rss
11

Holiday Budgeting: Making Tough Choices In A Recovering Economy.

Recently the news has been buzzing that the Great Recession is over, and recovery is on the way. However, with 15.1 million Americans out of work and about 30% of US factory capacity remaining idle, it’s clear that the economy is going to impact many families this holiday season. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), two-thirds of American families are going to be adjusting their holiday shopping plans.

You might be tempted to pull out the credit cards and charge this year’s holiday gifts, décor and travel, because the economy is getting better. It’s never a good idea to count on a windfall before it happens. Rather than spend money you don’t have, put the credit cards away and use cash or a debit card. According to the Annual Holiday Survey conducted by the non-profit group Consolidated Credit Counseling Services Inc. over 54 percent of respondents said they would spend less money this year due to the economy and feeling like they are carrying too much debt already.

Here are some tips to get the most out of your holiday shopping:

  • Create a Holiday Budget – Don’t start your holiday shopping until you know how much you have to spend. NRF estimates that the average consumer is going to spend $682.74 on this year’s holiday-related shopping. Ideally, your holiday budget shouldn’t include adding more debt to your credit cards.
  • Make a Holiday Shopping List –Write down a list of everyone you want to give a holiday gift to this year, the type of gift, and the dollar amount you want to spend on each person. Make sure the amounts don’t exceed your overall holiday budget. If you budget doesn’t stretch far enough, consider getting group gifts or making a few homemade gifts. Make your list early enough to give you time to shop for holiday deals.
  • Search for Holiday Deals – Black Friday and other sales events are right around the corner. Some sites, like Black-Friday.net, were created just to track that popular sales event. You can also visit bargain hunting sites like FatWallet.com and DealHunting.com, and search Twitter for coupons using CheepTweet.com and CouponTweet.com. If you’re shopping online, take into account the cost of shipping. Make sure you’re really getting a good deal.
  • Leave the Credit Cards at Home – People spend more when paying with plastic instead of cash. The easiest way to avoid putting your holiday purchases on the credit cards is to leave them at home.
  • Stick to Your Holiday Shopping List – When you’re at the store, buying the holiday gifts, resist the temptation to stray from your shopping list. Remember if you never intended to get it in the first place, then you’re not saving any money if you buy additional sales items.

If you have a popular gift that you absolutely have to have this holiday season, make sure to get it early. Retailers are expecting a soft sales season this year, and have cut back on their inventory to prevent too many markdowns at the end of the season. It’s very possible that once the item is gone from the shelves, it won’t be back till after the holidays.

About the Author: Kathryn Katz is a single mom, internet marketer and professional copywriter. Kathryn is a Certified Personal Finance Counselor and works for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services. The non-profit credit counseling agency offers the Holiday Survival Guide to help holiday shoppers.

11

Leaving My Bank – Comparing Online Bank Accounts.

Elisa Cundiff is the guest blogger today, she is the Outreach Coordinator at Thrive, a free online budgeting tool.

Every morning I review all my financial accounts on Thrive, but last Thursday, I noticed something strange: a “$3 non-Citi atm fee”. This was an additional $3 that my bank was penalizing me with for not using a Citi-bank machine. This means that I’m paying upwards of $6 every time I withdraw money from an ATM, because I live in a town where there are no Citi-bank ATMs.

I called Citibank and threatened to switch banks unless they dropped the fee in the future. The refused, and now I’m stuck with finding another bank. But since I’m at it, I’d like to find a really good one! At least one that meets my needs right now, so that I’m not in the same place a month down the road, with another poor customer service rep at a new institution. So, I’m off to find the best bank.

For me, the best online bank must fulfill the following requirements:

  • It must offer free online bill pay
  • Must not charge me for ATM withdrawals
  • It must support online transfers between internal and external accounts
  • Low fees
  • Good interest rates
  • Must be linkable by Thrive (a personal financial advice software program that I both work for and use)

For this exercise, I’m going to rate tree different online banks; E*Trade, Charles Schwab, and ING Direct, by giving them a point for each of the above criteria that they meet.

E*Trade

  • Supports online transfers – 1 point
  • Has online bill pay – 1 point
  • Has low fee options – 0.5 points
  • Linked to Thrive – 1 point
  • .05% interest rate – 1 point

Charles Schwab

  • Does not charge for ATM withdrawals, and will even reimburse the ATM fees your hit with by the bank you withdraw from – 2 points
  • Supports online transfers – 1 point
  • Has online bill pay equivalent (called Checkfree) – 1 point
  • Has many low or no fee options – 1 point
  • Linked to Thrive – 1 point
  • .25% interest rate – 1 point

ING Direct

  • No fees – 1 point
  • Supports bill pay – 1 point
  • Supports online transfers – 1 point
  • Does not link to Thrive (yet) – 0 points
  • 1.30% variable interest rate – 1 point

How did everyone rank up? According to my ranking scheme based on what I’m looking for in a bank right each bank scored the following:

E*Trade: 4.5
Charles Schwab: 6
Ing Direct: 4

So, Charles Schwab it is! The great thing about switching to Charles Schwab is that it will save me about $144 this year in ATM fees ($6 twice a month for 12 months), and I’ll have a slightly higher rate of return on my savings. Now, if that isn’t the perfect motivation to go ahead and fill out this mountain of Scwab paperwork I just printed out…

3

Money Quote Friday – Tomorrow Is A New Day/Moving Edition.

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s time to move on and start over. Today is the day I am moving to Colorado, so My Two Dollars will be offline for a few days until I get settled in up there (and get an internet connection back). I hope you guys all have a fantastic weekend and see you next week. Wish me luck.

:)

Page 4 of 517«12345678»...Last »

site stats