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There's no such thing as a free T-shirt.

On Wednesday, Todd Young, the manager of First National Bank of the Rockies in Craig, taught Moffat County High School students a different version of economist Milton Friedman's "There's no such thing as a free lunch" economic theory.

"Kids go to freshman orientation at college and sign up for a credit card so they can get a free T-shirt," Young said. "If they're not informed about good credit, they can dig a hole for themselves soon. I see a lot of people come into my bank who have bad credit that started in college."

Young is presenting information as part of National Get Smart About Credit Day for the next couple of weeks at the high school. It is one of many presentations being made by bankers across the country as part of a nationwide effort to help young people take charge of their personal finances.

"The choices young adults make with their first credit card will impact their lives years later when they apply for a car loan or even a mortgage," Young said. "It's important to know because (bad) credit isn't as forgiving as your parents."

Young showed a video from the American Bankers Association and gave the students several case studies on credit cards.

It wasn't a lesson telling students that credit cards are all bad. The ideas taught were on understanding how to manage debt and when to use a credit card instead of other options.

"I wouldn't use a debit card when paying for a hotel room or a rental car," Young said. "The hotels will put a $1,000 pre-charge on there just in case you party like a rock star in the room. But your debit card doesn't know the difference, and it is treated like a check, and you're out that money until the hotel refunds it."

Young advised the students to make a budget so they can see what kind of money they'll have to pay off debt before accumulating it.

Moffat County agriculture teacher Rick Murr had his agricultural finance class attend the workshop.

"This is a good addition to what I'm already teaching," Murr said. "It's good for them to know when is the right time to use credit and when it is not."

Senior Justin Hegwer travels across the state and region for rodeos. He said he doesn't have a credit card because, "We all use cash right now."

But he said that he learned once he does get a credit card that: "Cards can be good and bad, so you have to be careful. If you spend unwisely it might come back to haunt you."

Although this class will last only a couple of weeks, Young said he would be interested in continuing to educate the community's youth.

"If there's interest, I'll teach it again," he said. "It's important for high school students and CNCC students to be aware and knowledgeable."