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Is It Too Late to Save the 2008 Holiday Shopping Season?

Black Friday sales were remarkably impressive, especially in the midst of a huge financial crisis. The Saturday before Christmas is another extremely busy day for retailers. Will December 20, 2008 save the 2008 Holiday Shopping Season?

Experts don’t think it will be. This year, retailers around the country have practically been giving merchandise away. Retailers and merchants have gone to desperate measures to try and boost sales. Big-name-nationwide-chains are offering discounts as big as 60%-80% off. Retailers are trying to end this year on a good note instead of a dismal one.

There is still good news though. The National Retail Federation expects that over 41 million Americans haven’t even started their holiday shopping yet. That is welcome new, especially to frantic retailers. Tracy Mullin, the NRF Chief Executive, said, “WIth so much shopping left to do, the weekend before Christmas will be one of the most important periods of the year for retailers.”

November and December account for more than 50% of retail stores’ annual profit. ShopperTrak, a research firm, estimates that retail sale traffic was down 16.7 percent in November.

Some experts predict that shoppers have been holding out in order to get the best deals. These shoppers certainly won’t be disappointed with the prices they’ll pay this weekend. J.C. Penney’s, Sears, Gap, American Eagle Outfitters and more are hosting their biggest sales of the entire year this weekend.

Industry experts predict that this weekend will be enough to boost 2008’s Holiday Shopping Season’s sales. However, there are still some that expect this holiday season to be grim. George Whalin, an independent retail consultant, said, “Its just too late to save the season.” At the beginning of the season, George expected holiday sales to be flat or slightly higher than last year.

What do you think? Is it too late to save the 2008 Holiday Shopping Season?

Thanks to Plastic Rewards for guest posting - if you are looking for an online credit card application - Plastic Rewards can help.

The Top 3 Tips for Fabulous Holiday Shopping Results

If you could get a lot more with your money, would you do it? Of course you would. American consumers and retailers are already gearing up for the 2008 holiday season. The average person is planning on spending about $900 for all of their holiday shopping. So, let’s make sure that you get the most for your money this year. All you have to do is follow these simple tips.

1. Start early. Don’t wait until Christmas Eve to do your holiday shopping. Start early. Retailers are already offering fabulous discounts for many of the products on your list. Here are some dates to keep in mind to get the best deals…
-Black Friday-November 21, 2008. This is the biggest in-store shopping day of the year. You’ll find the most unbelievable prices this day.
-Cyber Monday-November 24, 2008. If you prefer to do your shopping online, either do it right now or wait until November 24. Online retailers give the biggest discounts on Cyber Monday.
-Mondays in December. Most consumers do their holiday shopping on the weekends. Because of this, sales are slow during week days. In-store retailers slash prices on Mondays. If you want to find the best deals at the mall, go on Mondays in December.
-The first two weeks in December. If you forget about Cyber Monday, don’t worry. Retailers continue to give great discounts throughout the first two weeks of December.

Do your shopping early. The closer you get to Christmas, the more you will pay for your gifts.

2. Find the best deals. All it takes is for you to do a little bit of homework. Take a little bit of time to thumb through the Sunday newspaper. Look at websites like slickrdeals, Ben’s Bargains and Fatwallet to find the best deals online. Sometimes, you can even sign up to receive weekly email notifications. These are easy ways to stay informed about the prices of the products on your shopping list. Don’t settle on the price of a product at the first store or website you go to. Doing a little bit of research can cut the price you pay drastically.

3. Use a cash back credit card. This one just makes sense. Why not get paid to shop? Cash back credit card sales are predicted to skyrocket this holiday season. More and more consumers are looking for additional ways to save money on holiday shopping purchases. Every time you use your cash back credit card, you will also earn points. You can easily redeem these points for cash back. If you do your shopping early, you can get this cash back in time for more holiday shopping. Only use your cash back credit card this holiday season if you want to maximize your holiday shopping experience.

These are the top 3 tips for fabulous holiday shopping results. Following these tips doesn’t take much time and you’ll be able to save a lot of money that way. Make sure you stay under-budget this shopping season by sticking to these easy recommendations.

Beating a Troubled Market

If you haven’t noticed how poor our economy is right now, something is seriously wrong. Don’t keep your eyes closed on our national news. Our country has been forced to sit and wait while the government strives to fix its problem. The stock market needs some serious help, along with other aspects of our economy. Investors around the world are now stuck with decreasing portfolios until the problem is corrected.

Stock market expects suggest two main methods for building a successful portfolio in today’s market.

1. Watch, Watch, Watch. Never stop watching the events on Wall Street. Keep current trends in mind when deciding whether or not to buy or sell. What goes on in Washington D.C. is affecting Wall Street every single minute. Make sure you are an informed investor. You cannot afford to stop watching for even one second.

2. Diversify. Keep your investments diversified. Even if some of your stocks plummet, the chances of losing all of them if they are well diversified is slim to none. Don’t worry about diversifying too much. Keep your investments separate so you won’t lose everything if one things slips.

You can build a winning portfolio in today’s economy. It will take more discipline and practice. You will have to stay up-to-date and never fall behind. If you want my financial advice, the key is to watch and diversify. Stock market experts recommend these two strategies to build (and keep) a successful portfolio. Now probably isn’t the best time to begin looking at investing, but you can always keep investing. Investments can be confusing at times, so you may want to wait until things slow down a bit before jumping into the stock market. If you have been investing for a while and feel confident, keep doing it. You won’t lose everything if you stick to these fail-proof methods.

