Shrinkage Is Good

I know what you’re thinking.  It’s been almost two weeks since the holidays are over with and you’d rather not think about the holiday seasons again for another 11 months.  If you’re like us though, you may have some of those gifts you’ve been meaning to return but just haven’t gotten around to yet — worry not, as there are still a bit of time left to return grandma’s hand picked sweater.  Don’t worry, we won’t tell her.

Here are some refund pitfalls you should avoid before you start heading out to the stores or making calls to return an item to an online store, this will both save you time and help you avoid any potential headaches:

1.  No refunds for opened package. Check the return policy for the product in question before you decide to open up your newly received DVD box set of Dora the Explorer.  Most entertainment media needs to be returned unopened in order for you to receive a full refund.

2.  High restock fees. As with opening packages, you should make sure there isn’t a restock fee associated with opening the gift you wish to return.  A 15% restock fee is pretty standard for most electronics, but you should realize that certain smaller retail stores or online retailers may have high restock fees to deter returns.

3.  Receipts required. Although some large retailers can look up the sales transaction purchased by a credit or debit card, most retailers still requires that you have a receipt or invoice available to be issued a refund.  If you don’t have the original receipt or even a gift receipt and the retailer specifically states that they require a receipt for all returns, you may be hard pressed to convince a representative at customer service to let you slide.

4.  Electronics usually have exceptions. You’ve probably already know this already, but it’s good to keep this in mind anyways.  Most electronics will have exceptions to return deadline.  Computers, laptops, video game systems and other high-end electronics will usually have to be returned within 15 days of purchase.  Along with the shorten return deadline, many will also carry with it the 15% restock fee that was mentioned earlier.

5.  Most type of medias also have exceptions. Music CDs, DVDs, video game software, computer software and other related medias will also carry with them exceptions.  Most stores will not allow you to get a refund if you have opened the plastic wrap for the software in question.  Many do however allow you to exchange defective CDs, DVDs, and software.

6.  Offline and online store exclusions. Be sure you know where the items were purchased from, as many large retailers have different return policies for offline and online purchases.  To make matters more hectic, many retailers won’t be able to accomodate online purchase returns at local storefronts.  Take Target for example, if you purchase something at Target.com, you’ll only be able to return the item through mail.  But for Walmart, any purhcases you make online can also be returned in store, as long as you bring your packing slip or order history with you.

To make returning the third blender you’ve got this year easier, here’s a list of large national retailers, a short excerpt on their return and refund policy, along with additional links and resources:

Amazon.com

[Returns Policy] - [Returns Center]

Return deadline: January 31, 2009 for items shipped from November 1st to December 31, 2008.  Opened laptop or desktop computer will have a 15% restock fee.  Partial refund also applies for most type of entertainment media if they have been taken out of their plastic wrapping.

BestBuy

[Holiday Returns Policy] - [Standard Online Return Policy]

Return deadline: January 24, 2009 for most products purchased from November 1 to December 24, 2008.  Monitors, projectors, digital cameras, camcorders, radar detectors, and used video games have until January 8.  Desktop and laptop computers have 14 days from date of purchase or 14 days from date received for online orders.

Circuit City

[In-Store Returns & Exchanges] - [Mail Returns]

Return deadline: January 31, 2009 for items purchased between November 2nd to December 24, 2008.  As with Best Buy, many specific electronics must be returned within 14 days of the sale date and are subjected to a 15% restocking fees if opened or in a non-factory sealed box.  Home theater seatings must be returned within 14 days, and will be subjected to a 25% restocking fee if returned opened or in non-factory sealed box.

Target

[Stores Return & Refund Policy] - [Online Return & Refund Policy] - [Online Returns Center]

Return deadline: 90 days within purchase dated on receipt.  Receipt required for all returns and exchanges, an ID may be required.  Camcorders, digital camera, portable DVD players and portable electronics are subjected to a 15% restock fee.  Certain seasonal items on clearance at the time of return will be refunded at the current clearance prices.

Toys R Us

[Returns Policy]

Return deadline: 90 days within purchase dated on receipt. Entertainment media including video games, computer software, DVDs, etc. can be returned within 45 days from the date of purchase.  Receipt is required and can only be returned if unopened from factory sealed packaging.

Walmart

[Returns Policy]

Return deadline: Most items can be returned within 90 days of purchase.  Computers must be returned within 15 days along with any included software.  Computer components and accessories must be returned within 45 days.  Camcorders and digital cameras must be returned within 30 days, while digital music players and portable video players must be returned within 15 days.

photo credit: billaday

Despite the fact that 2008 was a tumultuous financial year and many people took a step back to curb their holiday spending, online holiday spending alone still amounted to about $25.5 billion dollars.

