I am not yet enrolled in my company's 401k! Filled out the application and turned it in today though...

I've had to take money out of savings the last two months to make ends meet. I thought I'd had everything budgeted, but apparently I'm not following it :(

I resolved not to buy anything extra for myself until my bonus comes in march- but all I think about is guitar hero 3.

I don't think I'll make it past february.

I don't balance my "checkbook". I kinda sorta keep track of stuff in my head. I haven't messed up yet but, really, it's not a sound financial move.

@DrGirlfriend: Oh, oh, I do that too! Thats probably the most common money sin I can think of.

Paying the minimum on my credit card statements. I know you pay them a ton of money and I should pay them off, but I don't.

I go grocery shopping, get a ton of food. Then order Chinese because I am too lazy to prepare anything.

(I actually like to cook, but sometimes I can get really lazy)

I paid 3% credit charge foreign currency transaction fees while on vacation last week.

I didn't pay off my credit card bill last month and as a result paued interst on my balence for the first/hopefully last time ever

I dipped into my savings to buy insane $500 tickets to see a band I'd always wanted to see. It was a once-in-a-lifetime show, third-row seats, and I had a wonderful time with lots of fantastic memories, and I've since replaced the money ... but $500 bucks! Damn! That's two-thirds of a month's rent!

@dohtem: Oh man. Me too.

I also convince myself every month that I can wait until the end of the month to make the balance of my checking my dedicated savings, which I do, all $0.12 of it.

I have zero self control. I just bought speakers for the living room and my husband doesn't know yet.

I'm going to set them up and see how long it takes him to notice.

@DrGirlfriend:
I haven't balanced my "checkbook" in about 15 years. I don't really write checks, and keep track of everything online. It works for me.

@DrGirlfriend: Me either. If it weren't for online banking, I would be helpless. It does bother me to think any mistakes in my bank's favor will probably go unnoticed unless they are really obvious. Strangely, I did actually catch an error in my favor once. Damn this conscience of mine!

@missdona: That's why I said "checkbook" - I don't write checks either, but still, I don't keep better track of my expenditures. I do the addition and subtraction as I go and kind of estimate my balance. Heh.

@dohtem: That's me, too. I like to cook, but man, I get lazy sometimes. Especially after an exhausting trip to the grocery store.

these are great, it reminds me of those anonymous Washington Post postcards.

i unlinked my savings and checking, stopped shopping during my lunch break, and even decreased my speed to stay below 3 rpm on the highway to save money on gas (i have a long commute) ... only to plop down $20 a day on lunch with co-workers :o(

i take food to work and everything!

When I lived in New York one of my friends would visit me often, and told me that the attraction of consumerism just being there was so strong that by the end of the week he felt practically drawn to buying things as an activity.

I didn't notice, and by the time I left I was about $10k down, despite making almost 6 figures for the past 3 years. Now (a few years later) I can go to stores without the feeling that I have to buy *something*, which is good.

@CelesteD: post secret

@DrGirlfriend: This thread made me actually cook the groceries I bought on the way home, that I was feeling to tired to cook. It's really sad how that happens.

@missdona: It 'works' for you because you trust the bank and other to not screw up.

My grandmother is a retired business CPA and routinely catches bank errors by balancing her books. The bank never sees the error until you bring it up.

I haven't put anything in savings since November.

That should change, since most of my spending the last couple of months were holiday-related. Should.

@techguy1138: I keep a tight eye on it. I even noticed a random unauthorized $8 ice cream charge.

I can't even think about the amount of money I've blown through in the past year, with very little to show for it.

@DrGirlfriend: I'm so bad at this too! I do a mixture of checks and automatic payments. I've gotten better about checking online.
I'm still feeling guilty about closing out an IRA after starting a new job and not being able to pay all my bills/ having a large tax bill. I have a 401, but I still crappy when I think about my old IRA. *sigh

@balthisar: Is there a better way to avoid this? I only run into this when out of the country so my company is actually paying it, but I honestly never looked at it as a big deal. Considering $1.50+ ATM charges in the US, it seemed like a bargain to have a bank watching my ass in Asia.

I keep procrastinating opening up an IRA.

I pay my credit card bills in full... Wait, this isn't a confession of my money sins as seen by creditors?

@warf0x0r: I just began doing research into IRAs today. My head is officially about to BLOW!

I'm procrastinating the IRA as well.

