Now that we are fully into the holiday shopping season, I have to admit, I'm feeling kind of ignorant about how college students treat Christmas shopping these days. My college junior stepdaughter is not a big shopper in general, and limits her Christmas shopping to just a few affordable gifts for family. And I don't remember buying people much of anything when I was in college.
However, as I wander the mall these days trying to wrap up my own shopping, I see one big temptation that's probably even bigger for college students: the store credit card.
I actually promoted these when I was in college. I worked for JC Penney 
and we got reimbursed for every application we turned in. It was a nice way for me to take home some extra cash, so I definitely encouraged any and every customer to apply.
But these days, it's not just the big department stores that offer credit cards — almost every single store pushes them. And some of their offers are pretty tempting. They quickly tell you exactly how much you can save today just by signing up, and go on about their valuable rewards programs. It always sounds like a great deal, and it can be hard to say "no."
Admittedly, I sometimes have a problem refusing these offers when I'm making a big purchase, or when it's being made by a store I visit frequently .
As a college student, however, it's not a good idea to start opening up a bunch of new credit cards — even if you can save $20 here and there. Even if you promise yourself you'll cut it up as soon as it arrives. Some people have the discipline not to use these cards or to cancel them right away — you don't want to find out the hard way which type of person you are.
Even if you don't use the card, having too many open lines of credit can hurt your credit score since it's an open door for you to quickly get into debt. And if you don't have a proven credit history, this looks dubious to potential creditors. Also, having a number of open lines of credit leaves you increasingly vulnerable to fraud and identity theft — especially if they are accounts you don't pay much attention to.
Your best bet is to stick to just one credit card while you're still building your credit history, and find another way to save during the holiday season.
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