According to The Conference Board, over 27 percentage of American households spent over $500 for the holidays — it appears that many people may have extended or accumulated more onto their consumer debt through the holiday season.

If you’ve tackled on more debt during the holidays, what are some steps you should take?

Unfortunately there’s no easy ways to pay off debt, whether the debts were accumulated through a holiday season or through excessive spending, you’ll have to make some sacrifices to tackle the debt before they overwhelm you. Although you can always find ways to increase your income, the tips below on reducing expense and paying off debt has held up well since the creation of the universe. No joke.

Cut the non-essentials for a few weeks/months. Do you really need 500 different cable channels? Six different magazine and newspaper subscription? Start reducing your various monthly subscription fees, every little bit you save on expenses you can do without (temporarily or not), are  additional dollars you can put towards the debt fighting war chest.

Reduce consumption on everything you can. If you frequent the expensive hair salon, consider scaling back from a couple of times per weeks/months to a handful times per month. Unplug unused electronics and chargers. Yes, its a common tip but I kid you not that I reduce my annual electricity bill by a few hundred after unplugging many gadgets that I don’t use — this is especially true in today’s world of always-on smart gadgets/electronics.

Free entertainment doesn’t mean boring entertainment. If you’re an avid movie watcher or book reader, your local library may be carrying many of the latest titles. In populated cities and regions across the country, many modern libraries have county-wide borrowing privileges, allowing you to select books from neighboring city libraries within the county. You’re already paying for these services via taxes, why not utilize them to help add to the expense reduction?

Tackle the highest interest rate credit card debt first. Assuming you used a credit card to pay for the holidays, pay the minimum for the lowest interest rate card, and use any other extra amount on the highest interest rate card. Upcoming tax refund? Unexpected windfall? Chug them toward the debt on the highest interest rate card.

Negotiate your credit card rates. Yes, even during difficult economic time where companies are raising interest rates, you can still ask them to maintain or lower your rates. This is especially easier when you have favorable credit worthiness and better or comparable offers from other credit card companies. Simply state that you have some low-interest balance transfer offers and ask your current credit card company if there’s anything they can do. You might not get an interest rate reduction, but a quick phone call is well worth it if you can knock even a few percentages off.

Finding ways to tackle the debt is all well and good, but being able to avoid the same situation again the following holiday season will be even better. What are some things you can do to you prevent another holiday spending binge?

Consider what’s more important for your family? At the end, the ability to provide shelter, food, and necessities should always outweigh excessive gifts under the tree.

It seems entirely appropriate to scale back on gift giving during tough economic times. The recession is in full force and family and friends should especially understand if you limit your gift giving.

I’ve personally told my other family members and friends that I’ll be only be giving gifts to my parents this prior year (which I’ve split with my sister). Oh, BillShrink Guy, you’re such a cheapskate, you might be saying.  Well, no harm done if they are true friends and family! You can always suggest a day together with close ones in lieu of gifting. Trip to the local museum, picnic at the park may seem corny, but time spent together should always beat out materialistic things.

You can also consider setting expectation at appropriate level come next holiday season. Many experts agree that the hard times will not be over anytime soon, so why not let your family know that Christmas this year may not be the same?  You don’t necessarily have to say “There will be no Christmas this year” but think of alternative ways your family can spend time together without the associated consumerism.

At the end, regardless of what the television advertisements may say during the days leading up to the next Black Friday, remember what’s truly important: our family and friends (don’t tell mine I said those things or my painstakingly-built cool persona will be destroyed!).

photo credit: bensonkua, w_yvr, and afsilva.

Happy 2009, Internet!

This is a delayed greeting from your host at Shrinkage is Good, BillShrink Guy.  I’ve reluctantly taken up this position to fulfill my community service sentencing requirement.  Haha, just kidding.  I’m totally enthusiastic about this!

There was no doubt that 2008 was a difficult financial year for many people, and those of us at Shrinkage is Good has never felt more embolden to our mission of providing you with solid money-saving advice and tips.  As we dig through layers of complicated financial information  to chug out easy-to-digest blog posts, we hope you’ll find this blog both practical and entertaining.

