Tag Archives: product testing

July’s Best Buys, 2015

ID-100246553If you’re like me, July can be a time when your brain takes a break, and leisure and relaxation can take over. But don’t let your bargain-brain go to sleep just yet…there are good deals to be had!!

  • 4th of July Sales: Swimwear, suits and watches seem to be the popular items.
  • Air Conditioners: Not the best summer buy, but if you must, July is best. Prices take a 15% dip between June and August.
  • Back to School sales: Or “BTS” if you’re super-cool. BTS sales start taking off in July, with computer and laptop sales leading the way.
  • Food, dude!: Take advantage of the various deals of the “It’s National _____ Day!” variety, such as fried chicken day, pecan pie day, ice cream day, etc.
  • European travel: The “strong dollar/weak dollar” thing is a wheel that keeps on turning, but the dollar strong right now, making foreign travel more accessible.

We tooled around the web to spot a few articles that can help lead the way to summer savings, so take a look!

So, get out there and consume like a good little consumer…but be smart about it! Know any other good July deals? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page, and heave a great weekend!

Father’s Day Spending 2015

fathersday01It seems like the consumer journalists are always trying to paint some kind of social significance around the fact that we generally spend less on Dad for Father’s Day than we do for Mom on Mother’s Day. In fact, it’s something like $21 billion for Mom, and $13 billion for Dad. But, do you know a dad who actually gets upset about this? Me neither.

Still, it’s interesting to look at the stats, as we tend to do around here for the major holidays. So, once again, it’s time for Father’s Day by the Numbers, 2015 edition!

According to the National Retail Federation….

  • 75%: Will celebrate Father’s Day
  • $12.7 billion: Total spending for Father’s Day
  • $115: Average spent per dad
  • 40%: Will buy clothing
  • $1.7 billion: Spent on clothing
  • 43%: Will buy “experience” items, such as ballgame tix or dinners
  • $2.6 billion: Spent on experience items
  • 52%: Buying for dad or stepdad
  • 28%: Buying for husband
  • 9%: Buying for son who is also a dad

If holiday statistics are your thing, then be sure to check out the rest of the NRF survey! How about you? Who are you buying for? What will you give? How much will you spend? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page, and HAPPY FATHER’S DAY from MindField Online!

Retirement Planning Pitfalls

ID-100178555Everybody has at least a little anxiety about retirement. Specifically, will we have enough money to get by? Many of us (me) don’t like to think about these things. Many of us (me) put off those icky decisions. But you (I) can’t put them off forever. And the sooner we start making good financial decisions, and taking action, the better off we will be.

And knowing what the right moves are starts what knowing what the WRONG ones are! That’s the topic of a recent Time Magazine article “9 False Moves That Could Derail Your Retirement”. Here are the bullet points…

  1. Raiding Your Home Equity
  2. Unplanned Roth IRA Withdrawals
  3. Failing to Put Away Anything
  4. Helping Adult Kids Financially
  5. Co-Signing for a Child or Grandchild
  6. Failing to Have a Plan B
  7. Poor Investment Choices
  8. Not Making Changes When Needed
  9. Taking Social Security As Soon As You Can

Again, just the bullets. Lots more info at the original piece, so check it out!  How about you? Are you making smart retirement moves, or not? Let us know over at the MndField Online Facebook page, and have a great weekend!

Memorial Day Weekend Shopping Tips

mem day saleLike it or not, you will probably spend some time this Memorial Day weekend in a big box store, or at the mall, or squinting at your computer screen while you look for bargains.

So we thought we would share some Memorial Day shopping do’s and don’ts, as presented by US News.com. Here are the bullets:

  • Do: Research
  • Don’t: Forget the basics: (bring the flyer or coupon with you, etc.)
  • Do: Buy appliances
  • Don’t: Buy summer essentials (Wait until AFTER the holiday)
  • Do: Find free shipping
  • Don’t: Get scammed (Memorial Day scams often target military or their families)

There are many more details at the original piece, so check it out!

US News also has another piece, “7 Memorial Day Sales You Won’t Want to Miss“, so check that out, too!

Somewhere in this piece (okay, now) I feel obligated to say that Memorial Day is not about buying a new refrigerator. I mean, a refrigerator IS one of your best deals this weekend, don’t get me wrong! Just try to remember those who paid the ultimate price. Here is a good place to learn more about Memorial Day.

