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One thing I truly believe is that it's never too early or too late to take steps to get a better grasp on personal finance. (Even if you already think you know what you're doing! J)

There are tons of great resources and organizations out there that can help you understand your finances and why you should care about them. Or for those of you who have a bit better grasp on your financial situation, improve your already smart money management !

Here's a quick shout out to one organization in particular, the Jump$tart Coalition® for Personal Financial Literacy. They're a group of organizations focused on advancing financial literacy among students in pre-kindergarten through college. This week they're hosting a national conference of educators.

In the past month you've gotten to know a little bit more about the financial education available through Stagecoach Island®. Some of my colleagues who work on that program and other financial education projects with Wells Fargo will be at the national conference. And they'll be posting updates throughout the conference on one of Wells Fargo's Facebook pages.

Check it out! In between updates over there, check out the Jump$tart organizations in your state. Have you ever been exposed to Jump$tart? Tell us about your experience. Or if you've taken steps recently to jumpstart your financial know how let us know what's worked for you?

Editor's note: Today we're excited to introduce Asha Richardson, a guest blogger from Youth Media International.  Asha's a Bay Area  native and freshman at Mills College. She has been reporting at Youth Radio/Youth Media International for two years, and her work has been featured on NPR , American Public Media, PRX , and the Huffington Post. On campus she is an Economics major and the historian for the Black Women's Collective. In her spare time she enjoys photography, writing poetry and having adventures with her friends.

When I started at Mills College  this year, managing my own money didn't seem so hard. I got a free rug from a friend, picked out a table from the re-use depot on campus, and bought a used refrigerator for half the price of a new one.

But as I began to make friends, we wanted to go out and have fun — and fun adds up quickly. We would go out for frozen yogurt, but end up shopping and going to a restaurant for a dinner, and I'd be out $40 by the end of the night.

Some of my friends were broke before the second month was over. I wasn't much better off. When I checked my statement online and realized I only had $19 in my checking account, I knew I was in trouble.

Now that I don't have to ask for permission each time I want to buy something, it's easy to lose track of where my money's going. Temptation is everywhere: from shiny new textbooks to a pair of Steve Madden  heels I need for the party next weekend!

I have found a few ways to save: I put a certain amount of money aside that I can blow and put the rest away, and I make sure I have a strict list of what I need when I go shopping. That's helpful, but the temptation to spend can be so hard to resist! What else could I do to manage my money?

Well, what better way to get you to stop spending than getting your friends to help? I mean, in real life, I ask my friends if an outfit is cute. So why not use Facebook to get their opinion on how much they think it should cost?

With that in mind, a few of us at Youth Media International  got together to figure something out. We decided early on to create an app that helps young people resist temptation. After many meetings with Context Optional , the developer we partnered with to build the app, we came up with "Stop Me From Spending!" 

Last week Barbara laid out a number of options for borrowers to extend or postpone student loan repayment — important information for new grads to have as they enter the real world. This is a topic that we get lots of questions on — probably second only to how to lower student loan interest rates.

But I'm going to play devil's advocate  here, because I think it's important for you to consider another perspective. I'm going to tell you not to take advantage of these options unless you absolutely have to.

Michelle Singletary, one of my most favorite and down-to-earth personal finance columnists with The Washington Post , had this to say about extended student loan repayment in a piece published on May 17, 2009:

But can I give you some hard but well-meaning advice if you're one of the many graduates saddled with student loans?

Instead of immediately opting for repayment plans that will stretch your payments out until you're in middle age, try to find other ways to handle this debt.

I know these are tough times. Nonetheless start your loan repayment as soon as possible, even if it means taking a second job, or a roommate (or two or three), or yes, dare I say, moving back home for several years.

You could handle this debt if you delay going on to graduate school, which would only pile on even more debt. If you are going to have trouble finding a job to make the monthly payments on your undergraduate debt, how in the world are you going to find employment to service tens of thousands more as a result of an advanced degree? Trust me, an advanced degree doesn't guarantee a big salary.

You don't get to buy a new car, an upgraded wardrobe, waste your money on liquor at happy hours, or take vacations until this debt is extinguished.

And don't look at me with that face. Only after you've exhaustively scanned your budget and cut every possible expense (such as deleting the texting option on your mobile phone) should you consider extended repayment options.

