If you are one of the many home buyers hitting the real estate market this spring and summer, you are likely very conscious of your spending and how it will impact your ability to buy a home. However, you may be inadvertently setting yourself up for financial ruin with some common money management slip-ups that consumers make. The financial experts at the Equifax Finance blog recently published a list of some of the most common mistakes with “

Eight Ways You’re Destroying Your Finances.”

Here are just a few:

1. Renting-to-own: You will end up paying much more than the item is worth with these offers. The small payments may seem like an attractive option, but you will likely spend more than if you had saved the money for the item and pay for it in full with cash when you have enough to do so.
2. Not planning for retirement: If you ever want to retire, you must start saving for it now. Social Security will likely not be enough to support yourself, and you can’t plan on someone else taking care of you financially in your older years.
3. Not having a backup plan: Be sure to have adequate insurance in the event of a death, disability, accident or illness.
4. Taking care of others first: Many people put their own credit, finances and retirement behind the needs of others. It’s important to remember that caring for your own finances and future is just as important as caring for others.

Get the full list of eight ways you may be destroying your finances in the article on the Equifax Finance blog. While there, read any of the many other personal finance articles, which cover topics from credit to insurance to taxes, savings, identity theft protection and more.