Consider Charitable Giving
by FiGuy
Hopefully you have been out shopping, and helping to stimulate the economy - without overspending and breaking your budget. Most folks know that the Christmas season is make or break time for retailers, with Black Friday being the day they hopefully get out of the red ink and into the black, indicating profits rather than losses. The holiday season is make or break time for many charities, too. If you have the means, consider making a contribution to your favorite cause.
If you've already tightened your belt to the last notch, and just don't have any spare cash, drop a couple loose coins in a bell ringer's bucket, and don't let the guilties get you. If, however, you've been a prudent consumer, saved a little money to spend at this time of year, found a few real bargains, and managed to have more on hand that you thought you would, you could go buy a few more trinkets, or you could help make a difference in a cause near and dear to your heart. Part with a few bucks, giving feels good!
Don't consider giving just for the tax deduction, but if you do give, there is no reason not to take any available deductions that are offered. Depending on where you live, and your tax status and filing practices (you need to itemize), you might even wind up getting more bang for your buck than the value of your contribution. State income taxes are often affected by what happens with your Federal taxes, which can act as a multiplying factor. If you are always close to break even (which you *should* be - more on that next year!) and neither paying a large amount, nor receiving a large refund, that small contribution might just keep you from having to write a check come April 15th. It won't make much of a difference monetarily, but it may be very convenient. Why not pay out a little now, while you have it, rather than later, when you may not?
Make sure the charity of your choice is a 501c or other qualifying organization if you are planning to take a deduction, but there are many worthwhile causes to give money to that are not necessarily tax deductible, so don't let tax status alone determine if the charity is a worthwhile one to you! Pick things you care about, and help out with what you can within your means. If contributions are deductible, get a receipt so you can make the claim when you file. If they are not, enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling of giving and don't worry about it.
Seek out the charity, and give directly. Don't respond to cold calls or middlemen! At best they will be eating up some of your contribution for their own overhead (and you will be encouraging folks to interrupt your dinner to pester you). At the worst, they are scam artists who will pass along nothing to the charity, but will be lining their own pockets. Direct giving avoids all that, and makes sure the charity gets the most potential from your gift, however small.
Don't break the bank because you feel guilty, but if you do have some money to spare, however little it may be, do consider making a gift to a worthwhile cause.
Have a Merry Christmas (or your particular holiday celebration of choice), and a Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Secret Santa Shopping Tips
Secret Santa Shopping Tips
by FiGuy
You've been designated someone's Secret Santa. Here are a few tips to help you fulfill your role, without having to work at it too hard...
If there is an established limit on spending, keep to it. While things you might like to receive yourself can be a good place to start, remember that tastes do vary, and the person you are buying for may not share yours.
Try to keep your gifts practical and useful, it will be appreciated. Stay away from gag gifts, and decorative or cutesy items. That singing teddy bear might be adorable, but the novelty will wear off quickly. After that it collects dust or winds up in the landfill. Also avoid beauty or hygiene items - you'll almost never get the right brands, and you might accidentally send the wrong message: you stink! you're ugly and your mother dresses you funny! etc.
Edible is credible. Most people enjoy getting good things to eat. Unless you know for certain the person likes fruitcake (I'm one of those weird people who does), avoid it. There are more complaints and jokes about fruitcake than just about any other holiday gift. Try to find out if the person you are buying for has any special needs before you buy. Do they have allergies? Are they diabetic? Do they observe a restricted diet for religious or personal reasons (Kosher, Vegan, etc.)? You don't want to give a glazed ham to someone that doesn't eat pork, and those premium steaks won't go over well with a vegetarian! Chocolate is overdone, but there is a reason for that, and sometimes a cliche will work in your favor.
Consider giving an assortment of small items, and perhaps throwing in a bar of chocolate or some candy to sweeten the deal. This increases your odds of hitting on some item that they will like and use, and you have the tasty treat as a backup in case you missed. Are they always borrowing something from their co-workers? Clue!
