Sherry Tingley

Wise Shopping During Christmas Time

November 13, 2014 By Sherry Tingley

Get Ready! Get Set! Get Shopping!

Get Christmas shopping done ahead of time.

Anyone who is paying attention knows that holiday shopping begins earlier every year and this year October had hardly dropped off the calendar before the Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals were being ballyhooed.

And you don’t have to wait for the turkey to become skin and bones to get in on the bargains, according to the shopping experts. But the wisest shoppers will go into the season with a strategy and a budget, those same experts say.

Here’s how:

Set A Goal

Be a “mission” shopper. Have the list before you shop and know how much you can afford to spend without fracturing your budget. If you wander around with no clue, looking for the perfect gift, you’re likely to fall victim to impulse buying. And once that starts, it’s hard to draw the line. To help stay on task, plan your holiday shopping as part of a list of things to be done – for instance, picking up the kids from school. That creates a deadline that won’t allow you too much time to be tempted. Or shop with someone whom you know to be impatient and who will hurry you through the process.

Price Match

Avoiding impulse buying can help with saving money.

Price match at the many stores that say they will meet their competitors’ prices. When stores began to lose customers to online shopping, they backed away from non-matching policies. Such tactics have become part of the Black Friday experience. If you find an item you want, use your smartphone to check the prices at other stores. If you can point out a lower price to a cashier or manager, most will meet the competition. It’s worth a try.

Email Newsletters

Keep a separate email address for store mailing lists, subscriptions to daily deal lists and related shopping aids. That helps prevent clogging of your main inbox and streamlines your online browsing for the best deals. Sign up for deal alerts on retailer websites so you can do your shopping at home before facing the crowded stores.

Free Shipping

Be aware of shipping policies before you make your online purchases. Delays with UPS and FedEx left a lot of people giftless on THE day last year. Read dealer shipping information thoroughly, especially if you’re crowding the deadline. If the fine print says the goods will be shipped in a certain number of business days, remember that Saturday and Sunday won’t count. Avoid paying extra bucks for overnight or one-day shipping by allowing plenty of time.

WeChat Saves You Money On Long Distance Charges

November 10, 2014 By Sherry Tingley

WeChat is the fifth most-used smartphone app in the world.

Smart phone messaging applications have become essential to doing business, keeping in touch with friends, having fun on a vacation and saving money.

WeChat, an instant messaging system developed by the Chinese Internet company, Tencent has become an extremely popular messaging app. GlobalWebIndex lists WeChat as the fifth most-used smartphone app in the world. Forbes magazine says, “It is undoubtedly the most powerful mobile app in China today and is fast becoming one of the world’s most powerful too.”

Let’s review some of the features of the messaging app. It has the standard text messaging, photo messaging, video messaging features, social gaming, and it has talking functions. Talking functions are much like using a walkie talkie. Video calls makes the app even more valuable. Forming groups can be quite powerful as well. Up to 500 people can be in one group. While talking with groups, only one person can talk at once.

The number one reason people like this app is because it allows users to talk for free. That means if you have contacts around the world, you can talk for free. Talking through the application has cut down the enormous costs of long distance charges.

Globally, WeChat has around 397 million users. The app is most popular in China, where it was built and launched in 2011. There are around 300 million Chinese users. While China actively blocks some popular social websites they have not blocked this app.

So how can WeChat be both good and bad? The app also has a GPS system that allows other people to see where you are. In fact, there is a feature that let’s you shake your phone and find other members close to you that you can add as contacts.

This tracking ability has caused some problems. Chinese authorities have linked the systems use to a large number of crimes. Recently Tencent identified and shut down over 20 million accounts that they had successfully linked to prostitution rings.

There was a tragic incident where a Chinese woman met a man through WeChat and arranged to meet with him. Little did she know that he had just spent 13 years in prison and was currently being investigated for rape. The meeting proved fatal for the young woman. She was robbed and murdered.

