NEW YORK, June 19 (Reuters) - Beth Martin may be a

designer in Charleston, South Carolina, but, in her head, she is

in the south of France, touring a 1700s chateau.

Real estate site Zillow ( ZG ) is where Martin tends to take a

break, procrastinate and wonder what she would buy if money were

no object.

"I'm not really going to buy all these things, whether it's

an $11 million house or a $30,000 vintage Hermes bag," laughs

Martin, 40. "But I do like to look at them. That's my

daydreaming."

Martin is hardly alone. There is even a term for her hobby:

"Dreamscrolling," according to financial services firm Empower.

Empower's new study found that Americans spend 2.5 hours a

day, or 873 hours per year, modern-day window shopping and

gazing at dream purchases.

"It's an outlet for everything they're dreaming about -

picturing their ideal retirement, looking at homes, picking

vacation destinations," says Rebecca Rickert, head of

communications for Empower.

It's the opposite of 'doomscrolling,' the term popularized

by Canadian journalist Karen K. Ho at the height of the COVID

pandemic.

Since we all tend to ingest so much bad news all day long,

Ho - now a senior writer at ARTNews - became known as the

"doomscrolling reminder lady," telling people to put down their

phones once in awhile. Ho suggests we also should be careful

about dreamscrolling. Fun and distracting as it may be, we

cannot spend all day in a dreamy haze about Bali or high-end

bathroom remodels.

"It's worth remembering that real life is messier than

whatever people are dreamscrolling," she says. "Homeowners

dealing with interest rates or home reno projects gone bad;

travel influencers struggling with loneliness, burnout, and

constant logistics; fitness influencers with body dysmorphia and

endless, restrictive diets."

As long as you do not go overboard, the Empower study found

dreamscrolling can be a positive thing - defining what we want

out of life and devising action. Indeed, 71% of respondents said

dreamscrolling motivated them to reach their financial goals,

Rickert says.

Some of the most common stuff we are pining for: Shoes and

accessories (49%), tech gadgets (30%), home decor and furniture

(29%), vacation spots (25%), beauty or self-care products (23%),

and homes or apartments (21%).

Here are three ways to avoid overspending for the dreamers

out there.

SET LIMITS

If you are browsing homes or vacation spots to de-stress

after a hard day at work, fine. But you might want to scale back

your online time if those brief breaks start turning into

multiple hours every day, hurting productivity. Members of Gen Z

do it most, spending more than three hours a day dreamscrolling.

"It is always worth setting time limits on social media apps

like Instagram and TikTok, and thinking about whether browsing

Zillow ( ZG ) is fun or causes stress," says Ho. "It is also worth

remembering the people making travel and real estate content

have very specific aims and motivations - likes, shares,

subscribers."

MAKE A CONCRETE PLAN

Let's say dreamscrolling has led you to desire actually

making a particular purchase or experience. Where the rubber

meets the road is taking steps to get there.

"The most rewarding thing to do is to use a dream as

inspiration for an actual plan to do something," Ho says.

"Figure out how much money and energy is required, and then go

through the process of saving for it and doing the work

involved," says Ho, who used this framework to plan a trip to

France with her mom in September.

PUT AWAY THE TRIGGER FINGER

File your dream purchases for future reference by stashing

an item in an online shopping cart or keeping an open tab.

Do not get swept away and immediately click "Buy", because

the cost of all impulse purchases totals a whopping $86,593.40

on average, according to the Empower study.

That could obviously put you in a deep financial hole. So

look, but do not buy until you think it over and crunch the

numbers.

"It's the era of the abandoned shopping cart," says Rickert.

"In fact, almost a third of people said dreamscrolling helps

them avoid unplanned purchases. It helps them sort through what

they really want."

(Editing by Lauren Young and David Gregorio)