Advertising is used to masterfully engage the mind of the consumer to motivate him or her to buy the advertised product. Advertising is about more than just selling products, but about branding.

Branding refers to the process of impressing a company name or a product name onto society’s collective brain. You want to get the product’s name firmly planted in people’s heads. The advertiser does not necessarily expect you to do anything today — the advertiser simply wants to impress itself on your consciousness.¹

Catchy Slogans. Do these slogans call to mind their product: Breakfast of champions, You’re in good hands, When you care enough to send the very best and Just do it! These slogans appeal to our emotions and pride, they can make us feel like we need to use this particular product or drive that particular car when something of lesser value will suffice.

Testimonials. Often times celebrities or sport stars are used to recommend a product advertisers want us to buy, as if some how we will become like that person. The power of persuasion.

Direct Commands or Buzz Words. Buy Now. Limited Quantities. New and Improved. While Supplies Last. Final Sale. A sense of urgency is created like we’re going to miss out on something if we don’t buy now. Try listening to QVC for an hour and then ask yourself why you thought purchasing a ceramic rooster for your kitchen was a good idea when you’re not a collector.

Sense of Smell. It’s not by accident that most everything we buy today from shampoo to dryer sheets have a scent associated with it, even bug spray no longer stinks, but smells of flowers. Advertisers want us to have a psychological experience when we use their product so we’ll keep buying it.

It’s no surprise that millions of dollars are spent on advertising during the super bowl or that the typical American is exposed to over 3,000 commercial messages, online advertisements, magazine and billboard ads a day. Advertising can either be a great slave or a horrible master. How much does advertising influence your purchasing power?

[Money Monday topics will now appear on any given Monday].

1. HowStuffWorks.com

I’m in the process of trying to integrate my personal website or at least give it the same look as my blog: my cut and paste version. My photographs have been moved to Flickr and can be viewed there or through this blog, the link is up top.

Anywho, a few days ago I got an email from Yahoo saying that their domain renewal will increase from $12.95 to $34.95. I have 8 domains registered with Yahoo and four with another registrar. I’m giving up the ones I don’t need.

As for the rest, I’m moving to another company, which registers them privately (something Yahoo charges extra for) for under $10. I don’t know why a domain name would cost $34.95, but if that is the going rate, someone please enlighten me. How much do you pay?

PS – Oh, I forgot to mention, that in the future if my blog is down, it’s because I’m changing registrars. I’ll be back. I’m testing a transfer now on a domain I want to keep to see how things work out.

Is there a such thing as being too successful for a mate? In this case I’m talking about a successful woman.

Of course. women have no problem dating a successful man and when I say successful, I mean doing well financially.

“Typically” the man is thought of as the breadwinner or the financial provider in the relationship.

That’s not so much the case today, women have their “stuff” together. We are smart, driven, we have careers, we own homes, we’re educated and may not be financially dependent on a man.

However being successful and dating doesn’t always go together. Some men are intimated and insecure about a woman who has achieved a measure of success that out weighs his own. He may feel that if she has all these “things” then why is he needed.

I came across this quote from a guy on this topic and he said: I’m not intimidated by successful women, but I’m not exactly comfortable with them in the long-term, neither.

Is the thought of being too successful an “issue” that women create or is it time for the men to get over their insecurities and learn to embrace her success?

Photo by LongHairBroad

Below is a brief and somewhat comical soap opera-ish video on this disease.

{vidavee id=”8178″ w=”320″ }

In a poll released last week (there’s a poll and study for everything, which I find to be a waste of money, but then we’d have no numbers) it showed that because of debt “23 percent of people had severe depression, 51 percent had muscle tension and 27 percent had ulcers or digestive tract problems”. Debt not only affects people financially, but also physically.

I will admit, it’s not easy delaying pleasure when it comes to spending money and buying stuff. I love nice things, I want nice things, I feel I deserve nice things, but I’m not willing to go into debt (any more) to get them. Not wanting to continue making payments on stuff for the rest of my life keeps my Affluenza bug under control. How do you go about keeping your life simple or have you been bitten? Has debt caused you any health (loss of sleep) problems? If so, what do you plan to do about it?