Tough love from Michelle, but her advice is spot-on. Here's how she ends her column:

I've met an incredible number of people -- too many -- who really could have paid their student loans under the standard payback period but because they didn't want to live frugally, saw their loan balances jump significantly over the years.

If you truly can't afford to fully pay what you owe, take advantage of the extra breathing room. But remember the more you delay, the more you may pay.

Something to think about.

We already talked about ways you could possibly lower your monthly student loan obligations. But if you're looking for a way to postpone your student loan payments, there may be an option for you as well.

Under certain circumstances, borrowers may be eligible for a deferment or be granted a forbearance. Now, in both cases, you aren't required to make payments to your student loan for a short period of time. However, there are some differences that are important to understand. I'll give you the scoop on each:

• Deferments: These are for federal student loans. There are several types of deferments for folks in different situations.  You need to meet the criteria of these situations in order to be eligible for the deferment. If you are granted a deferment, know that in most cases, you’ll still be accruing interest. (The exception is for subsidized Federal Stafford Loans, which are based on financial need — the interest accrued during deferment for those loans is paid by the government.) If you don’t qualify for a deferment, you may be able to postpone payments with a forbearance.
• Forbearances: Forbearances are available for both federal and private student loans. These are granted at the discretion of your lender. Interest will continue to accrue on your loan during forbearance (even for the subsidized Federal Stafford Loan). Federal forbearances are available for borrowers experiencing financial hardship and other situations. Private student loan forbearances vary by lender, so ask your lender what options are available for you.

If you're having difficulties repaying your loan, it's very important to talk with your lender about options and the paperwork you'll need to apply for them. You don't want to fall behind on payments, and a deferment or forbearance could help.

Folks, we've made it through another graduation season. The gowns and mortar boards are packed away, and now many graduates are focused on their finances during the first months out of college. Student loan repayment is just down the road.

As you look ahead to that first student loan payment, you may be realizing that it's going to be a little tough to swing. You may have borrowed more than you can afford to repay or may not have secured employment quite yet. (Side note for those of you just starting to take out student loans: Make sure you budget properly so you don't borrow more than you can repay.)

Whatever your situation, there are options available to help make it easier to pay your student loan. Here are some ways you may be able to lower your interest rate or monthly payments:

• Choose a different repayment plan. For federal loans, there are a number of repayment plans other than the standard repayment plan. You may be able to have your payment based on your income, extend your repayment if you have over $25,000 in federal loans, or start out with smaller payments that gradually get larger over the repayment term. And check with your lender to see what repayment options are available for your private student loans.
• Take advantage of discounts from you lender. Ask your lender if there are any interest rate discounts available for your loan. For example, you may be able to save money if you have your monthly student loan payment automatically deducted from your checking or savings account.
• Consolidate your loans. By combining your federal student loans  together into a new loan with a longer repayment period, you'll usually lower your monthly payment. For private student loans you may even find that your interest rate is lower if your credit situation has improved or if you bring on a cosigner with excellent credit.

Remember that if you're lowering your monthly payment by extending your repayment period or paying just the interest, you may end up paying more interest over the life of your loan. However, in the grand scheme of things, if it prevents you from missing payments and defaulting on your student loan, it might be worth it.

Looking for a way to postpone your student loan payment? We'll talk about deferments and forbearances later this week, so stay tuned!

Meanwhile, hit me up with any questions you have about different repayment options.

Have you ever been in your favorite store with a cool new pair of jeans, a new t-shirt, and a slew of other clothes in hand, ready to pay when the cashier says, "If you open a store credit card account with us today you'll get 10% off your purchase?" At that moment you consider how great it would be to have a credit card at your favorite store — without having to pay for that $500 charge right away.

Before you decide to sign up for that store credit card, you might want to consider that typical annual percentage rates (APRs) on credit cards from a retail store are about 23%. Ouch!

If you are able to pay off your purchases right away, the percentage rate might not matter to you (just remember the possible effect on your credit). But, if you think that paying a little bit each month is more your style, you should see if the savings will be worth it. To do that, you'll need to know how your rate is calculated. 

Let's break down what a 10% savings at the register for a $500 purchase looks like in one month:

1. Figure your average daily balance.  Add balances each day (purchases minus payments) and divide that by the number of days in the billing period. We'll use 30 days for this example. Say you make no additional purchases or payments for the first 15 days, and then on day 16 you make a $50 payment and on day 21 you make a $75 purchase. So your balance was $500 days 1-15, $450 days 16-20, and $525 days 21-30.