Here’s a light roundup from the personal finance blogsphere to kick things off for 2009:

- JD at Get Rich Slowly shines a light on methods you can use to master your money in 2009.  They’re simple, common sense, but totally effective. [Get Rich Slowly]

- Mary at the Wallet gives a few tips on finding credit unions. [The Wallet]

- Stacey at The Digerati Life provides a in-depth review to the peer-to-peer lending service Lending Club. [The Digerati Life]

- Donna at Smart Spending Blog throws out 5 frugal laundry hacks.  These are spot-on tips as I’ve often seen people go a little crazy with the detergent and water usage when doing their laundry.  [Smart Spending Blog]

photo credit: disney passholder

The Federal Reserve Board, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration will vote tomorrow on a set of new credit card regulation reform, which will dramatically change the relationship between you, the cardholder, and your credit card issuers.  These new credit card regulation reforms are expected to take effect by 2010, and many of these new changes will substantially benefit you.

If you’re not keen on reading an entire legislative bill to learn how the changes affect you, have no fear, Shrinkage is Good has broken down some of the most important changes for you so that you can understand your new rights and how they affect you.

The 8 New Rules in Your Favor

1. No more universal default

Universal default allows card issuers to raise interest rates on customers’ base on the customer’s behavior on another unrelated account. For example, if you’ve missed a payment on your utility bill or have your credit score lowered, a card issuer may increase the interest rates on your account.  This policy and practice would no longer be permitted.

2. Sufficient time to pay bill

Credit card holders will be provided with reasonable time to pay their bills.  Card companies are now required to mail billing statements 25 calendar days before due dates, eliminating the current minimum notification of 14 calendar days.

3. Protection against arbitrary rate increases

Credit card companies can no longer arbitrarily change the terms of their contracts with a credit card holder, thus banning the practice of “any-time, any-reason re-pricing.”  If a card holder is subjected to interest rate hikes due to legitimate reasons, card holders now have the right to cancel their card and pay off the remaining balance with existing interest rates and terms.

4. Proper and timely notification of rate increases

Credit card companies are now required to provide cardholders with 45 day notice of any interest rate increase, and card holders will now have 3 billing cycles after the rate increase to say no to these new terms.

5. Fair allocation of payments

Credit card companies will now fairly allocate payments on balances with different interest rates.  For example, you may have a low balance transfer rate on your account with a higher interest rate for purchases.  Current practice has credit card companies applying your payment to the lowest interest rate transaction first, thereby extending the time for you to pay off higher interest rate balances.

6. Right to set limits on credit

Credit card companies will have to provide consumers the option to have a fixed credit limit that cannot be exceeded.  This also prevents card companies from charging over-the-limit fees on a cardholder with a fixed credit limit.

7. No more double-cycle billing

Double-cycle billing allows for credit card companies to compute finance charges base on purchases made in current billing cycle rather than previous billing cycle.  This policy hurts consumers who pay off their balances in full in one statement period but not the next.  Credit card companies will now be prohibited from using this double-cycle billing practice.

8. Protection from due date gimmicks

Payments made by a cardholder before 5 P.M. EST on the due dates are now considered timely.  Credit card companies are also required to provide on every statement, a phone and interest address that a card holder can easily access to pay off balances.  Consumers will now also have the ability to present proof of bill payment within 7 days of due date to waive any late fees imposed by a credit card company.

Is Your Current Card Compliant?

So which current credit cards are already compliant with these new rules? Check out BillShrink’s Credit Cards Bill of Rights to see which card issuers are already complying with which set of rules. Plus, use our tool to easily find out if your current credit card is compliant with these new rules.

Keep yourself updated on the latest money news and tips. Subscribe to Shrinkage is Good today and we’ll be sure to keep you well stocked on money saving advices.

I’m not sure about you, but I literally can’t remember the last time I paid full listed price for any products or services online.  Am I the world’s savviest shopper, able to find the latest and greatest deals by scrounging the web for hours, price matching every little purchase against an online retailer?

Oh, not at all my dear grasshopper.

Getting a quick discount or a cash rebate to your soon-to-be purchased Widget Extreme X can be done within minutes with these websites at your disposal:

1. FatWallet.com

Fatwallet.com, the home and gathering place for some of the savviest consumer on the web.  FatWallet is a coupon and cash-back site, where you can look for the latest deals and coupons for some of the top online retailers.  You can earn cash-back if you click through Fatwallet before visiting an online retail store, getting anywhere from 1% to 15% cash-back, depending on the site (in short, Fatwallet shares the sale commission with you, the user!).  Beyond the coupons and deals, there’s the Fatwallet messaging board, where the latest hot deals are being discussed: from free razor blades (hey its free) to $100 account opening bonuses for financial accounts (now we’re talking).

