10.Keeping up with the Jones’ - Psychology plays a big role in our spending habits. We want to feel as successful or more successful than those around us. We spend a lot of money to keep up that image. The reality is, the neighbors probably can’t afford that new boat either.

9. Avoiding the truth - It’s easy to overspend when you don’t keep tabs on how much you have. People will go for years unaware of their true financial situation because they’re afraid to look at what kind of mess they are in. It’s easier (temporarily) to just avoid it. They’ll pay their minimums and add new credit cards as necessary ignoring the growing debt total.

8. Counting the chickens before they hatch - In National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Clark Griswold made a large down-payment on his swimming pool expecting that his upcoming Christmas bonus would cover it. Instead, he was enrolled in a Jelly of the Month club. We are often similarly optimistic about incoming money. It’s spent before it’s received, and it’s often not as much as was expected nor received when expected.

7. Plastic doesn’t feel like real money - It’s common to spend more when using credit cards than cash. The experience of hading over a card that you get back is just not the same as handing over some cold hard cash and seeing it disappear.

6. Immediate gratification - It’s all around us. We’re bombarded with the immediate gratification mentality. “Instant pain relief”, “fast food”, “on demand video”, and the big financial one, “buy now, pay later”. We’re too used to getting what we want now even if we don’t know how we’ll pay later.

5. Lifestyle maintenance - Most people increase their expenses as quickly as they increase their income. The same cannot be said for decreases in income. Once we become accustomed to a certain lifestyle, it’s pretty difficult to cut back, even if our financial situation changes for the worse.

4. Poor as a child - Whether they’re trying to make up for their deprivation as a child, a fear of money being taken away that isn’t spent immediately, or a lack of financial understanding, being poor as a child is an often used excuse of overspending adults.

3. Sense of power - Spending money actually makes some people feel powerful. The more they spend, the more powerful they feel, and the only way to get that rush is to spend more money.

2. Prove self worth - Buying that fancy new car proves you are somebody, right? For some people spending makes them feel like they are worth something to the world.

1. Can’t say no - Some people feel like a failure when they can’t meet the wants of others. Whether it’s new toys for the kids, new outfit for the spouse, or a night out with the friends, some people just can’t say no, even when they can’t afford to say yes.

http://www.accumulatingmoney.com/top...han-they-earn/

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Manu Chao - Bongo Bong

"Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious." - Oscar Wilde

"Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise." - Sir Francis Bacon

I don't overspend. I only worked for three months and still have money left over..


Then again I'm not a dumbass. I don't care what other people have, and I don't need gratification. I just need food, a place to sleep, and a girly butt to slap.


I'm a red blooded, real American.

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Calling Grace She'll Never Fall Again Love Remains In Her Calling Grace
She Will Rise Again Sacrifice The Saints Still Love Remains
I'm A Tart! What! You Want Some Of This!
I would Tarja...among other things...

I've got a bit of #9, lots of #7, lots of #5, and a good amount of #3. #7 is probably the biggest for me on the list, but to be fair, I don't have a credit card per se. I have an ATM card that I can use like a credit card if I wanted to. Man, there is so much I have learned about how to manage my money, mostly first-hand.

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I think America is finally ready for another president with polio.

Good post and quite accurate.
It is strange how we encourage and in fact depend upon the things that lead to overspending, but we are so quick to criticize those who fall into the trap.

It's possible to learn. I used to be an overspender.
But I'd suggest another, possibly more important, reason that is missing from the analysis... leading me to wonder abotu the bias of its author.

Expectations in life (generally connected to poverty, but not as simple as "because of being poor"). Some people do not expect that they will ever have a retirement or anything else out of life. The result is more a sense of instant gratification and a paycheck-to-paycheck philosophy.

The post did mention "instant gratification" but I think it was simplified too much. That is often a symptom of a bleak worldview. And in poverty that bleak worldview is often quite rational.
These days the way bad news is reported rapidfire, even many in the middle class can't help but to adopt this bleak perspective.

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"It's never over... BOY!"
The Tall Man, Phantasm III

The only reason people spend more than they earn: They are complete idiots.