Tis the Season to Go Shopping--CAREFULLY!

ABC personal finance guru Mellody Hobson offered a number of tips to make Christmas/Hanakkuk/Kwanzaa shopping less of a pain for the wallet in early 2006. In addition to calling for a gift-giving budget and combining of shopping trips to reduce driving, she recommended calling to assure that desired items were available and to compare prices, use of debit cards (versus credit cards) to reduce impulse buying and advised that many online sellers would provide free shipping under the right conditions. Some other unusual ideas were giving fuel cards or energy audit (to reduce heating costs) instead of gift certificates, hunting for a holiday job to augment your earnings and look for earlier-than-usual closeout specials.