holidays

How To Do Your Holiday Shopping Through Rebate Sites

by V.C. McGuire on November 18, 2009

Over the next couple of weeks, six finalists will be auditioning for the opening of “staff writer” at Consumerism Commentary. Each will be providing two guest articles to share with readers. After the six writers have shared their guest articles, readers will have an opportunity to provide feedback before we select the staff writer.

This article is presented by VCMcGuire, a regular contributor to the New York Times and other publications.

I hate shopping. A lot. I have been known to buy the wrong thing, for the wrong price, just to get out of the store.

Buying gifts is the worst. Here’s what happens on a typical shopping trip before Christmas. I’m standing in a store, holding something in my hand, and I’m thinking, “Will this book/sweater/candle show my grandma/father/spouse how much I love them? Do I really know them well enough to know what they will like?”

This is followed closely by another glance at the price tag, and the realization that this month’s credit card bill is going to be bigger than our mortgage payment. Right about then, somebody usually starts hanging on my arm and asking if we can please buy a soft pretzel now, Mom?

That’s when I either convince myself that my father will love that shade of fuschia, or I walk out of the store empty-handed.

Thank god for online shopping. I can do it at home. I can find the best price. In most cases I can find the perfect color and size. And by spending a few extra minutes, I can often get a pretty good discount on my purchase. My goal is to get a discount big enough to cover the shipping charges.

I do this by using a third-party cash back site to get a rebate. I’m a member of several rebate sites, and most of the online stores I buy from participate in at least one of these programs.

But how can you find out whether, say, Macys.com, participates in any rebate programs?

I use a site called Ev’Reward. (Flexo reviewed Ev’Reward back in 2006.) This site lets you plug in the name of a store and find coupons, or rebate sites that will give you a kickback. Online coupons consist of a code you can enter before you buy, and your savings are instantaneous. Rewards sites usually require you to sign up for an account, then click through from their site to the retailer. Once you have accounts with a few rewards sites, though, this is pretty fast. The downside is you have to wait to get your rebate–usually about 90 days from the date of purchase. This gives the retailer time to make sure you’re not going to return your purchase.

I’ve tried a number of rewards programs, and I’ve got my list narrowed down to about four that I use on a regular basis. I don’t participate in any rewards programs that cost money to join. And I don’t use any of my travel reward accounts for this purpose. I get miles and hotel points when I travel, but I would rather have cash money as a rebate for shopping, not miles or points.

Here are my favorite rewards sites, and a summary of their advantages.

Fat Wallet. Unlike most of its competitors, Fat Wallet has no minimum balance before you can withdraw your money. You still have to wait a couple months for the rebates to clear in their system, but then you can request to be reimbursed through Paypal. The site has a lot of other good features, like a thriving discussion board for bargain hunters, that make it worth a longer visit.
Mr. Rebates. This site often has the highest rebates for specific merchants. Recently, the minimum withdrawal was lowered to $10, making Mr. Rebates more attractive. This site also has the best referral program. You don’t get anything when you initially refer a friend, but you get 20% of all their rebates for as long as they’re members. If you refer a few big-time online shoppers, you can earn a steady trickle of passive income.
Ebates. Ebates also has relatively high rebates compared to other sites. Another plus is that they automatically send your rebates quarterly once you reach the $10 minimum pay-out. That means you don’t have to remember to come back and request to be paid. Ebates also has a referral program. When you refer a friend and the friend makes a purchase through Ebates, you get a $5 bonus, but there’s no ongoing kickback for your friend’s future purchases. I recently bought a bunch of school uniforms for my kindergartener from JCPenney.com, and got 3% back from Ebates.
Upromise. This site’s kickbacks for online shopping are usually much lower than the other 3 I’ve mentioned, but it’s worth signing up anyway. You can register grocery store rewards cards with Upromise, and get a few cents in your Upromise account when you buy selected products. You can ask friends and family to sign up for Upromise accounts, naming your kid as a beneficiary, although some of my relatives were understandably skeeved out by the idea of letting yet another company track and analyze their spending. The rebates accumulate in your Upromise account until you roll them into a 529 college savings plan. We all know college is wicked expensive, so every little bit helps. I’ve been participating in Upromise for a few years now, and I’ve saved a few hundred dollars–enough to pay for a single textbook. Maybe.

