All Posts Tagged With: "credit card"
5 things the recession put an end to
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Wed, Dec 02 2009 | 17 Comments
Everyone remembers before the recession how things were. There were people who would show how much money they could spend running rampant. Most of those people have been silenced by the recession as everyday average Americans have grown tired of extravagance.
So here are a few of the things that have gone almost extinct through the recession:
1. Unaccountability. People feel as though CEOs and high level executives have had a hand in the recession due to their lack of accountability. We never heard from them or made them accountable for actions they may have done. However, now, they end up being the most accountable and when a company does something wrong, the CEO is the first to blame and the first to go.
2. People flaunting their extravagance. The days of people owning things like Hummers, bling, and having their homes featured on shows like Cribs has come to an end (for now anyway). Even the once very public Paris Hilton has been fairly unseen recently. Hummer has been dropped from the GM lineup and people are cutting back wherever they can.
3. Outrageous Gas Prices. I’m sure this one will end up making a comeback eventually, but as of right now the average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is around $2.65. This is far from the record highs of $4.10 a gallon for the same grade of gasoline from last year. Many people welcome the difference due to lower income levels and higher unemployment.
4. Less junk mail. Before there was a credit crisis everyone was getting credit card offers, including children and cats. Now there aren’t as many credit card offers floating around and credit card companies are being a bit more careful about who they are sending pre-approved offers to.
5. Stores that sell stuff we don’t need. Stores like the Sharper Image have just simply disappeared in the last year because they sell stuff that people don’t need and typically can’t even create a need for.
Related posts:Credit is still affordable.
Even after a fire at a California refinery, gas still slipps below $2.50/gal.
Tags: gas price, junk mail, credit crisis
Strange things that Wal-Mart has banned
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, Oct 05 2009 | 0 Comments
An article written by Ethan Trex for Mental Floss brought up a few really interesting items that, over the years, Wal-Mart has banned from its aisles.
The first thing on the list was Midge, Barbie’s pregnant friend. Midge was part of Mattel’s “Happy Family” set. It’s not like she was trying to promote some kind of immoral family life either; Midge came with a husband and a son. When people started to complain that there was a pregnant Barbie, the doll got pulled.
A pair of underwear also found itself under fire when a cheeky saying on the pair “who needs credit cards…when you have Santa” got people fired up. Wal-Mart pulled the panties soon after they were released around Christmastime in 2007. With this one, yea, I can see how this could be particularly awful. Like the original poster said, this would be better on a t-shirt; harmless. But on a pair of Juniors’ underwear it’s a bit too much. It’s like seeing “sexy” costumes on Amazon for pre-teens (those get pulled as soon as people start noticing).
Even though 1995 was nearly 15 years ago, it’s not like it was before the Women’s Movement. In the Miami area, there was a shirt with Margaret from Dennis the Menace on the front. The shirt said “Someday a Woman Will Be President” and it was pulled from shelves of the Wal-Mart stores. Luckily, after some idiots got it right, the shirts were put back out on shelves, but not until they had been sitting in stock rooms for months.
Wal-Mart has always been known as a family-oriented store; or at least it has tried to be known as a family friendly store. So, it censors albums and even some movie titles (they required that Zach and Miri Make a Porno be shortened to simply Zach and Miri). Well, for reasons other than the movie being a bit raunchy, Wal-Mart did not sell the movie Superbad in Hawaii. Why? They pulled the movie from shelves after the governor asked them to because the movie came with a little fake ID like “McLovin’” had in the movie.
Wal-Mart really has some strange rules and while trying to maintain the company’s family friendly persona it has really made some interesting choices as to what it will and won’t stock. You can find some other really interesting things that the store has decided are too risque for its shelves at the source.
Source
More strange indicators of the economy
Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy all try something new
Tags: credit card, hawaii, credit cards
Being a spendthrift and how to get over it
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Sun, Oct 04 2009 | 0 Comments
A spendthrift is someone who spends money; a lot of money and it can be considered wasteful the way he or she spends it.
Have you watched the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic? I watched it a couple of weeks ago, and while my shopping habits haven’t really gotten THAT out of control I have made a couple of splurges in the past that I know haven’t been the best shopping decisions.
It can be difficult to go from being someone who buys what they need and picks up a few extra things as well to someone who buys the bare minimum of what they need from the grocery store, often foregoing their favorite brands for the cheaper, generics, brands that are on sale, or the brands that have the coupons out that week.
