The average family will spend $606 on clothes, shoes, school supplies and electronics, according to the National Retail Foundation. That's up 10.5% from last year, and just slightly above the pre-recession spending in 2008.
Consumers may be spending more, but it's not because they are more confident about the economy or their own finances. Many families who passed on buying new clothing or upgrading computers last year are -- reluctantly -- doing so this year.
Budget long-term
Back-to-school shopping is only the first round of expenses consumers face during the fall. Faced with budget cuts, many schools now charge for things such as sports, lab experiments and field trips. Consumers should factor those into their budgets and keep in mind that the holiday shopping season is just months away.
These days shopping without a loyalty card for anything from groceries to consumer electronics will result in a higher bill or missed rewards. But to take advantage of every loyalty offer you need a key chain that weighs as much as a shotput. That is until you digitize your loyalty cards with an App like CardStar. And that's just the beginning of how loyalty cards and your digital wallet might look in the future.
CardStar is a free app that is available for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry devices that will allow you to use your phone's camera to store an electronic copy of your loyalty card, creating an image which can be scanned to redeem discounts and in some cases coupons, like those offered by Cellfire.
How much credit card debt do you carry? You can easily fall in to a trap of using your credit cards and letting the balance continue to climb each month. How do you avoid credit card trouble?
The solution is simple: never, ever put a balance on a credit card that you can't already afford to pay at the end of the month. The moment you do that is the moment you're financing a lifestyle that's beyond your means.
If you're already in a situation where you've built up a large deal of consumer debt, start getting rid of it now. Yes, this means you'll have to live quite a bit below your means for a while. The first place to start is by selling off all of the stuff in your closets and on your shelves that you never look at or use. If you have a CD or a DVD or a video game or another item that you've not looked at in more than a year, sell it. Use that money to hammer the debt.
Borrowing a cup of sugar -- or anything else, for that matter -- from a neighbor has gone high-tech.
Consumer confidence this month hit its lowest point in nearly a year, and people are still spending cautiously. June retail sales were 0.5% lower than May. A growing number of free web sites are capitalizing on that spending reluctance by encouraging people to borrow what they need instead of buy it.
Younger generations have grown up sharing clothes and media, and already look to renting and swapping sites as a way to broaden their access.
Before you sign on to borrow or lend, make sure you check out your options. Here are a few trade sites that may be just what you're looking for:
Many are finding that the only real tool they have to lure buyers is the asking price - and it isn't providing much leverage.
Market conditions are making it especially tough for homeowners to offload their properties. Nearly a quarter of home listings on the market as of July 1 experienced at least one price reduction. The average price drop was 10% off the original listing price.
So how can home sellers avoid the trap of repeatedly lowering the asking price - and dragging out the selling process? They should first start with a knowledgeable real estate agent who has experience in their neighborhood.
Here's what else to consider when selling.
Don't test the waters with a high price
In a competitive market where values are falling, listing your home at a price you know to be unsupported - with the assumption that buyers will be eager to negotiate - isn't always a savvy move.
With the kids off from school and spending more time out doors during the summer, there's a good chance you are doing more laundry than the rest of the year.
Here's a few ideas that may help keep the cost of laundry down.
Wash your clothes in cold water. Hot water has to be heated and you're paying for that service. Unless your clothes are exceptionally dirty, cold water does the trick just fine.
Use the shortest cycle. Unless the clothes are awfully dirty, this saves wear and tear on the clothes (reducing replacement costs) and also reduces energy use and some water use.
Be diligent about removing dryer lint. If you don't do this, you reduce the warm air flow around the clothes, increasing the time the dryer has to run to get your clothes to the same level of dryness. That's energy used, and that's money lost.
Drivers who want to spend less on fuel this summer may find more value in paying attention to their vehicles than to gas station prices.
There's no single automotive fix to dramatically improve fuel efficiency, but a few tricks used collectively can lower the cost of filling a gas tank. Here are a few ideas:
Pack light
Clearing out the junk from a trunk can offer some quick savings. Every 100 pounds of added weight in the back of a car can reduce its fuel economy by as much as 2%.
Keep up with maintenance Following the car's recommended maintenance schedule can help keep it operating at maximum efficiency. An engine in need of a tune-up operates about 4% less efficiently.
Check the tires
Under- or over-inflated tires change the way the car handles, adding drag and speeding wear, which can reduce fuel efficiency by about 3%.
Use the right motor oil
Using the wrong one can lower fuel efficiency by 1% to 2%.
Drive responsibly The government estimates that the most fuel efficient driving speed is between 40 and 60 miles per hour for most vehicles.