So, with the holidays approaching, I’m looking forward to avoiding the malls and getting rebates on all my gift purchases.

I’ve probably missed some good rewards sites, and I know there are other sites besides Ev’Reward for looking up online discounts. What are your favorites?

Don’t forget to check out these recent Consumerism Commentary guest posts on couponing and smart holiday spending for more ideas.

This is a guest article by VCMcGuire, one of six finalists interested in being Consumerism Commentary’s staff writer.

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7 Tips for a Frugal Valentine’s Day

by Flexo on February 11, 2009

It’s a February tradition on Consumerism Commentary to look at Valentine’s Day from a perspective of moderation. Each year, I consider how a couple for whom frugality is important can still feel involved in the holiday of love. If you have some thoughts to add, please leave your comments at the bottom of this article.

The way I see it, Valentine’s Day is an occasion mostly meant for companies like Hallmark who market Products of Love to willing consumers who do not communicate their feelings well enough throughout the rest of the year. But I’m not that cynical. Celebrating Valentine’s Day in a unique way can be a great way to express love for others in addition to all that can be done on the remaining 364 days. From greeting cards to diamonds, and from Lexus to 1-800-Flowers, companies and brands want to be associated, or indelibly linked, to the holiday. I say avoid mass-produced “love” and take a personal approach.

Today’s economy lends itself well to this alternate philosophy. According to government statistics, more people are out of work today than were in that situation one year ago. Looking at Valentine’s Day through a frugal lens can allow you to express your feelings without sacrificing your financial condition as you stretch to afford to spend a night in a hotel, go on a cruise, or buy a car and wrap it in a bow.

Here are some of my suggestions for experiencing a frugal Valentine’s Day this year, some serious, some with tongue firmly planted in cheek. (And if everything works well for you this holiday, perhaps your tongue find its way somewhere else.)

1. Make your own greeting cards. There are few things I can’t stand. One of the few is cards that play music when they open. Not only is it annoying, but the music is often recorded in horrible fidelity so that it can be stored on a tiny, hidden device. But even standard greeting cards aren’t worth the price. I can never find one that expresses the thoughts as they exist in my head, but what would it say if I could find one? It would say that my feelings are mass produced, and the way I feel about someone can be expressed in the same words that thousands of other people would use, and I refuse to believe that any individual’s brain cells and synapses are aligned in the same way as thousands of other people.

The bottom line is that it takes little effort to hand-write a note or design your own card. You don’t need mad Photoshop skills to make something, either.

2. Pass over the chocolate. First, I don’t consider M&Ms and Hershey’s candy to be real chocolate. Chocolate starts with Godiva or Lindt, but still has room for improvement. Better chocolate, like a drug, might stimulate the hypothalamus, increasing pleasure for those who consume. Chocolate is a great comfort food for that reason. But good chocolate can be expensive, so it may be something you’d like to skip this year.

Skip chocolate and choose fruit instead.

3. Don’t rent pornography. Rather than supporting a dangerous industry, pick up the camcorder, mount in on a tripod, and get to work. If you’re too shy to film your own, peruse your local sex library. If you do, however, choose to take the do-it-yourself approach with your partner, please be sure not to upload your work accidentally to a public website. Keep it private.

4. Avoid lingerie. Here is something that’s pointless. Why spend a lot of money for a small amount of clothing, particularly if the desired end result is the removal of said clothing. Stay naked. Nudity is sexier and doesn’t support terrorism.

5. Turn off electrical appliances. No television, no lights, nothing that draws power provided by an outside source. Light a candle if you need to see, but otherwise just get in bed and cuddle in the dark… without the aforementioned lingerie.

6. Skip the gourmet dinner. Filet mignon at Ruth’s Chris is unmatched in terms of taste. Another one of my favorites is fondue at The Melting Pot. Dining as an experience is an important part of life for many people, but it isn’t a frugal choice. I’ve been somewhat successful, romantically if not culinarily, cooking myself for the more important occasions. It helps that I don’t cook often; when I do, it’s a special occasion in itself. And remember, when it comes out, it smells the same whether it’s McDonald’s or Omaha Steaks.

