It's one of the most interesting stretching your dollar segments yet! From the one word that tricks your brain into spending money-- to the trap you need to avoid the next time you go shopping-- we look at the psychology of money.

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Hard to earn, easy to spend, bankrate.com breaks down the mental games we play when it comes to money.

First, the word "free": behavioral economists say the word "free" should serve as a warning to slow down before buying.

"It is such a tantalizing offer- something given to you for free. You don't judiciously evaluate it. That's the seduction of it, I think," says Portland State University Business School Associate Professor Charla Mathwick. She notes the word "free" is designed for one thing:

"To get people to act and not really evaluate what it is that's being offered for free relative to what you're really having to commit to."

Also, from homes to appliances and beyond-- don't fall for the 'anchor-price' trap: our brains are wired to judge every price for an object against the first one we see. So that expensive home, that top end appliance, that out-of-your-price range car-- that you saw *first*-- will make the next, less-expensive ones seem like a steal even if those are still more money than you wanted to spend.

"If the salesperson knows what they're doing they will establish an anchor with the top price and it's very clear through psychological research that we anchor our decision making around perceptions that we walk in with or things that we are introduced to," says Professor Mathwick.

One trick: go for coffee and think it over. The act of leaving the store will help reset your financial mindset.

And finally, consider this says bankrate.com: you go to a store to buy a lamp for $100. A mile farther, another store sells that lamp for $50. Would you drive the mile to save $50? Of course.

Now imagine you want to buy an appliance for $5,000. A mile farther a store sells it for $4950. Would you drive the mile in that case? Many people wouldn't.

"Your reference point is becoming distorted and your willingness to take action is really manipulated all over the place based on the context that you're buying in," says Professor Mathwick.

So, just consider the mental game of money the next time you want to stretch your dollar.

Here are more mental mind games we play when it comes to money: http://www.bankrate.com/nltrack/news/retirement/20081009_psychological_money_traps_a1.asp