Settling for a Christmas tree at half the usual price does not mean that you’re going to compromise with quality. You’ll be getting some of the best Christmas trees available this year. This is what you’ve got to do.

• Buy a Christmas tree with roots intact

  Buy a live Christmas tree (one which has roots). You’ll be saving money on purchasing one with roots, rather than one that does not have roots because the former costs a quarter of the latter . The live tree serves another purpose too. You could plant it in your lawn and reuse it every year. You don’t need to buy a fresh tree every year. You could also donate the tree to a local park and avail tax benefits.

• Change your shopping venue

  Christmas trees at the usual stores from where you buy them like the departmental stores in your neighborhood or the garden centre of your local park may price it higher. Try buying these at home improvement centers and grocery stores. You’ll get them at much lower prices.

• Avail coupons

  Christmas shopping, like other holiday shopping can be done profitably by using coupons. Visit some good websites for coupons and then buy the trees at really low prices.

• Feel free to haggle

  Haggling is not embarrassing anymore provided you know how to do it in a graceful manner. The recent recession has taught people to value money more and there is nothing wrong if you try to bargain a bit to save up money. Many sellers buy the trees from wholesale markets and they are ready to negotiate the prices.

• Buy the tree in the off-season

  If you’ve already bought a Christmas tree for a huge price this year, you can think of buying one for next year. Just wait till Christmas is over this year and then buy. You’ll get the tree for a much lesser price than you’d get now. Good ones last for decades too.

With these tips in mind go ahead and buy your Christmas Tree and have a very merry Christmas. Shoppers cutting back this holiday season can trim a Christmas tree and their budget in one evening.

Though in one way, I like these mails as they keep me informed about the best deals without my having to physically visit malls to find out on my own, at times these tend to get on my nerves- owing to the sheer bulk! Earlier these mails used to be directed to my personal mail account, and believe me, that was too much!  My mailbox was so full of these that it was difficult for me to locate my personal mails from amongst them. Many times, I’d accidentally delete these important mails with the sale mails. Since then I opened a separate account for my personal mails and I must tell you that I’m really happy. You might say that if I did not like the mails, I could have unsubscribed from them. Of course, that’s a very sensible thing to do. But then, what if there’s a mail with a very good deal out there? By unsubscribing you’ll miss out on that won’t you? So I decided to receive the mails. But I had to learn to maintain them.

When you open these sale mails, be very prudent in your spending. It’s so easy to shop online and the offers popping out at you from the electronic screen can be really attractive. Don’t get carried away. First make sure what you want to buy beforehand. If you want to decide upon that after checking the prices of different gift articles, first browse all the offers but don’t click on the buy button. Decide upon the items you’d like to pick up and open mails that offer those only. You’ll be saving a lot of time and will save up on your expenditure too. Otherwise you might be lured into buying things that were not on your holiday shopping list. Be aware that retailers try to rope you in with limited time and limited quantity offers. They send you mails based on your shopping history. Know how to handle sale mails efficiently and shop frugally.

Visit some websites that offer good sale deals. There are coupon sites that list out the codes along with the discounts and other perks that you get with them. Visit these websites and find out the best time to shop. The prices are expected to fall more as the holiday nears.

I know it’s quite disappointing to repeatedly come across the clothes in your cabinet with tags not even touched or a crockery set not used since 11 months because you don’t like the design. So what do you do with these items?

1. Try swapping

   If you own a gift card that you hate even watching at, try to sell it or swap it on websites like cardavenue.com, certificateswap.com, and swapagift.com. Here, you can list your card for free. However, you it sells, you have to pay an amount starting from $1 to some % of the cost of the gift card. And if you are fed up listening to the same DVD number of times, log on to zunafish.com. You can swap DVD’s, CD’s, and video games for a minimum amount of $1 (shipping charges excluded).

2. Put it up for sale

   No, you don’t really have to open a store in your loggia and start screeching the discounted prices you have tagged to the useless things you bought spending all your pocket money. There are simpler ways to sell a redundant item. Make use of websites like ebay.com, half.com, and marketplace of amazon.com that will help you to sell your articles but with a cost (generally commission is some percent of the sell price). Sometimes, you are selling an article at such a low price that after paying their commission you don’t even get back the traveling expenses paid when you went to purchase the item. Ok, sell it on craigslist.com. This is a better website (and my favorite) because it offers you the facility advertising for almost everything and anything. And it’s free.