I'm also procrastinating incorporating myself to stave off the IRS. I'm giving them too much of my 1099 side-gigs.

I have a lot of money in savings, but dont invest it as I probably should. Probably because I know NOTHING about investing & dont want to risk all my $$ I have suffered/worked for all these years working a low-paying job.

I dont have an IRA or any retirement plans (because i am hoping I die before retirement age).

I live quite a simple, frugal life where I have no debt at all, save obsessively (because i have a horrible fear of the future where I become homeless/destitute).... in 2006 I put away about 30% of my income into savings. In 2007 I think it is closer to %45.

I spend way too much money on fast food.

I hope that I die with the majority of my $$$ in the bank. Its my security blanklet against the financial boogeyman.

@forgottenpassword:

I forgot another one.... I dont keep a balanced checkbook. I really dont need to because i keep track of my spending habits & monitor my checking account balance several times a month via my bank's automated customer service line.

I have a stock purchase program at work (20% discount) and don't take advantage of it even though I have the available income.

I have almost zero savings.

I don't balance my checkbook either. I keep track of my expenses well enough, but if the bank makes a mistake, I'd never notice it. And I'm sure they have, but as long as amounts are close to what I expect, I don't bother checking.

Was going to post that I feel guilty for spending the last few months shopping for an IRA rather than actually putting money into one. After reading some of the other comments, I feel slightly better knowing that I'm not the only one.

@forgottenpassword: You really should talk to a financial planner. With the proper guidance, you could easily find an investment plan that you're comfortable with the risk level. And leaving your money in a low-interest savings account is a bad idea because thanks to inflation, you're actually losing money.

@GinaLouise: That's nothing to be ashamed about. We work to earn money so we can enjoy ourselves, and the memories of that concert will last a lifetime.

Three letters: E-T-F. Learn it and invest in it.

@forgottenpassword - Are you kidding me? You oughta be saluted for having the discipline to save that much.

I never do the checkbook register math; I just check off what is deposited, what is cleared, and match things up to what the bank says I have.

Big Confession: Back in the day of banks reading the magnetic bank account numbers on checks I used to spray the numbers down to remove the magnetic property of the ink. Did it on tight months to give myself an extra 3 days of float. Never once bounced a check. (Today it's all optically scanned and my trick would have no affect.)

If I die with any money in the bank, then I've done something wrong..... Just kidding

I haven't made a credit card payment since April. When you have to choose between food and rent or credit card, guess which one gets paid first?

my biggest money sin : not being able to quit smoking.
ugh, I did the math on how much money I would save and it drove me nuts!
I am seriously going to quit this year. (or try to) and make a habit out of setting $ aside each week that I would have burned anyways. (should make for a nice vacation)

@rockergal:
Move to Chicago where Cigarettes cost $7-9/pack and you'll quit real quick. My wife did.

I don't save as much as I should. Getting blindsided by a layoff last July taught me that.

I can honestly say that since making an extreme effort to reduce my CC debt since coming here the year before made a HUGE difference when it came time to paying the bills during my four months of unemployment.

Thank you Consumerist. I'll try to double (or better) the savings I have by the time next year's article rolls around.

@B:

Make that a high-interest savings account.

.... and as for the financial planner.... I just dont have faith in people at all... especially when a certain amount of risk (when handling your money) is to be expected.

The "proper guidance" is what worries me.

i dropped an insane amount of money on last minute business class seats to asia for an unplanned vacation... even though i had alternate plans that i had to cancel :(

I've been off my dad's health insurance since June and have yet to replace it, I'm just going to get into something cheap with catastrophic coverage, but I should do it now. I was in a car crash in November and luckily was relatively unharmed, just a small scratch on my forehead.

@forgottenpassword: But you trust your bank, right? Talk to them. They can help you invest in CDs or bonds, put some money in an IRA. Yes, there are unethical people in the financial industry, but there are honest ones, too. Just don't put all your investments in the same place.

i paid a bunch of bills before new year & then took all the money out of my checking to party it up.

luckily, the float worked this time. =)

Let's see: lost the house and the cars in early '05 after spouse and I lost our jobs. Still paying for my mistakes with extremely painful garnishment that takes half of my check . . . still haven't signed up for the 401K because I feel like I'm barely able to breathe.

I guess the biggest thing to confess is the feeling of hopelessness that gets so overwhelming at times - I'm sure that everyone thinks I'm a failure and wonder if I'll ever see financial daylight.