their family they are most likely to talk to about daily spending matters, one in three (29%) said they consult their spouses. Mom was identified 21% of the time and dad was third at 11%. Other relatives held much less significant roles: brothers, daughters and sons (3% each), grandmothers and sisters (2% each), and grandfathers (0.3%). Nearly a fifth of respondents (19%) said they weren't likely to talk to anyone else about their daily finances. Big-ticket purchases We also asked who people talked to about big-ticket purchases, and there, too, parental influence waned. Spouses were first in line for talking about major purchases, such as a house or car. More than a third of the respondents (37%) would consult a spouse about big-ticket items. Only 14% seek mom's advice and 12% go to dad. Nearly a fifth of respondents (18%) said they consulted with no one else. Other family members held much less sway over major purchases: brothers (4%), sisters (3%), sons and daughters (2% each), grandmothers (1%), both parents equally (0.4%) and grandfathers (0.4%). The gender gap The poll results showed that men and women are split along traditional gender lines when it comes to who they view as models for their own financial habits. Women were slightly more likely than men to follow mom's lead (30% versus 23%) while men were slightly more likely than women to go along with dad's guidance (25% versus 18%). Similarly, among those who said they were influenced most by a spouse, women were more likely (16% versus 10%) to look to their husbands as financial role models than men were to emulate their wives. The same type of gender bias was evident when seeking advice about big-ticket purchases. Men were nearly twice more likely than women (16% versus 9%) to seek out dad's advice on home or car purchases. Parents -- either mom or dad -- were identified as the primary influencers by nearly half (48%) of those polled. Those results mirror data collected by the National Endowment for Financial Education. The nonprofit group promotes financial literacy through its smartaboutmoney.org website. Long-range surveys of young adults tracked since 2007 by the foundation with the help of researchers at the University of Arizona show parents are the primary influencers of our financial behaviors and attitudes. That research does not give a breakdown for which parent carries more influence. "The stronger the relationship with the parents, the higher the sense of well-being, not only financially but in general, and the fewer risky financial behaviors young adults are likely to take, like using one credit card to pay off another one, going without health insurance to manage their cash flow or using high interest loans," says Seaman, the foundation's director of communications. Linfield cites an historical basis for mom edging out dad in financial influence. She points to the 1841 publication of "A Treatise on Domestic Economy," written by Catherine Beecher. The book was the basis of modern day home economics courses and taught women how to run their households, including managing money. "This would have been the book that you would have given to young women when they were leaving home to start a marriage." Over the years, moms typically have been the role models children see managing their family resources. "Traditionally, moms really did control the family finances," Linfield says. "Men earned it and women managed it." Amy Tiemann, a mother and author of the book "Mojo Mom: Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family," agrees that moms set the standard. "It's more of what our children see us doing with our behavior and not as much as what we say." Tiemann says she learned well from her own mother, who was a bookkeeper. "I knew my mom was very responsible. I knew my parents wouldn't charge anything on a credit card that they couldn't pay off right away. When I went to college and got that magical first credit card, I never overspent. I knew that was what my mom wanted to me to do because that's not what she did. She was a very positive example. I've seen other family members who have had problems with money. It made me not want to follow in their footsteps." 'Influence' isn't necessarily good Financial literacy and credit counseling experts were quick to point out that there can be two sides to parental influence. Depending on how well -- or poorly -- mom and dad managed their own financial affairs, their influence could be a tale of the good, the bad and the ugly. "If a mother is telling her children to, 'Make sure you save carefully, and make sure you really need it before you buy it,' but mom goes out regularly to the mall and has a big impulse purchase, they are going to learn more from what they are observing than what she says," says Tiemann, founder of the mojomom.com website, an online forum and resource for mothers. The CreditCards.com poll showed one out of four adults (25%) said they consulted neither parent and either relied on themselves or no one else to influence their financial habits. Financial literacy experts speculate that these people may have had negative parental role models. "They are going out and getting financial information on their own because they don't want to replicate what they've seen, making a conscious decision that, 'I'm not going to live that way,'" says Linfield. Linfield notes that learning bad financial habits can be seen in patterns across generations of families using high-cost, money lending establishments that proliferate in urban and inner-city communities. "You have multiple generations where they are cashing the check at the convenience store, which is more expensive than a bank or a credit union, because that's what mom did and that's what grandma did. They don't know otherwise, or they've been taught not to trust those [banking] institutions," Linfield says. "The kids have lea