   Another option is to sell your articles at discounted rates at any consignment store available nearby. However, they will purchase your unwanted stuffs at a very low price.

3. Pay lesser tax

   If you are not getting any better deal, select an easier path: donate the unwanted stuff and at least get some deduction in your income tax. Sounds simple? No my friend. To get a deduction, you must be able to prove that the donated item is in proper usable condition. However, if you are donating a newly bought commodity with the tags still not detached, it is very likely that you will get a deduction. What? You removed the tags? Try step 1 or 2. Step 3 is now nothing more than a future reference for you. Wait, I guess can help you. Click some snaps of the articles before donating to prove the tax guy that it was in better condition when you gave away. Give it a shot (after a snapshot). Rejoice, if it works. If it doesn’t, weren’t you giving it away as charity?

4. Nothing worked? Whose birthday is it tomorrow?

   It’s better to gift the unwanted stuff rather than looking at it hundred times and cursing the innocent retailer. At least, your friend (whom you gift it) would be happy, if he likes it. What if he or she doesn’t like it? Who cares? You got rid of that ugly little thing (until it comes back to you as a gift).

I know the last one is more of mentally satisfying reason rather than actually getting some benefit out of the unwanted commodity. But you can look at it this way. Your friend will gift you something on your birthday that’s useless for him, but may be useful for you. For those who are still not convinced with it, you have got 3 other ways to get some cash from the merchandise.

Smart Shopping Part I: Resourceful Shopping

Smart Shopping Part II: Online Shopping

However, they variety of products that can be browsed on the internet is far greater than products in limited spaces of a mall. Also, it’s much convenient. Along with these benefits, let us complement our online shopping with some great tactics to get the best deal. Ready? Here we go.

1. Compare the prices

   To get the best product with most economical price we physically cannot keep driving all around the city. That’s why we use internet. However, searching for the best deal on internet can also be quite baffling, if you don’t know where to log on. Some websites like dealnews.com, shopzilla.com, streetprices.com, and coolsavings.com provides some very exciting tools to compare prices.

2. Search again and again

   Comparison websites are good to get the best prices available in the market. But not if you are browsing like a nerd. Many retailers are always displayed on the top even if it’s the most expensive store in town. That’s because they have paid more to be on top. Try searching the results by sorting based on locality, price, or ranking to get the best picture.

3. Official sites

   Comparison sites are good for comparing prices. However, to get the latest info on new arrivals, promotions, offs, etc. directly go the retailer’s website. Don’t always rely on comparison sites because some sites may also show old prices.

4. Leave no evidence

   No evidence? Are we talking about some secret agent or something? Yes, if that’s what you prefer to call it. Your desktop is working against as it passes all the information to the retailer who will give you bad deals. The information of websites you visited is stored in your cookies, which are used by advertisers to track customer’s likings, interests, surfing habits, etc. Many times you get pages with same old search results and old prices. So, delete all cookies after every browsing session. Get the benefits enjoyed by first-time website visitor.

5. Stay updated

   Some retailers have an online outlet, some doesn’t. If it has, enjoy the benefits of weekly circulars and discount coupons on your email. A difference between online and offline rates is sometimes possible. So, compare the prices of every product before buying.

6. Get partial refunds

   If you are referred to some shopping site by a website, they get a referral fee. So, someone is using you to make money. Let them do it because many of them also gives you are part of their income that’s generated by you. Sites like MrRebates.com and ebates.com are some of them. Log on to these sites, register, and follow the shopping links provided by them to get this benefit.

7. Are you lucky?

   Many websites displays an empty box, written besides which is ‘enter promotional code.’ See what it offers. Websites like couponcabin.com, retailmenot.com and currentcodes.com are some good websites to mount up your savings. You can also enter the name of a retailer and the ‘coupon code’ in the search engine to try your luck.

Shopping online is a better way to avail products rather than commuting physically. However, online scams today are very frequent these days. So, check for the trademark sign and visit secured pages.

Smart Shopping Part I: Resourceful Shopping

Planning

1. Create an expensive shopping list

   By expensive, I don’t mean keep including expensive goods in your shopping list. What I mean is prepare a shopping list of the big purchase you are about to make or a list of things that you need.

