When it’s time for your child to go off to college there are many, many financial details to take care of. Of course, there are the usual financial aid issues, transportation, housing, and the like. But there are also some routine money matters that become more difficult to manage when your semi-grown up is away at school. One big one in particular is how to manage spending money.
When they’re at home (and under foot) spending money and simple purchases are easy to handle – there’s always Dad’s wallet or Mom’s purse. So when your son or daughter needs some extra cash it’s a simple matter to take care of. But what will happen when they’re miles away?
Credit cards aren’t the answer because even experienced adults have a tough time managing them so they could be a ticking time bomb in the hands of an inexperienced teenager. A separate checkbook could be an answer but then there’s extra work to balance the books and checks aren’t convenient everywhere anyway. Cash is out of the question and traveler’s checks are so 2000. So that leaves us with prepaid student debit cards – which are actually a great choice.
Prepaid debit cards spend just like credit cards; in fact they’re actually MasterCard and Visa cards. But the key difference is that debit cards must first be loaded up with cash before they can be used. And that’s what makes them perfect for college.
Since they’re pre-loaded, there’s no danger of overspending. That means your student can’t accidentally push themselves (and you) into debt. That, all by itself, is a great benefit.
But the real parental benefit is that you can load an individual card yourself for your child and you can track the spending on it too. That means you can literally get money to your young scholar easily and quickly if you need to and you can see everything they use the card for. That’s peace of mind and security in one package.
Reloadable debit cards are sold online as well as at most retail store outlets (especially drug stores). Most work the same way with certain individual differences (mostly fees). Be sure to compare a few to decide which one is the best prepaid debit card for you. Then send that kid off to school with one less thing to worry about.