Black Friday shopping tips

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Watch out for the traps like the two-cycle billing, in which card issuers charge interest on balances you've already paid. In a recent study of credit-card companies by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), one-third of those surveyed use this billing method, which works like this: Assume that you start a billing cycle with a zero balance and charge $1,000 on the credit card (not unusual for holiday shoppers). You make a timely payment of $990, and expect to pay interest on the remaining $10. Instead, you're charged interest on the full $1,000. Even though you owed the credit card company only $10 for 30 days or less, the interest charge in this example from the GAO was $11.02.

So, if you're going to pay by credit card, use the one with the most favorable terms.

And as much as possible, pay your balance in full or plan on paying it all by Valentine's Day at the latest.

4. My bookkeeper friend's tip: Keep a running total of your spending. After a shopping excursion, immediately write down everything you've spent so far. It gives you a visual record of how much your holiday shopping is affecting your finances. If you used a credit card, automatically subtract what you've spent from your bank account balance. This ensures that you'll have enough money in the account to pay the bill when it arrives.

5. My artistic daughter's strategy: Be creative. Think outside the gift box. Instead of buying a single gift for every person, you can think of a single family gift, which everyone can enjoy. There are plenty of alternatives that are less expensive and more fun, than buying a gift for every sibling, in-law, niece, nephew and cousin. For example, offer your services as a free babysitter for three nights to your stressed sister and her husband, redeemable within the next three months. The best gifts don't cost money.

5. My sister-in-law's advice: Shop online. No shopping is worth more than your sanity. That's my sister-in-law's philosophy. So, for those who don't like jostling with crowds, waiting in mile-long lines, parking streets away and walking in the cold, avoid the stores and shop on the Internet. You can even do it during lunch break!

6. A wise man's tip: Keep the change! I read about a shopper who bent down to pick up a dime from the floor. A gentleman standing next to her struck up a conversation. He told her he always picks up coins (even pennies) and tosses them into a big jar, along with the change from his pockets every day. That's the money he uses to buy his holiday gifts—and every year it adds up to between $900 and $1,100. Wow! Start counting those pennies!

7. My cousin's advice: Be patient and be gracious. When shopping hysteria comes into a store, especially during Black Friday, tempers flare and nerves are so easily irritated. It's time to practice your patience and graciousness as you take your place in looooong lines, as salespeople snub you or give you the cold treatment, as cards are declined because the phone lines to the credit card authorization center are jammed, and as another careless driver steals your parking space. These things happen every holiday season. The stress is on, and we all need to be patient. (www.asianjournal.com)

(Published November 21, 2008 p.sf3 NC)

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