2. Wish-list

   Now, complement the commodities with a period before which you want to buy them. Like you want to buy some things this month and some major things next month, put it on paper. What are the gadgets or outfits you want within next 3-6 months? And so on. This is absolutely not a shopping schedule for the year. This is just to understand your requirements.

3. Necessary features

   Start from the top of the list and jot down the features of each item that you cannot miss out at any cost. For instance, if you want a mobile phone. List down the features that you need like – 2.0 pixels camera will do, music player, memory stick, etc. Do it for all the items in the list. This will help you to get the best deal with features that you want and not a mobile phone with 8 pixels, touch-sensitive screen, and built in 8 GB memory, which is far beyond your budget but the salesgirl made you buy it.

4. Budget

   List down the maximum amount you are ready to spend on each item. Remember, you should not spend a single dollar more than what you have listed down. This will give you a precise budget and a reason to go places and get the best deal.

Ok, you are now safe from the demands of persuasive salesgirls, glittering lights, and confused mind that would have, otherwise, made you buy better objects than you need. However, it is still possible that you might give up and go for those ‘better’ ones, if you aren’t resourceful and prepared thoroughly for shopping.

Resourceful? Yes, there are certain tricks that you need to learn to face the shrewd salesgirls. The best way to escape the craziness and confusion during shopping is being neutral. Be calm and remember neither this is the last deal of your life nor the world is ending tomorrow.

Be Resourceful

1. Unlearn your stubbornness

   You have always seen kids crying “I want this, I want that” when they enter any shopping mall. But have you ever noticed yourself? You obviously can’t scream at the top of your voice and cry for what you want. Your stubbornness is clearly visible when you buy he product that you like even at a very price. Why? Can’t you wait a while till you move on to another mall and get the same thing at a lower price? Stop doing this. And for god’s sake, stop revealing your ‘Please! I want that!” face to the victimizing salesgirls.

2. Stick to your budget

   If your beloved product is worth $30 more than the price that you have mentioned against it in your budget, don’t touch it. You cannot think “hey, it’s fine. I am already paying $750 for it. Why not just $30 more?” The retailer, credit card providers, and the salesgirl are just waiting for you to say that. Don’t do it. Don’t you have your own perspective of looking at things? Take your own stand.

3. Don’t carry your credit card

   This is easy, isn’t it? Maybe yes, maybe no. However, I can assure you this is the most useful step. Credit card is beneficial but not for us as shoppers. It actually works for vendors and bankers. Carry cash according to your budget, and you won’t regret any impulsive shopping. This can be applied not only for shopping but to cut down daily expenses as well. Try this, stop using your credit card for a month and compare your expenses with previous month. I am sure the result will be quite astounding.

Ok. You are now done with your preparation and it’s time for some practical sessions. You now have something that you didn’t have earlier. You emotions are managed and you have a plan. Time to shop.

1. Product and cost investigation

   What? Some more investigation? Didn’t I just say ‘start shopping?’ Yes, I did. However, this step cannot be skipped. You run at a mall where you see a big banner mentioning the sale and the sale cost. Do you know what the original cost was? Not always. You buy an item more than its original value just because it was tagged as ‘sale’. So, it better to know the prices of the items you want to buy before you actually start shopping.

2. Bargain

   You have done extensive research and you know exactly where to park your car to get the best deal. However, you can get even better price. Know which merchant offers a deal similar to or better than this deal and carry a proof. Ask if this vendor can offer you a price lower than the price in the proof. But just ask, don’t be too arrogant. Remember, it’s his call. This technique may work with someone, may not with others. Try to find a sales guy who is open to negotiations.

3. Find smaller outlets

   Small outlets are more convenient and economical than the bigger ones. To survive the competition with already established outlets, these smaller chains can offer better discounted rates and freebies. Freebies? Yes, I know it wasn’t a part of our budget, but what’s the harm if you get anything you don’t have to pay for. After sales service is also dealt better by smaller chains.

4. Other saving options

   Ask the sales guy of the cashier about the time when a particular product will go on sale or do they offer any bulk discount. There is nothing to be shy of. It’s your money that you are trying to save. Many outlets also accept discount coupons with expired date. Not all, I said many.

