Partake in a little self-reflection. A misaligned mindset toward spending and shopping—compulsive or otherwise—can severely affect your financial and personal well-being. If you think you might have a problem with shopping or spending, there are several questions you should ask yourself:

-Do I feel guilty about shopping?
-Is my shopping causing financial trouble?
-Is my shopping, spending, and accumulated debt leading to feelings of helplessness, anger, confusion, fear, or depression?

Make a plan and stick to it. The reason so many New Year’s resolutions fail is that we simply state the thing we want to improve and then never create a plan for helping us get from point A to point B. Most people don’t like to plan unless we’re talking about something fun, like a vacation. But actually, planning for your financial future is a little like planning a vacation. You’re organizing your money and time so that you get to do all the great things you want when you get there. Look at it that way, and you might actually enjoy the process.

Get rid of your four-wheeled debt. Too many people define necessities by what those around them have. A brand new car is not a necessity, although some people try to make it one by saying, “I need a way to get to work.” Guess what? There are plenty of far less expensive used cars out there that will also make it to your office. If you take out an auto loan to buy a car that you really can’t afford and you take a similar approach with other consumer items you don’t truly need, you’re going to have great difficulty saving money and accomplishing your goals. Moreover, you’ll probably feel stressed all the time—which is a poor trade-off for the (short-lived) “new car smell.”

Start making your purchases based on need, not emotion. It can be easy to give in to all of those advertisements telling us how much we “need” that new car, expensive gym membership, or trendy outfit. Marketers play on insecurities, fears, and guilt and suggest that you can feel better about yourself by buying their products. You won’t be able to overcome spending and consumer debt until you recognize these pressures and how they corrupt your buying decisions.

Research before you enter the store. Prior to going shopping for necessities that aren’t everyday purchases—say, a new refrigerator—do some research first. Your research will help you identify brands, models, and so on that are good values. You don’t want to make an expensive mistake.

Watch your food budget. Dine out less and keep stock of the groceries you already have. Learn to cook if you don’t know how. Try to keep a healthy inventory of groceries at home. This will minimize trips to the store and the need to impulsively dine out because your cupboard is bare. Try to do most of your shopping through discount warehouse-type stores, which offer low prices for buying in bulk, or grocery stores that offer bulk purchases. Saving on the amount you spend on food will help you put more money toward paying off your debt and eventually setting money aside for investments.

Become more energy efficient. Check out opportunities to make your home more energy efficient. Adding insulation and weather-stripping, installing water-saving devices, and reducing use of electrical appliances can pay for themselves in short order. Many utility companies will even do a free energy review or audit of your home and suggest money-saving ideas.

Watch what you are paying for insurance. Many people overspend on insurance by carrying coverage that’s unnecessary or that covers small potential losses. Coverage of small losses, such as $100 or $200, is not useful for most people since such a loss wouldn’t be a financial catastrophe.

“It won’t be easy getting out of debt, and it’s certainly not something you will be able to achieve overnight,” says Tyson. “Like losing weight, it’s something that takes constant dedication but has a great payoff in the end. Whenever you lose focus or feel like giving in, think about the wonderful benefits of financial well-being. Once you’re out of debt, the money you are able to invest will mushroom into substantial savings that will allow you to get more for your money,” concludes Tyson.

This article was brought to you by www.RISMedia.com

I don’t care for payday loans usually, but I completely understand why a person or family may need one in the time of an emergency.

If you are looking into a small emergency loan, I would only recommend Online Cash 911.

Here is a direct link: Up To $1500 With No Credit Check

This company is very secure with your personal information and is great if you have bad credit, because they don’t require a credit check.  In today’s economy, it’s completely understandable, if a person or family is living paycheck to paycheck and emergency funds are needed.

Now, didn’t mean to sidetrack there, but the purpose of this post is to let you know that payday loans can be reported to the major credit bureaus and show up on your credit report.  Most likely, if you pay it off before the loan is due, it will never show up on your credit report.  In a case where you cannot pay off the entire balance of the loan, then payment history will report to the major credit bureau’s.

If you are looking to use the payment history of your payday loan to help increase your credit scores, this will help.  Although, it is best to use a regular credit card, because even the worst credit cards charge less interest than the payday loans.

It’s important to our readers that you find all the mortgage advice and credit advice you can possibly find.  So, I have taken the time to list a few places that you should visit and soak up all the mortgage advice you can take.

Hope this helps!

Mortgage Advice Forums- I personally subscribe to this forum and help answer questions that people may have.  Bruce Brown, the creator, is very good at responding to everyone’s questions and concerns when looking for mortgage advice.

Zillow- Great place to get all kinds of advice, not just mortgage or credit advice.  Zillow has been around for awhile now and has been very popular with real estate in general.  If you haven’t heard of them yet, take the time to browse over the available advice and go from there.

Mortgageloan.com – I personally get many questions from the site, because of the amount of people that go to it for questions and advice.  Great place to soak in some more mortgage advice and mortgage news.

Lexington Law – Credit Report Repair - Credit advice for anyone that needs help with correcting things on their credit report.  What’s great about them is that you can call their 800 number and talk to someone that will tell you if they can help you or not, right from the start.

Ask Max – Very helpful information when it comes to credit advice.  There is also advice about paying off debt or debt consolidation.  I even browse this for myself from time to time.

Equifax - Not just a place to pull your credit report.  They have a learning center that is very educational for credit advice.  It also very important you look into identity theft protection, since this is the highest form of theft today.