Our consumer culture has made “shop ’til you drop” an acceptable past time.

Spending money on a credit card or being enticed by the lure of sales or discounts with the use of a store card made it difficult for people to save money but buying was acceptable. Going shopping is a hobby for some people and shopping can be fun. But spending money on things that you can’t afford – knowing that the expenditures will be a problem, make a difference to your overall financial picture.

Buying more than the essentials is not a problem if all the other areas of your financial life are taken care of – housing, food, utilities, savings and investments. Money is a tool, but overspending and maxing out credit cards, just because there are such great bargains to be had, isn’t very wise.