Go spy on their workplace for some other hints. Do they have lots of pictures of their family? Perhaps a small electronic picture frame would make a nice gift. Page-a-day calendars are almost always useful. Is their workplace plastered with Dilbert or Garfield cartoons? Bingo! Do they have quotes and inspirational sayings tacked up? Bingo! Now you can pick out a calendar to match their tastes.
Flash thumb drives, those little memory gadgets that plug into a USB port, are a wonderful item that has come down into Secret Santa price range. They come in all sorts of colors and graphic schemes these days, and are quite useful. Unless the person you are buying for already has a drawer full of them, this item should go over quite well.
Keep it simple, try to tailor to the person you are buying for, have fun with it. A little creativity, and a little snooping, can have everyone commenting on what a wonderful gift you picked out - and even if they don't know who did the picking, you'll know and feel good about it.
Now go out and stimulate the economy!
by FiGuy
You've been designated someone's Secret Santa. Here are a few tips to help you fulfill your role, without having to work at it too hard...If there is an established limit on spending, keep to it. While things you might like to receive yourself can be a good place to start, remember that tastes do vary, and the person you are buying for may not share yours.
Try to keep your gifts practical and useful, it will be appreciated. Stay away from gag gifts, and decorative or cutesy items. That singing teddy bear might be adorable, but the novelty will wear off quickly. After that it collects dust or winds up in the landfill. Also avoid beauty or hygiene items - you'll almost never get the right brands, and you might accidentally send the wrong message: you stink! you're ugly and your mother dresses you funny! etc.Edible is credible. Most people enjoy getting good things to eat. Unless you know for certain the person likes fruitcake (I'm one of those weird people who does), avoid it. There are more complaints and jokes about fruitcake than just about any other holiday gift. Try to find out if the person you are buying for has any special needs before you buy. Do they have allergies? Are they diabetic? Do they observe a restricted diet for religious or personal reasons (Kosher, Vegan, etc.)? You don't want to give a glazed ham to someone that doesn't eat pork, and those premium steaks won't go over well with a vegetarian! Chocolate is overdone, but there is a reason for that, and sometimes a cliche will work in your favor.Consider giving an assortment of small items, and perhaps throwing in a bar of chocolate or some candy to sweeten the deal. This increases your odds of hitting on some item that they will like and use, and you have the tasty treat as a backup in case you missed. Are they always borrowing something from their co-workers? Clue!
Go spy on their workplace for some other hints. Do they have lots of pictures of their family? Perhaps a small electronic picture frame would make a nice gift. Page-a-day calendars are almost always useful. Is their workplace plastered with Dilbert or Garfield cartoons? Bingo! Do they have quotes and inspirational sayings tacked up? Bingo! Now you can pick out a calendar to match their tastes.
Flash thumb drives, those little memory gadgets that plug into a USB port, are a wonderful item that has come down into Secret Santa price range. They come in all sorts of colors and graphic schemes these days, and are quite useful. Unless the person you are buying for already has a drawer full of them, this item should go over quite well.Keep it simple, try to tailor to the person you are buying for, have fun with it. A little creativity, and a little snooping, can have everyone commenting on what a wonderful gift you picked out - and even if they don't know who did the picking, you'll know and feel good about it.
Now go out and stimulate the economy!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Gift Cards - Why They Suck
Gift Cards - Why They Suck
by FiGuy
OK, so the title is a little strong, but would I get your attention with "Gift Cards - Pros and Cons"? Gift cards can be a nice way to give, but they do have many negatives. You should examine your situation to decide if the negatives outweigh the positives, and you might just be surprised at the answer you come up with.
Lets look at the plus side first.
Gift cards are convenient. They can be purchased just about anywhere these days, and with the credit card branded variety, the recipient isn't bound to just one place to shop. You may even be able to use them online, as many merchants are trying to do anything to get a little extra business. Some retailers still won't take anything but a very established standard credit card, but the number of those who are more flexible is growing.
Gift cards can add a little security. If you are sending gifts through the mail, and a theft occurs, a gift card may be able to be replaced (this varies from card to card, read the details before you purchase), whereas cash that is stolen is gone for good.
