For most cases, online shopping is safe.  However there are times when, through no fault of your own, somebody either hacks into your system or obtains your credit card through other illegal means. Here is one case:  A woman used one credit card to purchase an item from a very familiar website.  The company had her credit card on file.  Thus, all she had to do was enter her password, and the amount was charged to her credit card.  Unfortu...

When it comes to shopping for Christmas, it's one of the most hectic time of the year. There're many advantages for shopping for Christmas early. Every week during the year, department stores have sales.  In addition, if you check the Sunday papers every week, odds are you will find some store offering a sale the following week.  So why do some people wait until Christmas Eve to buy gifts?  Perhaps if they knew how much money they could hav...

With shopping season just around the corner, here are some useful shopping tips that can save you some money and help reduce the time spent shopping. Tips For Shopping In Department Stores * Make your shopping list before you shop. * Assign a dollar value to each gift and stick to it. * Begin shopping earlier in the year, preferably in the spring or summer. * If you shop at department stores in the late fall, plan on arriving early in the mo...

Identity theft is a big problem for anybody using the internet. Here are five simple tips for online bill paying that can provide you a fast, easy, and effective way to pay your bills without concerns. 1.  When creating an account with a credit card company, make sure that the company has the most advanced online security available.  They should have encryption software as well as a sign-out session if there is no activity after ten minutes....

As most shoppers know, the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday, can either be a shopper's paradise or the worst nightmare. For the last several years, department stores have been opening up earlier every year.  Lines have formed outside these stores anytime from 2 a.m. onwards.  For those of you shop on Black Friday, you are well aware of the many sales offered by most merchants. For those of you who have never shopped on B...

In this internet era, shopping online is becoming more popular these days. However, as with any new medium, there are pros and cons associated with shopping online. Let's learn about some of them. Pros of Shopping Online * Shopping online gives you the opportunity to buy any items you want from a huge catalog of products. * Some online stores offer free shipping, while others charge a small fee.  More importantly, you may find more stores whe...

These days you don't have to have a credit card to shop online. There are numerous ways to pay for items you buy online. Let's review most popular payment methods you can use to pay for items. 1. Credit Card.  This is the most commonly used form of payment when shopping online.  Most websites take Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Card, and others. 2. Debit Card.  While this is the second most widely used card offline, you hav...

Those veteran shoppers can tell you first-hand that you can save some money from shopping online. For those who have not yet tried shopping online, here are some tips and suggestions. First of all, it's good to know that most sites do not charge sales tax. That is a big saving. There are coupon sites online that offer 10% to 25% off on certain merchandise at well-known online retailers.  You can definitely take advantage of those coupon si...

Before you create a budget you need to understand your financial position. Firstly you need to know how much money you are earning.  You then need to know how much you are spending on all the groceries, utility bills etc.  Once you know this you will know how much you have left to spend on other items. Creating a budget Creating a budget is simply creating a list of all the things you need to pay for and how much they are going to cost. ...

There are several ways to create a good budget. Creating the budget doesn't have to take long with these simple tips. 1. Calculate all your "committed costs". These are things that you must pay for in order to live, like your mortgage, loan repayments, utility bills such as electricity and most other monthly bills that are fixed every month. 2. Next estimate all your "necessary costs", such as food bills, how much you spend getting to work ...