Newspaper Page Text
Financial
Focus
Reported by Sonny Doehring
Financial tips for college students
If you’re a college student, you
may already be back on campus. If
not, you don’t have long to go before
school starts again. And this year,
in addition to whatever courses you
may be taking, try to master some
financial lessons, as well.
Of course, many students already
have at least one foot in the “real
world,” because, in addition to taking
classes, they’re working many hours
a week to help pay for school, rent and
living expenses. But even if you’re a
full-time student, living on campus
and paying for school through a com
bination of grants, loans, savings and
help from your parents, you can learn
some financial basics that can help
you throughout your adult life.
Specifically, consider these sug
gestions:
• Don’t overuse credit cards. Cred
it card marketers aggressively target
college students, so you’ll need to be
vigilant about all the offers that will
bombard you. While it might not be a
bad idea to carry a single credit card
for use in emergencies, it’s very easy
to over-use the “plastic” and rack up
big debts. You’ll need to discipline
yourself to save for the things you
want, rather than charging them.
• Shop around for financial servic
es. You’ll find plenty of banks willing
to give you a T-shirt or a frying pan
for opening an account with them.
But these places may not be offering
you the best deal on checking or sav
ings accounts or loans. It pays to shop
around.
• Keep track of your student loans.
Make sure you understand all the
terms of your student loans: how
much you’re expected to pay each
month, when payments are due,
what interest rate you’re paying,
what credits may be available for
on-time repayment, etc. You might
Unemployment rate climbs in July
According to the Georgia Depart
ment of Labor the unemployment rate
in Coastal Georgia rose to a prelimi
nary 5.8% in July, up five-tenths of one
percent from a revised 5.3% in June.
The Brunswick rate rose to a prelimi
nary 5.2% in July, up two-tenths of one
percent from a revised 5.0% in June.
The state’s seasonally adjusted
unemployment rate rose to 6.2% in
July, up six-tenths of one percent from
5.6% in June. The July rate was the
highest recorded since March of 1993.
The current adjusted state rate,
which is five-tenths of one percent
higher than the U.S. seasonally-adjust
ed rate of 5.7%, continued to top the
national rate for the sixth straight
month. At present, 304,536 unem
ployed Georgians are now looking for
work.
At the same time, initial unemploy
ment insurance claims, considered to
be a leading economic indicator, rose by
30% in Georgia in July to 59,165.
Preliminary unadjusted data show
Georgia lost 46,600 payroll jobs from
June to July, a decrease of 1.1%. The
job losses came across-the-board in
manufacturing, construction, trade,
and services. Local area unemploy
ment rates are not seasonally adjusted.
Georgia labor market data are avail
able at www.dol.state.ga.us. □
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be able to achieve a more favorable
repayment schedule by consolidating
two or more loans. Once you start
repaying your loans, do whatever
you can to stay on track with your
payments.
• Never stop looking for financial
aid. The aid package you may have
received as an incoming freshman
doesn’t have to be the final word on
financial assistance. Colleges offer
some scholarships based on college-
level academic achievement or real-
world experience — both of which
you may have accumulated since
your freshman year. Study your col
lege’s scholarships and be aggressive
in going after them.
• Estimate your future income.
You may not know exactly what you
want to do when you graduate, but if
you have a career path in mind, try
to learn what sort of salary you can
expect during your first few years
out of college. Once you have a real
istic idea of how much you’re going
to earn, you may have the motiva
tion you need to avoid bad financial
practices, such as accumulating big
debts.
College should be a learning expe
rience — in many ways. And if some
of the knowledge you obtain dur
ing your college years can help you
develop sound financial habits, so
much the better. □
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Ivan Goldner D.M.D.
"SMOKING AND MOUTH PROBLEMS"
What does smoking have to do with teeth?
Plenty! Smoking effects your whole mouth.
Smokers have more periodontal (gum)
disease than non-smokers. Periodontal
disease is the largest cause of adult tooth
loss. Smoking can delay healing in your
mouth, it is a cause of bad breath. Smoking
stains your teeth, making them yellow or
brown. Irritants and tobacco smoke attack
your taste buds, thus preventing you from
fully enjoying foods.
Perhaps the most devastating danger of smoking is oral cancer.
Smokers have a four times greater risk of oral cancer than non-
smokers. Last year oral cancer struck more than 24,000 people;
8,000 of whom died from it.
You can help prevent almost all of these problems if you don't
smoke. The next time you think about lighting up, stop and
remember the harmful effects smoking causes in your mouth. For
your health's sake - and the comfort of others - don't smoke.
Prepared as a public service to promote better dental health
from the office of Ivan Goldner, D.M.D.
159 Altama Connector (across from Wal-Mart) • Phone (912) 264-8408
Go to www.howarddentalgroup.com for new patient discounts