The restrictiveness of a store branded gift card, which can only be used at the retailer it was purchased from, can be a positive factor. If you don't want a teenage recipient running out to get a ring through their nose or a nifty new tattoo, their being stuck shopping at a certain store has advantages.
Sometimes the cards are offered at a discount, so you pay less than the card amount and can get more bang for your dollar. There is a reason the retailers can afford to do this, and we'll get to that shortly.
Now for the downside.
For smaller children, and some of us fully grown children, a gift card just doesn't have the same emotional impact as that special toy. If you want to watch your grandchildren bounce off the walls with excitement, a gift card is unlikely to do the trick. Someone with their heart set on getting that robotic hamster just isn't going to react the same way to a gift card, even though it might buy them five of the silly things. It isn't logical, but you aren't giving gifts to Spock, are you?
Gift cards are restrictive. Store branded cards are only good at that store, so if the latest fashion or trendy item isn't available at that store, the card bearer isn't going to get it. Even the credit card variety, which can be used wherever credit or debit cards are accepted, has its limitations. Many online retailers won't accept debit cards, only established credit cards, and may not recognize the gift card as valid. There are still businesses that do only cash business. You won't be getting a cart vended pretzel or banana on a stick while you are shopping with a gift card, for example.
There may be fees. Most retailer branded cards don't do this, but there are exceptions. The credit card branded cards can get hit by this the worst. Debit fees and transaction fees can eat away at the value of the card, and the recipient won't get the full benefit of your purchase. If you want the person you are giving a gift to have $20, they may not get the whole $20 after fees have been applied to their purchases.
Gift cards aren't as safe as many advertisers might like you to believe. If there is no security method in place, like a PIN number, once the card is being used, it can be stolen just as easily as cash. It may look like a credit card, but undoing unauthorized purchases mostly doesn't work like a credit card.
The worst factor by far is that even without fees or additional charges, it may be hard to use the whole value of the card. Remember I said the retailers had a reason they could offer the cards at a discount? This is why. Every penny of value you don't use is pure profit for them. While many states have laws that help protect the consumer, many still do not. There are some new rules at the Federal level, but they don't go into effect until 2010, and mostly apply to the credit card branded general purpose cards. A card may expire before the whole value is used up. If the card isn't used in a timely manner, monthly "dormancy" fees may be applied, and quickly drain the value of the card. The store may make it difficult to split a payment across cards, or between a card and cash, so it may not be easy to purchase something that cost more than the remaining value on the gift card. A recent study by the Consumer Federation of America showed that 17% of gift card recipients had trouble using the whole balance on their card because the store wouldn't allow split payments for purchases greater than the value on the card.
The numbers bear out this last negative factor, even in places that have rules protecting the consumer. Every year X dollars are spent on gift cards (this year estimated to be in the 40-50 billion dollar range), and quite a bit less than X dollars are ever redeemed. The difference represents lost value. Now, whomever you may be giving a card to may be a smart and responsible consumer who will use the card in a timely manner, and make sure they get every penny out of it, but the numbers say many, if not most, people do not.
That sucks.
To quote Dilbert: "You are buying something that works like cash, only not as well".
Some of the card vendors are addressing these problems, and laws are also being passed to further protect consumers, so the situation may not be quite as bleak as I'm telling you, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Take a look at your specific situation, and carefully read the terms and restrictions of the card you are considering, before you make that purchase. If you will be mailing the gift, if you can buy the card at a decent discount off face value, if the card you are looking at makes a point of addressing some or most of these common problems, or you are happy about some of the imposed restrictions because of your circumstances, a gift card may well be the best way to go. Otherwise cash is probably your best option.
It is hard to go wrong with pictures of dead Presidents!
by FiGuy
OK, so the title is a little strong, but would I get your attention with "Gift Cards - Pros and Cons"? Gift cards can be a nice way to give, but they do have many negatives. You should examine your situation to decide if the negatives outweigh the positives, and you might just be surprised at the answer you come up with.Lets look at the plus side first.
