Credit cards, when used responsibly, are convenient financial tools. Unfortunately, the majority of Americans don’t use them responsibly. Our aversion to debt has eroded and instead, we have become comfortable carrying balances and paying interest on our purchases. We pay for things many times over as the balances sit on our cards for years. Once a country of debt payers, we have become a country of debt managers. Rather than calculating whether a purchase fits into our budget, we calculate whether we can manage the minimum monthly payments required for us to retain good standing with American Express, Visa, Discover or MasterCard.

People are using credit cards to purchase lifestyles that they can’t afford, said Todd Mark, spokesperson for the Consumer Credit Counseling Service, a nonprofit organization that provides free credit counseling and debt management. This is dangerous; with each purchase that is not paid in full at month’s end we give up a little bit of freedom. The impact is minimal at first, but as our balances expand, the burden gets heavier until we are being consumed by the very things that we bought to make ourselves happy. Debt becomes progressively harder to maintain and eventually, it spirals to a point where people cede financial control of their own lives to a credit card company. “You are losing options rather than gaining them,” says Mark.

Losing Control
Americans in 2004 spent “$1.04 for every $1.00 of income, falling in total some $400 billion in the red,” according to Kevin Phillips, author of American Theocracy. This has led to a negative savings rate in recent years, a trend that simply cannot be maintained. We are living so far beyond our means that terms like plastic shackles, indentured servitude and debt peonage are frequently used to describe the extent to which we are in the grips of credit card companies.
The consequences of that are very real, as are the effects on people’s freedom. “There are so many implications of having high credit card debt and having a bad credit rating,” says Maureen Nulty, a CPA with Cendrowski Selecky PC. “Many activities are based in small or large part on having a good credit score.” Indeed, credit problems can affect someone’s ability to qualify for a mortgage, get a car or rent an apartment. Most ominously, messy credit can also disqualify someone from a job. Employers regularly review credit scores as part of their hiring process. They see someone with a low credit score as a risk for internal theft, said CCCS spokesperson Mark, and they know that employees who are dealing with a financial crisis will be less productive at work. In a competitive labor market, they have the luxury of choosing a candidate with pristine credit.
It is important to note, too, that it is not always enough to pay your bills on time. Credit scores are numerical expressions of the risk you pose to a credit card company and can be affected by the amount of debt that you carry and the number of cards that you have. The higher the debt and the greater the number of cards, the lower your credit score will be. Each step closer to the credit limit on an account or each application for yet another card will cloud your financial picture. Debt is like alcohol. A glass of wine at dinner may be good, but drink a bottle and you will suffer for it.

With 60 percent of the population living beyond their means and trying to cope with a financial hangover, it is time to realize that a change of mindset is in order. Staying out of debt is a matter of discipline and dignity. It is unacceptable for the younger generation in America to continue to finance their lifestyles at an annual rate of 20 to 30 percent. We must also realize that the interest rates that we pay are buying someone else’s vacation home. We have to be accountable to ourselves and to our families and realize that wealth is built a little at a time, and what we do today will impact how well we live in the future. “You have to budget, you have to plan, you have to look forward,” says Nulty. “Somebody is giving you a loan every single time you swipe that credit card.”

Solutions
It is very easy to accumulate credit card debt and there are no painless solutions to get rid of it. An impulsive weekend spending spree is enough to get someone into debt that may take years to pay off. For some, it may actually be the beginning of a debt frenzy that leads to financial ruin. But even severe credit card debt does not have to end in tragedy. With discipline, structure and a plan, consumers can chip away at it until over the course of three to five years they are free, hopefully to never make the same mistake again.

There is a lot of denial when it comes to debt. It is hard for people to recognize or admit that they are living beyond their means and they may do so for years before they realize they’re in a crisis. But in essence, it’s simple: if your monthly expenses are more than your income, you will never get out from underneath the mountain of debt. Stop the cycle. Spend only what you have. Don’t borrow against your future for what you think you need today.

A New Landscape

The decision to pursue a graduate degree is one that is not made frivolously. It can mean a commitment of several years during which many sacrifices have to be made: family time is reduced, a social life is all but eliminated, and sleep takes a backseat to daytime responsibilities and nighttime reading. Graduate school is a job; those that continue to work while doing graduate studies should expect to balance the equivalent of two full-time jobs.

Students who have completed the graduate admissions process – including the gut-wrenching GRE, GMAT, or equivalent graduate exam – are unmistakably committed to furthering their education, and they very likely have a clear understanding of what it is they would like to accomplish with a graduate degree. Nevertheless, graduate school is a different animal than college, and it helps to have a strategy for success.

