Study: Twenty-something women spend big on fashion

From National Jeweler.com:

Women ages 20-29 spend almost half (48.2 percent) of their disposable income on accessories, fashion and beauty, according to a new study from Jane magazine.

Of that, about 16 percent goes toward purchasing jewelry and watches, the study finds.

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From Luxist:

many of these women are "children of the affluent baby boomers" and grew up expecting and appreciating luxury goods. 84% said that they had no problem with living beyond their budgets.
We hate to be the ones to break it to Mr. Lamadrid, but an appreciation of quality and style isn't worth all that much if you are living so far beyond your means that all of your "good taste" gets repossessed when you can't pay off your debt.

So they're spending a ton of money and not getting what they want. Good job. I love luxury items too, but pick a few and make sure you really want them. Create an identity and don't make it "the person who spends $2k a week on purses."

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The Only Credit Card Guide You Need

JD at Get Rich Slowly has written an excellent guide on credit cards. If you are instead looking to choose a credit card see Index Credit Cards.

JD doesn't seem to believe in using credit cards. I do. I think they allow the use of a general finance principle: why pay someone today when I can pay them later with no interest. By that I mean paying the bill at the end of the month. You pay no interest if you pay your card off every billing session and you get a month's worth of interest at the bank.

Personally I recommend paying off monthly for most people. Personally I like to get 0% interest cards (usually a year with no interest). I accumulate the cash in a bank account (HSBC at 5.05%) instead of paying the bill. (I pay down enough of the bill that I have an adaquete amount of credit left.) Before the 0% interest offer expires I pay the amount in full out of the bank account, having earned a year's worth of interest on my spending. One caveat, if you don't have the restraint to actually move the money to a seperate account you should pay the bill monthly and each time you purcahse something either set it aside in a different account or at least keep track of it (in notepad or Quicken) so that you know your "real balance."

The Guide covers the important questions:

1. What should I be wary of when getting a credit card?
   
2. What do all of these terms mean? I can't understand the application.
   
3. Is it safe to pay bills with a credit card?
   
4. How do I cancel a credit card?
   
5. How can I get a late fee waived?
   
6. How do I stop credit card offers from coming in the mail?
   
7. How many credit cards to people carry?
   
8. How can I play the credit card arbitrage game?
   
9. How can I get a FREE copy of my credit report?
   
10. How do I dispute credit report errors?
    
11. How does a credit score work?
    
12. How can I improve my credit score?
    
13. I have a lot of credit card debt — how do I pay it off?
    
14. Where can I find more information on credit and credit cards?
    

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Save or pay off loans?

I was lucky enough to get out of college and graduate school with no debts to speak of. This is almost entirely due to the scholarship I had as well as good spending habits and a relatively inexpensive lifestyle.

My previous post Save first, then spend said that you should automatically divert some portion (10%) of your incoming money to an account you will not frequently see (and therefore will not think you are able to spend the money). I'd like some feedback from those with student loans (or other debts) they are paying off. Do you save money or immediately try to pay off the loans any way you can? Is the save first strategy a good one for someone with debts?

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