I was watching television last night and saw a woman on television who said that her name and the amount of her purchase was taken from her credit card. I was thinking that this was an identity theft problem. But it was a tipping problem. The people whose name and purchase amounts were listed are those who did not tip their servers.

For those who work in the service industry, tips are what really make a difference in their livelihood.

Prepare for the inevitable. You never when or if you will need extra money or something. This weekend I went on a bus trip to Iowa and was snowed in at a bingo casino. This wasn’t a problem because our group wasn’t leaving until the next day. We did have a planned excursion but weren’t able to go because of the storm. There was a group of people who were supposed to leave on Sunday during the height of the storm. The people had only brought enough money for their expected expenses. They did not have any extra money to buy food or get a room and were upset.

The highway was closed because this was rural Iowa and even staff had a difficult time getting to work.

Thinking of a vacation? Maybe not right now but even if you are going on a vacation, always make sure that you have some emergency money when you go on a trip. You may not need to use it but it would be wise to have some money in reserve or a credit card to pay for another meal or extra night in a hotel. The cause of the delay was weather related. Even when we left traveling was slow going until we got to the interstate.

Taking a trip is great and wonderful. Sometimes unforseen problems arise. If you are a worrier, you would definitely need to make sure you have extra money. If you aren’t you still need to make sure that you have extra money so that you won’t worry about anything. Don’t travel so close to the vest with your money, you may not need to use th extra money but even if you aren’t delayed, you may be interested in purchasing a souvenir or travel memento. Even if you don’t use the money or need to, it’s nice to go home with some money you didn’t spend after you’ve had a vacation.

The same old frugal rule applies… don’t spend all of your money and have some in reserve if you need to use it.

As a child, most people were told to apologize for whatever the infraction was. Can you do that to your bank account, your investments, or wallet?

Here are some things you might apologize for …

To your bank accounts:

I’m sorry I’m overdrawn again this week, but I really “needed” that pair of designer shoes.

To a checking account, sorry I thought you would be ok living a cushy life in the bank. I know you get no exercise and it would be better if you could run around with other money to earn some interest.

To your investments:

Hey 401K I really did think that the micro-widget would catch on. It was a great deal at only 15¢ a share when it went public. Really, I thought it would be the next big thing.

I didn’t forget about you 401K it was just that I, have been spending a lot more time with my credit cards and I have been giving them more of my money.

To your wallet:

I thought you understood, I don’t like to carry around a lot of cash so I use my credit cards often. That way you stay thin and sleek. I was really looking your for your health.

American Amalgamated Commercial Bank said I would earn a lot of points if I used you like cash, Credit Card. I believed them and so that is why your magnetic strip is almost gone.

Really, I thought you could go the distance Cash, I should have used you with a coupon or shopped around, but I didn’t.

You can always poke fun at your mistakes in life, but when you make money mistakes they are often more dire consequences, such as being in debt or not adequately preparing for your future.

Laugh at these apologies, but also think about how many of these may come close to being the truth.

If you have some serious apologies to make to your money, go to Mymoney.gov for additional resources.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke isn’t giving us any hope for a fatter wallet anytime soon.

“The softer labor market, together with factors including higher energy prices, lower equity prices, and declining home values, seem likely to weigh on consumer spending in the near term,” Bernanke said.

Tell us something we don’t already know… the economy isn’t going to improve in the next couple of months. We already know that. What else can we do?

The financial stimulus plan was passed. This may not mean that this is enough to make this into a moderate recession. The president wants us to spend to get things jumping again.

Another interest rate cut isn’t going to help someone who is already in debt. This will only help those with good credit and have a history of paying on time.

It’s hard to imagine an economy that does not take into consideration the consumer but to have 2/3 of the GDP from consumer expenditures spells bad news in a recession. People have pulled back. I notice this when I go different places or even go looking in a store. There are so many people just standing around in some stores who have nothing to do.

Our economy is relying on the consumer to start spending again and not using some financial fortitude and only pay for what he/she can afford. Shocking but true. You will live if you don’t have those extra things, which are just things. The only segments of our economy that showed any growth, though minimal were for food and gasoline. This was also due in part to the increase in prices. Inflation should not be the way to make the economy grow.

Basically, the economy will grow when people who get out of debt, forget what it was like to be heavily in debt with revolving credit (credit cards) and start spending again. Some business may close or pare down their hiring, spending and production which will be a problem not only in the U.S. but also globally. If we as consumers keep the reins on our spending, it will take longer for our consumer driven economy to recover.

Spend, spend, spend is the current economic plan and it’s not working. We need to change that to “save, invest and spend.” The spending part is conditional: spend – if we can afford it or do more saving and investing until we can and then we can.

If you plan to make a purchase now is the time to do it. This is not for a patriotic reason to go out and spend to support the U.S. economy. This is more self serving: stores are hurting and if you had something you wanted to buy the deals are good now.

Do not go out and buy something just to buy something. That is the reason we are in this miss now but if you are planning to purchase something, look around – the next place you look may have the better deal or offer a coupon which will help you save money.

I had been thinking about purchasing another DVD player. The one that I saw at a big electronics store was $100. Since I wasn’t in any hurry to get it and had been thinking about the purchase for a while, I checked online and found the same model cheaper, plus no tax which allowed me to save $18 (if you factor in the tax).

The consumer index grew by .3 percent last month. Why? Because of things that people couldn’t do without: food and gasoline.

Stores are trying to lure you in to make a purchase. Which is probably the last thing a lot of people need to do, but if you do make a purchase make sure you can pay for it – even if you need to use a credit card.

Can you sustain your lifestyle if you spend once in a while on well thought out purchases that are within your budget? Yes. Can you sustain your lifestyle if you spend more than you make and are in debt up to your eyebrows? No. Not spending anything and waiting until retirement may make you bitter. Save enough to support your future and spend a little on an occasional treat. Make thrift popular again!

The more you spend the less you have, but if you save everything, then when it does come time to buy something other than the bare necessities then you will freeze up. Frugal and miser are not synonymous. Material things do not mean that you have a better life but if you want to enjoy yourself within your means it is possible. If that means that you buy less and thereby have less.

A miser buys nothing and is stingy even with personal consumables. It may take you a little while to think about what you would like to purchase. Does your money work for you? Having what everyone else has won’t make you happy but you won’t be happy with a lot of debt or unwanted purchases.