I would just like to echo and affirm all the warnings about staying away from credit cards. It is really quite shameful, but as a freshman in college you will be inundated with credit card offers. Do yourself a favor and just say no. I know you'll be tempted, but trust me when I say that debt is like a black cloud hanging over your head. Even if you can make the minimum payments (and then some) without difficulty, being in debt still sucks. IMHO the only things worth going in debt for are a home and a reasonably priced car.
If you ignore my advice and get the credit card anyway, try to follow this rule: don't charge things like food and gas, only charge durable goods. When you have a big pile of debt you need to at least be able to look at something (such as a big screen TV or a nice laptop) and be able to SEE why you're in debt; however with things like food, you have nothing to show for your debt.
After watching many of NASA's blunders recently and seeing some of the excellent work being done by X-Prize contestants (SpaceShip One) for little money, I have become convinced that NASA has become so bloated and inefficient that it is basically Amtrak in space. The whole organization should be nuked and the private sector should get all the grants. The money would be spent more efficiently.
I too learned to type on an old IBM typewriter back in the 80's, and to this day I still tell people that typing was quite possibly the most valuable class I took in high school. I didn't know back then that computers would become such a large part of my life, but I am very thankful today that I took a typing class when I was in high school.
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I would just like to echo and affirm all the warnings about staying away from credit cards. It is really quite shameful, but as a freshman in college you will be inundated with credit card offers. Do yourself a favor and just say no. I know you'll be tempted, but trust me when I say that debt is like a black cloud hanging over your head. Even if you can make the minimum payments (and then some) without difficulty, being in debt still sucks. IMHO the only things worth going in debt for are a home and a reasonably priced car. If you ignore my advice and get the credit card anyway, try to follow this rule: don't charge things like food and gas, only charge durable goods. When you have a big pile of debt you need to at least be able to look at something (such as a big screen TV or a nice laptop) and be able to SEE why you're in debt; however with things like food, you have nothing to show for your debt.
...salsa shark! You're gonna need a bigger boat chief.
After watching many of NASA's blunders recently and seeing some of the excellent work being done by X-Prize contestants (SpaceShip One) for little money, I have become convinced that NASA has become so bloated and inefficient that it is basically Amtrak in space. The whole organization should be nuked and the private sector should get all the grants. The money would be spent more efficiently.
I too learned to type on an old IBM typewriter back in the 80's, and to this day I still tell people that typing was quite possibly the most valuable class I took in high school. I didn't know back then that computers would become such a large part of my life, but I am very thankful today that I took a typing class when I was in high school.