There are also people who are concerned about threats to national security as well as personal privacy issues. The gps functions in the app reveals your geographic location. Security officials could monitor users’ movements in real time, critics say, and give non-users access to text messages and contact books. Countries such as the United States, Taiwan and India, as well as the home nation of China have all wondered about the threats to national security.

The benefits of the app will have to be weighed carefully for each individual. It is quite touching to see how one teenager, nervous to perform in a violin concert was reassured by doing a video call with her instructor.

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Here’s How The Money Goes!

October 20, 2014 By Sherry Tingley

Many people don't stick to a budget — About 61% of Americans do not budget or keep close tabs on their money.

How Americans get, spend and save (or don’t save) money was the topic of a 2014 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey conducted by Harris Polling. In the March survey, 2,016 adults were questioned about how they handled money.

Budgeting, at the top of the list, seems to be a problem for the majority (61 percent) of Americans. Only 39 percent of those polled say they have a budget and keep close tabs on what they spend. Experts in personal finance consistently argue that the first step toward controlling money is to have and stick to a budget.

The figures relative to saving for retirement also show a lack of planning for the future. One in three Americans are making no provision for post-working years. In fact, when listing their concerns about their financial well being, the lack of “rainy day” cushioning and retirement money topped the list.

The survey asked if the respondents were spending less than they had the previous year. Twenty-nine percent in the 2014 sample said they were, in fact, spending less, but the percentages have been in a steady decline since that question was added to the annual survey in 2009. More than two-thirds of the respondents said they are spending the same or more.

One in three of those polled said they carry credit card debt from month to month. That proportion has been steadily falling since 2009, from 44 percent that year to 34 percent this year. The recent recession likely has made many credit card holders more cautious. Fifteen percent of adults – more than 35 million people – roll over $2,500 or more in credit card transactions each month.

The majority of those surveyed – 59 percent- said they would grade their knowledge of personal finance at an A or B, but an even higher percent (73) admit they could benefit from expert advice.

Ironically, only about one-fourth (27 percent, which would equate to 63 million Americans) said they would seek outside help with financial problems by counseling with a professional non-profit agency. Seventy-three percent said they would rely on themselves to resolve financial difficulties or turn first to friends or family for financial advice.

Where Does The Job Market Stand?

October 17, 2014 By Sherry Tingley

Unemployment figures are lower than they have been, but what exactly do they reflect? — Unemployment figures are lower than they have been, but do they mean?

You hear all kinds of things: Either the job market is looking rosy after the devastation of the recession, or things are still rocky. What should you believe?

Although there are indications of steady hiring and falling unemployment, experts are still baffled by some of the relevant data. At the core of the debate is whether the current 6.1 percent unemployment figure, while it is far below the 10 percent rate registered at the beginning of the recession, really give a true picture, or does it overstate the improvement?

The question of whether the feds will raise interest rates depends on how things sort themselves out. “We’ve never seen a labor market quite like this,” said Peter Cappelli, an economist with the Wharton School of Business.

Despite the improvement of the unemployment part of the puzzle, there are many companies that aren’t filling their job openings and many individuals who were jobless during the height of the recession apparently are waiting for further signs of stability before they start job searches.

The National political campaigns, soon to end in the Nov. 4 balloting, have kept the focus on the labor situation. Polling among voters indicates that behind the overall economy and terrorism, the unemployment statistics are much on the minds of Americans.

Five “mysteries” points related to the labor quandary include:

1. How many people are in the pool of those who didn’t look for jobs when the economy slumped or stopped looking when the recession went on? Will they re-enter the job search when it is clear that the economy is improving? Since the recession began in 2007, the number of adults either working or seeking work has dipped from 66 percent to 62.8 percent. That’s a 35-year low, equal to about 7.5 million people. Retirements among the Baby Boom generation have contributed to those data, probably accounting for at least half of the exodus from the workforce. Young adults are staying in school longer. Some who aren’t job-hunting are receiving disability aid. The economists look at the figures and conclude that many of the dropouts are not likely to come back into the ranks of job-seekers. For the employer, that could mean a demand for higher pay for the jobs that are available.

