Deal Of The Week: Restaurant.com: Take 70% off $25 gift certificates from Restaurant.com with Consumer United's special code PRESENT through Tuesday, Dec. 21 here. Other Weekly Deals: iTunes Card: With an iTunes card, it's easy to stock up on music and more entertainment from the iTunes Store. Get $10 off here when you order two iTunes® card 3-packs. That's six $10 cards for just $50 here.
Best Buy: Looking for the perfect holiday gift? Best Buy offers guaranteed Christmas delivery here with online purchases made before Dec. 21. Plus, they offer free shipping on thousands of items here. Fandango: Send the gift of movies and receive a special reward with your offer here.
Deal Of The Week: Groupon: Stock up for the holidays and pay $15 for $30 worth of gifts from RedEnvelope here.
Other Weekly Deals: OnSale: Score discounts on PCs, accessories, electronics and MP3 players this holiday season until Dec. 23 here.
Wireless: Consumer United has teamed up with Simplexity to launch a new online wireless store for cellphones, services and accessories here.
Best Buy: Looking for the perfect holiday gift? Best Buy offers guaranteed Christmas delivery here with online purchases made before Dec. 21. Plus, they offer free shipping on thousands of items here. Fandango: Send the gift of movies and receive a special reward with your offer here.
Restaurant.com: Take 60% off $25 gift certificates from Restaurant.com with Consumer United's special code SNOW through Thursday, Dec. 2 here.
This holiday season, more consumers are paying with cold-hard cash.
According to the National Retail Federation, 25 percent of consumers will pay using cash for holiday gifts. Last year, cash purchases were 9.1 percent lower. 42.5 percent of consumers will use their debit cards rather than their credit cards, a 2.5 percent spike compared to last year.
How many are using credit? 28.3 percent of shoppers. That's down from 31.5 percent since last year, according to a survey by BIGresearch and reported by Reuters.
"With many holiday shoppers focused on spending within their limits, it's no surprise that fewer people will be relying on credit cards this year," says Tracy Mullin, chief executive of a retailers' trade group.
This is a step in the right direction for consumers, but bad news for credit card companies and retailers alike. Reuters reports that credit-card companies will probably have even more defaults next year. Retailers are already expecting a weak season, and using cash can only make consumers more aware of what they are spending, (hence, spending less).
Thinking about using cash, but unsure? There are many pros of using cash instead of credit. By looking over all expenditures paid in cash at the end of the month, it is clear how much is spent, and how much one can do without spending. Grabbing the card when all the cash is gone is a quick fix, but is extremely detrimental. Credit cards can encourage impulse purchases, such as that beautiful sparkling dress that won't be worn, or that triple candy cane latte that really isn't necessary.
Maybe you want to buy a gift card to use instead of a credit card. Right now, at GiftCards.com you can save 25 percent on gift cards. That one-fourth savings off your holiday shopping! Click here for the lowdown.
Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving and the beginning of the traditional holiday shopping season, is around the corner. Can't get into the gift-giving spirit?
Don't fret.
Consumer United Advocate plans to unveil its favorite Black Friday video clips to shock you into the spirit.
Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving and the beginning of the traditional holiday shopping season, is around the corner. Can't get into the gift-giving mood?
Don't fret.
Consumer United Advocate plans to unveil its favorite Black Friday video clips to shock you into the spirit.
If people run like this everyday, we won't need campy shows like "America's Biggest Loser." When it comes to Black Friday Sale, people are strapped on with their running shoes. Beware Usain Bolt!
Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving and the beginning of the traditional holiday shopping season, is this week. Can't get into the gift-giving spirit?
Don't fret.
Consumer United Advocate plans to unveil its favorite Black Friday video clips to shock you into the spirit.
This clip shows how employees keep their spirits high when it comes to working late at night for Thanksgiving Weekend sale. Spare a thought for the sales girls!
Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving and the beginning of the traditional holiday shopping season, hits this week. Can't get into the gift-giving mood?
Don't fret.
Consumer United Advocate plans to unveil its favorite Black Friday video clips to shock you into the spirit.
For clip No. 4, folks are falling head over heel on Black Friday at Wal-Mart in 200. Literally. This clip is like the running of the bulls in Spain.
Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving and the beginning of the traditional holiday shopping season, is around the corner. Can't get into the gift-giving mood?
Don't fret.
Consumer United Advocate plans to unveil its favorite Black Friday video clips to shock you into the spirit.
