According to CNN Money, the average American family holds over $10,000 dollars in credit card debt alone. The average interest rate on cards is in the mid teens with some cards exceeding 20 percent. Overcoming debt problems seems impossible for some but the truth is it’s quite simple. It just takes time, discipline and patience.

Track Your Spending

1. Make a list of everything you spend in a month. At the end of the month, review your list. You will likely find several items that easily can be cut from your spending.
2. Create a list of bills and other expenses. Gather all of your bills and place them in a pile. List who you owe money to, the total amount and the amount due each month. With credit card and loan agreements list, also the interest rate.
3. Pay down your highest interest debts first. These cost you far more money in the long run and usually carry heavy penalties for late payments. The sooner you can pay these off the better.
4. Avoid paying just the minimum. With credit cards, the minimum payment just covers the interest. Pay more than the minimum each month if you can afford it. You’ll start clearing the balance faster.
5. Put any left over cash in a savings account. Even small amounts start to add up. As the money accumulates you’ll have an emergency fund or extra cash to put toward debt.
6. Ask for help. If your income isn’t sufficient to cover your monthly outgoings then consider credit counseling. A good credit counseling service can negotiate with your creditors and try to freeze interest and late fees. They can also help you with creating a reasonable budget.

Consumer champions Which? have carried out a new survey which found that just 1% of people in the UK are able to identify the main types of train tickets available to them. Additionally, 61% of respondents didn’t know that Advance tickets were non-refundable, and 48% didn’t know they had to be used on a specific train. When asked about Anytime return tickets, 75% were not aware that outbound journeys could be made within 5 days of purchase, and that return trips could be made within a month.

Consumers also displayed a poor understanding of off-peak tickets, with 51% not realising they are only valid outside peak times, and 17% unaware they don’t have to be used on a specific train. Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which? said “people could be wasting money buying more expensive tickets than they need to because it is so unclear what certain tickets allow them to do,” adding that “train operators have to recognise this is a problem and take urgent action to fix it. If they won’t, the government must step in to sort this out.”

There may be some hope for bewildered and cash-strapped consumers – transport secretary Phillip Hammond recently described the railways as a “rich man’s toy” and Liberal Democrat transport minister Norman Baker has said the railways should be “available for all.” Unless the government does legislate to simplify tickets and put the brakes on above-inflation price hikes, however, ordinary passengers will be left at a disadvantage, with a scarcity of alternatives for those who require affordable transport.

For small business owners, at this time of year thoughts usually turn to hiring. Whether it’s part-time help or paying the regular workers overtime, it’s a holiday tradition to put that “Help Wanted” sign in the window.

But this year, concerns about depressed consumer sentiment are translating into weak hiring trends. To bring on workers, there has to be an expectation that business is going to be good. But companies are worried that customers are still holding onto their cash as consumer confidence remains low, says John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray and Christmas, an outplacement firm in Chicago. “Right now everybody’s kind of keeping their powder dry, being cautious, and that is not the kind of environment that leads to strong job growth,” says Challenger.

Bottom line: Don’t count on the little guy to hire a lot of seasonal help between now and the end of the 2011.

For starters, the consumer confidence index fell to 39.8 in October. This is down from the previous nine-month average of 59.6, and lower than the 49.9 reading during the same month last year. If consumers don’t spend, Challenger expects retail employment will be lower than last year, when, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the three months ending December 2010, the net change in retail jobs was approximately 630,000. This was up from 495,000 for the same period in 2009, but off from 746,800 in 2006.

How important is small business to the indicators for holiday hiring? According to the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, small businesses employ half of U.S. workers. They also pay 43 percent of total U.S. private payroll, and have generated 65 percent of new jobs over the past 17 years. For holiday hiring to show a bump, small business must be a part of it.

“Certainty and growth have to be there,” says Chason Hecht, President of Retensa, a New York City-based firm specializing in employee retention, “and right now, neither of those are very strong.” CBIZ, a company in Roanoke, Va., that tracks hiring, found that in September, small business employment shrank by 0.81 percent. The CBIZ Small Business Employment Index, a barometer for hiring trends among companies with 300 or fewer employees, showed that for the third month in a row, hiring in the small business sector trended slightly downward.

Philip Noftsinger, business unit president at CBIZ Payroll Services says, “It’s really about demand. They (small businesses) are going to wait until the last possible minute to invest in additional workers for the holiday season.” If economic news improves, and consumers come out, there is the possibility of a late season employment spike.

According to the National Federation of Independent Business, small business optimism saw a modest gain of 0.8 points in September, ending a six-month decline. While that number is up from recent months, says Holly Wade, senior policy analyst at the NFIB, the figure was still outweighed by those expecting sales to decline.

