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DebtFreeGuru.com's - Tip of the Week - Monday, June 2, 2003

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10 Biggest Summer Spending Blunders
Amid the lazy days and sunny hours ahead lurks an insidious evil -- the urge to overspend on just about everything. Fun-seekers, beware: It can creep up on you like a tight swimsuit.
By MP Dunleavey (As Seen On MSN)

I hate to throw water on your charcoal this Memorial Day weekend, but before summer begins, someone has to warn you about the latest threat.

No, I’m not going to give you the headlines about sunscreen, sharks or SARS. This is worse. And with the Memorial Day sales upon us, millions are at risk. Millions of dollars, I mean.

I’m talking about SASS: Sudden Acute Summer Spending.

SASS can strike anyone, anywhere. It often starts with an itch to just get out of town for a few days and quickly descends into a frightening rash of spending in some pricey European capital, heedless of the lousy euro-dollar exchange rates.

And it’s not limited to travelers. Homeowners, 20- and 30-somethings entranced by a champagne lifestyle, college students with more than one credit card and anyone who owns a boat are typically hit the hardest. A virulent case of SASS can go undetected for months if you’re not vigilant. SASS sufferers have been known to get as far as Christmas before they’re diagnosed. And by then it’s too late. Even the holiday shopping money has been spent.

Fortunately, the Centers for Disease Control and Personal Finance just faxed me a list of things you can do to protect yourself, your loved ones, and most important, your bank account.

Do Bears Wear Gore-Tex In The Woods?
You decide to have an inexpensive vacation this year: camping and hiking with the family. Mother Nature thanks you -- and so do REI, Paragon, L.L. Bean and other purveyors of increasingly overpriced outdoor sporting equipment. Sir Edmund Hillary climbed Mount Everest in woolen long johns, and you’re preparing to spend $450 on a sleeping bag that will keep you warm down to -10 degrees Fahrenheit -- this summer? Add in the park entrance fees, campsite fees, firewood and the soaring cost of marshmallows, and you might as well have gone to the Caribbean.

Just Say No To Nuptials
There will be about 2.5 million weddings celebrated this year, many if not most between now and Labor Day. Each wedding will host an average of 168 guests, meaning that roughly 420 million innocent bystanders will have to shell out money for transportation, a decent gift and probably a new dress. What are your odds of escaping the carnage? Slim to none. The average cost of the gift alone is $85, according to the Association of Bridal Consultants. How about sending a lovely card, instead?

Don’t Brake For Yard Sales
Warm weather inspires otherwise sensible people to drag all their junk onto the front lawn or cart it to a “flea market” and assume someone else will buy it. It’s a bizarre American ritual, and we all fall for it, spending millions of unplanned dollars on used wicker and picture frames. This summer, do what tourists do: wander around, handle everything, giggle at the natives as they spend, and then go have an ice cream.

Write Off The Graduates
The trouble with attending school is that it requires a series of graduation ceremonies, beginning now in pre-school. That’s about six graduations per kid, per lifetime (and we hope the little geniuses don’t get an advanced degree). Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and close friends of the family, I have two words for you: Bic pens.

Beware Of Hosts Expecting Gifts
“Don’t show up empty-handed,” your mother admonished you whenever you went to stay at a friend’s house. Yeah, well. That used to mean bringing a limp carnation for Sally’s mom; now you’re supposed to show up with Riedel wine glasses to thank your hosts for letting you crash on their '50s-era Hide-a-Bed. What happened to letting the host be hospitable and letting the guests mooch? What goes around comes around, eventually. If not, you can talk about them behind their backs.

Don’t Get Taken By The Old Ball Game
MYTH: Buying “some peanuts and Cracker Jack” is all part of the good ol’ Amurkin tradition of enjoying a sunny, summer game of baseball.

FACT: The Fan Cost Index, as they call it, is rising. Taking a family of four out to a major league ballgame -- which includes tickets, hotdogs, caps , etc. -- is about $150. Meanwhile, that brand-new, flat-screen TV is gathering dust at home, so whaddaya say we watch the game on TV?

Don't Take A Bath On That Bathing Suit
Friends, women, bathing-suit buyers, lend me your ears. I know how hard it is to find a decent-looking suit. In other words, one that makes you look 5% more like the voluptuous Salma Hayek. And I know (sadly) how much you’re willing to pay for that extra 5%. AND THIS IS CRAZY. Look at the garment. Measure it. Are you willing to pay $54 per square inch? OK then. I have an idea. It’s a little radical. But here goes: Wear last year’s suit.

Cheap Veggies Make Expensive Compost
Farm stands are sprouting like mushrooms after a rain at this time of year, and you’ve never seen strawberries so cheap -- or corn or lima beans or peaches or beets. Gad, you can buy a bushel of green beans for 8 cents. Summer is like one big farm-fresh Costco! Two questions:

If you only bought what you’re really going to eat, instead of promising yourself you’re going to make strawberry jam, which is a LIE, how much would you spend?

While you’re spending that 8 cents on the green beans, resist the urge to buy the home-smoked buffalo liver, which you’re only going to throw out anyway.

Beware The Idiotic Impulse Buy
Warm weather creates a lovely expansive feeling of well-being that, alas, you foolishly imagine extends to your wallet. Suddenly you decide -- yes, by gum! -- it's time to get that new patio set, that new deck, the above-ground pool and that shiny convertible so you can suck up the exhaust fumes on I-95. My advice: Keep watching the commercials. Not nearly as satisfying as owning real things, but so much cheaper.

Give Your Credit Cards A Summer Vacation
Everyone needs a vacation to rest and recharge. It's a well-deserved reward for working hard all year. But leave the credit cards at home this year. They need a break once in a while, too. Otherwise, it's too tempting to put the whole shebang on plastic. Before you know it, you're saying to yourself, "I've already spent $5,000 getting here, what's another $800 for a genuine replica of the Aztec Sun Stone Calendar?" You'll be feeling the pain years after your sunburn has faded.

DebtFreeGuru.com - Tip of the Week - Monday, June 2, 2003

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