]]> http://thinkingoutloudblog.com/do-you-suffer-from-affluenza/feed/ 23 http://thinkingoutloudblog.com/friends-and-money/ http://thinkingoutloudblog.com/friends-and-money/#comments Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:30:24 +0000 Natural http://valeriemorrison.net/blog/?p=217 Q. What’s the quickest way to destroy a friendship?

A. Lend them money.

Okay maybe this is not true with everyone, there are some friends that we can lend money to and then there are friends that we shouldn’t lend money to, but we do anyway because: we’re friends, until they don’t pay us back.

Last week a friend of mine called, and I won’t mention any names, but their initials are Pat Johnson (ha ha, couldn’t resist, not their real name) and asked to borrow a couple thousand dollars. When I was resuscitated we continued the conversation and I said I don’t have it to lend, but I would be happy to sit down with them and help get their finances in order. I know that wasn’t the response they wanted to hear and I felt bad but trying to borrow our way out of debt just digs us into a deeper hole that’s harder to get out.

Personally, I don’t lend money. I have in the past, but IF I have it and you need it, I rather just give it to you. I can’t deal with lending someone money and then watching them not pay me back. They do and buy everything else with money and all I can think about is when are they going to pay ME back.

How would you have handled this situation? Have you ever loaned money to a friend and not been paid back? Are you still friends? Would you do it again? What about lending money to family members?

“Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an extremely important role in human societies.” Wikipedia

Several times while listening to a personal finance radio show I’ve heard callers call in about their inheritance from parents who are not even dead yet. It amazes me how some people feel a sense of entitlement just because they breath air, like they did something truly remarkable to deserve their inheritance.

I thought an inheritance was a gift and not a right.

This just got me thinking, how do you feel about what your parents have accumulated, if anything? Would it be ‘okay’ if they left you with nothing or would you feel like you’ve been jipped.

Do you ever wonder if your parents are spending your inheritance?

I have a few financial books that I will be giving away on any given Monday for FREE! All you have to do is send me an email at vdm17 [at] yahoo dot com with the words, Get Out of Debt in the subject line.

One email will be chosen at random and the winner will be announced the following Monday. (I will accept email entries up until June 1st at 11:59 pm). This giveaway is not limited to the USA, I’ll be happy to ship overseas because you guys have money over there too. The book I’m giving away is How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt and Live Prosperously. You can read some reviews about this book on Amazon here.

An excerpt from the back of the book says you’ll learn:

• How to recognize the warning signs of serious debt
• How to negotiate with angry creditors, collection agencies, and the IRS
• How to design a realistic and painless pay-back schedule
• How to identify your spending blind spots
• How to cope with the anxiety and daily pressures of owing money
• Plus the three cardinal rules for staying out of debt forever, and much more!

I know not everyone has debt, but if you’re interested in reading this book or know of someone who would benefit from it, then send me an email. I’m closing the comments for the book giveaways since the entry is via email.

I was surprised she realized how easy it is to emotionally detach from how much we’re actually spending when we use a debit/credit card.

This is true of me as well. Very rarely do I use cash in my day to day purchases, sometimes it doesn’t register that I’ve just spent X amount of money when I’ve used my debit card. I can make purchases without ever having to physically touch money. I have my paycheck direct-deposited, I use my debit card for most purchases, I pay my bills on-line, I transfer money between accounts and even to other people. Spending money doesn’t seem real anymore. I just bought a new computer, if I had to put that same amount of money down on the counter to buy it, it probably would “sting” a little more. I ordered it online and all I had to do is key in a few numbers and wait.

A few times I went into the grocery store with just cash and I found myself thinking if I really needed an item or was there a cheaper alternative. When I use my debit card, shopping is almost an emotionless activity, I do buy a lot more stuff when I use plastic.