The best, and easiest way, in my opinion, to go from someone who spends money to someone who saves money is to watch the flow of cash out of your bank account, closely. If you can watch that balance drop, then you are going to be far more likely to put down the debit card and head for the door.
Of course, there are times when shopping is more of a habit than a hobby and sometimes you may actually need to talk to someone about your “problem.” In the movie I was talking about earlier, there is a scene toward the beginning when the main character, who has maxed out her credit cards and can’t pay the bills, sees a really expensive green scarf on a mannequin and the mannequin starts talking to her (in her mind). The mannequin tells her that she needs the scarf and somehow she pools the money together to get it.
Thiis is just one example, even though it is a fiction example, of how shopping can actually become an addiction.
My biggest tip that helps me though, and I know I’ve said it a million times, is to MAKE A LIST. If I have a list, I won’t spend as much. If I have a list, there is a lesser chance that I will bring home things that are not on the list. If I make a list and arm myself with coupons, my savings are even greater (however, you have to remember not to buy something just because you have a coupon, make sure that you need it).
Related posts:Money saving tips for moms
Tags: habit, debit card, Money
Warehouse shopping may be holding you back
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, Sep 21 2009 | 1 Comment
Have you paid for a warehouse club shopping card? Do you feel as though you are treated poorly when you are at the store? Well, you’re not alone. Here are some things from Smart Money that warehouse stores may inform you of but not implicitly TELL you when you sign up for your cards en masse.
1. Now that you’ve paid for your dues, it’s time to get in line. Haha! Now they have you and your cart full of groceries, you have to wait in line for those in front of you who have cases upon cases of mountain dew and Pepsi.
2. You should probably have some kind of construction wear to shop at this store. This means that on more than one occasion, shoppers to warehouse stores have had merchandise fall on their heads while they were trying to shop.
3. Don’t sign up for our credit cards, seriously. A credit card from one of these warehouse stores will eat away at your account with an interest rate of 23.15% APR on average. If you have a Sam’s card, your phone will ring and ring with offers from GE money. I find this one kind of funny because I have a Sam’s card and also am offered a credit card every time I shop at the store, but have never been called and offered the credit card.
4. We got you with our sparkly jewelry, hook, line, and sinker! Jewelry from a warehouse store is too good to be true. I don’t know what kind of lights they use to make those gems sparkle, but even my five year old engagement ring sparkles under those lights…if only they would follow us at all times, right? Anyway, most of the times when they say the diamonds will appraise higher than retail they won’t.
5. You will leave when we tell you to leave. Here’s where it gets tricky…I have only ever had a Sam’s club card and every time my husband and I have gone to leave a Sam’s Club, we have been stopped at the front door for the person to “check” everything in our cart. Are they really able to check what we have purchased? Probably not, but if that is what makes their day complete, than who am I to get in the way of that? There are many people out there who feel as though it is their right not to have to show their reciept to the “checker” at the door and in the eyes of the law; they are right.
However, you can be banned from the warehouse store if you completely ignore the rules of the store, including having your receipt checked by the checker at the door.
I have a warehouse club card (Sam’s Club) due to the fact that is what my parent’s give Chris and me for Christmas. The card is one of those things that we look forward to every year even though we barely use it throughout.
Related posts:Jewelry for the Holidays
Save some money and gas by shopping on the internet
Checks SHOULD be a thing of the past
Tags: groceries, mountain dew, interest rate
The Pitch – What would you give up to have a customized credit card?
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Tue, Sep 15 2009 | 3 Comments
What would you give up to have a highly customized credit card?
Question:
Perhaps the real question is what kind of concessions would you be willing to make on things like APR and benefits to have a card that is uniquely you?
Answer:
I would rather have an ugly card than to have to worry about my 30% APR or not having any kind of benefits from the card. I have seen where people have to pay higher APR’s on the cards that have a cute picture of their cat or dog or kid just because the credit card company went through the “trouble” of putting a customized picture on the card. This isn’t always the case, but, like I said, I would rather have an ugly card.
So the truth is, I would not make any concessions when it comes to my credit cards and how they look. I never see my credit cards anyway because they’re always stuck in my wallet. If I’m at the gas station, I use the blue one. If I’m at the grocery store, I’ll use the red one. This is how I know my cards.
Have an idea or want us to use your pitch in the next issue? Then, make a submission on The Pitch Page. Related posts:
What will the credit card companies do?
Credit is still affordable.
Tags: grocery store, credit cards, concessions