2.Where are the 3.8 million who were unemployed for more than six months, but no longer are counted in the unemployment data? Have they got jobs or have they quit looking, changing their status in the figures? Labor Department data indicate that about 12 percent of the long-term unemployed are finding jobs each month. Federal economists who sifted data over a whole year, however, found that nearly 40 percent of the long-term unemployed found jobs during that period.

3. Why is it that 7.3 million people looking for full-time jobs can find only part-time work? The figure for this category before the recession was only 4.6 million. Economists think it indicates that there are more wanting work then the unemployment rate suggests. He thinks this situation justifies another percentage point on the unemployment rate. The situation may affect wages, portending they won’t go up any time soon. In general, wages start rising when unemployment hits its current level. A rapid rise in wages could trigger faster inflation.

4. Companies are advertising more jobs, but not filling all of them. That makes an imbalance between the jobs available and the workers seeking them out. It seems companies are not as aggressively filling jobs as they did pre-recession, taking an average of 25 days to fill a job, compared with fewer than 22 before the economy tanked. Some economists suggest the changes related more to new technologies that allow employers to post jobs. They may post the jobs before they actually are ready to hire, just because they can do so easily.

5. Why has job growth declined for women? The growth rate for females dropped more than 14 percent this year. Although more jobs are being added – an average of 215,000 per month this year – women have taken fewer than 40 percent of those jobs. Women’s participation in the labor force was nearly 63 percent after the 1981-82 recession; 51 percent following a 1990-91 downturn in the economy and 47 percent after a similar dip in 2001. Government studies indicate that men are taking jobs in sectors traditionally dominated by women, including hotel, restaurant and financial services. Women are having less success in the manufacturing sector as well. The recession hit traditionally men’s jobs harder, accounting for 71 percent of the losses.

Experts expect that the job market will continue to return to more normal trends over time.

Wal-Mart Offers new GoBank Accounts Sans Overdraft Fees

October 8, 2014 By Sherry Tingley

Walmart Is Offering Pre-Paid Debit Cards — Walmart Is Offering Reloadable Pre-Paid Cards

Joining other large retailers that engage in semi-banking practices, shopping giant Wal-Mart has opted to provide a card-based program for customers who may overspend their accounts while purchasing in their stores.

The world’s largest retailer had teamed with Green Dot Corp., a leader in creating reloadable prepaid cards. New mobile checking accounts issued by Wal-Mart under the cooperative effort will not require fees for overdrafts and bounced checks. An $8.95 monthly fee will be charged for these GoBank accounts. The fee is waived if there is a deposit of $500 or more each month.

Accounts can be opened by purchasing a $2.95 starter kit at any Wal-Mart Store. A smartphone is a necessity, since most of the banking transactions are done through an app. Credit Bureau ratings commonly used to determine eligibility are not part of the application requirements. The idea behind GoBank is to provide options for people who don’t have a lot of money and may have poor credit scores.

The kit includes a MasterCard debit card that can be used to withdraw money or make purchases. No fee is charged for ATM withdrawal services at the 42,000 locations around the country. If money is withdrawn from ATMs outside the system, a $2.50 charge is levied. A 3 percent fee is added to withdrawals outside the United States.

The new arrangement is one of several moves being made to help Americans who are still feeling the effects of the recent recession. Both Bank of America and Citibank have begun offering fee-free accounts this year.

Regulators have been looking more closely at overdraft fees, which in some instances can go up to $35 per incident. The regulators have responded to concerns by requiring banks to get written approval from a customer to provide overdraft protection, which allows a customer’s account to dip below zero. Those who choose to have the overdraft protection still pay high fees. Some customers at large banks regularly rack up fees in the neighborhood of $260 a year, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Wal-Mart’s Daniel Eckert, senior vice president for services, said GoBank was the retailer’s response to customer concerns that regular banking fees are too high.