Cindy will be a college junior next year, and she is determined to have her own credit card. She will not be employed during the school year but convinced that she can pay for credit card expenses based on her summer earnings. Cindys parents have read a number of articles about the problems of credit cards and college students, including examples of students leaving school after a downward spiral of obtaining credit cards, overspending, working to pay bills, worrying about bills, working more hours to pay bills, and eventually withdrawing from school. When Cindy showed up with a handful of applications, including Visa, a Gold Master Card, Discover, a visa sponsored by her university, an American Express, a secured Master Card, and a gas company card, her parents were overwhelmed. Maria admitted she didnt want them all. Im not stupid, she declared. Since Cindy obviously needed to learn about credit cards, her parents agreed to cosign her application on one condition. She had to approach her choice just as she would a class project and research the following questions.

1. Summarize and list the basic factors that affect credit card costs. Rank these factors in terms of importance and relevance based on Cindys situation
2. To avoid credit abuse problems, what the most important rules for Cindy to follow when using a credit card
3. Why would an unemployed college student need a credit card? What are the advantage and disadvantages of having a credit card?
4. Shopping for credit can be compared to shopping for any other consumer product consider the products cost, features, advantages, and disadvantages. In other words, does the product meet the users needs? Help Cindy her credit choices, given the application she has collected
5. Should Cindy have more than one card? What is the recommended number of credit cards for the average consumer?