An update from NEFE

Greenwood Village, Colo. - Oct. 23, 2008 - As financial and credit
markets constrict, a new social media Web site launches today that
allows people to calculate the true cost of unnecessary purchases, often
regretted in hindsight, while they share them via personal videos or
photos.
Spendster.org, built by the National Endowment for Financial
Education(r) (NEFE(r)), allows people to share their purchases they now
regret while they rate and discuss those of others. The site also
provides tools to calculate how costly items like unopened DVDs and
spotless coffee makers really are and how much could have been saved if
that money were put to more productive use.
Spendster is the brainchild of Ted Beck, president and CEO of NEFE. In
addition to video and photo uploads, the site also provides a calculator
that determines the actual cost of unnecessary and under-utilized
purchases if paid for via credit card, how much these expenditures could
have generated for retirement 40 years hence and even how much richer
you'd be today if you'd put that same amount into Google stock in 2004.
The inspiration for Spendster came to Beck on a flight to Los Angeles.
"Listen, everyone has a drawer full with junk. I doubt anyone has really
sat down to think about how much money they've spent on it all," said
Beck. "For example, someone may find they spent the equivalent of four
college tuition credits on shoes and handbags."
NEFE hopes that Spendster.org will demonstrate to consumers the
long-term financial effects of buyer's remorse while beginning to
educate consumers on their own personal financial needs and
capabilities.
"The time is certainly right for consumers to rethink their spending,"
Beck said. "This site is a fun, slightly tongue-in-cheek way to discuss
what can be serious money."