It’s easy to promise that we won’t spend excess money as we’re sequestered away in our living rooms, relaxing in our easy chairs. But when we’re standing within arm’s reach of the best-looking jacket we’ve ever seen, well, that easy chair promise seems so very far away. That jacket has jumped into our psyches and hit directly on the hard-to-ignore impulse button.

Hey, there’s nothing wrong with rewarding yourself once in awhile with an off-the-chart purchase. After all, you keep your nose to the grindstone; a little reward can be in order. The problem steps in when that reward becomes more of a standard practice, happening on a regular basis. Your budget could suffer, which in turn means you could suffer down the road.

The object here is to put some real clamps on impulse buying. But how? The peeps at Freeintenyears.com have some tips.

Bank On MOre is a campaign developed by the Missouri Credit Union Association (MCUA) to raise awareness about credit unions in Missouri and our distinct differences from banks. You will see this campaign all around the area.

So you know the benefits of being a member of a credit union, but your friends and family don’t. Here’s a quick list of what credit unions offer that banks don’t, from the Bank On MOre campaign:

Ahhhhh, a new car! Check you out! But as great as it feels to close the door on that new car smell, reality tells us a new vehicle isn’t exactly the best investment. We don’t mean to be Debbie Downer, but did you know a new car can lose 15% to 20% of its value the instant you drive it off the dealer’s lot? Ugh.

So what if a few months down the line, you’re fiddling with your new radio and don’t see that dog in the road until the last instant? You veer madly to one side (not hitting the dog...whew!), but you do slam into a telephone pole. You’re not injured, but your new car has suffered life-threatening damages. This could be where GAP insurance comes into play.

East St. Louis. Florissant. Sunset Hills. Warrenton. Vantage has a presence throughout the St. Louis Metro area. We’ve been entrenched in the community for over 55 years now, and we consider ourselves lucky to be in a position to give back, whether through donations or services. Here are just a few things we’re proud of:

It’s the number one consumer complaint received by the Federal Trade Commission.

Its numbers increased by 13% in 2011.

Its victims numbered over 11.6 million last year.

Yep, people are still out there trying to steal your identity. They think nothing of using your good name to create bad scenarios. But identity theft isn’t an equal-opportunity crime, some of us are at greater risk simply because of our behavior. How’s your risk factor?

So you were hurrying to work, late for a meeting, and you backed out of the driveway a little too quickly...YIPE! YIPE! YIPE! It’s all right, Gizmo is going to be fine...after a hefty vet bill. And you were just getting ahead financially. Sheesh. File it under “Life Happens.”

Kids. Car trouble. Spending spree. Unexpected illness. Yes, life happens, with or without our consent. It’s filled with twists and turns, many times with expenses for which we haven’t planned.

And when life happens, everyone has a story to tell.

A fat wallet is usually seen as a good thing. To many, it means you’re flush; you have plenty of cash. On the other, more literally hand, it simply means you’ve got too darn much stuff crammed in that cowhide safety deposit box. What good is that fishing license from 1986 anyway? Do you really need that movie rental card good only in Puerto Rico?