What do YOU think? Are you heading out for some retail combat? Having a cookout? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page, and have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Millennial Retail Blues

sales downWhen it comes to their sales numbers and their future predictions, are retailers “terrified”? An article entitled “An emerging American trend is terrifying news for Macy’s, Kohl’s, and JC Penney” suggests that they should be. Another one says, “Kohl’s is getting crushed.” Also, “Macy’s offers an ominous insight about American consumers.” Another piece (without a sexy title, sorry) details the decline of high-end organic grocer Whole Foods.

So, what’s the deal? Is retail in decline? Or is it a certain slice of retail that’s in decline? The answers, it seems, are maybe and definitely.

Once again, the arrow points straight at the Millennials – people born since 1980 or so. They are becoming the dominant purchasing force in the economy – and they simply have less money to spend. Their money is going toward RENT, which is very high right now, and toward personal electronics.

The money they have left over is not going toward a $40 shirt at Kohl’s or Macy’s, or locally sourced/organic/free range/sustainable/expensive salmon at Whole Foods. They’re going to Walmart instead.

So, this might be troubling news for higher-end retailers, but maybe a good thing that the younger generation (which will soon be calling the shots) is getting smarter about spending? Maybe? I guess? What do YOU think? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page, and have a great weekend!

Mother’s Day by the Numbers 2015

mothers day2The National Retail Federation says that average spending for Mother’s Day is up this year – $173 vs. $163 last year, which is the highest amount since they began the survey. So, how do we spend those precious mom-dollars?

  • Total spending: $21 billion
  • Average spent per mom: $173
  • 80% will buy a greeting card, spending $786 million,
  • 67% will buy flowers, spending $2.4 billion.
  • 36% will buy clothing items, spending almost $2 billion
  • 34% will buy jewelry, spending $4.3 billion
  • $3.8 billion spent on special brunch or activity
  • $1.8 billion spent on smartphones or e-readers
  • $1.5 billion spent on spa days
  • $890 million spent on housewares or gardening tools
  • $480 million spent on books and CDs

There is much more info at the original piece, so check it out!

How about you? Is your Mother’s Day spending up, down or about the same? What are your plans for Mother’s Day? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page, and…Happy Mother’s Day!!

The Future of Shopping?

the futureWhen I think of “Future Shopping,” I think of George Jetson trying to give his wife a twenty, but she takes the whole wallet instead! Anyhoozle, there’s an article in the Wall Street Journal on the future of shopping entitled, oddly enough, The Future of Shopping. The basic nugget o’ wisdom goes like this:

Thirty years down the road, much of the change in retail is going to be driven by a complete reformulation of the relationship between how we make the stuff, how we sell the stuff and how we consume the stuff.

Here are some of the predictions:

Malls become “Alls”: I can remember our mall back in the 70s had not one, but two grocery stores in it. That seems ridiculous now but, apparently, it will be coming back. Aside from clothing, food and electronics, you will see “gyms and innovative fitness centers, medical services and even schools, grocery stores and luxury spas”.

Artisanal everything: Handcrafted clothes, furniture, foods, etc. “This is about the counter trend of being local. It is about a need to be different and nostalgic for things that are timeless and somehow pure.”

Highly personalized clothing: Super-precise tailored measurements for clothing made immediately by robots. They’re already doing it in Korea!

A Different Kind of “Mobile”: They’re doing this in Charleston SC already. There’s a restaurant on the well-to-do/upscale tourist part of town. They have long waits, so on weekends, this truck full of upscale ladies apparel/accessories parks outside the place to take advantage of the captive. (“Go ahead, honey; I’ll be in the bar.” – Me)

Are you seeing some of these already? Which ones? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!

A Modest Prom-posal

promProm spending peaked back in 2013 at $1,140. It fell to $978 in 2014, and this year is expected to slip again to $919.

While I would like to think that this means people are being wiser with their money, I have my doubts. There’s something new on the prom scene (well, it’s the first time Visa has mentioned it in its annual Prom Spending Survey, anyway) called The Promposal. Because the invitation to the prom has to be the dopest, raddest, illest event of the season, second only to Prom itself! Thank you, MTV.  The average cost of this nonsense is around $300, or one-third of the total Prom expenditure. If you absolutely have to learn more about this nonsense, go here.

