Tis the season!  Stores have hauled out their holiday themed merchandise earlier than ever this year with the obvious goal of bulking up holiday income.  Do as the retailers have done and plan ahead; it will save you big bucks in the end.

1.  Make a list of gift-getters
This simple trick will save you money.  Once you see all the names in one place, you can always pare down the list if it gets out of hand - maybe some people only need cards.   A list will also help you remember important people, such as your administrative assistant, who deserve gifts and are often forgotten until the last minute.  Last minute gifts are never cheap – or if they are, they look it.  Writing out a list of names gives you time to contemplate exactly what each person means, and how you can best express your adoration.  Aw.

2.  Cook
If you’re blessed with culinary skills this can be perfect gifts for friends with babies, busy schedules or an oven used to store shoes.  Think about meals that can be frozen and reheated, and desserts like cookies, pies and other pastries.

3.  Buy wine in bulk (but not in boxes)
This one requires a bit of self control at home, but if you know you’ll be attending multiple parties this holiday season, a case of wine at the ready can be a real life and wallet saver.  Buying by the case gives you at least a 10% discount on each bottle, and not running to the store at the last minute to grab something decent will save you even more.  With a case at home you can also take time to dress up the bottle.  Fancy wine bags are nice, but ribbons, bows and other homemade adornments turn boring into a hit.

4.  Pimp out your skills
Can you fix a leaky sink?  Are you brave enough to clean a friend’s apartment?  Think about gifts that are technically “free” but provide a much needed service for the loved ones on your list.  Think outside the box, and try to remember if you noticed something needing attention last time you were at your friend and/or relative’s home.

5.  Maximize your online purchases
Most online purchases can be tax free – a savings of up to 11% in some cases.  On many sites, including Amazon, if you buy enough items the shipping is free, so aggregate those small purchases.  If you know you’ll be buying online try to do it in one fell swoop, and from one retailer, when possible.

6.  Shop early, not often
November is a great month for sales.  Stores are looking to unload their products, especially electronics, before newer models come in closer to the holidays.  If you’re planning a big ticket gift such as a TV or laptop it can be to your benefit to shop in November.  Other items often found on sale in November:  bicycles, outdoor furniture and BBQs, video games and consoles.

As is the mantra in maximizing your finances:  plan ahead, it will pay off in the long run.

When going out to the malls and restaurants this past weekend, you would have no idea that the country is in a recession. You can hardly find a parking spot and getting into a popular restaurant on a Friday or Saturday night was almost impossible. So, if nobody has the money to spend…why is everyone out spending it?

Let’s be honest, we can’t cut spending out of our lives, it just isn’t that simple. With the holidays just around the corner, people are feeling the crunch now more than ever and are trying to find ways to deal with it.

Some reasons people might be spending now include…

Spread Out the Spending – Spending earlier will help spread out the costs (and the bills). A lot of people get overwhelmed during the holidays because when it is all over the bills that they have accrued are more than they want to deal with. Spending a little bit earlier and spreading out the purchases allows you to pay off some of your bills before more add up on top of it.

Shop the Sales – Closer to Christmas the sales will no longer exist. Shopping the sales now can help you save a little bit of money without putting too much of a hole in your pocket. Just remember that if you are shopping the sales for Christmas, not all items people will want by the time it comes if you purchase them so early. Although clothing may be on sale now, there will usually be another shipment of brand new styles and colors right before Christmas. However, things like basic clothing for work aren’t always as trendy and are always great to buy when on sale.

Treat Yourself – People are spending right now to give themselves a treat. It isn’t easy to deal with a recession and eventually you need to let some of that worry go. Spending and going out for dinner allows you to continue to live your life and enjoy a night without worry. Treating yourself is something you need to do. You wouldn’t survive just worrying about how the economy is going to do and if things will eventually turn around. Taking a night out for yourself and going to dinner will be beneficial, just remember to take home those leftovers for lunch at work!

Needs vs. Wants – Everyone has needs, so all spending cannot come to a halt. Retailers are struggling even if it doesn’t appear that way. When people go out to buy things that they need, they also like to look at things they might want even if they don’t currently have the money to buy it. The stores may seem really full, but it doesn’t mean everyone is heading to the checkout counter.