5. No upselling

   Don’t buy an overpriced product just because of its extended warranty. Extended warranties are worth paying for only if they are offered with a notebook or a plasma TV. In other cases, it’s just a reason to spend more. Sometimes, even if you feel like buying additional protection for the item, do not pay more than 10% of the tagged price. And make sure you buy the warranty offered by the manufacturer and not the outlet.

6. Note the exchange and return policies

   It’s becoming more difficult to return stuffs every year especially during holiday season. Don’t get astonish if a storekeeper asks for additional amount when you return a product or want to exchange it. It’s better you read the return policies before buying and get your queries answered at the time of purchasing.

Sometimes, it feels awkward to save every penny you can. However, think about the amount you can save if you keep following such shopping discipline. You can use the money to plan your retirement or a holiday or even repay your mortgage. It purely depends on you haw you want to utilize your money, but keep saving.

This year, the recession hit masses don’t wish to travel much. As a result the winter resorts are not seeing a lot of business in the coming months. They are offering attractive perks and discounts to make you visit them. So now go ahead and do some research to find out the best deals that you can avail of for a great winter holiday.

Hilly and mountain resorts are one of the worst hit by the recession. The standards of trade for the after-recession economy have changed. The demand and supply equations have been readjusted to the new standards. Along with the hospitality industry, largely the hotel industry, the tourism industry is suffering huge losses. In the early part of 2009, hotel prices fell by 17 % according to a Hotels.com report. As mountain resorts generally happen to be expensive holiday options, it is hard for the tourism industry to attract customers who are quite frugal with their holiday budget-especially when the economic times are bad. Lift tickets, ski baggage and accessories all add up to the costs that you’ve got to pay for transporting them to and from the holiday destination and also for keeping them at the destinations.

You can enjoy your trip in a very economical way because resorts, airlines and even ski areas are cutting their prices very much. The new prices are much lower than the year before. You can find out the present day skiing prices along with other charges of your holiday at ski resorts at websites like SkiSite.com, ShredSite.com and RealConditions.com. These websites quote the lift and gear costs also so that you can make your ski holiday budget in detail. This will save you from meeting surprising expenditures once you reach the destination. The prices today seem to be less by 30% of the prices of last year. The perks are very attractive. For example, earlier you might have got one night of stay free only after staying for 5 nights, but now you can get a stay of a night free if you pay for as less as 2 nights.

The good news is that the number of resorts slashing the prices has really increased. Earlier a passionate skier might have few options but now every mountain seems to be having some good offers. So now you have a wide range of ski resorts from which you can take your pick. So now, hurry for your cheap holiday.

Recession does not seem to have negatively impacted all. Flyers find the recession a blessing in disguise as there was less traffic leading to easy availability of tickets, easy navigation to and from terminals and flights were more punctual. But the airports have a different story to tell. As business fell, they stalled construction work and hiked the landing fees of flights and passenger parking. Fewer people may mean lesser security check hassles, but is there a reason for us, the passengers to rejoice yet? A lean customer size causes a brief temporary relief from the long security lines. But as soon as the economy will normalize in a few months, the traffic will increase again. Faulty and old fashioned security systems will cause a really pathetic situation once the percentage of passengers increases. So, as a flyer, just don’t be too keen on celebrating the apparent boons of the recession.

Small Is Better

Do smaller airports seem a more comfortable venue for you to start your journeys? They do look a comfortable option for many people in preference to large airports that are always overcrowded with lots of people. In small airports the traffic is less. The staff is friendlier and you don’t have to walk great distances for getting services. For example, you may be having the car parking spot at a small distance from the airport checkout point. Not only the distance but the quality of services also seems be better at small airports in comparison to the already overcrowded larger ones. They have better parking facilities, ticketing services, security management, customer reciprocation and food quality. Its high time big airports took a break and improved their quality of services because customers are not happy with them.

Security Invades Privacy

Security checks at airports are getting more and more stringent and now you might object to some tests. For example, now an advanced security gadget is going to scan you through your clothes as a part of its weapon detection program. They say that no human is going to see that scanned image of yours and it’s going to be deleted soon. But clear ethical laws regarding the implementation of this security check should be enforced. Now, the skin temperature and pulse rates of passengers will also be checked with new age security devices. How much of privacy can you compromise with? I wonder if all this will really be effective in abating crime because whatever security measure you come up with they find ways to hamper it.