Thanks to Plastic Rewards for guest posting and bringing us these tips. If you are looking to compare credit cards and find the best cash back credit cards - they can help!

More Government Aid

The U.S. government has recently announced that it will provide more aid to the struggling economy. A new $250 billion plan will be implemented shortly. This plan was unveiled by the Bush administration in hopes of giving necessary aid to weakened banks.

The money from the $250 billion plan will be directly injected to specific banks. The money will be used to buy stocks of these banks. These drastic steps “were not intended to take over the free market, but to preserve it.”

There are nine banks that will benefit initially from the plan. These banks include the nation’s largest financial institutions. Some of these banks had to be pressured into accepting the plan. Henry Paulson, the Treasury Secretary, wanted some of these healthy institutions to get capital from the plan. Although these banks didn’t necessarily need capital, it was necessary to include these banks in the plan to remove the nation’s stigma about bank bailouts. The new “bailout plan” has already had a major effect on Wall Street. The announcement of such a plan has caused stocks to increase drastically.

When announcing the plan, Henry Paulson said, “We regret having to take these actions. Today’s actions are not what we ever wanted to do-but today’s actions are what we must do to restore confidence to our financial system.” Additionally, the Federal Reserve announced that it will buy massive amounts of short-term debt on October 27.

This partial nationalization of the U.S. banking system puts the U.S. in an awkward position. President Bush promised, “The government’s role will be limited and temporary. These measures are not intended to take over the free market but to preserve it.” He went on to say that these bold moves were implemented to prevent a global recession. It sounds like our current administration needs some third party financial advice.

This latest move leaves people all over the country wondering if the government has gone too far. Is it really necessary to spend another $250 billion to “restore confidence to our financial system.” Ben Bernanke has welcomed all of the government’s steps. But, American citizens are skeptical. Some people think that the government should have given the $750 bailout plan more time to take effect. Instead, we are now in more debt, with no guarantee that these plans will work.

Thanks to Plastic Rewards, our guest poster today offering the best information on the web for credit card offers and general credit card information.

Home Buying Tips in a Struggling Economy

Now really isn’t the perfect time to buy a home for anyone.  Buying a home can be a nervous time, even in a strong and booming economy.  It is even more distressing when the economy looks the way ours does.  Careful planning and consideration needs to be taken into account before getting into the biggest investment of your lifetime.

In recent years, lenders have gotten too lax on their lending standards.  Our economy is in the mess that it is because of these poor lending practices.  The tide has turned, as far as lending goes.  Lenders have gotten extremely picky about lending to just anyone again.  Here are some helpful ways that can help you buy a home in today’s economy.

1. Stick within your budget.  Buy a modest home that is within your budget.  There is nothing worse than getting into a home and realizing that you can’t afford it.  Try applying for a pre-approved mortgage.  You can be sure to get the right price range for you this way.

2.  The right agent.  Shop around for the best real-estate agent.  Every real-estate agent works differently.  Find one that fits your needs.  If you need to be contacted every day, find an agent that is willing to do that.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions when trying to find the right agent.  Your agent is there to work for you so find one that will.

3.  Homework time.  Don’t sit back and let your agent do everything for you.  You need to do your homework too.  Research different styles of homes, different neighborhoods, different schools, etc.  You can be sure to make a much more informed decision if you are willing to put in your time too.

4.  Neighborhoods.  The Internet has wonderful information and a lot of it.  But, nothing compares to actually visiting the neighborhoods of the homes you are considering.  Do not buy a home without visiting its neighborhoods and the surrounding neighborhoods.  Realistically, you should know that neighborhood well before buying a home in it.

5.  Haggle and barter.  Some of the most important words you can ever ask someone is, “Is that the best you can do.”  Richard Paul Evans, in his book The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me, expresses the importance of constantly using this phrase.  You’ll be surprised how much you can actually haggle prices down with this phrase.

6.  Caution.  If you are considering buying a foreclosed property, do it with extreme caution.  Foreclosed properties can offer you big savings.  But, they can also cause a lot of unforeseen problems.  Try to only consider homes that have been officially foreclosed on and that are deeded back to the foreclosing bank.

7. The Right Lender and Mortgage.  Your monthly mortgage is going to either be a good thing or a bad thing.  Rates are low.  Do some shopping for the right mortgage company.  See how their customer satisfaction rating is.  Don’t get stuck with a mortgage company that isn’t going to be good to work with.

8.  Home inspector.  Finding the right home inspector can be extremely difficult.  Do whatever you have to do to find a good home inspector.  Unfortunately, some inspectors can let certain things slide.  This can be extremely costly to you in the long run.  Only use a qualified home inspector that is going to look at every tiny detail of the home.

9.  The Long Run.  Your home is viewed as a long-term investment.  Treat it as such.  Try to buy a home that you could see yourself in for the next several years.  Finding the right home, or right long-term investment, will give you much more peace of mind.

10.  Time.  The market is extremely volatile but should affect your timing.  Don’t rush into buying a home just because you think the rates are about to go up or the market is going to get worse.  Take the time to do some shopping, be informed and carefully weigh out the pros and cons.

Buying a home is a very important decision, even in a good market.  This means that you need to be even more careful in today’s market.  Be an informed buyer and make sure your buying decisions are based on sound knowledge.

Thanks to our guest blogger from Superior Lending; A great place for FHA Loans and Utah Home Loans