San Diego, CA. People have two
things to spend these days, time and money. For the most
part, people would rather spend their money. So much so,
they may be one of two types of overspenders; (A) Those
who spend beyond, sometimes way beyond, their income and
or ability to repay and (B) Those people who pay to much
for things because they failed to comparison shop,
concluded the nonprofit Institute of Consumer Financial
Education (ICFE), a San Diego based group helping
consumers become better spenders, regular savers and wise
users of credit. April is National Financial Literacy
Month and the ICFE offers this spenders profile.
If you hear SPEND when your money talks, you too, may
be one of those consumers who later discover themselves in
a nightmare of debt instead of living the American dream,
says ICFE executive director, Paul Richard, a Registered
Financial Consultant (RFC), who was in bankruptcy court at
age 25, due to overspending with charge cards.
Following are statements pertaining to
your spending techniques. There are five responses to
select from which indicate the degree of your likeness to
each statement. Just mark the number in the space
provided. Should a statement not apply to your situation,
skip it and adjust the scoring accordingly which follows
afterwards.
1. Totally like me
2. A lot like me
3. Equally like and unlike me
4. A little like me
5. Not like me at all
1. ____ I always live within my income
range.
2. ____ Each income period, I set aside at least ten
percent for savings.
3. ____ My finances are managed according to a written
spending-plan
4. ____ All household and grocery spending is planned in
advance and done with a list.
5. ____ I rarely make more than one trip a-week to the
grocery store.
6. ____ Grocery and other coupons and rebate offers are
utilized whenever possible.
7. ____ Comparison shopping for quality, value, price,
etc. is something I/we do for practically every purchase,
large or small.
8. ____ I have no revolving debt carried on credit or
charge cards.
9. ____ I have not had an overdraft of my checking account
nor paid late fees on a credit card.
10.____I regularly contribute to an employer sponsored
retirement plan, IRA or a 401k plan.
Scoring Your Spending Techniques
10-15 VERY GOOD. Time to teach others how you do it.
16-20 Pretty Good. Concentrate on improving a few of the
weaker areas.
21-35 Average. An hour a-week devoted improving spending
will equal greater $avings.
36-40 Lousy. Immediate changes required, now, to avoid a
financial disaster.
41-50 It Stinks! Time to contact a credit and debt
counselor.
For information about "Mending Spending, warning labels
and sleeves for your charge/debit cards, visit the ICFE's
Web page at: www.icfe.info
The site also includes helpful sections on increasing
savings, using credit wisely, plus "How to set up and
implement a spending-plan" (with a one page work sheet)
for personal and/or family finances. To receive the same
information by mail, please send $1 and a self-addressed,
60 cent stamped envelope to: ICFE Money Helps PO Box 34070
San Diego, CA 92163-4070.