Travel To Airport a Herculean Task

Traveling to airports in big cities is a very bothersome task. Usually people are in a hurry to catch their flights and heavily congested roads are the last thing that they’d want to see. The parking areas are not sufficient for the huge vehicle volume and most cars remain on the streets blocking the path for other vehicles. Hitchsters.com can come to your rescue in such situations where it clubs you with passengers from your area to the airport and gives you a ride to make you catch your flight in time.

The rate of purchase of credit cards has increased in the last one year. Compare the dollars you’d have to pay for a Visa or MasterCard in comparison to the debit cards. As people are finding the credit card a less affordable option they are justifiably turning over to the debit card way of finances.

Usage of debit cards is nothing new. People have been using them in place of cash or checks. But their preference over credit cards is a newly observed trend. Of course, when the crediting companies are slashing the crediting amount, hiking their fees and denying new account formation altogether, you cannot help preferring the debit card to the credit card. But before you surrender your credit card to the issuing authority or close your account, consider certain factors so that you don’t get into hassles later.

Closing Credit Cards Is Not All That Easy

You might think that by closing your account by paying off the balance with your credit card company you may do away with it. But when you do that the total available score that you are using increases and that is going to damage your credit score. Its always better to keep your accounts open because you might want to sue them sometime. You may consider closing one account and opening another as this will keep your credit score intact. But then again, when you open a new account, the enquiry done on it will lower your score a bit. Even if you maintain a number of cards at 0 percent balance, your account may be closed for inactivity. So isn’t buying some small affordable items on your credit card a better idea ?

Money Transactions Get Blocked When You Travel

Hotels, gas stations and even car rental companies block transactions on a debit card, till the verification process is over. On the contrary with credit cards you hardly face such a problem. If you want to access cash during urgencies using your credit card from your checking account, you’ll not be able to do so.

Apart from these less consumer protection and debit card pitfalls are the other disadvantages you face with your debit card. So, don’t be in a haste to do away with your credit card so soon.

Media Files Exchange

Firstly, this infographic reveals that our wireless services providers are not charging us merely on talk time. You might be shocked to hear this, but if you use a smartphone, a lot of data exchange is taking place from your phone and you are being charged for all this. Data carrier service charges are calculated in technical lingo which is generally difficult for many of us to understand when we opt for the services. So, we are generally not prepared for those extra charges which add up to our basic call charges. Did you know that when you exchange images via your smartphone, you are being charged on the size of the image sent? Moreover, your service provider is quietly charging you a flat fee for transporting that image to you. So next time you think of sending your pretty shots to your college gang, just wait awhile and make sure that you understand the charges well.

911 Surcharge

The 911 surcharge is a fee that your service provider collects from you to fund emergency conditions like fire and rescue situations.  This is not much. Only about $0.75.Well, I don’t have any qualms about paying up for these benevolent purposes.

The Universal Connectivity Charge

A universal connectivity charge of $0.40 is levied upon you by the service providers even though the government does not necessitate that. This contribution goes into the “telephone services for all” assurance fund. Another benevolent effort from the service provider maybe, but it sure does add up to the pressure on my small wallet.

Talk out with your service provider to eliminate these charges and you might save at least $50 on your telephone bills for a typical two-year agreement.

Roaming Calls

Roaming charges constitute a major culprit in raising your telephone bills. Did you know that even if you don’t respond to call, leave alone receiving it, you’ll be charged. Why? The call will be diverted to your voice mail and you’ll be charged for the services. This happens mostly on the T-Mobile, where even for a missed call you are charged $4.99. Other than this for making call you are charged $2.49 for one minute. Your incoming calls are also charged. If all these statistics are working up your adrenals, just switch off your smartphone. It’s as simple as that!

Opt For Text Messaging

Text messaging is your cheapest option of communication while you travel with a charge of $ 0.20 per text message.

Turn Off Data Roaming While Traveling

You can turn off the data roaming facility alone while traveling. Exchanging a picture while on cruise which will cost you $7, and a U-Tube 5 megapixel picture download at a terminal will cost $40.