Control Your Spending: 3 Easy Tips

The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.5 percent in April after a 0.9 percent increase in March, the 10th straight month of increases. The spike in gasoline prices propelled total sales higher by 2.7 percent higher sales -- without gas, retail sales were up only 0.2 percent.

I discussed how Americans are spending now and provided specific tips to help control our bad impulses, with CBS TV stations this morning. Emotional and tired shoppers: beware!

Those three tips to control spending are:

1. Avoid "retail therapy"
2. Tap your friend's self-control
3. Reward good behavior

Jill Schlesinger

Jill Schlesinger, CFP® is the Emmy-nominated business analyst for CBS News. She covers the economy, markets, investing and anything else with a dollar sign on TV, radio (including her nationally syndicated radio show), the web and her blog, "Jill on Money." Prior to her second career at CBS, Jill spent 14 years as the co-owner and chief investment officer for an independent investment advisory firm. She began her career as a self-employed options trader on the Commodities Exchange of New York, following her graduation from Brown University.

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