| San
Diego, CA.
“People have two things to spend; time and money, and they would much
rather spend their money. So much so, they routinely engage in the
most common form of overspending; paying too much for things. How does
this happen, you might wonder? Those people 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. The other type of overspender is someone who
spends beyond, sometimes way beyond, their income and or ability to
repay.
“If you are hearing ‘spend, spend, spend’ when your money talks, you
too may be one of those consumers who later discover they have nothing
to show for all of their hard years of working, or worse, find
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 at court at age 25,
due to overspending with charge cards.
To help determine what type of overspender you might be, here is a
short evaluation to help. The following statements are about 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 and investments
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 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 my own 401k plan.
Scoring Your Spending
Techniques
10-15
VERY GOOD. Time to share your good
habits and teach family members how you do it.
16-20 Pretty Good. Concentrate on
improving a few areas for even greater savings.
21-35 Average. Devoting an hour to
improving spending could save you an additional 10-15 percent.
36-40 Lousy. Immediate changes
required, now, to avoid more overspending and a financial disaster.
41-50 It Stinks! Time to contact a
credit and debt counselor.
For information about Mending Spending and help with how to set up and
implement a spending-plan, visit: www.icfe.info. 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
|
About the ICFE:
The Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE) was founded in 1982 by the late Loren Dunton (creator of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation). The ICFE is dedicated to helping consumers of all ages to improve their spending, increase savings and use credit more wisely.
The ICFE is an award winning, nonprofit, consumer education organization that has helped millions of people through its education programs and resources. It publishes the Do-It-Yourself Credit File correction Guide, which is updated annually. The ICFE has distributed over one million Credit/Debit Card Warning Labels and Credit/Debit Card Sleeves world wide.
The ICFE became an official partner with the Department of Defense/Financial Readiness Campaign in June of 2004.The ICFE was an active partner in the California Student Debt Resource Awareness Project (CASDRAP) which resulted in a new web site: (studentdebthelp.org). CASDRAP disbanded in 2010, shortly after the web site project was completed. In 2011 the ICFE assumed the single sponsorship of the (studentdebthelp.org) web site and is now responsible for its content and operation.
The ICFE is also an on-line help for consumers who spend too much. ICFE's spending help was featured in PARADE Magazine in the Intelligence Report section. The money helps and tips are from the ICFE's Money Instruction Book, our course in personal finance.
Visit the ICFE's other web sites at: www.icfe.info and studentdebthelp.org. Both sites helps consumers and students with mending spending, learning about the proper use of credit, budget and expense guidelines, how to set up and implement a spending-plan and also how to access financial education courses and how to teach children about money. Other ICFE services include: Ask Mr. G, a free eNews, and an online resource center for students, parents and educators, plus financial education learning tools and a book store.
|
|
Our 
