How can recent college graduates deal with credit cards?

Over the next few weeks, many young adults will graduate from college, and look forward to joining the "real world." However, many of them will be saddled with debts of all kinds.

The unfortunate reality for most college graduates is that they probably have significant outstanding balances in their names already, even before they get their first full-time job. That includes student loan debt - which, all by itself, can add up to tens of thousands of dollars - auto loans, and credit cards. Because of all those combined debts, it's often a good idea for graduates to do all they can to ensure that they're paying as little as possible every month. And, one of the best ways they might be able to do this is by trying to tackle the balances with the largest interest rates first.

Typically, credit cards have interest rates that can climb as high as 20 percent or more, and that means young adults could see their balances grow quickly. However, if they take the time to research some of the accounts that might be available to them, they may be able to find so-called balance transfer credit cards that come with introductory rates as low as 0 percent for up to two years. That's a tremendous way to reduce balances, as long as they discontinue spending on the accounts in that time. By moving debts onto one of these cards, the balance can be chipped away at more quickly, and thus, frees up more money to deal with debts or other financial concerns.

When should this be done?
The obvious answer to when consumers should try to reduce their outstanding balances is "as soon as possible," but recent graduates might have a little extra wiggle room in this regard. That's because when it comes to federal student loans, borrowers have a six-month grace period during which they don't have to begin paying these balances down. That might be time that could be used concentrating on reducing high-interest credit card debt, but affected young adults might want to carefully research all their options in this regard before making any final decisions.

Finding the best possible credit card - not only for the short term, but the long term as well - is often one of the best financial decisions borrowers can make, because it might set them up for a lifetime of responsible account management.