Preparation as the Key to Success

Procrastination has no place in graduate school. Because of the workload, it is next to impossible to catch up once you fall behind. You have to be prepared to take part in every class discussion, and to have thought about the material beforehand. Flying by the seat of your pants in graduate school is the surest way to get off course.

Furthermore, you don’t have time to waste. Don’t underestimate how quickly a program will pass and how quickly that thesis will need to be presented. Tony Grooms, a professor of Creative Writing at Kennesaw State University (Georgia), tells his incoming graduate students in the first weeks of their first semester to start thinking about their Capstone Project (thesis), particularly if that project will be a novel. For most students, to put it into perspective, the capstone lies two or three years out, but that is the nature of graduate school. You have to enter the program with your final goal in mind, and you can never lose sight of that goal.

Successful preparation begins the moment you open your acceptance letter to the program of your choice. This letter, in fact, marks the beginning of your graduate studies and the beginning of your dialogue with your university. Don’t appear on campus on the first day of your new program looking like a bright-eyed freshman who’s looking for the library. You are a professional who has been accepted into serious academic circles, and your conduct should reflect that distinction.

In the months before the start of your program, suggests Teresa Joyce, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College at Kennesaw State University, you should be establishing lines of communication with relevant people on campus:

• Introduce yourself to the director of your program.
  Send a brief email about yourself and your goals for the program to the director of your program, or take the opportunity to introduce yourself to him/her at an on-campus event. The director of the program will be hugely influential in your life, and may someday provide a crucial professional reference for you.
• Attend a pre-semester orientation.
  Does July seem too early for you to attend an orientation? It’s not. Attend the orientation enthusiastically and make an effort to meet your professors and your peers. Ask questions. You may not have time later.
• Meet with your advisor.
  Take the time to schedule an appointment with your advisor. Talk about your goals and expectations of the program. Keep the lines of communication open. Advisors are busy people, but they want to know how you’re doing. Send an update every once in a while.
• Plot your path.
  Many universities have two-year schedules of classes. Use these schedules to plan your path. “You need to plan out what your life will look like over the next couple of years,” said Dr. Joyce. “Don’t plan semester by semester.”
• Think strategically.
  Everything you do, all the classes you take, should combine to form a comprehensive and logical picture of your studies. You should always have your final goal in mind. Does an MBA student need a Literature class? Do you need Spanish for your Master in Taxation?

Know Your Limits

Entering graduate school, said Diane Fennig, Director of Graduate Studies at Georgia State University, you have to be prepared for a much higher workload and intensity than you experienced in college. Yet, some of your planning from college can be carried over effectively to graduate school. Be realistic about your strengths and weaknesses, and schedule your classes accordingly. “You don’t put two ‘stretch’ classes together,” explained Fennig, referring to classes outside your immediate comfort zone. “[If] you have no knowledge about finance, and you have no knowledge about economics, you wouldn’t put the two of them together. Nothing’s changed. That was good planning when you were an undergraduate; you’ve got to carry that into the graduate planning.”

In Good Company

Students have to know why they are going to graduate school and what they want to achieve. Getting the maximum result from minimum effort is unrealistic. “It doesn’t come without a cost,” said Fennig, GSU’s Director of Graduate Studies. A graduate degree has to be looked at like a job. It takes a lot of preparation, and there are a lot of details to follow, but the effort pays off. The 2000 Census, according to a June 5, 2002 USA Today article, determined that only 8.9 percent of Americans age 25 and older held graduate or professional degrees. That is a select group, and makes the pursuit of a graduate degree all the more commendable and worthwhile.

You have deferred your student loans longer than you’ve actually been in school. Now you have decided to bite the bullet and pay up. The great paying job you have more than covers your living expenses. Instead of shopping, traveling and enjoying life, you spend the majority of your paycheck paying back student loans. How’d that happen? The good news is you can still live the good life and fulfill your obligations as a law-abiding citizen. Here’s how to budget those ugly loans:

Consolidate Loans or Lower Payment Plans
If you have more than one loan, it may be beneficial to consolidate them into one monthly payment to save money over your payment term. You may consolidate loans at www.salliemae.com. If you don’t choose to consolidate, you may also renegotiate your payment plan. There are several to choose from. The Grad Choice repayment plan begins with lower payments, but increases as the term continues. The Income Sensitive Repayment Plan is based on the individual’s monthly income.