Haven’t we all felt this way at one time or another? You hear about or see a product that someone else has already developed that’s so terrific that you get that slap-your-head “why didn’t I think of that?” feeling! So when the idea for a handbag with interchangeable outer covers was presented to me, I knew it was a concept that could potentially revolutionize the women’s accessories market—and as an entrepreneur I wasn’t going to let it get away

In 2007—after a few starts and stops—my business partner Chris Seegmiller and I officially launched Miche Bag (pronounced Mee-Chee), a company named for the original inventor’s nickname.

There was a lot of trial and error during that first year, but eventually we found a formula that not only works, but works extremely well both from a Sales Representative’s as well as a customer’s perspective.

In just three years, Miche has grown at an astounding rate—going from a company selling $21,000 in product per month to one selling well over $55 million a year nationwide and internationally. As an entrepreneur who started his first business at age 13, I’ve learned through experience that there are five tips for success necessary to lay a strong foundation and then bring a vision to life.

See a Need and Fill It

This concept is Business 101, but with Miche “see a need and fill it” seems to have hit the nail on the head. Just about every woman who sees a Miche Bag automatically sees the beauty in the idea and it hits them in an unusually visceral way—women really do hate moving all the contents from one purse to another every time they change their outfit. Buying just one “Base Bag” then collecting various colors and designs of covers (which we call “Shells”) to match their wardrobe or mood makes sense on many different basic levels: this product is economical, it’s convenient and it’s fashionable. It’s a no-brainer because it’s inherently marketable as a “must-have” product. And—conveniently for us—it appeals to consumers in the highest-spending demographic: women 18-55 years old.

Be Flexible During the Development Phase

The idea was terrific, but the product itself needed to be fine-tuned and made practical for mass-production. The main selling point of a Miche Bag is that the Base Bag remains the same so that a woman never has to remove the purse’s contents when she wants a different look—she only needs to switch the outer Shell. We developed seamless, hidden magnetic attachment mechanisms that make changing Shells easy. Others have tried to do what we do, but with little success because our Shells can be changed in 3 seconds or less and they stay secure. Bottom line: without a structurally-sound, easy-to-use product, nothing else really matters; so spend plenty of time experimenting with and perfecting your marquee product or service. Don’t get so caught up in “one way” (i.e., your way) of doing things that you automatically cut off more viable options.

Flexibility and experimentation in the earliest stages are absolutely essential.

Essential in Any Economy: Affordability and Effective Distribution Channels

In addition to being practical, the bags have to be affordable to appeal to our key demographic. We chose to have our design team make Shells using faux leather and other synthetic materials. Not only could women get fashion-forward looks, but they can get them for less—a plus in any economy, but especially so when times are tight. Know who your demographic is, and give them what they want.

We needed to find the best way to sell the Miche Bag. Retail was our first choice, but because the Miche concept is best sold through demonstration rather than display, this venue did not work as well as we’d hoped. We made the jump to the Home Party route and never looked back. This model is flourishing for us.

Get Your Own Hands Dirty, Then Delegate

At one point or another, everyone on our executive team has been involved in every aspect of our business—from design to production to warehousing to marketing to sales. We worked endless, hard hours laying the strong foundation for a successful company. We knew we had this amazing idea and we were very hands-on—especially in the beginning—to make sure we got it right.

Now we’re to the point where we’re releasing a lot of that tight personal control and delegating the day-to-day activities to a growing team of seasoned professionals at our Home Office. We love and value our Miche staff, trust their judgment and their skills, and have created a fun “family” type of environment where we work together to grow our company yet still recognize and respect the contributions of the individual. My office door is always open and the hugs are always free and plentiful. It works for us!

Listen, Listen, Then Listen Some More

We understand that the Distributors and Representatives who market our products and the customers they serve are the lifeblood of our business. It’s essential to listen to what they have to say, take their concerns seriously, and then address them immediately when appropriate. Whenever possible, get out of your office and go to where the rubber hits the road—in our case it’s out in the sales field all across the country and around the world. Our executive team is made up of kind, compassionate, enthusiastic and caring people who spend a considerable amount of time with our independent sales force, getting to know them as individuals, conducting training, and—most importantly—listening. That kind of personal attention not only fosters that “family feeling” among thousands of people who make Miche their living, but it also helps us to create better products and provide better service.

When you have a great idea, work hard, tie up any loose ends, and then surround yourself with amazing people who are as passionate about a product or service as you are, magic is bound to happen. Everyone involved with Miche loves the concept and believes in it passionately—and that kind of enthusiasm at every level is absolutely contagious.