A few weeks ago I had $10 cash and I thought I was rich and wanted to get my car washed inside and out. However when I got to the car wash, I was presented with a few choices. I could spend $1.99 (I know, cheap car wash) for a car wash and an additional $1.00 if I vacuumed the inside myself or I could spend $8.00 for full service and have them clean the inside. When it came time to pay the man, with cash in my hand, I just couldn’t get the $8.00 wash, I chickened out and paid him $2.00 and cleaned the inside for $1.00 myself.

I know it’s not a lot of money for a car wash, but when I use cash my purchases are a little more selective and suddenly I don’t need stuff. Do you think using plastic encourages increased spending? Sure, we can only spend what cash we have, but it kind of makes you wonder just why life takes Visa.

Whether you are married or single with significant other, discussions about money are bound to come up. Often times, these discussions turn into arguments, sometimes fights and even possibly divorce. Some couples avoid the money topic completely to maintain peace within the relationship, but that won’t work forever. So just how do you avoid arguments about money?

Communicate. If you want to avoid arguing about money, then you can’t be afraid to talk about it. Don’t wait until you are months into a relationship to at least start talking about some aspect of money. Some married couples have found it helpful to have frequent discussions about the family finances. If you are dating and marriage is imminent, don’t wait until you say “I do” to find out if you’re on the same page financially. If you’re single and dating, don’t wait until the check is on the table to decide who’s going to pick up the tab. Try to establish as much as you can before you’re faced with the situation.

Avoid Blame. Replace you with I. I’m no counselor of any kind, but I find this works with most arguments. Instead of pointing the finger at the other person saying: YOU spend too much, or YOU don’t know how to manage money try talking about your feelings. I feel scared about our financial future or I feel that we can do better with our finances. You can relax a person’s defenses by not starting a conversation with their faults. Avoid placing blame, nobody likes to be accused, even if they are in the wrong.

Be Satisfied. Be content with what you have instead of spending money on things you don’t need. Before you buy, ask yourself some questions: Is it really necessary to upgrade to the latest model? Do we really need a 52″ HD TV? Learning to be satisfied will help you live within your financial means without the added stress and money fights. Sometimes good enough really is just that, good enough.

Set Goals. Money is like time, if you don’t have a plan for it, eventually it will be gone. Setting financial goals as a couple or as a single person leaves less room for haphazardly spending money on stuff. Set specific goals, i.e. we would like to save $10,000 in 5 months or I would like to save $15,000 in 6 months. Keeping your goals in mind will help stave off frivolous spending.

These are just my top four ways, how do you and yours keep from having arguments about money? Do you mingle the money together or do you believe in yours, mine and ours?

Photo of couple by: Rojo.com
Photo in poll by DatingDames.com

If you are reading this in your RSS Reader, there is a poll within this post on my blog. Be sure to cast your vote!

Opinion Polls & Market Research

It’s in There – You have money, but you don’t know how much you have in your wallet. Mainsha Thakor, co-author of On My Own Two Feet, describes the Ostrich as “People who are afraid to see the reality of their financial situation.” You have your head in the sand about your finances.

Running on Empty – No matter how many times you go to the ATM, you can’t seem to keep money in your wallet and you don’t know where you spent it. This person “likely wants to know where the money is going and may be frustrated by an inability to stop spending.”

Chaotic Cash – Your money is “crumpled up and in no particular order”. You have a cavalier idea toward money and you don’t respect it. I always said money was a woman, if you don’t treat her right and show her respect her, she’ll be gone.

Unruly Receipts – If you keep receipts in your wallet, it shows that you are trying to get a handle on your money, but you don’t know how to get started.

File Folder Funds – If all your bills are turned the same way, you have great financial habits. You know how much money is in your wallet, when your bills are due and how much money is in your accounts.

Right now, my wallet is a mess. I have loose change and bills in my purse (normally I don’t carry cash, but I have a few one dollar bills, I’m rich, lol). I can’t stand a messy wallet or purse, but it does kind of mimic my personal life right now. When I have money all my bills face the same direction, change in its place.

Which one of the above matches your wallet? Do you think it’s a reflection of your finances or it’s just a wallet, it has nothing to do with your financial situation or behavior.