Activity #1 summary

I went to a workshop; this workshop was named “money management”. It was based in college students’ situations, our budget, the risks we have if we do not know how to manage the money we earn, credit cards, credit history and the importance of it. This amazing activity took place in Massey/ 220/PRC on January 28 of 2010 at 4:00 o’clock. The Sponsor was Megan B. Foster, a very nice lady that obviously knew what she was talking about. The length of the workshop was about an hour and a half, the other people and I participated asking questions or commenting on some of the topics we were talking about. I thought it was very interesting because us, the audience were very different, you could tell there were people from other countries, people with different economic situations, different expectations on life and different plans for the future; but we all had the same questions and concerns.
I like this workshop a lot, I am glad I assist to it because Ms. Foster resolved some of the questions I had regarding credit cards and my credit history. She was very good answering any kind of questions and I am sure we all walked out of that class room feeling better and knowing more about money and how to manage it. One of the many things I learned was that having too many credit cards in different stores or banks is not good for your credit history. The credit history people want to see that you can pay one bill and can be consisting with your payments and specially that you do not need many credit cards because this means you do not have money and need to be “borrowing money”.
It is also very important to know how to read a bank statement, understand everything that is on the paper; sometimes the banks will have some kind of extra charges or just simple changes on your account that you need to understand in order to be able to pay on time and not get unnecessary charges. Ms. Foster told us that the banks are going to try to get money out of you in any kind of way, they might increase the percent in your credit card or you limit this is way you need to be aware and be able to read each statement you get, it is also good to keep your bank papers and information for a while just in case you need prove of something in the future.
Having a good credit history is essential in this country, if you do not have credit is like you do not exist. You need good credit to buy a house, or to lease an apartment, to buy a car or just to rent one, you need good credit to get loans for school or any kind of loan, you even need good credit to get a credit card. In order for your credit history to grow you have to make your payments on time, pay any kind of bill on time and do not exceed your limits in cards, for example if you have a thousand dollars in your credit card is not a good idea to spend nine hundred and ninety nine, this is going to affect your history.
Financial aid is a great source of getting your college costs low; there are a thousand of financial aid opportunities for college students. Making a budget is a good idea to get organized and control your Spence’s