Conscious spending is one of those buzz words you hear a lot lately in personal finance columns. I first read about the idea a few months ago in Kimberly Palmer’s book, Generation Earn. In case you havent heard about it, its the theory that money should be spent and enjoyed—just in a way that reflects your values and priorities. No need to spend less—just spend better!
That means with the cash you have left over after covering your essentials, you can get the $200 jeans, spend $2,000 on a Carribean trip with your buddies, or get a $100 hair cut. It all depends on your priorities. Here’s an example: if travel is your top priority, you may spend lots more on trips and live in a house with 3 housemates to save on rent. If youre a foodie, you might drop a chunk of money on nice dinners out a few times a week, but not spend much on clothes. Brillia
ns instead of revolving credit is getting to be more common. This is a great for consumers, because revolving credit offered by merchants like department stores, appliance stores, and others, usually carry a high interest rate. In addition, most of the merchants offer very low payments that give the consumer an incentive to be stuck with the debt for several years. That does not mean the consumer cannot pay more each month, but it can be hard to resist a small $15 payment when the money is needed for something else.