Gift cards are convenient. They can be purchased just about anywhere these days, and with the credit card branded variety, the recipient isn't bound to just one place to shop. You may even be able to use them online, as many merchants are trying to do anything to get a little extra business. Some retailers still won't take anything but a very established standard credit card, but the number of those who are more flexible is growing.
Gift cards can add a little security. If you are sending gifts through the mail, and a theft occurs, a gift card may be able to be replaced (this varies from card to card, read the details before you purchase), whereas cash that is stolen is gone for good.
The restrictiveness of a store branded gift card, which can only be used at the retailer it was purchased from, can be a positive factor. If you don't want a teenage recipient running out to get a ring through their nose or a nifty new tattoo, their being stuck shopping at a certain store has advantages.
Sometimes the cards are offered at a discount, so you pay less than the card amount and can get more bang for your dollar. There is a reason the retailers can afford to do this, and we'll get to that shortly.
Now for the downside.
For smaller children, and some of us fully grown children, a gift card just doesn't have the same emotional impact as that special toy. If you want to watch your grandchildren bounce off the walls with excitement, a gift card is unlikely to do the trick. Someone with their heart set on getting that robotic hamster just isn't going to react the same way to a gift card, even though it might buy them five of the silly things. It isn't logical, but you aren't giving gifts to Spock, are you?
Gift cards are restrictive. Store branded cards are only good at that store, so if the latest fashion or trendy item isn't available at that store, the card bearer isn't going to get it. Even the credit card variety, which can be used wherever credit or debit cards are accepted, has its limitations. Many online retailers won't accept debit cards, only established credit cards, and may not recognize the gift card as valid. There are still businesses that do only cash business. You won't be getting a cart vended pretzel or banana on a stick while you are shopping with a gift card, for example.
There may be fees. Most retailer branded cards don't do this, but there are exceptions. The credit card branded cards can get hit by this the worst. Debit fees and transaction fees can eat away at the value of the card, and the recipient won't get the full benefit of your purchase. If you want the person you are giving a gift to have $20, they may not get the whole $20 after fees have been applied to their purchases.
Gift cards aren't as safe as many advertisers might like you to believe. If there is no security method in place, like a PIN number, once the card is being used, it can be stolen just as easily as cash. It may look like a credit card, but undoing unauthorized purchases mostly doesn't work like a credit card.
The worst factor by far is that even without fees or additional charges, it may be hard to use the whole value of the card. Remember I said the retailers had a reason they could offer the cards at a discount? This is why. Every penny of value you don't use is pure profit for them. While many states have laws that help protect the consumer, many still do not. There are some new rules at the Federal level, but they don't go into effect until 2010, and mostly apply to the credit card branded general purpose cards. A card may expire before the whole value is used up. If the card isn't used in a timely manner, monthly "dormancy" fees may be applied, and quickly drain the value of the card. The store may make it difficult to split a payment across cards, or between a card and cash, so it may not be easy to purchase something that cost more than the remaining value on the gift card. A recent study by the Consumer Federation of America showed that 17% of gift card recipients had trouble using the whole balance on their card because the store wouldn't allow split payments for purchases greater than the value on the card.
The numbers bear out this last negative factor, even in places that have rules protecting the consumer. Every year X dollars are spent on gift cards (this year estimated to be in the 40-50 billion dollar range), and quite a bit less than X dollars are ever redeemed. The difference represents lost value. Now, whomever you may be giving a card to may be a smart and responsible consumer who will use the card in a timely manner, and make sure they get every penny out of it, but the numbers say many, if not most, people do not.That sucks.
To quote Dilbert: "You are buying something that works like cash, only not as well".
Some of the card vendors are addressing these problems, and laws are also being passed to further protect consumers, so the situation may not be quite as bleak as I'm telling you, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Take a look at your specific situation, and carefully read the terms and restrictions of the card you are considering, before you make that purchase. If you will be mailing the gift, if you can buy the card at a decent discount off face value, if the card you are looking at makes a point of addressing some or most of these common problems, or you are happy about some of the imposed restrictions because of your circumstances, a gift card may well be the best way to go. Otherwise cash is probably your best option.
