Does “free” have a cost? Credit Bureau TransUnion is trying to get college students to think about that riddle as they head back to college campuses. Many schools have banned tables offering freebies in return for filling out a credit card application. But some students will still be greeted by seemingly harmless goodies in return for getting a credit card.

Problem is, if you charge up that card and don’t pay the balance in full, that free t-shirt ends up costing a pretty penny, especially considering most cards geared towards college kids have higher finance charges. Who reads the fine print standing outside of the student union?

As part of the campaign, TransUnion sent me a gray t-shirt emblazoned with a piggy bank that says “Free credit card t-shirts can be scary…if you don’t do your homework.”

So here’s the deal. Share what you think is your best college money tip– whether it’s about student loans, saving money, dealing with credit, you name it.

I’ll pick my favorite on Wednesday and will send the winner the T. And Ka-Blog readers will thank you.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 1:07 pm and is filed under budgeting, deal of the week. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.