There is but one lesson that every college student needs to remember in relation to money: everything you do has its own consequences. Money spent poorly (shopping splurges, unnecessary purchases, no savings at all) can be tantamount to a financial black hole four years from the first year of college.

Wealth is very limited, and has a very low lifespan if it is not taken care of properly. Unlike other assets like cars and real estate property, you can spend money immediately. This is why some are contemplating bankruptcy today, because of mismanagement of finances. But the battle against debt doesn't have to end that way at all. You can try student debt consolidation to make repayment of debts easier.

College may be fun and exciting, but it's actually a bad environment for wealth. According to Blythe Terrell, a financial expert for youngmoney.com:

“In such an environment, money-management often becomes an issue. Knowing how to avoid these problems is the key to beating them.”

Credit cards and loans are just two tempting sources of money. Loans and any form of credit is never free money. In fact, credit is the most expensive form of money in the world. You're buying money with interest- that's what it really is. It's not bad; we're not passing value judgments. But the point here is that a person can only begin to gain and accumulate wealth when the debts have been repaid.

Often, people apply for student debt consolidation because of the “credit card trap”. The enticing idea of being able to buy things ahead of the actual cash is very tempting.

Some even fall into the trap of signing up for many credit cards, maxing out each credit card as they wade through shopping malls and online emporia of mostly useless stuff. Some forget that the bills will still come, and debt is attached permanently to their names even after a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

According to Gordon Wadsworth, the co-author of Cost Effective College: Creative Ways to Pay for College and Stay Out of Debt:

“The credit card people are jumping all over them (multiple credit cards).”

For young folks who are not earning yet, or are only earning enough to feed themselves for a few weeks at a time, a rule of thumb regarding credit should be remembered: if it takes more than three months to pay off the credit, it's unaffordable.

This kind of thinking saves a person for being buried in debt. Student debt consolidation is also one way of avoiding serious consequences of prolonged debt. Lenders can offer a person a very low rate, and the grace period is of course extended. The good news is the bank no longer cares about you. On the other hand, you owe money to a single lender now, and you should repay ahead of time to save money.

The situation can be used wisely in this manner: pay the minimum until you get a higher paying job, then start paying off large chunks of the debt to finish with the debt quickly.