Many people who spend too much have commonpersonality characteristics. To isolate these, Money asked 15 psychologists, credit counselors and financial planners to draw up this checklist. True or false:

1. You spend money on the expectation that your income will rise.
2. You take cash advances on one credit card to pay off another.
3. You spend over 20 percent of your income on credit-card bills.
4. You often fail to keep an accurate record of you purchases.
5. You have applied for more than five cards in the past year.
6. You regularly pay for groceries with a credit card because you need to.
7. You often hide your credit-card purchases from your family.
8. Owning several credit cards makes you feel richer.
9. You pay off your monthly credit-card bills, but let others slide.
10. You like to collect cash from friends in restaurants, then charge the tab on your credit card.
11. You almost always make only the minimum payment on your credit-card bill.
12. You have trouble imagining you life without credit.

Scoring
1-4 true answers. You can probably keep going. You don't seem to splurge uncontrollably.
5-8 true answers. Slow down, you have entered the caution zone. It's time to draw up a budget, pay off bills, and re-evaluate spending habits.
9-12 true answers. You must stop. It may be wisem to consult a credit counselor or financial planner for help in changing your habits.

If you would like more information about this inventory or your scoring, email the ICC at ifeac@aol.com, call the ICC at 1-800-283-1633, or visit the Alcoholics Anonymous website at www.alcoholics-anonymous.org