Ladies, I have found a great website that will put a gorgeous purse on your shoulder and you dont' have to to buy it. handbags4barter.com is an online resource that allows you to trade items. It is FREE to join.
Think about all those handbags, wallets, backpacks that you no longer use or the bags you own that you have not used in some time.
Don't have these valuable accessories just taking up space; instead trade them for what you really want.
This site was born out of an idea that the founder dreamed up while driving home one day. She reflected back on the years she and her BFF always admired each others handbags. Years later they decided to exchange their bags and get the joy of the new bag feeling without the price.
It's summer time, so many family vacations. You head to the beach, hang by the pull, or pack the tent for a weekend in the mountain. No doubt you'll be taking lots of pictures. You've got a great picture of you and the kids but you're not quite happy with how you look. Do you delete the photo and wish you had hired a professional photographer to come along on your vacation? You can get free photo editing on line at citrify.com, where your uploaded photos can tweaked with nifty effects like teeth whitening and wrinkle-removing. And if you have lots of home videos, you may want to check out pixorial.com. That site provides free video on line editing and free storage.
There are about 160 shopping days until Christmas, but retailers are already angling for a chunk of the nation's holiday spending budget. Several big chain stores are rolling out holiday savings programs this summer. The plans require customers to commit money to a store throughout the year in exchange for bonus cash redeemable closer to the winter holidays.
Here are two examples provided by Smartmoney.com
Sears -- which first offered a Christmas savings club last year -- is reprising its promotion this year, offering shoppers a bonus of 3% on funds saved in store accounts between now and Nov. 15. The store charges a $5 fee for each account. Toys R Us is offering a "Christmas Savers Club" for the first time this year, with free accounts and a bonus of 3% on funds saved between now and Oct. 16. Participants in either club receive their account value as a store gift card when they cash out.
Did you know that your summer day care expenses may qualify for an income tax credit? Many parents who work or are looking for work must arrange for care of their children under 13 years of age during the school vacation. Those expenses may help you get a credit on next year's tax return.
Here are three facts the IRS wants you to know about a tax credit available for child care expenses.
- The cost of day camp may count as an expense towards the child and dependent care credit.
-Expenses for overnight camps do not qualify.
-If your childcare provider is a sitter at your home or a daycare facility outside the home, you'll get some tax benefit if you qualify for the credit.
Now that many major banks are getting rid of free checking accounts , it may be a good time to assess just how many banks accounts you have -- and how much they may be costing you.
There's even a slight chance you might have more accounts than you realize. CESI Debt Solutions recently conducted a survey that found that 15% of married couples will admit they have a bank account that their spouse doesn't know about.
A handful of financial institutions, like Wells Fargo , have said that they're going to stop offering free checking to new customers, and some places, like Bank of America, are reportedly considering some form of tiered checking starting next year. So obviously if your bank starts charging a maintenance fee, it makes much more sense to have one or two accounts than six or seven.
July is the month retailers roll out deep discounts on most summer items to make way for back-to-school season and for the fall.
Here are four retail sectors offering discounts and incentives this month:
Apparel
Look out for summer clothing - the lighter weight cottons, the bright colors - for men, women and children, which are the most likely to be discounted this month. Of course you might have already bought your summer clothes at this point, so the items will have a limited wear time. In fact, most stores are assuming that consumers have bought all their summer clothes already, and the sales are just another way to get you into stores as fall and back to school goods start appearing on the racks.
To move patio furniture that probably won't sell at full price this summer anyway, outdoor furniture retailers are rolling out the discounts in this sector as well.
Summer bedding
If you need to stock up on summer sheets, blankets and towels, keep an eye out for big white sales this month.
And, At most car dealerships, the 2011 models will start rolling onto the sales floors around September. That means dealerships only have a few weeks to sell their remaining 2010 (and in some cases 2009) models.
Starting today, many businesses offering tanning services must collect a 10 percent excise tax on the tanning services they provide. This excise tax requirement is part of the Affordable Care Act that was enacted in March.
Here are some tips on the tanning excise tax that providers must collect:
-Businesses providing ultraviolet tanning services must collect the 10 percent excise tax at the time the customer pays for the tanning services.
-The tax does not apply to spray-on tanning services.
-The tax does not have to be paid on membership fees for certain qualified physical fitness facilities that offer indoor tanning services as an incidental service to members without a separately identifiable fee.
Find more information about the excise tax on tanning services, IRS Form 720 and other tax provisions of the Affordable Care Act at IRS.gov.