Having a Plan – Going out with your kids or friends that you might be buying Christmas presents for in the near future will help you to plan your spending. You will be able to get a grasp for what they might like for Christmas and be able to add this into your budget. Going out with a plan in mind around the holidays will allow you to stick to your plan and not buy things that aren’t necessary.

The Weather – So far so good. At least for most parts of the country, the weather has been fairly mild for this time of the year. Especially this past weekend in the New England area, the temperatures were warm and definitely got people out. Possibly people are out trying to get things done before the colder weather hits and it is no longer fun to leave the warmth of your home.

So, for whatever reason people might have they are definitely swarming the stores and restaurants on the weekends. My suggestion is shop and go out to eat during non-peak times if you have the chance, because when the weekend hits everyone is out! Also be sure to check out an article from our partners at MainStreet.com on How to Ride Out a Recessionary Economy.

Photo: Álvaro Daniel González Lamarque

One of the most under-used financial ‘tools’ is also one the cheapest and easiest: a simple calendar.  Free and easy to use, a good old fashioned calendar can help you master your personal finances.  Here’s how:

Choose a calendar that you will look at all the time.  If you carry a day planner, that’s perfect.  If you don’t, get a paper calendar and put it on your fridge, or your desk at work.  Just be sure it’s somewhere you will look at more than once a day, and ideally is close to where you keep your checkbook or where you pay your bills.

1.  Avoid Late Fees by recording the date when you are to pay those pesky bills.

When bills arrive (this means e-bills and those you still get via snail mail) mark your calendar with the amount you will pay, on the day you will pay.  Include all your bills, even ones that are debited automatically and those that don’t get a paper invoice, like rent or a car payment.  If you mail a check, record the amount on the day you need to put it in the mail - ideally one week prior to the bill’s due date.  If you use online bill pay that automatically deducts the amount on a pre-assigned date, enter that date on your calendar.  For example, your $347 Visa bill arrives and the payment is due on the 20th.  If you’re mailing a check write $347 on the 13th (one week prior) or if you’re paying online and will have it automatically debited on the 19th, write $347 on the 19th.  Easy!  Now, when either the 13th or the 19th rolls around, you know it’s time to pay that bill.

2.  Stop being overdrawn; write down when you get paid.

Use the calendar to mark when your paychecks will be deposited into your account.  If you’re paid bi-weekly, this will help identify ahead of time those two fantastic months where you get paid three times.  It also helps with budget planning if you are paid on the 1st and the 15th (or the 15th and last) to know if you will have your money before the big trip, or after.   Another common problem arises when you get a paycheck a number of days before bills are due – you have a week where you feel (and spend like you’re) rich!  Then when bills arrive you struggle to make all the payments on time.  With the calendar, you can plainly see the entire month.

3.  So that’s why I’m always broke the last week of the month!

After one or two months of recording information, you should have a pretty good idea of where your money is coming from, and where it’s going.   Do your bills pile up at the end (or the beginning) of the month?   If so, a simple phone call to the credit cards or the utilities can solve this problem and spread out the pain.  Most companies are willing to change the date your bills are due at least once.

Once you get the knack of this, and are ready to go online, gather the data you’ve collected and enter it into Geezeo’s budget tool for a much more interactive experience.

The more data you record, such as when you take cash out of the ATM, the more accurate your financial picture will be.  The calendar helps you create a simple, easy to follow budget, and will give you a greater control over your spending.

Related:

Create a Budget That Works

5 Things That Can Quickly Put You Into Debt

5 Ways to Avoid Late Fees

It isn’t hard to spend too much money on your credit cards. In fact, I think many of us know from firsthand experience that spending money is extremely easy to do (especially when the cash doesn’t disappear right away). You don’t want to end up with a huge credit card bill at the end of the month. Take some initiative to watch your spending and make sure you are keeping your bill within a limit that you can pay off.

