Shoppers may have to part with less pay day cash to stock up under the tree this year. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Shoppers may end up having to part with less pay day cash during holiday shopping this year. Consumer items that are common gifts are priced drastically lower than they have been in decades. The news may not be fantastic for retailers if sales are sluggish, though.

Gift items going for least amount of pay day cash in decades

Shoppers may have to part with less pay day cash to stuff stockings this year. The average prices on consumer goods that typically fly off shelves during the holiday shopping season are at the lowest levels in decades, according to CNN. The price of small appliances, like toasters and coffee makers has dropped 30 percent since 1998. Television sets have dropped more than 90 percent since 1980, and stereo equipment has dropped 50 percent in price since that time. The benefit for consumers that they “get to buy more crap,” as John Norris, a wealth management director in Birmingham, Alabama, puts it. Typically, a good shopping spree results in a lot of people needing installment loans to cover the tab, but that may not be the case this year.

Discounts at register pick up the pace

Retailers are offering more discounts than ever, despite the fact that shoppers were buying more this year, according to USA Today. The gains in holiday sales, especially around Black Friday, have been slight, but gains were realized nevertheless. Consumers have been shopping more, but not using credit cards to excess and running for a loan until payday in January. Retailers are willing to keep offering sales and discounts to get people into the stores to spend some instant cash.

Every little bit helps

Though economic conditions are such that people are not spending wildly like in past years, they are willing to spend a bit on gifts for the holidays. Whether it is a little something for themselves, or a loved one, the confidence among the public to shop again is an encouraging sign.

Sources

CNN

USA Today

Considering layaway? Wait... there are better options. (CC-BY-Business Working/Picasa)

It’s that time of year again, when people start to brainstorm new ideas and options to finance their holiday spending. However, don’t make the same mistake many people run into by using layaway. A much better solution could be to use an easy payday loan. Layaway potentially can end up costing you more money than the interest on a small payday advance loan.

Payday loans offer better options than layaway

Layaway, at face value, seems like a good choice, but there are so many things that people don’t consider– things that could lead to more money loss. This time of year is famous for its holiday sales and ridiculously low prices. Throughout the next two months, if you watch the ads closely, you can save hundreds of dollars on the items you want to buy. If you use a layaway program, you are usually locked into the price of that item — even if it goes on sale the next week. This is yet another reason why a payday loan may be a better option.

Having the money on hand could prove invaluable

Simply having the cash you need on hand when a product goes on sale can save you hundreds of dollars. Not to mention, if the product you bought goes on sale even further, most retail stores will reimburse you the difference within a certain time frame. So by being able to spend what the store is asking when they are asking it, you could wind up with some of the best deals of the holiday season this year.

How do I get a payday loan?

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Holiday shopping is hard to handle sometimes. Online payday loans can help, but budgeting is the real way to go. (Photo: Christoph Michels)

It’s that time of year again: the debt season. This is the time of year when most people throw caution to the wind and spend money they do not have on gifts to maintain the image of success. To do this, they fall into the trap of using online payday loans as they were not intended – to simply get through to the end of the year.

Am I describing you? Are you still paying off last year’s holiday shopping spree and worried about what to do about this year’s shopping spree? Never fear, because if you follow these suggestions to keeping your holiday shopping in check, you will not only save money but also create lasting good will with your family and friends.

Create a Gift List

Before you can decide how much money you are going to spend, you need to figure out who should be on your list. This list can include your immediate or extended family, close friends, co-workers – anyone you are close to. Or it could just include your immediate family: kids, spouse and maybe your parents, if they are still living. Whoever you put on your list, you must make sure that you can afford to give them gifts without breaking your budget. Reduce if necessary, and continue to refine your list as you work out your budget.

Create a Budget

When you have your list done, the next step is to figure out how much you can spend on each person. Say you have 10 people on your list that you want to buy gifts for, and these are the final 10 after shaving your list down from 40. Let’s reasonably assume that you have enough cash to spend $20 on each person, making your gift budget $200 for the season. The assumption here is that you will not be whipping out your credit card this season to buy more than you can afford. You cannot use what you have not earned, right?

