Bad Money Habits--and Eight Steps Toward Changing Them

They say humans are creatures of habit. And this is especially true when it comes to how we manage our money -- which is probably why revising our bad money habits ranks as the most popular New Year's Resolution, hands down. Not only are bad money habits pervasive and dramatically impact our everyday lives and our futures, changing them seems to be an enterprise of its own.

What exactly are the money habits that Americans so desperately want to reverse?

Impulse spending, for one -- a recent survey conducted by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) revealed that four out of five American adults have made impulse buys in the past year -- and 66% later regretted at least one of these impulse purchases.