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10 questions that gauge if you are a spendthrift.
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Why Some People Get Into Trouble With Debt
Here are 10 questions Professor Tahira K. Hira uses in her research at Iowa State University:
1.
Do you hide bills from your spouse or partner?
2.
Do you sneak purchases into the house so your partner - or parent - doesn't see them?
3.
Do you shop to cheer yourself up when you've had a problem with work, school, your boss, your parent, your partner?
4.
Do you shop when you're angry? When you're hurt? As a way to get even? To celebrate?
5.
Does shopping make you feel exhilarated, high, excited?
6.
Do you love the process of shopping, of selecting purchases, chatting with the salesperson, pulling out your charge card, only to crash and feel let down when you get home?
7.
Do you buy things you don't need or can't afford just because they're on sale?
8.
Do you have unused items stored in your closets?
9.
Do you ever buy things solely in response to advertising or because peers or siblings have them?
10.
Are you embarrassed to tell someone how much you owe?
Don't feel guilty if you answered "yes" to a number of questions. Few people shop today solely because they need something, like a new winter coat, Hira said. Most have come to view shopping as an activity in itself.
But if you answered "yes," to five or more questions, "you need to look at yourself carefully," she says. It may be a signal that there is another underlying issue. "Shopping may be obscuring something you really need to deal with," Hira says. "And it will add debt to your other problems."
How much debt is too much?
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