Another sign that we aren’t minding our dollars and cents is that parents, who only kicked in 56% of the cost last year, have gone soft and are parting with 73% this year.

Now, to me, the best thing about the Visa Prom Spending Survey is that it’s not just a way for us to sit in judgment of the poor saps blowing all this money (of course, that IS part of the fun!) but it’s also a teaching tool. Visa has several tips for saving money, and has also published a prom budgeting app that helps you stay on track with your prom spending. Check it out!

How about you? Spending more, less or the same for prom this year? Are the kids chipping in, or not? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!

Tax Time Trembling

Hey, maybe MY tax guy should have used a giant mallet!
Hey, maybe MY tax guy should have used a giant mallet!

Many, many moons ago, I went to get my taxes done at one of those famous places. Like, THE most famous one. We had hit a couple of major milestones (buying our first house was the biggest) so it seemed the right time to graduate from the 1040 EZ, do-it-yourself form.

I didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t expect THIS. My tax preparer was completely incompetent. He was so nervous he was literally trembling. He mumbled and stammered so badly I could barely understand him. And he gave terrible advice, such as “You live in Ohio but you work in Indiana? Oh, it will all even out.” Even I know that, if the city tax in Indiana is 0.9%, and in Cincinnati it’s 2.1%, it’s NOT going to “even out.”

But I was polite (shell shocked, really), paid the guy, and left. Then, I came back the next night and demanded that the branch manager re-do my forms. Believe me, there was a difference – a difference that would have led to penalties.

So, this article in the Consumerist wasn’t really shocking. It’s been 20 years since that incident. There have been so many advancements in software and technology (they have this thing called The Internet now) but one weakness remains: the human element.

An undercover investigation went, um, undercover at 29 different tax places and found all kinds of lapses in the system. Misusing earned income tax credits (EITC), ignoring side income, using incorrect forms, questionable deductions, not understanding the tax software, randomly filling in boxes to see if it magically resulted in less tax owed, and on and on. Sometimes these were honest mistakes…sometimes they weren’t.

Anyway, caution. If you think you are working with an incompetent or dishonest tax preparer, you owe it to yourself to do something about it. Or, you will owe it to the IRS, because if you end up getting caught, YOU’RE the one on the hook, not the tax preparer. So, check out the horror stories in the original piece, share any horror stories of your own at the MindField Online Facebook page, and have a great weekend!

My favorite line of the article: “When she went into a payday loan place to get her taxes done…” Yikes.

Easter by the Numbers 2015

lily2 copyFavorite Easter memory: I was about five, and it snowed 6 inches the night before Easter (Ohio, y’all!) I came downstairs Easter morning and my father said, “Look outside!” I did, and I saw giant bunny prints in the snow leading from the street to the house. I was thrilled. It took me YEARS to realize that it had been my dad in his size-13 construction boots, heels-in/toes-out, who had made the footprints. By then, I was 19, and hadn’t been into Easter baskets for over a year.

Simple pleasures, right? And I wonder if that has been lost. That commercial on now – is it Sears? Where the kids run downstairs on Easter morning to find TWO BRAND-NEW BIKES!!! Bikes? I was lucky to get a hollow chocolate bunny! Kids these days…

As Americans, we do holidays big, even when (especially when) we can’t afford it. So let’s take a look at Easter Spending by the Numbers 2015!

  • $16.4 Billion: Total Easter spending. (Up half a Bill from last year)
  • $140: Average Americans will spend on Easter (up $3)
  • 86%: Will have a special dinner, and spend $5 Billion, or $62 per household
  • 87% will buy candy, and spend $2 Billion, or $28 per household
  • $2.4 Billion: Spent on gifts, or $47 per household
  • $1 Billion: Spent on Flowers, or $32 per household
  • $1 Billion: Spent on decorations, or $28 per household
  • $700MM: Spent on cards, or $17 per household
  • $61.00: Spent on Easter clothes per household

Well, that’s the tale of the (register) tape for this year. While we’re at it, let’s not forget that Easter (and Passover!) is a very important religious holiday for many millions of folks. However you spend it, at church, temple, with family or friends, we hope it’s GREAT. Happy Easter and Chag Sameach from MindField Online! Share your weekend plans with us over at our Facebook page!

Sources: Natl Retail Federation, StatisticsBrain.com, Forbes