even though you’ve borrowed more than that amount up front, there are plenty of ways that you could still struggle financially once you get out into your adult life as an independent adult who doesn’t have parents footing all their bills anymore (which is what happened when I graduated).
You’ll be struggling and broke when you expect to be in your prime
As you know, the first few years after college are a time of learning and exploration. You have all this energy, but also no money. You can do so much in your twenties that it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of making new friends and exploring new places. But if you’re not careful with how much debt you take on during this period of your life, it can come back to haunt you later on when those bills start piling up and relationships start falling apart around you—and that’s not even considering what might happen if something else unforeseen happens (like losing a job).
There are plenty of other reasons why borrowing too much is dangerous:
Your payments will become overwhelming
If you’re struggling with debt and have no savings, it’s probably time to consider whether borrowing is the best choice for you.
- Your payments will become overwhelming. The more money that’s owed, the harder it will be to find a way out of this financial mess.
- You won’t be able to save for retirement or start your own business. If you’re not currently saving money specifically for retirement or starting a business, then borrowing funds now could prevent those goals from ever being reached in your lifetime (or at least not on time).
You’ll have a difficult time buying a house or a car
If you can’t buy a house or a car, you’ll be stuck renting for the rest of your life. You need a good credit score to buy these things and if you have bad credit, it will be hard for lenders to trust that you’ll pay them back.
If this is something that concerns you, then it’s best not to borrow money from anyone until after graduation (or at least until after filing taxes).
You’ll have to spend precious time working instead of learning
In order to pay off debt, you’ll have to spend precious time working instead of learning. This can be especially true if you’re borrowing money from your parents, who are likely to encourage their children’s academic pursuits.
If you’re considering taking out loans and choosing a particular major that requires a lot of coursework and study time (for example, nursing), it may come as no surprise that this is probably not the best choice for your future career prospects.
Your grades might suffer
You might think that working a part-time job to pay for school would be an easy way to make extra money and save some cash, but it’s not always worth it. Studies show that students who have to work in order to finance their education are more likely to have lower GPAs. This is because they don’t need any help from their parents or friends. In addition, they’re also more likely to drop out of school—and those who do end up dropping out are often depressed because they feel like they failed again (or never had the grades in the first place).
Your credit score won’t be as good as it should be
Your credit score is the number that lenders use to determine whether you are a good risk for financial products like loans and credit cards. Your credit score depends on your payment history, which includes:
- How much money you have paid in the past year (the more time has passed since your last loan payment, the higher your score)
- How much debt you owe (the lower the amount of new debt being added to your outstanding balances against all those other debts)
The best way to improve your credit score is by paying off existing debts as quickly as possible. In addition, you should build good payment habits with each new loan or card application.
You can’t pursue other dreams while you’re repaying debt
When you’re in debt, it’s hard to get excited about pursuing your dreams. After all, you won’t be able to do it until the debt is paid off. And if your dream requires a lot of resources, time, and effort on your part? Well, then that dream probably won’t happen too fast anyway!
When I was in college, I worked full-time while taking classes at night. Because I had no income other than compensation from my job (and even then not much), I was forced into making sacrifices that would have been difficult otherwise. In order to pay my bills and continue paying down my loans as quickly as possible, I had little choice but to put aside time for schoolwork every day—even though doing so meant sacrificing opportunities for fun or personal growth during those days off work!
It may take longer than expected to repay debt
There are many reasons why it might take longer than expected to pay off a loan, but here’s one: If you borrow too much money, you may have trouble making payments on time, and/or interest rates could increase dramatically. This means that even if your income increases over time, or there are just other expenses like rent or car payments that come up unexpectedly during a year-long contract with an employer (like when someone gets laid off), this could mean that it will take longer than expected before all of your debts are paid off in full—even if they’re still relatively small amounts compared with what was originally borrowed when starting out at college!
Conclusion
We know that college is a time of great growth and new experiences. But the truth is, you can’t afford to be reckless with your finances. You need to plan for your future so that when you graduate and start your career, everything will be in place for success. It’s important that we all set goals in life, and make sure they’re achievable before taking any big risks with them.
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