Dear Quentin, I am a 31-year-old man, not yet married, earning decent money and have no great financial burden in my family. I have learned from your replies to others that many money problems are not only about the numbers — income, rate of return or which stock to buy and when — but also about our personalities, how we behave in life and how we deal with others when money is involved.
I find it difficult to reject the constant offers of new sessions with trainers at my gym or the salespeople who keep trying to upgrade my membership. I’ve spent a fortune. They are good at their job, but they suffocate me by constantly approaching me for more subscriptions. I haven’t even completed half of my classes and they are already trying to rip me off again. Their usual tactics are, first, harassing me into buying by buzzing my phone for one hour straight; second, pretending to be friendly with me and then asking for a favor (usually a subscription to another gym class); and third, offering some small benefit (like hooking me up with one of their other students for a date) and then guilt-tripping me into subscribing to more classes.
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