Austin is a junior in college and recently returned from a spring-break trip to Panama City with his friends. However, the vacation followed Austin home. He ended up putting the entire trip on his credit card, including airfare, a two-night hotel stay, entertainment, food and other ex- penses. He already had a $1,750 balance on the credit card prior to the trip and added $2,000 of spring-break expenses to that. Austin now has almost $4,000 to pay off. Between the large credit card payments and his other monthly bills, he's having trouble paying all of his bills. This month Austin found himself $275 short of paying his bills. On top of all that, he's stressed because his employer is considering cutting his 20 hour/week job down to 10 hours a week. Austin is trying to find a way to fairly pay his debts, knowing that everyone won't get paid this month. His savings is down to $100. He's thought about bankruptcy, since he's finding fewer and fewer options to get out of this situation. 1 How would you handle Austin's situation? What other options does Austin have besides bankruptcy? How could Austin have avoided this financial mess? 2 3