7. Create a playlist. They tell me that mix tapes are out of fashion in the twenty-first century. I was big on mix tapes throughout high school and even college. It was never a challenge for me to find songs that I wanted to share with other people, and since I already owned the music for the most part, the only cost was blank audio tapes. Towards the end of college, blank tapes gave way to blank CDs. These days, it’s the MP3 player that seems to be the preferred way to listen, and the way to bring the mix tape up-to-date is to create a playlist and share a compilation of MP3s.

Also check out these 5 romantic outdoor day-date ideas under $30.

Note: Don’t feel bad if you are without a partner on this Valentine’s Day. All of the above activities can be accomplished as well, if not better, on your own.

♥ Happy Valentine’s Day from Consumerism Commentary! ♥

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Will You Have a Cash-only Yuletide?

by Smithee on November 25, 2008

in Credit

There’s a story circulating that customers are using cash instead of credit for their holiday purchases this year, more than they have for many years past. I found this story detailed in Newsweek. Here are the highlights you should know:

Credit card issuers are raising interest rates and fees, while lowering spending limits
Some analysts are saying that a shift toward using only cash could last after the holiday season
JC Penney’s has seen a decrease in spending near the end of a payday cycle, and an increase in spending right after paydays. While normal for discount stores, JC Penney’s hasn’t observed this in the last 17 years
Wal-Mart has observed that payments made with credit cards decreased 7.4% in the current fiscal year. For the past three years, this percentage has increased.
Target’s credit card operation is being more stringent with its current customers, but offering a 10% discount for new customers (I think that means a 10% discount when you first use it, which isn’t a big deal)

These factors, and more, mean that more people will be paying only what they can afford when buying gifts for the next few weeks. Readers of Consumerism Commentary who already have their finances in order will have known for a long time that carrying a balance on a credit card is unwise. But I’m sure you also realize that millions of people who don’t earn a lot still feel like they deserve to reward themselves and their loved ones, if only once a year.

Naturally, the credit issuers mentioned in the story all point to the continuing credit crunch as the reasons for their need to be more stringent. One of the scant few things we can look at to identify the badness of the credit crisis is the TED spread. Yesterday, the TED was at 2.05. Normally, we want to see a TED at under a level of 1.0, but last year this time, it was 1.95, not too terribly different from yesterday’s level.

I’m fairly certain these new decisions were made by credit card issuers a few weeks ago (it takes time to make a big change), when the TED was at panic-inducing levels of near 5.0. So does the current lower level mean that credit card issuers will change their minds?

More importantly, are you planning to pay for things differently this year, and maybe for more years to come?

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6 Tips for a Frugal Valentine’s Day (Reprint Plus)

by Flexo on February 14, 2008

This article was published here on Valentine’s Day 2007. I enjoyed it so much, I decided to reprint it with perhaps a few updates every successive Valentine’s Day for the rest of my life. Enjoy.

Do you want to be romantic and save money? In a world where romanticism is portrayed by the media as the giving of expensive gifts like diamonds, a Lexus, and a tropical vacation, romanticism and frugality are seen as incompatible. Here are some ways to bring the two concepts together in a beautiful marriage of ideas (without the expensive caterers, wedding dress, and relatives).

1. Make your own cards. You don’t have to be a great artist, but some effort can go a long way. Fold a piece of paper in quarters, draw a simple design on the front with no more than two crayons, and write heartfelt words inside (in pen). You’ll be fine, and you’ll avoid the clichéd imagery.

Personally, I can never find cards that express what I feel — they’re either too cheesy or too stupid — so I opt for blank ones anyway.

2. Pass over the chocolate. Chocolate (represented by the pictured chocolate heart) is expensive this time of year, especially if you’re a fan of Godiva. Chocolate is such a pleasureful food because its chemicals react with the chemicals in the brain to create a slight euphoria.

Other options that create the same feeling include papaya and other juicy fruit, as well as marijuana. Drugs may not be the most frugal choice, however, depending on your source.

3. Don’t rent pornography. Doing so supports a dangerous industry (and terrorism, of course!). The best alternative is to select your videos for free at your local sex library.

