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Holiday Savings Expert Teaches Consumers How to Save $270 on Gift Shopping Using Credit Cards
With the holiday shopping season kicking off this week, Go Banking Rates savings expert, Jennifer Calonia, confronts credit card users with the realities of using credit cards for gift purchases recklessly, and reinforces two best practices that saves hundreds of dollars when using credit at the checkout counter.
EL SEGUNDO, CA, November 21, 2012 – Consumers are expected to spend an estimated $750 on holiday purchases this year, according to the National Retail Federation. While retailers are flooding their aisles with discounts and deals, Go Banking Rates emphasizes the dangers of the holiday debt hangover when using credit cards to pay for shopping expenses.
“While bargain hunters earnestly believe they’re saving money by buying discounted goods,” explains Ms. Calonia, “the savings falter once credit card interest rates are calculated into the equation. Shoppers who fail to keep their shopping under control can easily get carried away with the hype surrounding consumer-driven events like Black Friday.”
In her feature, Ms. Calonia demonstrates how seemingly harmless holiday purchases, like a bicycle or iPad add up in terms of credit card interest rates over time, and their dire effect on shoppers’ wallets after hundreds of dollars in interest racks up.
While her investigation cautions against over-using credit cards as a method of payment, Ms. Calonia supports credit card use as long as two specific rules are maintained by holiday shoppers.
Employing the conventional credit card practices that Ms. Calonia encourages helps consumers avoid the mounting credit card debt so many Americans face in the month of January.
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Jennifer reports on personal finance, with a specialty in saving money, budgeting and lifestyle. She is available to comment on any of these topics and can be reached via e-mail.
About Jennifer Calonia
Jennifer Calonia is a reputed journalist covering personal finance subjects like banking, saving money and debt. Her features and helpful savings tips encourage and empower households across America to achieve financial balance.
Her work is featured in major publications like US News & World Report, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Finance, LearnVest, Business Insider, Can Do Finance and Consumerism Commentary. Jennifer’s next project, a column called “Breaking Up with Debt”, is scheduled to launch late-November 2012.
About Go Banking Rates
Go Banking Rates (GoBankingRates.com) a national website dedicated to connecting readers with the best interest rates on financial services nationwide, as well as informative personal finance content, news and tools. Go Banking Rates collects interest rate information from more than 4,000 U.S. banks and credit unions, making it the only online rates aggregator with the ability to provide the most comprehensive and authentic local interest rate information. Go Banking Rates also regularly publishes expert advice from personal finance professionals.
GoBankingRates.com belongs to a network of more than 1500 finance websites, including GoInsuranceRates.com and GoFreeCredit.com. These sites receive more than 2 million visits each month.