If you’re sticking to your diet, you might not be sticking to your budget. A study in the March issue of the Journal of Consumer Research indicates that people who have exercised self-control in some other area are more prone to make impulse purchases.

People need self-regulatory control to avoid impulse buying but if their resources of self-control are depleted by something else, like a new exercise or diet program, they are less likely to be able to muster the sales resistance necessary.

So, if your husband wants to know why you bought so much at the mall, just tell him “I’m dieting”.

On a diet? You’ll spend more on impulse purchases

The US Mint is gearing up to issue a series of commemorative dollar coins honoring the accomplishment of America’s first ladies.

The first in the series will be Martha Washington, shown mending a soldier’s uniform. Each coin will depict some heroic or patriotic deed performed by the president’s wife for each administration.

Thomas Jefferson did not have a wife at the time of his presidency and so the coin will have the symbol of Lady Liberty to represent his administration.

The government has failed before to generate interest in $1 coins having previously issued coins commerating Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea. The coins honoring the first ladies are expected to cost more than $300 each and will be gold-colored. They should be available early next year.

At the same time the mint will begin cirulating a presidential series of $1 coins. Both the first ladies series and the presidential series will be coming out early next year.

A study by the Consumer Federation of America shows that single women are the most likely to get subprime rates on mortgages.

What’s more, women are likely to receive subprime loans regardless of income level. Although, on average, women have better credit histories than men, they are more likely than men to receive more expensive mortgages. And the disparity rises as income levels rise. In the lowest income brackets the rate of women receiving subprime rate mortgages is only slightly higher than men, but women earning twice the median income are 28.1% more likely to receive a subprime loan.

Meanwhile, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, it is these types of loans which become unsustainable and are most likely to fall delinquent or subject to foreclosure.

Women Most Likely to Receive Subprime Home Loans

According to the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, today’s workers are at risk of having insufficient resources at retirement. With lifespans lengthening, the retirement age rising and poorly funded 401K accounts, the baby boomer faces an uncertain future.

But housing equity is growing and offers at least one source of retirement funding for the baby boomer – a reverse mortgage.

In Will Reverse Mortgages Rescue the Baby Boomers? by Andrew D. Eschtruth, Wei Sun, and Anthony Webb, the authors explore the complicated subject of accessing home equity through reverse mortgages.