NEW YORK, 10:26 AM, WED JUL 9 | 21 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS | tips@consumerist.com | RSS
Posts Tagged “

Gift Giving

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christmas creepy

Stores Offer To Send Your Friends And Family An Invasive Holiday Wish List

Wouldn't it be great if you could email your holiday wish list to friends and family without seeming like a self-indulgent clod? Well, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that several stores now feature self-promoting wish lists that magically email themselves or generate sales calls to potential gift givers. More »

6:24 PM on Sun Dec 2 2007
By Carey
3,666 views, 25 comments

shopping

Watch Out For Fees With Gift Cards

Like candy canes and drunken family dinners, gift cards have become a Christmas staple. Bankrate has reviewed a wide number of them and published the results to help you pick the best one for your needs. To avoid fees, you should stick with "closed-loop" cards—that is, a card issued by a specific retailer for use only with that retailer. Almost all retailers now offer cards that don't expire and don't charge maintenance fees, with the notable exceptions of Macy's and Bloomingdales, whose cards both expire two years after purchase. However, several retailers—CVS, for example—still charge "dormancy" fees on cards that have been inactive for anywhere from 6 to 24 months, so be sure to check the fine print to see how this is addressed. More »

1:57 PM on Mon Nov 12 2007
By Chris Walters
1,542 views, 21 comments

Latest by mac-phisto: connecticut - no fees, no expiration date (though i do not believe it applies to bank-issued prepaid credit cards): [www.ct.gov] more »

personal finance

Use A Spreadsheet To Plan Your Gifts

This professor of finance proposes you take all the fun out of wildly overspending on last-minute gifts for friends and family, and replace it with the measured, predictable joy of a spreadsheet. However, if you follow his advice, the odds will be much better that you'll end the year with healthier checking and credit card accounts. More »

11:40 PM on Tue Nov 6 2007
By Chris Walters
2,848 views, 22 comments