This Week In Your Wallet: Veterans Day, Holiday Shopping Forecast & Digital Gift Cards
First of all, Happy Veteran’s Day! Thank you to all who have served and are serving now. We showed our appreciation this morning on the TODAY show, where we talked about Operation Money, my new money eBook for service members and families. It’s free, and available to read and download on operationmoneybook.com. Although it was written for military families, there is a lot of information in there that applies to pretty much everyone. Please check it out and pass it along to anyone you think it would help!
Now for this week’s headlines…
Sky’s the limit for airline fees
This year we’re on track to pay $28.5 billion in a la carte airline fees worldwide, which is $5 billion more than last year, according to research from airline consultancy firm IdeaWorksCompany. It’s no secret as to why. As MONEY reports, depending on the airline, it can cost you a pretty penny to check a bag. Even your carry-on bag can cost you on airlines like Spirit Air. Spirit might offer some of the cheapest flights in America, but these flights come with laundry lists of fees. (Overall, baggage fees are expected to account for 25 percent of all America’s ancillary revenues this year.)
Plus, not all seats within the same class are created equal anymore. On some airlines, sitting up front — in coach — can cost you more than sitting towards the back of the plane — in coach. And then, of course, you’re hit with charges for beverages, food and WiFi. The fees become even more frustrating as the prices for airfare continue to rise. According to MONEY, the average price for a domestic round-trip flight in the U.S. is now $500 – prices have gone up by 11 percent in the past five years. So, what are jet-setting consumers to do in order to save money? Plan ahead.
For instance, you should book your travel eight weeks in advance to secure the best rate, according to a new survey from the Airlines Reporting Corporation. By following that timetable, you should be able to net domestic airfares around 19 percent lower than average. I know you’re counting, and we’re seven weeks from Christmas. Just get on it as soon as you can. The report found Sunday is the best day to book, so put that on this weekend’s to-do list.
Should you invest like a girl?
There’s a book titled, “Warren Buffett Invests Like a Girl – And Why You Should, Too.” The why? As USA TODAY writes, studies of gender differences in investment behavior continue to show that women are more likely to be patient — and patience pays off. They’re more likely to commit to a “buy and hold” strategy, and less likely to chase the market. (According to Vanguard, men were 10 percent more likely to sell stocks at market lows during the 2008 financial crisis.) Hormones play major roles, too. As LouAnn Lofton, author of the above book tells USA TODAY, testosterone fuels traders to take hard and fast risks, which can be profitable, but too much testosterone for too long can result in taking more risk than is appropriate for you. Women are also more likely to think big picture. Charles Schwab research found that 88 percent of women want their advisors to focus on their entire financial lives – not just their profit-making investment portfolios.
Black Friday is now a season
The shopping frenzy once reserved for the Friday after Thanksgiving has expanded into a two-week event, according to DealNews analytics. Thanksgiving sales will start as early as the Monday before. Black Friday technically starts on Thursday night. And Cyber Monday starts on Saturday and runs through the following Friday. The sales (and monikers) are all over the place, and as a consumer, it can get confusing. The Wall Street Journal reports that even with all the hype, Black Friday (the actual day) isn’t the best day to find deals. According to data from Adobe Systems Inc., you’ll see the biggest price cuts on the Monday before Turkey Day — and on Thanksgiving. (The handful of stores opening on Thanksgiving Day are looking to compete, which means better prices for you.) Also know that the weeks before Black Friday weekend offer better deals than the weeks before Christmas. Both DealNews and the Journal offer tracking tools and guides for you to shop the sales this holiday season.
The new gift card
With the rise of mobile payments it should come as no surprise that gift cards are heading in the same digital direction. In fact, the digital (or electronic) gift card market is growing at a rate of 200 percent, according to the National Retail Federation. These cards are generally sent via email and stored in your computer or mobile device, ready to redeem at the tap of a button. My Fortune column this week goes over how to make the most out of gifting these cards (and your traditional plastic ones), as well as buying and selling unused cards.
You see, the secondary gift card market is booming, as well. So, let’s say you’re on the receiving end of a gift card that misses the mark, don’t hesitate to resell it. No, you’re not going to get 100% of the value, but you can get up to 90 percent of it. On sites like Gift Card Granny you can see that you’d get about 90% of the value for a Costco gift card and 80% for one from the Disney Store. And back to the topic of holiday shopping — if you’re just starting out — one way to save significantly is to buy other people’s unwanted gift cards and use them to make your purchases. Again, savings run the gamut from around 7% at Nike, to 10% at Bloomingdale’s and to 20% at Massage Envy. The bottom line: You save.
Have a great week,
Jean
