6 Money Habits to Avoid…

Oct. 29, 2010 - PRLog -- Andover, Massachusetts October 29th, 2010 – Every person fights a constant battle against the consumer mentality of this country. If your neighbor has a new car, you might feel society’s pressure to purchase a new car for yourself. This phenomenon is often referred to as “Keeping Up with the Joneses”. This is just one trait of our “Buy Now” mentality, and the following list includes 6 money pits or habits that will make you go broke if you are not careful.

1.Window Shopping. This should be an obvious one, the more time you spend looking at goods you want to purchase, the more likely you are to actually make those purchases. This habit has only gotten more expensive over the past decade as virtual window shopping through online retailers has allowed millions of Americans to spend money they don’t have without ever leaving their cozy homes.

2.Saving Your Info with Online Vendors. An add on to the previous item, whenever you have your checkout information saved by a vendor it makes it that much easier for you to make a purchase. Don’t have a wallet handy or a credit card within reach, no problem since all your information is already stored online. It’s the ultimate way to make purchases you don’t need without having to do anything except click a computer mouse!

3.Carrying Lots of Cash. Just as having to many credit cards can lead you to overspending, carrying around excessive amounts of cash can lead to the same problem. Studies have been done that show money that is carried around in a wallet or purse is much more likely to be spent than money that is left at home or in a bank. Basically, don’t carry around more cash than you absolutely need each day. The less you carry around, the less you can spend!

4.Clipping Unneeded Coupons. Much like carrying to much cash, clipping coupons for items you don’t need invariably leads to more spending than you would have done without the coupons. So while you may be saving 10% on your purchase, you are still spending more money because your purchase is 30% larger than it should be.

5.Shopping with Emotions. Whenever people go shopping for a reason other than for necessity money will be wasted. Consumers who go and shop because they are having a bad day or to reward themselves for a job well done will not only spend a lot of money, but typically they will purchase goods that they don’t need. Emotions can be a powerful factor when shopping, so make sure you aren’t shopping for the wrong reasons.

6.Not Planning Ahead. This is a tip I have mentioned before when it comes to grocery shopping. The better you are at planning your week’s expenses, the less likely you will be to waste money on unnecessary or expensive items. If you don’t plan your grocery shopping in advance, you will most likely order out or eat in a restaurant on a weekday because you will not have the time to go shopping after a busy day of work. Surveys have shown that the typical American family spends over $4,000 a year on eating out, imagine if you invested $3,000 of that in a Retirement account and the other $1,000 on a weeks vacation. Isn’t that a better use of your $4,000 than eating Chinese food and Burritos on Friday nights?

Readers, have you been guilty of any of these pitfalls? What have you done to fix your situation or are you just ignoring it?

Preferred Financial Services is a debt reduction firm certified by the CFC (Center for Financial Certifications) and accredited by U.S.O.B.A. (United States Organizations for Bankruptcy Alternatives). Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, Preferred Financial Services has been a leader in the debt reduction industry since 2003. Preferred Financial Services has acquired some of the best experience in the industry over the past 7 years. In 2009 alone Preferred Financial Services reduced over $16.5 million worth of consumer debt for just $6.4 million, for a savings of about 60%- and over 2,900 accounts were settled on behalf of their clients.

For more information, please visit www.pfsdebtrelief.com or follow us on our blog at www.pfsdebtrelief.com/blog/ .

Contact:
Stephan Tavernini
Marketing Coordinator
Certified IAPDA Debt Arbitrator
Preferred Financial Services
stavernini@pfs1.net

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Preferred Financial Services is the leading voice in the debt settlement industry. PFS has worked with hundreds of creditors to help negotiate realistic goals for those drowning credit card debt.