It is hard to go wrong with pictures of dead Presidents!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are done - what now?
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are done - what now?
by FiGuy
OK, so the big shopping days have come and gone, and you weren't part of the throngs. Have you missed out on all the good deals? Thankfully, no. So where and when are the bargains? Having played the Black Friday game a few times, only to see much lower prices (even on loss-leader items) later, I can tell you the best shopping times still lay ahead.
Even with really good retail sales figures, the big stores will still be fighting for your business until after the January clearance sales. In leaner years they will fight harder, and price reductions will be more drastic, but there will be reductions and enticements for sure no matter what the economic climate.
If you can hold off until after Christmas, the year end sales almost always offer the best bang for the buck. Of course, that doesn't put presents under the tree on the 25th, so many of us will pay a little more than rock bottom for tradition's sake.
So, if you want presents under the tree, should you wait until the last minute, say the 23rd or 24th, in order to get the best prices on the things we want to buy? Not necessarily. You might find a slightly better price, but not find the item you wanted in stock! That late in the game most retailers are not expecting or placing any major orders - they are running with what stock they already planned to have on hand, with the possible exception of one or two super-popular items, especially the toy du jour (this year it appears to be a robotic hamster). They will be getting more stock for the end of year sales, but it isn't going to show up in the stores right before the big day (Christmas).
You might get lucky, and find exactly what you want on the 24th at a deep discount, but the odds are against you. Experienced shoppers most frequently recommend the week containing December 15th as your best bet for finding a nice price, and finding the item you want still on the shelf. This year the 15th falls on a Tuesday, so shopping from the 14th through the 20th should get you the best results in terms of price and availability. Monday the 14th is likely to be the last major delivery of fresh stock to the stores until after Christmas, and with time running out the discounts aren't likely to get much better than those you'll find that week.
Of course there are always exceptions, and if you feel the need to explore right up until the last day, you might score something special. However, if you want to do better than just get lucky, go hit the stores sometime between the 14th and the 20th, that's when you'll have the most opportunities.
Good luck, happy hunting, go stimulate the economy!
FiGuy
by FiGuy
OK, so the big shopping days have come and gone, and you weren't part of the throngs. Have you missed out on all the good deals? Thankfully, no. So where and when are the bargains? Having played the Black Friday game a few times, only to see much lower prices (even on loss-leader items) later, I can tell you the best shopping times still lay ahead.
Even with really good retail sales figures, the big stores will still be fighting for your business until after the January clearance sales. In leaner years they will fight harder, and price reductions will be more drastic, but there will be reductions and enticements for sure no matter what the economic climate.
If you can hold off until after Christmas, the year end sales almost always offer the best bang for the buck. Of course, that doesn't put presents under the tree on the 25th, so many of us will pay a little more than rock bottom for tradition's sake.
So, if you want presents under the tree, should you wait until the last minute, say the 23rd or 24th, in order to get the best prices on the things we want to buy? Not necessarily. You might find a slightly better price, but not find the item you wanted in stock! That late in the game most retailers are not expecting or placing any major orders - they are running with what stock they already planned to have on hand, with the possible exception of one or two super-popular items, especially the toy du jour (this year it appears to be a robotic hamster). They will be getting more stock for the end of year sales, but it isn't going to show up in the stores right before the big day (Christmas).
You might get lucky, and find exactly what you want on the 24th at a deep discount, but the odds are against you. Experienced shoppers most frequently recommend the week containing December 15th as your best bet for finding a nice price, and finding the item you want still on the shelf. This year the 15th falls on a Tuesday, so shopping from the 14th through the 20th should get you the best results in terms of price and availability. Monday the 14th is likely to be the last major delivery of fresh stock to the stores until after Christmas, and with time running out the discounts aren't likely to get much better than those you'll find that week.
Of course there are always exceptions, and if you feel the need to explore right up until the last day, you might score something special. However, if you want to do better than just get lucky, go hit the stores sometime between the 14th and the 20th, that's when you'll have the most opportunities.
Good luck, happy hunting, go stimulate the economy!
FiGuy
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