" as individuals and families juggle the pressures of rising prices, lower savings and higher costs on their debts."It's obviously a time for many people of rising stress levels with respect to their personal finances," said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.
"We've seen over the past year that there's less and less wiggle room in people's budgets," McClary said. As prices and interest rates have gone up, it's a good time to think about putting off unnecessary purchases, according to Hamrick. In the years Bankrate has been doing surveys on top financial regrets, respondents never regret not spending more money, Hamrick noted. But the regret that often ranks highly is not saving more for long-term goals such as emergency savings or retirement, he said.