Did you know that spending is not just a financial matter, it’s a spiritual matter?
Did you know that the average consumer spends $53 per gift card? That’s more than the cost of most sweaters or cds. So gift cards may be easy, but they’ll blow your budget quickly.
Did you know that 46% of Americans don’t pay off their credit cards every month? If you are one of them, pay with cash in order to stay within your budget.
Did you know that large retailers (who shall remain nameless) make more money on extended warranties and deferred payment plans than they do on merchandise all year long?
Did you know that shopping around will save you money, and that there are on-line sites to help you with discounts and promotional codes?
These tips are others were detailed in an article by Consumer Report called, “Consumer Report’s Holiday Survival Guide: Eight Tips for Savvy Shoppers”.
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good, informative. Merry Christmas bob
Did you know that last year retail made over 33 million dollars from unused gift certificates.
That’s right. Gift cards are just another marketing tool. In my opinion, it’s better to find out what the person wants and give them a gift, rather than a gift card.
I’ll tell you what was a spiritual matter was this year: GETTING A NINTENDO WII. I’ll probably have to go through Cleansing Stream again just to be healed of the obsession….
Gift certificates are awesome, I don’t care what anyone says. Unless you’re giving them from obscure, useless companies like “Bob’s Croissants and Pay Dirt”….or Yankee Candle Company.
I do alot of shopping online. I am a CBD (Christian Book Distributor: www.christianbook.com) junkie! They have very nice Christian merchandise at affordable prices and no steep shipping fees. I order gifts on there, shipping it to my friends and billing it to me. It’s very easy, and it saves the time of trying to package something up yourself and pay your own postage to mail something. I also buy alot of books off amazon.com My dad shops around at local stores, taking notes on what they have to sell, then surfs the ‘Net to find great bargains. He found His digital camera for at least $500.00 less on the internet than was it was being sold for at a local store. He found a TV online that is being sold for $1,000 less than at a local store. So, it pays to bargain hunt.
Beware of giving out your e-mail address on internet store websites because they will keep sending you sales e-mails to try to get you to come back and spend more money. It can easily get you into debt.
I am making some changes to save money so I can invest in the Kingdom work of God. Afterall, our money is not ours; it belongs to God, so what He gives to us, we can rejoice over it by giving back to Him. I find that when I give my money to God, tithing and giving to Christian ministries, God honors it when I go above and beyond, stepping out in faith and trusting Him to provide. I get blessed with more money coming back into my account. So, step out in faith; give more to God. The widow in the Bible gave all that she had: just a few coins, but it was more than any of the other people gave.
Something to think about: will you spend your money on things that are temporal and will not last? or will you invest your money into the Kingdom of God and reap eternal rewards? That’s convicting!