When I was in college I took a personal finance class... I was a senior and I needed to take an elective that would not be too demanding. Despite the fact that I majored in business and took plenty of 400 level classes in the subject, I still learned one of my most valuable lessons in Professor Livingston's Business class for English majors. I now pass her advice onto you:
Do not use a credit card for anything that you will not have at the time that the bill arrives.
When you are in college and have no income, this advice seems inapplicable and possibly even impossible. But once I was out in the real world, I realized that this was some of the best personal finance advice out there. Not using your credit card on things that are immediately used up or consumed automatically makes you more financially responsible, and in a world where credit card companies are consistently trying to get you to open a new account, a little responsibility with revolving credit is a good thing.
This means that you should not use your credit card for eating out, bar bills, or gas. Vacations and groceries are out too... Think of it, all of a sudden this one little piece of advice forces you to live within your means.
In addition, when you do restrain yourself to only using your credit card on things that you will have when the bill comes, you have some flexibility if you ever get in a financial bind. You may be able to return the item that you should not have purchased in the first place or you could sell it on eBay. Either way, if you still have the item when your credit card bill comes it still has value, the same can't be said for that round of drinks you bought at Lazy Larry's 'British' Pub.
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