Here's the math:
($500 x 15 days) + ($450 x 5 days) + ($525 x 10) = 15,000
15,000 divided by 30 days in the billing period = $500 average daily balance

2. Calculate the interest. After you have the average daily balance, you can find out how much interest you'll pay that first month. Take your APR divided by 12 to find out how much interest you're charged each month. Then take that number times your average daily balance.

   Here's the math:
   23% APR divided by 12 = Monthly rate of .019166
   .019166 x $500 = $9.58 interest charge

3. Was the savings worth it? Back to your original sale: You saved $50 at the register (10% of $500), but after a month on your store credit card, you owe $9.58 on the balance. That lowers your savings to $40 after the first month. And unless you pay off the remaining balance, those savings will continue to drop.

While I am an advocate of using credit when it makes sense, I'm highly in favor of knowing what my rates are and what it will cost me in the long run. It's easier to make better choices when you know exactly what that retail therapy  will cost.

Admittedly, my thoughts today were inspired by a gorgeous, teenage vampire who once said, "The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business."

Like Edward Cullen , I've come to realize that environmental conservation is not just for unbathed hippies who have hunger strike tendencies. Nor is it just a cause that I donate money towards or volunteer for each spring in support of Earth Day , which happens to be today. It's not about the grand gesture.

In fact, something as massive as saving our planet is clearly going to take a little bit of thought (and perhaps sacrifice) each and every day from me and everyone else.

Going green is truly a lifestyle change. But it doesn't have to be difficult! Here are just a few tiny ways I've changed to be more efficient, which I hope are minimizing my footprint:

• Carpool.  Soccer moms were on to something decades ago. Now, I'll find ways to bum rides with my friends (or drive them) to school, work, out for dinner, a big game or a concert. It saves gas, emits less, and we can split parking costs.
• Subscribe to less printed media. I read my fashion magazines and celebrity gossip news at the gym. I set up news feeds  and sign up for other electronic newsletters and clipping services on subjects that interest me (from college hoops to business news to sample sales).
• Set a timer while showering. Not entirely sure why, but I used to take super long showers. Now, I set a timer in the bathroom so I don't slip into an inadvertent daydream or sneak a little more shuteye.
• Print on both sides. Whenever I'm printing papers or presentations, this printer option can cut my paper usage in half. I tend not to double-space, if given the option. If I ever have old hand-outs that do have blank sides, I'll save it for note-taking, list-making, or printing drafts of my next masterpiece.
• Pack containers. Instead of Ziploc  bags, plastic wrap or foil to pack away leftovers, I opt for plastic, metal and glass ware and jars that can be washed and reused several times, if not forever.
• Reuse my goody bags. Over years of attending job fairs, professional conferences, and sample sales, I have enough canvas bags to carry all my groceries home. I even won a raffle at my local grocer for bringing my own bag. Who knew that the most valuable free S.W.A.G. (stuff we all get) was the bag itself!
• Pay paperless-ly. I used to think I needed a physical reminder to pay my bills. But now, with email statements, text message alerts, calendar reminders and all the other ways to stay organized, I got over it. And I can't remember the last time I wrote a check to pay a bill. The beauty of the internet is that I can pay my bills wherever I am — as long as I have a computer — whether I'm at home, at a coffee shop, or in an internet café on a remote Greek island. I personally could care less that postage costs are rising! 

So sure, these are small sacrifices I've made and they can be a tad more inconvenient or time-consuming at times. But the gratification and sense of worth one feels by doing good by far outweigh any negatives. How else could we ever explain the growing list of image-conscious Hollywood A-listers trading in their Roadsters and suped up trucks for teeny, egg-shaped hybrids?

But the best part about being eco-friendly is it also helps me conserve my own dough and not be wasteful with that precious resource. It's seriously a no-brainer.

So, what sort of ways are you going green? Any tips? Please share!

We all strive to be above average in some of the things we do. Scholars are hoping to surpass the average grades, athletes are striving for higher than average statistics, you get the picture.

Yet we tend to settle on being average in other arenas. And, yes, sometimes it's just fine to run with the pack as just your average Joe or Jane.  But there is one area that you should never find comfort in being average — your finances.

Why not? I can tell you from personal experience that finding comfort in being average can come back to bite you!

