"5 Tips for Investing" and a piece of advice on one of them from someone who has been there.

USA Today has very short article "5 Tips for College Students Interested in Investing".  They may seem superficial but there are heavy truths between the lines of all the suggestions.

The one I had the most trouble with when I was much younger was the dreaded Credit Card. They are SOOO seductive!

(1) The principal (what you actually paid for an item) and interest you pay on a credit card purchase, for something you probably do not have anymore, is a thief that steals (or limits) your present and future consumption possibilities. 

(2) Unless the benefit (objectively defined!) you receive on an on-going basis from the principal and interest you pay on a prior purchase MEETS OR EXCEEEDS the cost of that principal and interest, you should not buy that item today.

Number 1 is pretty close to an absolute truth, in my opinion. Number 2 is a more subjective and I am a little more queasy about because it does offer you some wriggle room for justifying a credit card purchase.

But I am not your mother!

If you can at least give your self pause and consider the above two pieces of advice when you are pulling out that card from your wallet, it might be just enough time to reconsider what you are about to do.

Wish someone had done this for me a long time ago!  :)