2. RetailMeNot.com

If searching through Fatwallet’s messaging board is too tiring for you, then head on over to RetailMeNot.com for some quick, fast, and easy coupon for your favorite stores.  Simply type in the name of the store, and RetailMeNot will search through 20,000 stores in its database and list you some of the latest coupons.  Some coupons and promotions are users submitted, so be sure to leave a feedback if the coupon code didn’t work for you.   An easy $20 discount off Shoes.com for that last minute heel for a wedding?  Awesome.

3.  Ebates.com

Like FatWallet, Ebates.com is a cash back website which allows you to accumulate cash back as you shop through Ebate’s portal.  Some of their cash back percentage for certain stores may be higher than other cash back website, so if you want to maximize your saving, you should sign up for Ebates.  Besides cash back, Ebates is also a great source for some of the latest coupons, if all the previous two sites fails to find what you’re looking for.

4. Slickdeals.net

Slickdeals.net is a great place to look for some of the most frequently updated and complete deals on the web, especially when it comes to electronics and gadgets.  If you’re looking for the latest computer or laptop deals, look no further.  The citizen of Slickdeals messaging board will post the latest deals they’ve found on the web, and you’ll often find in-depth discussion regarding on-going deals and savings.

5. CoolSavings.com

CoolSavings.com is a colossal gathering of coupons for both online and offline establishments.  Registration is required before you can fully utilize the site, but the fairly quick free registration is well worth your time.  From latest free samples to printable coupons, you’ll find plenty of grocery store and supermarket coupons on CoolSavings.

6.  gWallet.com

A new coupon website that’s already gaining traction, gWallet.com combines coupon database with some user friendly Web 2.0 experience.  Although the site may currently have less coupons and promotions listed than other discount websites, gWallet makes navigating and searching for discounts a breeze.  You can also setup to receive notification when there’s especially hot deals for your favorite category or websites.

7.  DealCatcher.com

DealCatcher.com comes loaded with coupons for both online and printable offline coupons.  Of course, what’s a discount website without a thriving, active messaging board?  With 47,700 registered users and counting, you’ll quickly find other savvy savers on the web.  Another great feature of DealCatcher is its easy-to-browse link directory of Sunday Ads for some of the largest retailer in the nation.

8. CouponMom.com

CouponMom.com is the de facto directory for printable grocery coupons.  Membership is free and will give you access to a large loot of grocery and restaurant coupons.  You can save even more time by filtering out coupons that doesn’t apply to your region and use the grocery deals by state section.

9. CurrentCodes.com

CurrentCodes.com may look too Web 1.0 for your taste, but it is still a great source for some of the latest, updated coupon codes for online retail store.  If you see a coupon code on CurrentCodes, you’re most likely looking at a valid and working discount.  Browse for codes by looking for the merchant from the drop-box or search for the stores alphabetically.  Yes, we’re looking forward to the day they add a search functionality to the site too!

10.  MyCoupons.com

If you want another large directory for coupon and discount goodness to add to your list of sites to bookmark,  MyCoupons.com is just what you’re looking for.   Like many of the other coupon sites, you can browse and search for the coupons and discounts from a mind boggling amount of online retail stores.  The best part of MyCoupons is that you’ll often see some MyCoupons Exclusive coupons, giving you a few percentage more in savings when compared to other coupon sites.

11.  Roosster.com

Roosster.com is an aggregator of deals and savings websites.  At Roosster, you’ll find some of the latest and hottest deals on the web. Want to keep yourself updated on the latest deal? Subscribe to Roosster’s RSS feed and you’ll get the latest deal from all across the web sent directly to your feed reader.

12. Google.com

If all else fails, there’s the grand daddy search engine of them all.  Type in “Widget Extreme coupons” in Google and you’ll most likely find the latest coupons listed.  If the coupon search word didn’t do the trick, try “Widget Extreme discounts” or “Widget Extreme X promotion” for some better luck.

Looking for coupons or discounts that you can use offline? Try searching for “Widget Extreme printable coupons” or “Widget Extreme in-store coupons” and you might just find some quick and easy coupons that you can use at the brick and mortar.

Take my recent search of “Wazer Wifle discount” for example.  Within minutes I got myself free shipping, a 10% discount and was blasting away Enclave Soldiers with my new Wazer Wifle before they knew what hit them.

Super sweet.

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