When I graduated from college, a little over $2,000 on a college credit card followed me into the real world. Now for someone who had a scholarship to cover college expenses that seems a bit high, right?

Well, here's the deal. Looking into some credit card facts  I kept hearing over and over that the average college student graduates with over $2,000 in credit card debt. So I thought, "What the heck?" If my counterparts are dealing with the same situation, I can charge a few things, too.

However, when we get stuck thinking that the debt is inevitable, we become less conscious of how much we are spending on things we don't really need. Part of that $2,000 on my credit card was for an iPod, and be sure that I whipped out the plastic for a pair of shoes or two (or three...).

So in the end, thinking average college debt was OK helped me develop some pretty bad spending habits. And unfortunately, those habits stuck with me until I started working for a bank and talking about financial education!

I challenge you to be better than average when it comes to your finances — both during college and after. Think twice about charging that sweatshirt at the campus bookstore. Resist ordering a pizza for dinner when you could use your pre-paid meal plan at the campus cafeteria.

Don't fall into the average trap with your student loans, either (the average for student loan debt is almost $20,000 ). Consider a part-time job to supplement your living expenses rather than taking out more student loans. Pay your interest during school to avoid capitalization.

Each tiny step will put you leaps and bounds in front of the students who settle for "average."

Here at the Student LoanDown, we like to think that every month is financial literacy month. But this April, it actually is National Financial Literacy Month!  Time to brush up on your financial fundamentals!

One of the personal finance bloggers we follow regularly, J.D. from Get Rich Slowly, asked his readers what they want to learn during Financial Literacy Month.  They've been more than forthcoming with interesting suggestions — some even want to know more about student loans.

You've been asking some interesting questions lately, too. In case you've missed them, I thought I'd highlight some of our recent exchanges:

• Do you have questions about student loan default or federal student loan rehabilitation? Check out the comment string on my post about student loan repayment.
• Are you thinking about cosigning a private student loan for a student and wondering how long you'll be on the hook?
• Want to know more about how Wells Fargo's private student loan interest rates are calculated? Barbara answers Tyler's questions here.
• If you're curious about student loan consolidation, our most popular post probably addresses the topic somewhere in the comments section!

What haven't we discussed that you'd like to know? You don't have to wait for Financial Literacy Month to roll around — you can ask us anytime.

I hate to contradict Shakespeare, who said "Neither a borrower nor a lender be."  But I'm going to make the case for borrowing (and lending) stuff.

When times are tough and everyone's trying to save money, borrowing and lending things among friends is a great way to save money, if you're smart about it.

So how can you be smart about it? Glad you asked!

First, know what you will not, on policy, ever lend: more money than you're willing to lose (that should be about $5-$10 if you're a college student!), your car, or other high-ticket items, like your laptop, iPod, etc. Once you've made it your policy, it's easy to say, "Sorry, I don't lend out my (insert item here)."

Now, what items are good to lend/borrow? From friends, borrow things that you can easily trade back and forth, that neither of you wants to spend money on: movies , books, CDs, clothes — that kind of thing. When I was in college, I quadrupled my wardrobe of miniskirts, "MC Hammer  pants" and boyfriend jackets simply by sharing with a few close friends.

Note I said "close friends." When you decide to start borrowing and lending stuff, keep your circle pretty tight. Don't lend your fave sweater to just anyone in the dorm, or you might not see it again. Or it might be a size too small when you do.

And don't be afraid to put your name on your movies and books to ensure that you get them back — even from well-intentioned friends. I borrow the latest bestsellers  from my sisters all the time, and I'm glad they stick return address labels inside, so I always know where to return them.

So, while it makes sense to borrow small things, what about bigger things? I would stick to family for this kind of stuff — but it's definitely a good idea to try out an expensive item before you invest in it for yourself. Maybe before you buy a bike, try out the one with flat tires in your brother's garage, to see if you'll really use it. Not sure if you need a food processor? Borrow the one your mom hasn't touched in ages. Personally, I wanted to start sewing  and considered buying a cheap machine. My sister piped up that she never uses hers, so I am currently borrowing it — saving myself the $75 I'd have spent on a basic model.

Once you get started, be a good borrower (Staci will laugh at this, as I once held a book of hers hostage for over a year). Return things promptly, in the condition you found them. And be willing to lend stuff back.

Do you think it's a good idea to borrow things to save money? Or did Shakespeare have it right?