Financial tips for college freshmen

Back-to-college checklists are filled with items such as extra-long dorm sheets, headphones, lots of underwear and plenty of shampoo.

But it’s also good to pack up some financial tips before heading off to college. What kind of things should a freshman know on the road to getting that diploma?

• Sign up for emails, text alerts or push notifications on your bank or credit union.

Should you take time to figure out a way to get an alert that your checking account now has less than $100? You bet.

There are a variety of ways to get this done — banking apps, text alerts, push notifications — and they’re worth doing to spot fraud and potential trouble spots that can trigger overdraft fees.

• Pay attention to the credit card you get

While no one wants a son or daughter to go out and get a string of credit cards, some financial experts say it’s not an entirely bad idea for college students to open one low-rate, low-cost credit card. It’s possible to start with a low limit as well, such as $500.

• Aim to graduate with as little as debt as possible

A general rule of thumb is: If you borrow $35,000 for college, you’re going to pay about $350 a month to repay student loans over a 10-year time frame.

The monthly loan payment is roughly 1 percent of the total student loan balance at the time of repayment, said Mark Kantrowitz, college debt expert and senior vice president and publisher for Edvisors.com.