Listen Up Students: How to Take Your Love for Fashion to the Next Level

It’s a funny word, fashion. On one level being fashionable means doing what everyone else is doing, but real fashion involves creativity and confidence – confidence in your own taste, so that what you wear and how you look today will be how lots of people choose to look tomorrow. There are trends and there are trendsetters, followers, and leaders. Wherever you sit on the scale of everything from conservative to revolutionary, if you think about how you look and want to keep changing it up, it’s going to cost money.

But, as they say, needs must when the devil drives, and if what drives you is the need to look good, you’re going to have to find ways of making it possible. The obvious requirement here is a credit card, and if you’re a student or a recent graduate, you may think this is something for the future. However, you may well have a student loan, and what is that but a line of credit?

But I’ve Got a Bad Reputation

The world is full of lenders looking for customers, because if they turned down everybody they would be out of business. They make their money by lending to people, or rather by being repaid by people collecting interest. Look up something like credit cards for students and you will find plenty of options. Even if you have already earned yourself a poor financial reputation, there will be people prepared to take a risk – for a price.

You may have to pay more interest than others, but if that irresponsible attitude is a thing of the past, now is your opportunity to start rehabilitating your image, and rebuilding your credit score and history. Credit cards provide short-term loans: every month you must pay at least something off what you owe, and if you make it your business to pay off the full amount each time, you can soon be back on the straight and narrow, otherwise only paying the minimum could set yourself up for decades of debt.

Shop Around

If you are doing fine credit-wise and just need a way of paying for fashion items you simply must have, find out your options and choose one. Look at the terms and conditions, the various limits and repayment requirements that lenders impose, and find the right one for you. You may wonder how they can be so different, but that’s their concern, not yours.

If you can get some credit and can pay the balance each month, that’s all that matters. You may find your student loan provider will give you a card, but even if they do, don’t grab it without looking at other options. There is competition in the credit market just like there is in any sphere of business, so get the best deal you can.

The post-college world comes with a lot of undesirable necessities (if you consider working undesirable, that is), but the great thing about having a job is that people pay you for it. The more you earn, the more options you have. When you’re young, free, and single, expenses can amount to little more than rent, food, and clothes, but there will come a time when you’ll want a car and even a house. The way you handle your finances now will influence your ability to achieve your targets and acquire those things.

So why not enjoy what you’ve got at the stage you’re at right now? Maybe you can make fashion your career, whether as a designer or a store owner, a fashion blogger or the accountant who makes the business tick and gets cheap clothes as a spin-off. There are many ways of getting close to what you love. For now, you’re the new kid on the block and you’re finding your way and learning all the time. With a brand-new credit card in your pocket, you’re prepared, so let the shopping commence.