Here are some tips that might help you keep your bill within your limit:

1. Monitor Your Accounts Online – Watching both your credit card spending and what you have in savings and in your checking account is extremely important. You don’t want to spend more than you have (unless it is an emergency) and you also want to make sure you aren’t pulling money out of your savings. Online banking makes everything simple for you. Consider going paperless and pay your bills online as well. If you have a credit card from your bank, transferring money over to pay your bills is simple!

2. Don’t Spend Money You Don’t Have – Unless it is an emergency, there is no point in spending money that you don’t yet have in your possession. Although you may be counting on a check to come in within a few days, if something happens and you don’t get that money on time, you are still left with a credit card bill to pay. Although this seems like common sense, people are constantly overspending on things that they don’t absolutely need and instead just want (i.e. clothes, video games, electronics, etc.).

3. Pay As You Go – This idea works great. There is no point in letting purchases sit on your credit card. If you were following tip #2, the money should be in your checking account anyway. Transfer the money to your credit card to pay off your bill as you spend. If your money is in your checking account, you may think you have more money than you actually do. If you pay off your bill however, the money disappears and you can forget about it. Many people wouldn’t understand why you wouldn’t just pay with your debit card instead, but if you have a points/rewards card with your credit card, you can earn points and still avoid the credit card debt with this tip.

4. Don’t Use Store Credit Cards – Actually, let’s make that don’t even open store credit cards! The more credit cards you have, the faster you can lose track of your spending…and store credit cards are the worst way to do it. Although they may sound appealing when you first open them (because you are always offered a discount on your purchase) but once you realize you have to pay your bill off, if you can’t, the interest rate is usually extremely high. The less credit cards you have, the more under control you will find your spending.

Some of these things may seem very common sense but a few pointers in the right direction can be the greatest help for some people. Just remember to monitor your spending and hopefully things will work out better (with no credit card debt!). Obviously emergencies happen and there are times where you can’t avoid putting an expense on your credit card, just find a way to pay it off that works best for you.

Photo: Dani Simmonds

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Many of us struggle with a supposedly “simple” personal finance strategy: living below your means. Living below your means is simple. The challenge is changing your overspending behavior.

Here are 18 ways to live below your means. The links are to related Geezeo articles.

1. Redefine your definition of “rich”.

2. Borrow and share. Everyone wins!

3. Avoid the mall.

4. Limit your intake of advertisements.

5. Buy with cash.

6. Find a better deal and actually SAVE the difference.

7. Adhere to a long-term investment strategy.

8. Curb your consumerism!

9. Stay Healthy! Medical problems drain bank accounts.

10. Stay in and relax.

11. Gradually prepare yourself for a rainy day.

12. Stop competing. Forget about the Jones’ altogether.

13. Get out of the “easy street” mentality.

14. Avoid impulse buying. Buy things you truly need.

15. Time is money. Properly manage your time.

16. Find ways to give without spending.

17. Don’t let greed and deceit get the best of you.

18. Never ever pay retail.

This list was originally posted at Marc and Angel Hack Life. You can read these 18 in an expanded format at that site.

Do you still struggle trying to live below your means? Connect with others in the Geezeo community to help keep you accountable.

In recent years, Halloween has become more and more popular among adults. Yes, parents definitely still take their kids out trick-or-treating and schools still have kids dress up on the holiday, but parents and young adults alike are taking time out for some fun themselves this Halloween season.

This year alone, consumers are expected to increase their spending on the Halloween holiday. Spending on candy, costumes, cards, and decorations will amount to about $5.07 billion dollars in total with the average consumer spending about $64.82 according to the National Retail Federation.

Consumers tend to not make their own costumes anymore; instead they will trek to the costume stores and buy elaborate costumes and accessories to go with them. Adults are holding themed parties with food, candy, alcoholic drinks, and of course everyone has to wear costumes to go with the theme!

So, why has spending increased in a holiday that many do not even recognize in other parts of the world?

People want a break from reality and everyday life. With the economy currently in a recession, people want one night to pretend that none of this is happening and instead focus on the fantasy of Halloween and dressing up to be something they aren’t in everyday life.

It is good for consumers to get out and have a little fun once and a while! Not everyone has to spend a lot of money on the holiday either. There are many different ways to make your house and life festive without spending a ton of money.

