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Podcast: Saving on Airline Tickets
Tweet Share on Facebook October 22, 2008 Comment (4)For this week's Alpha Consumer Podcast, I interviewed Tom Romary, chief executive of Yapta.com, which helps consumers track the ups and downs of airline ticket prices and get refunds when their purchased tickets become cheaper. As a former vice president at Alaska Airlines, he also gives us an inside look at what's happening to the industry, and how we can navigate—and avoid—some of the price hikes.
LISTEN NOW: Saving on Airline Tickets
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Here are three of his tips:
- Consider the total cost of the trip, not just the ticket. Because airlines now charge for so many add-ons, from food to baggage check to changed itineraries, consumers should factor in all those costs in advance, and expect to pay them.
- Know your refund rights. Most airlines give refunds to customers who have already purchased tickets when the price drops, but only if you purchased the ticket directly from the airline itself.
- Think of all the extra charges as a good thing. They mean a lower ticket price, so each customer pays for only what he wants.
You can also get the Alpha Consumer Tip of the Week on saving money while buying wine.
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Margaret Atwood: Is Debt Necessary?
Tweet Share on Facebook October 21, 2008 Comment (7)This month's selection for the Alpha Consumer Book Club is Margaret Atwood's Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth. While Atwood may be most famous for her novels—including The Handmaid's Tale, which looks at totalitarianism—her most recent book explores why we think about debt the way we do. Why do we accept it as part of our lives? Why does it sometimes seem shameful? Why do some of us take on too much of it? Those questions are, of course, especially relevant now, as our entire economy reels from the days of easy credit and subprime mortgages.
Atwood begins with a story from her childhood. When she started earning money as a baby sitter, she opened a bank account. The interest earned on that account baffled her. She writes:
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Audio: How Uncle Sam's Plan Affects Consumers
Tweet Share on Facebook October 21, 2008 CommentThis weekend, I spoke with WTOP about how the government bailout plan affects consumers, including the impact of additional bank account protections, and why having a strong credit score is especially important right now. Listen now, download in
iTunes, or subscribe via RSS feed. -
With Economy Down, Consumers Nest
Tweet Share on Facebook October 20, 2008 Comment (11)Are you spending more time on your sofa? Settling in with a good movie? Retreating to coziness is the new "painting the town red" as consumers try to deal with depleted investments and rising prices.
The futurist and business consultant Faith Popcorn has upgraded the trend she has previously identified as "cocooning" to "uber-cocooning" to signify the increased emphasis on home. According to her survey, almost 3 in 4 consumers say they spend "a good deal of time at home." Popcorn says that's because they view "home as the safe haven from the increasingly threatening outside world."
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Should You Lock In Your Winter Oil Prices?
Tweet Share on Facebook October 17, 2008 Comment (4)Last night, I spoke with CNBC's Carmen Wong Ulrich about how to hedge your heating bill this winter. Many heating companies offer deals that let you lock in the price of oil ahead of time so you don't get unexpectedly high bills if the price of oil goes up this winter. But there's a big downside: If the price of oil goes down, you lose, because you're stuck paying those higher prices.
Here are some tips:
- Contact your local heating company. Many companies offer special programs that let consumers either lock in prices in advance or spread out hefty winter payments over the entire year. But the easiest thing to do is to put aside cash before winter begins that will serve as a cushion in case prices go up. That way, you don't risk paying extra if prices end up going down.
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How to Improve Your Credit Score
Tweet Share on Facebook October 16, 2008 Comment (9)With banks increasingly picky about giving out loans, now is the perfect time to boost your credit score. Anyone with a 720 or above will have a much easier—and cheaper—time borrowing money. Because few people go to the trouble of getting their credit reports, they often don't even realize there are mistakes until it's too late, when they're sitting across the table from a reluctant loan officer.
But going from a 600 to 800 isn't always easy. I recently heard from Ann, a 65-year-old from San Antonio. She said that she had tried correcting errors on her own credit report—including asking for the removal of addresses and names that she has never had—but found it very difficult to get the credit bureaus to remove those mistakes.
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Scaling Down for the Holidays
Tweet Share on Facebook October 15, 2008 Comment (2)This morning's Commerce Department announcement that September retail sales were down 1.2 percent disappointed economists, who had expected a milder decline. It was bad news for retailers, too, who count on the upcoming holiday sales to boost their revenues.
The news got me thinking: For those of you already mulling over your present lists, are you scaling back? I'm wondering if the new "it" toy this year won't be a toy at all but something more frugal, and perhaps more thoughtful. A father might give his young son a day of eating whatever he wants instead of the latest Elmo incarnation. Or a daughter might remember the name of that author her dad loves and get his latest book instead of a new cashmere sweater.
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When Will the Market Recover?
Tweet Share on Facebook October 14, 2008 Comment (1)In response to my recent story on the market meltdown, several readers posted questions about what they should do with their investments. Here are my answers:
I would like to invest in General Motors stock at $4.89 a share. Am I completely crazy?
—Joe ThompsonThe last thing I'm going to do is recommend you buy a volatile stock like GM. Just because it's trading close to its lowest price since the 1950s doesn't mean it's a steal. The share prices have already recovered somewhat from last week's plunge but not by much. As I write this in the middle of the day on Tuesday, shares are trading around $6.60. So, while it's not too late to purchase what some would consider extremely cheap shares, the key thing you need to know is that you'd have to be willing to take on a lot of risk to buy in just as most investors are running for the exits. As analyst Daniel Silver told Barron's, reports that GM could merge with Chrysler have helped out GM's share prices, but the company is still in dire straits.
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Blog Roundup Offers Perspective on Crisis
Tweet Share on Facebook October 14, 2008 CommentCheck out this week's edition of the "Carnival of Personal Finance" over at Greener Pastures, where you can get tips on understanding the financial crisis and dealing with the stock market declines. For a glass half-full perspective, check out the Personal Financier's explanation of why the current downturn offers a useful learning opportunity.
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How to Stay Up When Stocks Go Down
Tweet Share on Facebook October 10, 2008 Comment (9)This week has been hard on anyone with money in the stock market, even if it's through a 401(k) that won't be tapped for years. If the almost 40 percent decline since October 2007 has you feeling blue, here are some tips for dealing with the crisis:
- Hole up. Cook, rent movies, or schedule time on your couch and celebrate the basics that you can still count on, whether it's a favorite meal or favorite person. There's something comforting about knowing that even when times are tight—and they might get extremely tight—you can still enjoy yourself.