Create a spending plan
Do you know what you spend your money on daily, weekly or even monthly? Most people don’t. The easiest way to track your spending habits is to create a spending plan. Record all sources of income, (i.e., job, inheritance, child support, etc.). Record how much money you think should be allotted to expense categories. Please be realistic!

Expense categories are the categories in which we spend money, such as housing (mortgage, rent, utilities, etc.), automobile (car note, insurance, gas). Don’t forget entertainment (going out on weekends, movies, trips) and personal (salon appointments, massages, toiletries). Set an amount of money that should be spent in each category monthly. For example, allot $100 a month for food/groceries. Total your expenses and subtract them from the total income amount. What’s left over is your net spendable income.

Prioritize your spending
Now that you know how much money you are working with, here’s the hard part: trimming your expenses to save more income. Sure, there are some bills that you can’t lower, but there’s always something you can do to put more cash in your pocket. Will you really “just die” if you don’t get that dress hanging in the front window? Wait until it’s on sale. Try brown-bagging it at work to cut back on food costs. It’s not about being cheap, it’s about spending smart. Use the extra cash to pay at least $10 over your monthly loan payment to cover some accrued interest.

Give Yourself Time to See Progress
Allow about three months to really see the benefits of your spending plan. Track how much money you are able to save each month. Apply some of that income to your loans and other debts.

Get a Part-time Gig
It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it. Think because you have a 9-5, part-time jobs are beneath you? Think again. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 3.8 million men and 3.7 million women worked a second or third job in 2005. Find a job that you are interested in and go for it. Use the extra income to pay off student debts and create a savings, rather than spend it all at the mall. Don’t forget to treat yourself periodically. Most night jobs offer great discounts!

Think Outside of the Box
Okay, you’re making progress. You’ve cut back on some of those unnecessary luxuries. You’re holding down a second job. Now what? Think about your career field and research programs that offer student loan payment and cancellation incentives. In some states, teaching in specific areas for four to five years can loan cancellation. Research other incentive programs at www.fedmoney.org.

Don’t Overlook Helpful Resources
You may not consider yourself a computer geek, but that laptop has a lot of information you can use to help pay down debt. Find out how long it will take you to break Sallie Mae off her moolah with debt calculators at www.nextstudent.com or www.finaid.org.

Be smart. Live life. The Good Life.

Some information taken from www.salliemae.com.

Did you know that the minority demographic has the highest spending power? This year the spending power of America’s ethnic minority will exceed $2 trillion, out-pacing the growth in white consumers spending by more than 80 percent according to the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth. The increased spending power of African Americans, Asian, Hispanics places the multicultural demographic in the position to make or break a company.

I’m sure you knew that right? Isn’t it us who rushes to the store if Pharrell, Beyonce, Jay-Z or Kimora wears or endorses a brand. Even if we have $10 dollars in our saving account, we run out and spend our check on some Rock and Republic jeans instead of putting it in an ING savings account. We even rush to the store to purchase a brand that does not want to be associated with us, hence, Cristal. The funny thing is even after Cristal made their alarming statement, I still hear rappers aiding in giving their already famous brand recognition campaign by saying “gold bottle” or saying their name in their song.

Clutch wants you to know you can make companies pay attention to your dollar and give you the attention you deserve. You can do this by supporting companies that want and fight for our dollars by advertising in magazines, blogs, websites and television mediums that target us. Also, we must speak up by informing them about their lack of attention and advertising to us by writing or calling them. Sometimes the lack of attention could simply mean not having a model of our background in their brochures, look-books or commercials. If calls and letters don’t work, don’t worry, they will pay attention to a decline in sales.

Below are some facts you can arm yourself with to help you realize that there is really strength in numbers, especially ours.

Get your Marketing Definitions Here:

Demographics
The study of total size, sex, territorial distribution, age, composition and other characteristics of human populations; the analysis of changes in the make-up of a population.

Purchasing Power
A consumer’s ability to buy goods and services as distinguished from the amount of money a consumer has.

Brand Loyalty
1. (sales promotion definition) The situation in which a consumer generally buys the same manufacturer-originated product or service repeatedly over time rather than buying from multiple suppliers within the category. 2. (consumer behavior definition) The degree to which a consumer consistently purchases the same brand within a product class.

Brand
A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred term is trade name.

Advertising Allowance
A payment made to a retail or wholesale operator by the seller of an advertised product or for use in purchasing local advertising time and space for the advertiser’s product.

For more Marketing Definitions visit the Marketing Association of America at marketingpower.com