1. Borrow Costumes
Nobody really wants to wear the same costume two years in a row (although this is completely acceptable as well), so instead borrow from your friends! Borrowing costumes allows people to recycle their costumes without spending any extra money.

2. Dollar Stores
I know this may sound cheap, but places like dollar stores and the Christmas Tree Shop (if you have one around your area) have a ton of Halloween decorations for cheap. This way you are not going to one of the Halloween specific stores that charge you a ton of money for something that probably won’t last for next year. My mum last year bought me a lot of decorations for my apartment and each one did not cost more than $1 at the Christmas Tree Shop.

3. Don’t Dress Up At All
My friend’s birthday is around Halloween but she said she was over dressing up for the holiday. Instead she is going to still have a Halloween themed party with fun drinks and snacks, but instead people don’t have to dress up. She doesn’t want people to have to spend a ton of money/time thinking of a costume, so she is instead going to have everyone wear black, orange, or purple! I thought this was a great idea and still a lot of fun for everyone.

4. Prepare for Next Year
Once the season is over, EVERY store has a sale to get rid of their extra stock. Prepare yourself for next year by purchasing things that you may see that you like ahead of time. This doesn’t always work for everyone, but if you have a place to store things buy them, but the key is to remember that you have them when the Halloween season rolls around again next year! This can save you a great deal of money with markdowns going extremely low to get rid of surplus inventory in the stores.

So, have fun this Halloween season but try not to spend too much money on the whole event. You don’t want to regret spending so much money on one night when the bill for your credit card comes later on. Have fun and let loose, forget spending a lot on the holiday and celebrate on a budget instead.

Photo: Kevin Rosseel

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By Jeffrey Strain | MainStreet.com

Impulse purchases kill budgets.

Adopting changes in the way you shop can help make impulse purchases disappear. Sometimes a completely different approach is what you need to achieve the results you want.

Many people have decided they want to rein in spending due to current economic conditions, but they often find it’s more difficult to accomplish than they anticipated. Even though they know they shouldn’t be spending as much as they are, they have fallen into a habit that is hard to break. Here are five simple ways to reduce the amount of impulse purchases you make.

Price it in work hours: Many people buy things because small price tags don’t seem like much. What is $5 here or there? Instead of looking at the price of something as a dollar amount, switch your thinking to what it costs as a part of your earnings. Take the item’s price and convert it into the number of hours of work it takes to purchase.

This is easy to do. Calculate your take-home pay and divide it by the number of hours you work. Don’t use your yearly salary. A simple example would be that if your take-home pay is $2,500 a month and you work 50 hours a week ($2,500 divided by 4 weeks divided by 50 hours), your hourly rate would be $12.50.

You can then convert the price of the things you buy into the number of hours it takes to earn them. Is that movie worth an hour of your work time? Are you prepared to work two days for that piece of clothing? And the latest gadget? By considering how long you have to work for each of the items you want to buy instead of looking at the price, it will make you stop and consider whether the purchase is truly worth the price.

Set goals: A lot of times people buy on impulse because they haven’t figured out their personal-finance goals. Understanding how you want to spend your money can make it much easier to resist impulse spending, because you are working toward something you want. Maybe it’s to have a down payment on a house, to afford a trip to visit friends or to build an emergency fund.

Remind yourself: A lot of impulse purchases occur because you see something you want and fail to take a moment to think what that purchase is taking away. That newspaper or cup of coffee may only be a few bucks, but that adds up over the year. Placing a reminder of what you want to spend your money on can be the little jolt you need. Place your credit card in a sleeve or put a paper band around your cash with your financial goal written on it.

Choose your payment form wisely: Different people have certain payment forms that make it less likely that they will spend money. Some people look at cash and make an effort not to spend any of it while others know it will fly out of their wallet as soon as it enters. Some people have an aversion to spending on credit cards because of the fear of going into debt while others see it as free money and take it out without even thinking twice.

