还记得过去那些美好的日子么？那时，在校园里，只要填张表格，签上姓名就可以得到一张炫酷信用卡，还能获赠一大堆礼物。但现在，这种好事就要一去不复返了。不久前，由于还款问题，国内大部分商业银行开始停办大学生信用卡。事实上，早在银行做出该决定前，信用卡还款问题就一直存在。 REMEMBER the good old days, back when you just filled out a form, signed your name, and got a cool credit card and a bunch of gifts right there on campus? Well, don't expect that to happen again anytime soon. Recently, China's major commercial banks stopped handing out credit cards to college students because of payment problems. In fact those problems with credit cards are a phenomenon that existed long before the banks recent decision.

    去年，武汉大学经济学专业的郑涛（22岁）,从4名校园推销员处各办理了1张信用卡，每张卡的透支额度是2000-3000元/月，整个办卡过程才花了不到2小时。 Zheng Tao, 22, an economics major at Wuhan University, got four credit cards from four different campus sales reps in less than two hours last year, each with a 2,000-3,000-yuan overdraft per month.

    在刚办完信用卡后的几个月里，郑涛疯狂购物、下馆子吃饭，丝毫不担心手头没钱。由于靠刷卡付帐，他发现自己的生活水平得到了很大提升。然而不久后，某一天下午，他算了算自己的信用卡债务总额--9000元左右的数字令他目瞪口呆。当时，他的银行账户里仅有不到2000元。万般无奈之下，在卡债到期的前一天，郑涛拨通了妈妈的电话。还清债务后，他便注销了信用卡。 For the first several months, Zheng bought things and meals with no worries about being short of cash. He found his "living standard improved a lot" by running the cards through a machine. Then, one ordinary afternoon, he calculated his debt and the amount - around 9,000 yuan - stunned him. His bank account had less than 2,000 yuan in it. Just a day before his card payment was due, he dialed his mom's number. Right after that, he paid off the debt - and cancelled the credit card.

    郑涛感慨说，使用信用卡最大的危险在于--刷卡人通常意识不到自己在花钱。"如果是亲手拿着这么一大笔现金，我一定要考虑再三才会花出去。但是，有了信用卡就不一样了，花300元吃顿饭和花2块钱坐公共汽车好像没什么不同。"决定把卡注销后，郑涛如此说。 Zheng says that the most dangerous thing about a credit card is that a person isn't always aware of the fact that he's spending money. "If I had that much cash in my hand, I'd think twice before handing it over to someone else. But, with a card, it seems like there's no difference between using a card to pay 2 yuan on a bus or paying 300 yuan for a meal," Zheng said, after he decided to give up the card.

    除了钱，学生们还很容易忽略另外一样东西--信誉，而这对他们的前途更为至关重要。 Apart from the money, there's another thing students can easily lose by being "unaware", something that's even more critical to their future - credibility.

    比如说，23岁的李素娟是人民大学新闻专业的学生。她经常等到最后关头才还款。这样做的原因倒不是因为缺钱，而是她总会忘了这码事。 Li Sujuan, 23, a journalism major at Renmin University, for example, always waits until the last minute to pay off the debt, not because she doesn't have money, but simply because she "keeps forgetting".

    对此，北京银行个人理财顾问何荣表示，学生们不准时还款并不是因为他们还不起，而是因为不善于管理自己的账户。 In commenting on this, He Rong, a personal finance manager at a Beijing bank, says that the reason students don't pay the money on time is not that they can't but because they don't manage their account well.

    她说："学生们懒得为日常生活做预算，而且大多数人根本就没有意识到信用卡消费是种借款行为。对他们而言，信用卡更像是个银行账户，里面的钱就是用来花的。 "她希望学生们明白：如果因为还款不及时而留下不良记录，他们的个人信用度将会因此受损，严重的话甚至还会对将来贷款、保险或就业造成障碍。 "Students hardly bother to make a budget for their daily lives, and many don't see the credit card as a kind of money borrowed from others. It's more like a bank account and it's theirs to spend," she said. She says that students should be more aware of the fact that, if they get a bad record for falling behind on their payments, their credit record will suffer, and may even cause future problems with loans, insurance, even jobs.

    但反过来讲，每件事都有两面性，这回自然也不例外：经此一事，学生们可以学会如何管理使用信用卡。 But every story has two sides, including this one: some students actually learn how to manage their credit card use.

    例如这位：杨盛，22岁，就读于深圳大学市场营销专业。每个月父母给他1000元生活费，而他只花一半。通常他在免息阶段就把债务还清了，他说："这样一来我就不用付额外的费用了". Yang Sheng, 22, a marketing major at Shenzhen University, is one of them. He only spends about 50 percent of his monthly funds from his parents, which is about 1,000 yuan. And he pays off the debt during the interest-free period, "so that I don't pay extra for my purchases" .

    与此同时，前文中提到的郑涛已经恢复了老样子--用现金消费。如今，他花钱变得比以前更加理性了。 Meanwhile, the cardless Zheng is getting back to the old way of doing things with cash and now finds his spending becoming more rational.

    理财小窍门 Money management tips

    1. 制作每月预算，更清晰地了解自己的财务状况 1. Make a monthly budget to get a clear picture of your finances

    2. 根据每月预算选择适当的信用额度 2. Choose a credit limit that fits your monthly budget

    3. 在宽限期内将钱还清 3. Pay off your money debt during the grace period

    4. 看看你的钱包里是否有张"睡眠卡"--很少使用却还在付年费的卡。如果你根本不用那张卡，就退还给银行吧。 4. Make sure you don't have a sleeper card, one you hardly use but still pay an annual fee for, in your wallet. If you don't use the card at all, give it back to the bank.