Another option: film your own scene for your private home viewing. It’s more “personal” but less sexy to anyone other than you, so keep it to yourself.

4. Avoid lingerie. Why spend so much money on small pieces of fabric that will quickly be removed from the body anyway? Nudity is much sexier, and doesn’t fund terrorism.

6. Skip the gourmet dinner. Homemade filet mignon sends a message to your sweetie: I’m willing to spend extra money for meat depending on its originating proximity to a bull’s ass. Skip the fine foods. When everything comes out, it smells the same whether it’s Omaha Steaks or McDonald’s.

Note: Don’t feel bad if you are without a partner on this Valentine’s Day. All of the above activities can be accomplished as well, if not better, on your own.

♥ Happy Valentine’s Day from Consumerism Commentary! ♥

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Buy Holiday Items Now and Save Lots

by Flexo on January 1, 2008

Now is most likely the best time for finding great deals on holiday items like Christmas tree ornaments and decorations. While I’m inclined to say that holiday tchotchkes are generally overpriced to begin with, I’ve spotted discounts up to 75% off of the regular price over the past few days. Most people, particularly those who plan and prepare for the holidays, are just happy the year has ended. They’re not thinking about preparing for next Christmas or Hanukkah.

Meanwhile, the stores need to unload their unsold holiday inventory. It’s time to start making room for Valentine’s Day junk. Use this knowledge to take advantage of the strong supply to demand ratio. If you have the storage space and can’t reuse what you already have, consider buying what you’ll need next December now at a deep discount.

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Christmas Kittens: Not A Bargain

by Sasha on December 22, 2007

In the course of my holiday shopping, I happened into my local pet shop for some supplies and a catnip-filled stocking or two.

While there, I couldn’t help but wander towards the wall full of wriggling puppies, each more adorable than the last.

As usual, there were a few display tanks full of kittens, generally from stray or other cats which people drop off to be vaccinated and then resold. It’s not a bad program, really, and the store always charges $49.99 to adopt a kitten once they’ve been checked and treated, enough to cover the vet and their expenses.

cat

Always, that is, except the holidays. As I looked at the inquisitive little faces, my eye was drawn up to the yellow tag: $199.99.

“Well, they must be from a breeder,” I mused aloud, but a nearby store clerk shook her head. She gave me a knowing look and whispered “They’re the same cats as always,” then strolled off before anyone else could overhear.

Indeed, these were run-of-the-mill kittens, some stripey, some longhaired with white bibs, and some pure jet black. But all featured the special holiday pricing, four times the normal cost.

In the midst of the Christmas rush, I wonder if anyone else will even notice.

Image Credit: Collinj

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PriceProtectr Just Saved My Girlfriend $100

by Flexo on December 16, 2007

in Consumer, Shopping

Unfortunately, I forgot to mention PriceProtectr during my recent Wall Street Journal interview, but I can’t praise this free service enough. This website keeps a private database of your purchases, in store or online, and monitors the price of the items. Many stores offer a price match policy, in which the customer would be entitled to a credit if the price of a purchased item drops within 30 days of purchase. While I normally check the price of large purchases on my own, PriceProtectr has the benefit of constant monitoring and alert.

A few weeks ago, my girlfriend A. purchased a gift for me — a somewhat pricey gift — from Best Buy. The gift is currently wrapped, so technically I shouldn’t know about it. But I do. This morning, I received notification that the price for the item, a Blu-Ray Disc player, dropped from $399 to $299. That’s a significant decrease, and the money saved could certainly be spent towards other things or deposited into savings.

Originally, my plan was to wait until I could find a lower-cost refurbished Blu-Ray player at a Sony outlet store, but receiving the player as a gift works as well. The price drop is just icing on the cake.

So when we get a chance, probably next weekend, we will visit the store with the receipt and take advantage of the Best Buy price drop policy.

Using PriceProtectr is easy, even if your purchase took place in person. Just find the URL listing the product and enter that address and your email address on the home page. PriceProtectr will do the rest, checking the price of your items each day. You’ll receive an email if the price drops and when the protection expires after 30 days from the purchase date.

photo: downbeat

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