Use a list: You have probably heard this recommendation a thousand times and probably still don’t follow it. Lists take time and thought to prepare and it’s easier to forgo the effort and just head to the store. It is exactly that thought and effort that make the list so effective in avoiding impulse purchases. It may take some time to get yourself in the habit of writing lists for shopping trips and strictly sticking to them, but if you do, you’ll find that your spending will greatly decrease.

Related:

5 Signs You’ve Been “Brainwashed to Buy”
I Want That! How We All Became Shoppers
Some Geezeo groups that deal with impulse purchases:
You Don’t Really Need It…tales of consumerism
Emotional Spenders

At my job I am helping to implement a new system that will make expenses flow more smoothly. What we are realizing however is that any employee may get caught up in a random audit at any point in time. If this happens to you, whatever you do not have receipts for will come out of your pocket and you will not get reimbursed for.

There are also so many times in everyday life that I have found myself needing receipts. For a while I used to just throw all of my receipts away and just go with the flow, but I realized how much money that was costing me in the long run.

There are many reasons you should keep your receipts:

Tax Purposes

As I mentioned above, you won’t get your money back if you get caught up in a random audit at your company and don’t have the receipts to back up your spending. Although the chances of you getting caught up in a random audit might be small, if you have over a thousand dollars in expenses and no receipts…you could put yourself out of money that you didn’t have to spend. Also, the IRS is really putting their foot down with expense reports, so random audits are becoming more common.

Food and Gas Receipts

When I go out to dinner or get gas and pay with my credit card, I often find it hard to find a reason to keep my credit card receipt since there is nothing to return. However, I have started keeping my receipts to make sure that the charge that is put on my card actually reflects how much I owed. You don’t want to realize after you have thrown your receipt away that your waiter or waitress gave themselves a bigger tip than what you left them.

Returns/Exchanges

When I used to work in retail, we would not give anyone cash back or put it back on their credit card without the receipt (as is common for many retail stores). Another setback is that if you didn’t have your receipt, even if the product was not on sale, we could only give you back the price that rang up on our registers. This means that you could lose a large portion of what you paid for the purchase (the same goes for exchanges). Without a receipt you also get store credit for purchases, although some people do not mind this if they like the store enough.

Last month I also found keeping my receipts helpful when I had to return a pair of sneakers that had already been worn. I had kept all my receipts from Christmas purchases that had been made and after one of the sneakers I had bought from Nike had gotten a hole in the bottom, I took it back with the receipt and they fully refunded me all of my money…it was great considering they were $120 sneakers!!

It is better to find yourself with too many receipts that you will never need again, than to figure out that you needed a receipt that you threw away last week and now cannot do anything about it.

I find it easy just to keep a letter envelope and put my receipts in it every time I get them. The reason I choose not to keep all of my receipts in my wallet is because I don’t like my wallet getting huge. After a while if I am sick of having all my receipts in there I will just end up throwing them away on impulse (thinking I no longer need them). However, by keeping them in an envelope I don’t even remember I have them all until I take the envelope out again. I typically keep receipts from 6-8 months just to be safe or in case anything comes up.

Once you get into the habit of keeping your receipts it really isn’t a big deal. I know that many people don’t like to keep clutter, but it will really benefit you in the long run or in case an emergency comes up. Check out this Geezeo article for another way to organize your receipts without the hassle of clutter!

Photo: Jane M. Sawyer

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Smart Cards Ensure Credit Card Safety on the Internet
By Anthea Wallace, Geezeo.com

Are you one of the many people who are still not comfortable with shopping online – using your credit card online? I am. Even though the number of people that do use it and is increasing, it is not as fast as electronic retailers would like. I’m still very cautious when I use mine, taking every precaution. If I notice that an online merchant is still offering toll-free order number so that I can call in my order, I usually do that.

Welcome Digital Cash. For those who are not familiar with Digital Cash it is a system of purchasing cash credits in relatively small amounts, storing the credits in your computer, and then spending them when making electronic purchases over the internet. Theoretically, digital cash could be spent in very small increments, such as tenths of a cent (U.S.) or less. Most merchants accepting digital cash so far, however, use it as an alternative to other forms of payment for somewhat higher price purchases.

I discovered that there are several commercial approaches to digital cash on the web. Among these are eCash from Digital Cash & CyberCash. Digital cash can also be stored on an electronically-sensitive card like what is call a SmartCard. Who would have thought that a card would have such a name, or even the thought of a card being smart; but it does. Technology has created this Smart Card, and it is truly an innovative application that involves all aspects of (secret codes). This card has a microprocessor built into it with what is called cryptography or (secret codes). This is very important to the function of the card in several ways:

It’s good that this elaborate protocol is all conducted in such a way that it is invisible to the user, except for the necessity of entering a PIN to begin the transaction.

Smartcards first saw general use in France in 1984. They are now hot commodities that are expected to replace the simple plastic cards most of us use now. Master Card and Visa are actually leading the way in the United States with their smart card technologies.

I haven’t used Smart Card technology yet. I am still using my old card, but I’m certainly looking forward to more options soon.

Related:

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Everyone in my family, except for those in my immediate family, live in England. Last week I went to visit and realized just how much travel can cost (especially with the dollar being so weak compared to the pound). Everything in England is priced the same price that you would expect to see in the U.S. in dollars, which means that if a bottle of soda is priced at £2.00 there, that is $4.00 in the U.S. (and that is buying the soda at a grocery store…NOT an amusement park)!

Just because you are on vacation or traveling for other reasons, don’t slack off on your budget. Yes, it may be a little bit harder to keep your budget and goals in mind if you are having so much fun on your travels…but you can still have fun and save a bit of money too!

Since I love to travel, I have found some of the following advice very helpful.

Some tips on how to save…so that you actually have some money to spend when you get home:

SHOPPING – Don’t. Now don’t get me wrong, I love shopping more than you can imagine…but sometimes it just gets a little bit too expensive. I know that many times the purpose of some people’s trips is to shop, then that’s fine and you have prepared yourself for what you will spend. But if your intention before you left for your trip was not to shop, I suggest limiting yourself. Make sure you are only buying things on your travels that you won’t be able to find back home; something unique or a souvenir to remind you of your trip.

CAR RENTALS – Make sure to be smart with this. If you are staying in a city your best bet is to use public transportation. Not only will you not have to pay for your car rental, but you won’t have to pay the extravagant parking fees either. If you do have to get a car rental, make sure to consider if you actually need the car rental insurance that they offer you or if you are already covered. Check out this Geezeo article for more information!

PETS – Check to see if there is anyone that would be willing to take care of your pets for you while you are away. Paying someone that you trust to come to the house and walk your dog or feed your cat will save you a lot of money since you don’t have to send them to the kennels. I know that my brother always offers to take care of his friends dog because he knows that it will save her a lot of money in the long run and it isn’t a hassle for him. Even one of your kids friends might be will to help you out for a little extra cash!

HOSTELS – I know not everywhere has hostels, but if the location that you are traveling to does, it is something that you should definitely consider. Sometimes in Europe and other locations, a hostel is almost as nice as a hotel but at half the price! I know that whenever any of my friends were traveling abroad they never stayed in hotels and always resorted to hostels instead. If you are going on a trip to see the sites, then how much time are you actually spending in your hotel room anyway?

PACK LIGHT – Nowadays, packing light is the only way to go. Flights will charge you for an extra bag AND for your bag being over 50 pounds. Check your bag if at all possible before you arrive at the airport…you don’t want to be stuck paying those extra fees just because you are a few pounds over that 50 pound mark. Also, traveling light will give you more flexibility in case you have to lug your bags around when you get to your location.

CARRY EXTRA CASH – I know this sounds like the opposite of what most people would tell you, but I have found that taking out extra cash while I am home will save me a lot of money on ATM fees when I am away (especially if you are traveling internationally). I am not saying to carry your cash on you at all times when you are on your trip, but you should bring some extra to avoid the fees and keep the extra in the safe while you are at your hotel. I know that this is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea to carry more cash, but I have found it helpful in the past.

Saving money on vacation is not always possible! And don’t let being worried about money ruin your vacation. But do be sure that you are prepared before you take the trip…you don’t want to come home and realize that you have overspent and now have to be frugal for the rest of the year.

Photo: Kevin Rosseel

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