A great mindset to adopt while embarking upon a new debt management plan: Stop keeping up with the Joneses!

Les Christie, a CNN Money staff writer reported in late January 2008 that home ownership, traditionally considered to be a source of “good debt” and a means of improving one's credit score through timely mortgage payments, is still “out of reach” for most middle-class Americans. With all the press attention to the recent mortgage crisis and credit crunch, the perception of home unaffordability for the middle class is a pervasive and popular one. However, there are many instances where it's just not true.

Many people wind up seeking credit counseling, formulating debt management plans, or consider bankruptcy because their non-essential spending has gotten wildly out of control. This is the meaning behind the old-fashioned saying “keeping up with the Jonses” -- people feel pressure to live in a house as large as their neighbors', to have a fancier nightlife than anyone else, and to send their kids to better schools than everyone else is. If you need a debt management plan or online credit counseling, you might have fallen prey to the “keeping up with the Jonses” mentality. At Advantage CCS, we want you to value yourself and your talents for you – not saddle yourself with debt because it's important to keep up with those around you.

Liz Pulliam Weston is an MSN Money author who has some savvy advice for those New York or Pennsylvania residents who are in debt or who are seeking credit counseling because their non-essential spending has spiraled out of control. She urges consumers who are encumbered by debt to consider why they spend and what they are spending money on; to calculate the debts they owe, and to embark upon lifestyle changes that fit into debt management plans.

Another MSN Money author, MP Dunleavy, interviewed several people, all women, about their emotional spending habits. These women admitted to racking up hundreds of dollars of charges on credit cards because they felt their purchases to be emotionally necessary. That's the hard truth behind unnecessary spending: Much of it is emotional, and is often related to low self-esteem or feelings of inadequacy because you don't have as much “sparkly stuff” as your friends or neighbors do.

The hyper-consumerist American society is partially to blame, of course. We are bombarded constantly by media images and messages that encourage us to spend, spend, spend – and if we don't have the money, we can always put our purchases on a credit card. Have you ever stood in line at Giant Eagle in Pitttsburgh -- or Gristede's in Manhattan, or Whole Foods in Brooklyn -- and noticed all of the magazines? Most of them consist of advertising-disguised-as-journalism, and nearly all trumpet the virtues of spending money on non-essential things you “should buy” if you want to be cool, or young, or hip -- or like everyone else.

For example, women's magazine Cosmopolitan has a feature each month hyping the latest makeup tips and tricks. The March 2008 issue is no exception. Except this feature has NEVER been about women looking good or feeling good about themselves. It's about getting them to buy a 50-dollar bottle of foundation, or a 35-dollar tube of lipstick! The men's counterpart to Cosmo, Maxim magazine, is no better – it's all about advertising the coolest watch, the most expensive electronics, and the most outrageous designer jeans.

In America, we extend “stuff-itis” to our personal sphere, the home. We go into debt for elementary-school educations, because the neighbors' kids are in private schools – and what would they think if we sent our kids to the free public learning centers, to which we already pay hefty taxes? We buy the vans and SUVs that are the biggest and baddest on the block – because other neighbors have, and we don't want them to think we're ignorant of child safety. If our children get the 'gimmies,' we reward them with expensive sugary snacks and toys – and yes, we do it even if we're in credit counseling or on the verge of bankruptcy.

If you're beginning a debt management plan – and especially if you're considering filing for bankruptcy – it's time to say 'no' to “stuff-itis.” Go over your expenditures in detail with your Advantage CCS credit counselor, and ask him or her to help you distinguish wants from needs. After all, if you have to file for bankruptcy, or deal with the consequences of an irreparable credit score, the Joneses won't care – but you most certainly will!