Listen Live
St Jude banner
CLOSE

I’m increasingly alarmed at the notion that having a college degree somehow makes a person intellectually superior in the area of personal finance. Last I checked, personal finance has yet to be made a mandatory course on high school and college campuses in this country even though it is the one subject you actually do need in the real world no matter what path you ultimately select.

So, why is it that when I write a blog post about poor spending behaviors, the first person to disagree always justifies their opinion with “I’m a college graduate . . . ” as if that means anything to me. Guess what? I’m a college graduate, as well and I left one of the best institutions on the West Coast with thousands of dollars of debt not including student loans. I had grants, scholarships, parental support and a full time job all four years. I was a Dean’s List student that unfortunately just sucked with money. I wasn’t out buying designer bags and taking Spring Break excursions either. It was truly the little things that added up and I actually fell for the “Life Takes Visa” slogan!

5 Reasons Black Women Can’t Save Money

Luckily, the light bulb came on early and I was able to turn things around fairly quickly, but what happens to the college graduate who is stellar academically, as well as in their chosen career and still doesn’t know how to manage money?

Here are 3 reasons college graduates may still find themselves in a money rut:

1. We have the “I’ve made it/I deserve it!” attitude. As college graduates, we tend to want everyone to know that we’ve made it. As soon as the ink settles on our first offer letter, we’re out leasing luxury cars, dressing in designer everything (for our new position, of course) and moving to the “good” side of town. The difference is that as super intellectual college graduates, we don’t want to admit that we’re trying to keep up with the Kardashians, so we say, “I have to look the part to be taken seriously in my career” or “I went to college and I deserve this (insert unnecessary indulgence here).”

Read More

Why Emergency Funds Are Really Dumb

Financial Worries? The Knight Will Discuss Getting Out Of Debt