All hell breaks loose when there's only a limited supply of on-sale products. In this festive clip, revel in the spirit of the season when folks indulge in spirited WWE Smackdown moves to get their favorite electronic item.
Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving and the beginning of the traditional holiday shopping season, is around the corner. Can't get into the gift-giving mood?
Don't fret.
Consumer United Advocate plans to unveil its favorite Black Friday video clips to shock you into the spirit.
Shoppers are lined up from 2.37 am at this Best Buy store. The employees are gearing up to handle the crazy crowds by downing energy drinks and finally the early birds are welcomed to the store like royalty.
Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving and the beginning of the traditional holiday season, is around the corner. Can't get into the gift-giving mood?
Don't fret.
Consumer United Advocate plans to unveil its favorite Black Friday video clips to shock you into the spirit.
A serpetine line of deal-crazy shoppers braving sub-zero temperatures and a few hours of sleep forms outside of Target in 2006.
Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving and the beginning of the traditional holiday shopping season, is around the corner. Can't get into the gift-giving mood?
Don't fret.
Consumer United Advocate plans to unveil its favorite Black Friday video clips to shock you into the spirit.
For clip No. 8, crowds are pushing and shoving to get into this Circuit City in Delaware back in 2007. It's amazing how fast things have changed. In 2008, the cash-strapped Circuit City has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11.
Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving and the beginning of the traditional holiday shopping season, is around the corner. Can't get into the gift-giving mood?
Don't fret.
Consumer United Advocate plans to unveil its favorite Black Friday video clips to shock you into the spirit.
For clip No. 9, watch frenzied shoppers pile into a Best Buy in Wes Lafayette, IN to snag discounted laptops and XBOX 360s.
Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving and the beginning of the traditional holiday shopping season, is around the corner. Can't get into the gift-giving mood?
Don't fret.
Consumer United Advocate plans to unveil its favorite Black Friday video clips to shock you into the spirit.
For this clip, early-morning crowds are worked into a Wal-Mart frenzy in this video from Black Friday in 2006.
The holidays are a special time of year. Family, food, friends and joy. However, the spending adds up fast with travel, groceries and last-minute shopping.
Our advice? Plan early to avoid a "Bah! Humbug!" holiday season.
Yep, it's only September, but the sooner you begin preparing, the more enjoyable it will be. The goal for the upcoming holiday season is to keep the joy... and a budget. The University of Phoenix offers tips on how to keep a budget around the holidays.
Here's what we've compiled:
Shop now
Spread out your shopping. Buy presents for people througout the year, so you don't have to buy them all at once.
Buy off-season
Buy winter presents in the spring, and summer items in the fall. For example, TJ Maxx has beautiful long summer dresses and designer sandals for $1 right now. At the beginning of the summer, they were $29.99 each.
Arts & crafts
Make holiday presents, and gifts for your friends. Knitting scarves is very easy, and therapeutic as well. Make fudge for friends, and string popcorn for decor.
Research
Do research before you buy that gift. Look it up on online, and check reviews. Is it the best deal? If not, begin your research again.
Hold a 'holiday potluck' There's no need to spend money on groceries to feed a tribe. If you are going to have a holiday party, it is perfectly appropriate to hold a potluck!
Use cash
Pocket the credit cards and use cash for holiday shopping, so you don't find yourself in post-holiday credit debt coupled with buyers' remorse.
Save
Try to put aside $10 a week for holiday spending. This way it won't be hurting your living budget at all. That's $520 guilt-free dollars to spend come holiday time.
As the economy slows and more and more consumers are worried about their bank account balances, a new trend is emerging among serious shoppers.
“Returnistas,” as they have been dubbed, are shopping their own closets for items that are still unworn that can be returned for cash. The clothes still have the tags and have not been worn, so according to many stores policies, buyers have the right to bring the items back. The recent economic conditions, however, seem to be causing shoppers to return clothing that otherwise would have sat untouched in their closets.
Though being labeled a “returnista” may simply suggest that the shopper has a case of buyer’s remorse, for those truly devoted to fashion, the cycle may continue. Instead of taking back one or two items once in awhile, the returnista is more likely to shop often and return often.
The thrill of shopping still exists without doing damage to the shopper’s account balance.
Returnistas could become important customers at some stores that have relaxed their return policies in order to entice shoppers to walk out the door with items they are not sure they should buy. In contrast, other stores have made their return policies stricter to avoid losing money from fraudulent transactions.
The end of December is traditionally a time when retailers experience a lot of returns, but as shopping addicts continue to clean out their closets, the trend could continue beyond the holiday season.
Deal Of The Week:
