Comments on: Top 10 Reasons People Spend More Than They Earn

By: alan

alan — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:33:15 +0000

the main reason is you do not need to pay money if you do not have. just file bankruptcy.

By: Thomas Bailey

Thomas Bailey — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:51:04 +0000

There are TV ads that tell us in effect that to be happy, we need an expensive car, expensive clothing, and basically an expensive lifestyle. There are ads that play to our vanity.
As for the cost of maintaining a car, I know full well I cannot afford it, thus, I do not plan to buy a car. A bike does the job just fine.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:51:26 +0000

Spending money for stupid things is silly. You think how hard you work and then waste it like it’s nothing. People should follow these ten tips and save a bit more–it’ll pay off in the long run. Great post.

By: John

John — Sat, 30 May 2009 02:40:06 +0000

I think moderation is important. While saving money is very important it is also important for people to spend money. If everyone just spent their income on their bills and nothing more, then lots of companies would go out of business and as a result people would lose their jobs. There really needs to be a balance.

By: zyva

zyva — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:05:56 +0000

Not every people like to spend more than he earn. I think consumerism become bad habbit for certain person who poisoned by materialism mind, and his soul not strong enough for facing this attacks

By: Wise Finish

Wise Finish — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:12:16 +0000

Selfishness and greed!

By: Bill M

Bill M — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:32:25 +0000

Hopefully after this financial crisis, the millennium generation will learn to save like our grand parents did.

By: Ayesha

Ayesha — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:13:13 +0000

none of them are good reasons:(

By: Financial Course Blog

Financial Course Blog — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:48:08 +0000

This is a great post, the biggest reason IMHO for people to spend more than they earn is the credit card and the easiness it brings to spend much more than you can afford because you don’t feel the money.

As one said most of the reasons are psychological and that’s true but I think also that a good education about money and financial matters lacks overall and not only in the US but in the whole world. The reasons you portrait here are true mostly for the US because in other countries it’s not the same case and not the same possibilities but still they are quite valid.

Thanks!

By: richard custodian

richard custodian — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:48:41 +0000

this a flimflam article…yes you decribed ways we spend more than we make however, you forgot the biggest reason…lifes expenses and attempts to improve…
namely

schooling after grade 12
improving physical imperfections (ie: my case 2000.00 for eye sergery)
child having problems in public school system (they don’t work for everyone anyway)
need of a vehicle because you move to a cheaper neigbourhood, and found it’s more expensive than the high rent in town
buying a home on rent to own to discover maintenance is killing you…

I can go on and on and on but, I believe you get the idea…
now if you could come up with psyhological way to pay yourself first with a fixed income, before finishing the course to get bigger salary I thing you would help your casual reader and they will come back for more, or is there no profit in that…

reguards

the life long learning and indebt because I forgot to get money management first…

Richard

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:11:42 +0000

Great post. I think some people also don’t realize that some purchases have future costs associated with them that aren’t necessarily factored in at the time of purchase. When buying a house, it has to be air conditioned, heated, furnished, taxes paid, etc. How many people ask for past home bills from the prior owner to get a sense of monthly costs? Buying a car requires regular, and sometimes unexpected, maintenance/repairs. Do many people factor in that maintenance on a certain car may be more frequent or more costly based on the type of car being purchased? Buying music can even add up when an MP3 player is purchased – I’m seeing this with my 13-yo nephew. It’s a shame that an education in budgeting and “real world” expenses aren’t mandatory in high school AND college. If young people were taught some of these issues when they are beginning their financial lives, maybe they can start off on the right foot with a bit of education. Hopefully posts like this one will be passed on to those who need it.

By: The Simple Dollar » The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Book Crunch Time Edition

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:00:42 +0000

[...] Top 10 Reasons People Spend More Than They Earn A lot of these add up to self-esteem. If your self-esteem is based on the stuff you have, you’re going to always have a hard time getting ahead financially. (@ accumulating money) [...]

By: Reasons We Spend

Reasons We Spend — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:14:34 +0000

[...] Top 10 Reasons People Spend More Than They Earn [...]

By: Personal Money Tips

Personal Money Tips — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:46:24 +0000

Short and sweet. I like the list.

By: Debt Reduction

Debt Reduction — Wed, 21 May 2008 20:33:51 +0000

This is a good post whereby people who are having issues with debt can read and understand or see themselves. Identifying your spending reasons can be a way of getting to grips with your spending problems. I think it is true that people just ignore the reality of how much they can afford to spend and don’t save even close to what they should in order to buy the things that they need.

By: John

John — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:55:29 +0000

Very interesting post. Perception is the key to riches or failure its your own direction.

But you don’t have to Spend like your rich just to make other people perceive that you are and if the only reason why you are trying to get rich is to prove something to someone else, you are already headed down the wrong path anyways.

By: monevator

monevator — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 10:15:31 +0000

One thing you missed: People can spend more than they earn because they genuinely don’t know what they earn, or what they spend. A lot of people don’t even think about doing a budget until it’s already too late.

By: Saravana Kumar

Saravana Kumar — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:47:39 +0000

All the above reasons are 100% true.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 02:07:17 +0000

Another reason is menal health issues – spending sprees are a classic symptom of the manic phase of manic depression. This is an aspect of bipolar that is incredidibly common but rarely talked about. Doesn’t help when POTUS tells people there duty as citizens is to “go shoping”.

By: shawn sum

shawn sum — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:29:14 +0000

Nowadays people dont practice saving… very sad