Food and Decorations, If You Please

If you have your gift budget carefully planned but do not have your food and decorations budget in order, your budget will be ruined in no time, leaving you with higher credit card and loan debts to pay off later. As the decorations are not consumable and can last for several years if they are put away carefully, the only reason you would need to buy decorations is if the lights do not work, or they have been ripped apart horribly by pets or kids. We have had the same stockings since my oldest was born almost 14 years ago, and they have held up extremely well.

Focus on the Feast

Your feast should be planned out, right down to the last little ingredient of the pecan pie. What type of feast do you want? Can you afford this feast without the use of online payday loans and credit cards? Generally, if you are careful to live within your means throughout the year, and have a bit left over in your monthly budget consistently, most people can handle spending an extra $50 to $100 for the holiday feast. If your food budget is normally $200 for two weeks, you may be able to bump that up to $300 for one payday, with a nice feast for an extra $100 without overspending.

Give Up the Guilt

One reason that many people overspend on gifts is that they feel pressured to do so out of guilt and duty. In this society, money and expensive gifts have been linked to the amount of love you hold for someone—the more you spend on a gift, the more you love the receiver of that gift. Commercialism has had something to do with this. Have you seen those jewelry commercials that say, “When you love enough to give the very best?” The implication here is that if you love enough, you will spend a lot of money. This really should be turned around to say that if you love enough, you will save a lot of money as a legacy for your children.

What people really want is time with you, regardless of how much money you spend on them. Give up the notion that you must overspend to show people how much you love them. Instead, come up with creative gift giving ideas, such as printing out coupons for a free housecleaning or a night out—something that shows you care by volunteering your time for them. This means more than money, and you don’t need to feel guilty.

Skip Plastic and Use Cash

A great way to keep your holiday shopping under control is to use cash instead of plastic, which also applies to a debit card. Although debit cards can help to minimize your spending, cash is still better. When you are using a card, you do not realize how much you are spending without a concrete and visual reminder. As you are shopping, you do not have this visual reminder of how much you are spending. If you have a wad of cash in your wallet, however, you can instantly know how much you are spending by how much lighter your wallet feels after each purchase. In the event that you run out, online payday loans are an option – just tread carefully.

Think People First

As you create debt each holiday season – which may include online payday loans – you begin to shift the priorities in your life. Instead of focusing on your family and friends, you get into a “make money” mindset that shifts your focus to money and work. Eventually, you are going to wake up and wonder what happened to your relationships and realize that if you would have placed people first, then money and then things, your relationships would have been a lot better. While having money and wealth makes life easier, it still doesn’t take the place of human relationships. Nurture these first and make these a priority this holiday season. Happy holidays!

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnal_hedge/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. But do you know what the next best thing that comes after Thanksgiving is? That’s right, it’s Black Friday! It’s the biggest shopping day of the year!

Black Friday is the day to go out and buy the things you have always wanted but couldn’t because those discount tags never showed up as you planned. I mean, people are even willing to take out a cash advance to fund this nationwide shopping event. However, it seems this yearly shopping ritual is only getting better with time. Ever heard of Cyber Monday? Well, I just did and, as a shopper and an online marketer, I’m pretty stoked.

What is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday was invented by the National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association. According to Wikipedia, the term Cyber Monday refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday, which unofficially marks the beginning of the Christmas online shopping season. So what this basically means is if you miss the Black Friday shopping hustle, you still have a chance to make it up on Monday. Cyber Monday is the Monday you will actually enjoy.

Great tip for Online Merchants

A recent Yahoo! Insights team research revealed that the number of sales during last year’s Black Friday were actually not too far from the overall sales that took place the Monday following. Click-through rates were down 27% on both days compared to the rest of the month. However, online traffic and conversions went up significantly. Black Friday showed an increase in conversions by 147%, while Cyber Monday had a 73% increase in conversions.

What does this mean for me?

This study lays out a great opportunity for online marketers. You have about 1½ months before the biggest shopping days of the year. I suggest you start promoting and investing throughout the month to create attraction. Get a head-start and take advantage of the holiday traffic now. You will witness flourishing conversions not just for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but for the rest of the holiday season.

For all you holiday shoppers on the other hand, start saving now! You are already aware of how busy and expensive holiday shopping can be. You have enough time to save a sufficient amount of money for your holiday expenses, which will prevent the need of a cash advance at the last minute.