Britney Spears: A Surprisingly Virtuous Cardholder |
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by: Janna Weiss
While Britney Spears usually serves as an example of what not to do, when it comes to credit card debt, she’s a surprisingly good role-model. Let’s put her other shenanigans aside for a moment and focus on the three credit lessons we can learn from Britney Spears.
Keep Your Debt Low
Okay, so Britney makes about $35 million a year, while the average American family earns closer to $40,000. Let’s look at this as a matter of percentage. The LA Times estimates that Britney charged a mere $117,000 on her credit cards last year, which adds up to a paltry 0.33% of her annual income. Meanwhile, a typical American family carries a total credit card debt load of $10,000, or 25% of their annual income. Yikes!
Keeping your debt low is important. Not only do you have more income to spend on necessities, you also pay less in fees and interest. Your credit score will also suffer if you have too much debt, so try to utilize 25% or less of your available credit on each card.
Prioritize Your Purchases
The majority of Britney’s purchases were supplies, groceries, and other necessary items. Furniture, travel, and entertainment were lower on the list.
It’s important to decide what to charge, and what to pay for in cash. Groceries are consumable, but they’re also necessary. New furniture isn’t usually a necessity, plus it will decrease in value the first time you use it. The same goes for clothing. And you definitely don’t want to be paying for a vacation a year after it’s over! Try to pay cash for depreciating and consumable items whenever you can. Investments such as home repairs and education expenses can be paid for in credit, since their value will theoretically appreciate.
Cut Entertainment Costs
How much did Britney Spears, notorious party girl, spend on entertainment last year? Less than $500. Let that be a lesson to those of us who dine out every night and then wonder where our money went. When you need to tighten your budgetary belt, entertainment is one of the first areas you should reduce.
That sounds like common sense advice. Unfortunately, the average family is spending $2,600 a year on entertainment. That’s quite a sizable chunk for folks who don’t have the financial security that Britney enjoys. The lesson here is that it’s fine to have fun in moderation, but be sure you can pay your bills first.
Who knew that a pop princess could be such a paragon of financial virtue? Be strong in the ways of Britney – at least, when it comes to credit cards.
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