A few days ago, I came across a picture on Facebook that had the following caption: "We buy stuff we don't need -- with money we don't have -- to impress people we don't like." Perhaps you can name a few people in your life -- whether at work or at the gym -- who do precisely that. Maybe that person has been you from time to time. The sad reality is that people often become so hung up on the things they perceive as missing in their lives that they lose sight of everything they already have. In many cases, this results from direct comparisons to people in their circle, thus igniting the urge to "Keep up with the Joneses." As I've said before, there's nothing wrong with indulging yourself every so often. Eat at that fancy restaurant you've been wanting to try. Buy yourself that expensive pair of shoes you say online. You work hard for your money; if you have the means, why not? I take issue, however, with people who have to have the...

Many people fail to understand that, as Confucius once stated, "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." Okay, maybe life isn't as simple as Confucius makes it out to be. Regardless, his sage advice still holds to a certain extent in our consumer-driven, bigger-is-better, dog-eat-dog world. As I've stressed in prior posts, some people are just too hung up on material stuff. They're profligate spenders of the worst kind, running up their credit cards until they begin receiving calls from credit collectors. These individuals really have no idea how much pleasure they can derive from simpler pursuits like taking a jaunt around the park, swimming at the beach, or simply hanging out with their closest comrades. Society wants us to believe that in order to earn people's respect -- not to mention your own -- you must have an expensive car, large house, and all the other bells and whistles that constitute the so-called American Dream....

The expression "settling for less" gets thrown around quite loosely, but what many people fail to realize is that it is entirely subjective. One's idea of settling less may not jibe with someone else's. While you may perfectly content with a GUESS purse, your gaudy friend may feel you're settling for less unless you opt for a more luxurious brand, like Coach or Louis Vuitton. Or, while you're happy to hook up with average-looking but highly intelligent guys, your sister may insist that you're settling for less unless you set your sights on guys who are a "9" or better in the appearance department. Furthermore, you may be told you can do better if you are not the CEO of your company, but what if you're happy having a less taxing, lower-paying job if it means spending more quality time with friends and family? This type of thinking is seriously misguided. The fact is that people have different tastes and disparate desires. Some of...

We all know at least one person (and it could be ourselves) who is prone to frivolous spending. He or she forks over hundreds of dollars during each visit to a mall or restaurant, adding to an already massive heap of credit card debt. What's worse, the person makes a habit of asking friends or relatives for money. What, then, causes this seemingly uncontrollable compulsion to spend? For a lot of us, it's tied to our self-image and self-esteem. Many people depend on shopping and consumer products for a "pick-me-up" -- much like getting their afternoon coffee fix. Consumers use material possessions to enhance their image -- walking around with that Coach purse or in those Jimmy Choos can greatly boost feelings of self-worth and self-confidence. There's nothing wrong with this if done in moderation -- we all deserve to spoil ourselves every once in a while. But once wasteful spending becomes a weekly -- let alone daily -- occurrence, it creates the potential fo...