Bargain Quest

At our house we don’t rant, we tirade.

I’m going to tirade about MSN Money’s “Savvy Spending Quiz: What kind of spender are you?” Sounds kinda fun, right? Like Cosmo Girl “Who’s your celebrity style inspiration?” or “What species of cute, cuddly rainforest animal would you be?” I was definitely expecting results putting me in a category, maybe with a cute name.

As it turns out, there are only 2 kinds of spenders: Savvy and everyone else. It’s very obvious which the “right” answers are (Hint: most of them include the word “budget”!). The results/answers are rather condescending - “You answered xxxxx. Correct answer: No, you do this you moron!” Most of the time, it’s not even a polite “you should.”

3 questions in particular bugged me:

11. A friend calls to tell you about a once-in-a-lifetime ski weekend. You have nothing set aside for such a trip. You:
-Decline and promise yourself that you’ll start a ski fund.
-Review your credit card balances and try to get enough money from cash advances.
-Accept. You’ll figure out the details later.
-Decide to take a loan from your 401(k), your dad, your girlfriend. You’ve got to go!

I can’t answer this question. I would have a special fund for once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. I don’t believe budgets and sponteneity are mutually exclusive.

16. You’re expecting your first baby. You:
-Draw up a new budget.
-Buy a bigger house.
-Treat yourself to a last super vacation as a couple.
-Feel depressed; you’re not financially successful enough to be a parent.

I would argue A, B and C are all potentially justifiable answers (especially C). But remember my hint about the budgets? Answer B or C and the quiz will tell you Correct answer: A new child changes a family’s budget dramatically. Adjust accordingly. Duh.

19. You’re shopping for a home. You:
-Go for broke; you’ll grow into the payments.
-Decide how much house you can afford before you shop and stick with it.
-You’ve been shopping for years, but you can’t bring yourself to make such a big commitment.
-Realize you’ll never own a home because your credit rating is too seriously impaired.

Pick C and you find out Correct answer: It’s tough to stay in a budget when you’re shopping for a home, but if you don’t, you could be house rich and cash poor. Not a good combination. Were you listening? I said I can’t make that commitment, not that I’m overspending. Generic answer, no attempt made at a personalized one.

Obviously, I am taking a short, simple quiz way too seriously, and I assume I am not the audience it is targeting. Perhaps I just take issue with the all-too-common writing a quiz for the sake of writing a quiz. The results have no added value, and are falsely advertised as giving insight into your spending habits and areas for improvement.

If you want to learn about budgeting and finance, by all means skip the quiz and just read the articles from MSN Money. If you’re still dying to know what kind of spender you are and maybe make some changes, I found this assessment of the “7 Spending personalities” by Grady Cash. The 7 types are explained here along with some tips for improvement. The results promote the author’s book, but there’s at least a remote possibility of gaining insight.