Announcement: I am physically incapable of not singing along to "Jack and Diane" when it comes on the radio.

Analysis: I am a total dork.

Do not use credit cards. Do not use them to pay for your books in college, take out another college loan. Do not use them to pay for car emegancies so you don't have to tell your mother. Do not use them to pay your living expenses when you only make $10,000 a year and don't want to move back home. Do not use them to pay off other people's debt!!! Most importantly, do not use them to fund theatre productions so that your costumes look the way you want on a $100 budget

Sophia is me in poor life choices with credit cards.

Oh, God yes! Main credit card recommendation to college kids in particular--no matter how much the company reps say it's a good idea, do NOT get a credit card when in college, especially not one with a $2500 limit, especially when you're only bringing home about $40 a week from your part-time job at the campus library. You'll end up maxing it out on stupid weekend runs to the corner Walgreens and pizza deliveries, and end up really in debt when you graduate and add the car loan and college loan payments to the living expenses you didn't have to pay for before you graduated.

I had a friend who planned on maxing out his cards in college, then declaring bankruptcy at 22, which means he would be cleared by the time he was in his 30's. I have no idea if this actually happened.

Sophia, have you done the debt consolidation thing?

I had a friend who planned on maxing out his cards in college

What's worth maxing them out on at that point? I don't think there was anything worth that I wanted then, and even if it was worth bankruptcy, I doubt I'd have been able to afford it on the credit I could have gotten.

However, I did kinda abuse them once I started working in the US, because I was living above my budget, and couldn't work out how to stop.

Sophia, are you a member of The Costumer's Manifesto yahoogroup list? There are many professional and amateur theater costumers on that list and I'm sure they'd be happy to be a sounding board for some of the decisions you're trying to make (in addition to the Buffistas who are eager to be sounding boards).

I've never been bad with credit cards, (I'm way too paranoid to use them crazily) but my student loans got me in trouble when I was a starving artist.

I am blessed in that I never had student loans (McGill was about $600CDN/semester when I started there, and my parents were perfectly willing to cover that and room and board). Given my budgeting once I got out of Canada, it's for the best.

Sophia, have you done the debt consolidation thing?

No, because I am ascared! I am normally a big ostrich/head in the sand sort of person, so I am surprised I am even dealing with this car thing now!

Also, I didn't know there was a Costumers Manifesto list! I use the Costumer's Manifesto all the time-- I even make my students read it! Thanks Spidra!