No doubt stealth. there are definitely some ways. On the other side of the coin; if the loan amount will cost you $600 per month for 5 years. ($35,000 with 0% interest, divided by 5 years, is $583 a month); if you simply took that $600 per month when you graduate and start investing it, you can actually do better. With dollar cost averaging, (Meaning investing monthly instead of yearly or longer lump sums), you can easily make up the 18 months that you invested earlier. And; the advantage of investing $600 monthly, instead of the lump sum say of $35,000 and paying the $600 pay over 5 years, is that the $600 monthly expenditure isn't MANDATORY. If god forbid, a family member died and you were overseas and needed a quick $3,000 for you and your family to fly home, you could simply charge it, and use the $600 a month you were investing, to immediately pay off the credit card. In other words, you preset yourself with the $600 a month Payment. It's used for investments, or it's available for car repairs, emergency plane fare, or other unexpected expenses.
But this too takes financial discipline. Just like those who take the loan. Not only do you not just blow the $35,000; but once you start paying back the loan, do you make that part of your permanent budget so when the loan is paid off, you CONTINUE to put that money to good use, (Being you've gotten use to not having it to spend); or do you give yourself a $600 a month pay raise and spend it each month on a higher standard of living.
I try to teach my kids 3 minimums when it comes to investing. 1) Every payday; take 10% off the top and put that aside for emergencies and unexpected expenses. If it gets large enough, it can also be used for high cost things like vacations. 2) Take another 10% off the top and invest this in LONG TERM retirement type investments. When you get pay raises, the 10% obviously goes up. Do it based on percentage, not a "DOLLAR AMOUNT". if you get a lump sum for some reason, take the 2 10% deductions for the same things. 3rd; Then, after the 20%, use the rest to pay all your bills. Whatever is left, is your spending money. Put some of that aside as you see fit to "Save" for those things you "WANT". E.g. new car, 2nd car, christmas presents, new tv, playstation, S&W M&P15 AR15 rifle, "Hee Hee... I love my toys". etc...
Point is; if you can set up a standard budget, similar to this, you'll never have to charge to buy anything. "You might charge for convenience, and pay it off when the bill comes in, but that's totally different". There's a lot of ways to save, invest, and keep yourself financially stable and out of debt. There's no only 1 right way. Stealth's son's way is good. So are some of the other suggestions. Depends on your level of risk. On my mortgage, I pay approximately $500 extra every month towards the principal of the loan. Some, especially banks, say that I could refinance and pay what I'm paying each month anyway, and could finish the loan off approximately a year earlier than I'm doing it now, by paying the additional $500. what they don't tell you is that you have to pay additional fees to redo the loan. When you include the additional $3,000 that it could cost me to refinance the loan; plus the inconvenience if i have a financial emergency, that I can't go back to paying the mortgage at the $500 LESS rate until the emergency is over. I am not required to pay the whole thing each month. Of course the bank wants your money. They RELUCTANTLY agreed that financially, my way was better. Of course their argument is that "MOST PEOPLE" aren't disciplined enough to continue making those additional principal payments. Well, I am. I could pay off my mortgage today if i wanted to. I only keep the small mortgage alive to free up my additional money in the bank/cd's/etc... and to keep the loan alive, in case I had an emergency and wanted to borrow back some of my equity.
Anyway; best of luck to you young investors. Set a budget. set a plan. Stick with it, and when you receive promotions, raises, lump sums, etc... make sure you don't just blow the additional income. If you keep everything at a "Percentage" and not a dollar amount, you'll still have more spending money, but you'll also have more investment and emergency money.