So many old adages apply to money. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. Money doesn’t grow on trees. Money makes the world go ‘round. Whether you love to hate it, hate to love it, or some other unique combination of love and hatred, it’s impossible to ignore. You’re staring at something that costs money right now–your computer, smartphone, tablet, or other internet-browsing device. We’ve gathered a set of infographics about different aspects of this integral tool of commerce for your consumption. Click any image to view the entire infographic.

Buying Stuff on Credit is Expensive

You know exactly what you’re getting into when you click on this infographic, and it continues to tell it like it is all the way down to the bottom. A $3,500 diamond ring paid with a $25 minimum monthly payment on a 14% interest credit card means, and we quote, “YOU WILL NEVER PAY THIS OFF.” The infographic has a great color palette and plays around with text size and alignment in a way that could be risky if not done right–so it’s a good thing they’re doing it right. A variety of bar and circle graphs keeps things fresh.

The Price of Money

While this graphic isn’t quite an infographic, it does provide some interesting information. For example, a good way to make a really small amount of money would be to melt down pennies from before 1982, when they were 95% copper! You can also make a trivial amount of profit from melting nickels. Well, it sounds like a lot more fun than those greedy change-counting machines in the grocery stores, right? These are the kind of facts you can whip out at cocktail parties to impress company. (Because who else there is going to know how much money you can make from melting a pile of pennies?)

15 Monster Money Wasters

Speaking of greedy change-counting machines, this infographic addresses some of the top money wasters around. Things like high-interest credit cards and bank loans are unsurprising, but near the bottom of the list is pets. Obviously it costs quite a bit of money to own a pet, but… money wasters? Cover your ears, Spot. Besides that, this infographic is a nice monstrous shade of green, and visually enticing. The data within is definitely worth noting, and some of it is expanded upon in our next infographic.

The High Cost of Counterfeiting

As a $600 billion a year industry, counterfeiting is great money for those doing it, and financially ruinous for those it exploits. This infographic boldly proclaims a variety of statistics on the incidences and impact of counterfeiting. Spoiler alert: it does not make China look very good. With a great deal of consistency in the type and design of data, The High Cost of Counterfeiting is a good example of how a bunch of research can be compiled into one cohesive infographic that takes just a minute or two to read, compared to the same amount of data in written form, which could be a few pages long. Watch out for those “Converse Ball Star Classics” on the shelves…

US Bank Crime Statistics

Commercial banks accounted for over 90% of financial institution robberies in 2010. The majority of people injured in the robberies were bank employees, who might now be thinking about transferring to a credit union or, better yet, a mutual savings bank. Still, as the money wasters IG will tell you, keeping your money at home means you lose out on the miracle of compound interest. Your $60 will still be $60 in 30 years if it sits under your mattress. It will just be a lot more wrinkly.

Summary

There you have it: the ups and downs of money, be it spending, investment, robbery, counterfeit products, or melting coins. A topic like money is something everyone is involved in, but not everyone wants to (or knows how to) wade through financial lingo to get the facts. Infographics like these are an accessible way for everyone to get the basic statistics they’re after without spending entire days sifting through glossaries and financial self-help books just for a definition. Not to mention they’re incredibly easy to share, and they really spruce up a blog or website.

(Click any image to view the entire infographic.)

Buying vs. Renting Textbooks

Textbook rental is a popular way to save on the exorbitant cost of books. Students can save over $2,500 in a four-year education by renting their textbooks. That’s a lot of bacon money, kids. Of course, there is a list of “better” ways you could spend your money, if you want to be practical like that. We also see how rental saves taxpayer money, which parents and grads can be happy about. (We’d like to point out that taxpayer savings are represented by pigs. While intended to give the impression of a piggy bank, it reminds us of bacon.) This infographic is easy to follow, so you can scroll through it at the bookstore.

The 14 Best and Worst Dorms in the Country

Although this infographic doesn’t give any of the dirty details on why these dorms are awesome or awful, it’s still pretty useful. Maybe we don’t want to know why Garner Hall is the worst dorm in the country. It might involve bodily fluids, pest infestation, or gray dining hall food. You should save the link or embed code to this IG when making your housing requests. That way, when John from Math 203 shows up every morning smelling like the burnt hair in his dorm’s carpet, you can link him and he can put in a request to move ASAP.

Reading Students Like An Open Facebook

Did you know that 70% of colleges say a student’s Facebook profile is a medium to high priority in admissions? You ought to change your profile pic to that cute high school grad picture with Grandma. This IG uses a nice bright color palette to convey some terrifying (though useful) information for prospective college and grad school students. The designer used simple bar and circle graphs with varied orientations and icons, keeping the data visualization interesting. Bookmark this IG to review again before you mail in your application.

Reading Professors Like An Open Facebook

It’s nice to see this IG, directly related to the one above, use similar tactics but new design for its data. While the same circle graphs are present, the color scheme is different, and the bar graph has been reimagined. This also has more illustration, like the cute desk setup. 91% of professors use social media as part of their jobs… so look them up! Even with privacy settings, you’ll still at least find a profile pic, and sometimes those are worth their pixels in gold. Or laughs. Or bacon. (Wait, maybe not in bacon.)

College Students: Is Twitter Hurting Your Grades?

Admit it. You’ve tweeted during class. You’ve tweeted in the library. You’ve tweeted while waiting to talk to your prof. You tweet all the time, but is it affecting your education? This dynamic Twitter-blue and gray infographic wants to figure that out, and it analyzes some pretty interesting data to do so. As long as you’re not tweeting about the cute barista at the coffee shop this morning, Twitter can play a positive role in a learning environment. We already know social media plays an enormous role in, well, social relationships, but educational usage is pretty cool.

An Infographic About the Class of 2011

Our recent grads have grown up with the internet. They are tech-savvy. They don’t bat an eye at actors drinking brand-name sodas and shopping at major retailers in movies and TV. And yes, the first thing they think of when they hear U2 is Irish rockstar Bono. They may also fear tap water, opting for the finest in bottled H20. This is our new generation. Congratulations, class of 2011! To celebrate your entrance into the “real world,” maybe you should fry up some of…

America’s Favorite Bacon Dishes

We designed this appropriately red and pink infographic. It uses social media ratings to determine the most popular ways to eat bacon in some major US cities. These range from pretty normal fare (double bacon cheeseburgers are #1 in San Diego) to the absurd (chorizo stuffed dates wrapped in bacon are somehow the Chicago favorite… Atlanta has similar taste). We don’t know where all these people who eat bacon with dates are hiding, but the IG shows its the most popular pairing. If you’re a no-frills bacon eater, just fry it up and chow down–we won’t judge.

Wrapping Things Up (Other Than Bacon-Wrapped Dates)

For busy college students, the faster the info is available, the better. Infographics are a great source of information for this huge portion of internet users, and there are a wealth of topics that will peak their interest. Food is always a plus, but data on financial planning, careers, cars, entertainment, politics, and more will resonate strongly, too. Keep it simple, use pictures, minimize text. These simple rules apply to all infographics, by the way: you should always focus on data visualization, telling as little about your topic through text as possible. Infographics without the graphics are just info.