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San Diego, CA - You are an
over spender if: (1) you regularly spend more than you
earn, (2) all your bills are paid on time but, you have
little or no savings, and (3) you routinely pay too much
for things. Consumers who fall into one of these three
categories may be wasting up to 30 percent of their income
every month because of poor spending practices and habits.
“Whether you are a part-time student worker taking home
about $125 a week or a professional taking
home more than 10 times that, the all important everyday
spending and life-style decisions determine,
rather quickly sometimes, how well you will be able to
treat yourself when you are in your 60s, 70s
and 80s,” said Paul Richard, a registered financial
consultant (RFC) and executive director of the
nonprofit Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE),
a San Diego based nonprofit group
helping people of all ages improve their spending habits,
increase their savings and use credit more
wisely.
People are surprised to learn their everyday spending
decisions, and especially the credit-based ones,
will do far more harm to their financial future than any
investment decisions they might ever make.
The following chart represents how different life-style
decisions determines how much may be saved
and, of course your life-style, a spender or saver. Which
one are you?
(Note to readers - email formats may differ and the
comparisons below may not be exactly lined up - use the
space and delete keys to line up correctly - thank you.)
Some typical monthly expenses:
Spender's Lifestyle Spending Saver's Lifestyle Spending
HOUSING:
Rent: $800 $550 (rents a bedroom for $250)
Utilities $65 $45 (renter pays $30)
Cable TV $85 (200+ channels) $35 (basic cable)
Telephone $40 (unlimited calling plan) $25 (basic + 5
cents per min
LD)
Total spent $990. $655 = lifestyle savings $335
FOOD
Groceries $260 (ave $60 a week) $234 (ave $54 a-week uses
coupons )
Restaurant lunches $84.50 (3/week @ $6.50) $56.33 (2/week
@ $6.50)
Restaurant dinners $147.33 (2 a-week@$17) $73.67 (1/week @
$17)
Total spent $491.73 $364.00 = lifestyle savings $127.73
TRAVEL/ENTERTAINMENT
Gasoline* $147.33 (full service pumps) $136.50 (self
service pumps)
Movie/snacks/park** $190.67 (2 movies per week) $138.67 (1
movie, 2 rentals/week)
Total spent $338.00 $275.17 = life-style savings $62.83
Grand Total Spent: $1819.73 $1294.17 Total lifestyle
savings $525.56
* ($34 a week)
** (movie $9.50, snacks $9. and parking $3.50/ video
rental $5)
NOTE: The comparison are based on the following: Single
individual lives in
a two bedroom apartment @$800 per month, pays own electric
and gas.
Optional expenses are telephone and cable TV.
Transportation: owns a 1999 mid size 2 door sedan, runs on
87 octane fuel.
For more information on mending your spending and
switching your
life-style from a spender to a saver, plus some financial
education courses,
books and videos, please send $1 and a self-addressed, 60
cent, stamped
envelope to: ICFE Resource Center PO Box 34070 San Diego,
CA 92163.
OR . . please visit :
www.icfe.info.
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About the ICFE:
About the
ICFE:
The Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE), founded in 1982 by the
late Loren Dunton (creator of the “certified financial planner” (CFP)
designation) and it is dedicated to helping consumers of all ages to improve
their spending, increase savings and use credit more wisely. The ICFE trains and
certifies Personal Finance Instructors for its own curriculum. It also trains
and certifies Credit Report Reviewers and Identity Theft Prevention Specialists.
The ICFE is an award winning, nonprofit, consumer education organization that
has helped millions of people through its education programs and resources. It
publishes the Do-It-Yourself Credit File correction Guide, now in its 16th
printing and has distributed over one million “Credit/Debit Card Warning Labels”
and “Credit/Debit Card Sleeves” world wide.
The ICFE became an official partner with the Department of Defense/Financial
Readiness Campaign in June of 2004.
The ICFE is also a partner in the national Jump$tart Coalition for Financial
Literacy and the California Jump$tart chapter. The ICFE staff is also active
with San Diego Saves, an offshoot of America Saves, and the California Student
Debt Resource Awareness Project (CASDRAP) (studentdebthelp.org).
The ICFE’s on-line help for consumers who spend too much was featured in PARADE
Magazine in the Intelligence Report section. The money helps and tips are from
“The Money Instruction Book,” a course in personal finance, positioned to become
among the premier programs in the new bankruptcy and debtor education
initiatives.
The ICFE Web site at:
http://www.icfe.info helps consumers 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
videos and how to teach children about money. Other ICFE services include a free
eNewsletter, and an online resource center of financial education learning
tools, including videos, books, software and personal finance courses.
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