Maximize your holiday shopping savings with Free Money Friday
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Tis the season for holiday shopping! It's the perfect time for Free Money Friday, to help figure out how you can maximize your savings while getting gifts for everyone on your list.
What does BNPL mean?
It stands for "Buy Now Pay Later." You know, when you go to make an online purchase and it's like you can pay $60 now or four installments of $15.
It's becoming a lot more popular these days and while it may seem super easy and better for your current wallet there are some pros and cons.
Right off the bat, it's convenient. All you have to do is click the button, fill out a form, and boom your set up for the remaining payments. Also, a lot of these services offer 0% interest, which is unlike a lot of credit cards. Speaking of, you don't necessarily need good credit to qualify, but they do take that into consideration when approving you. And, approval happens super quick so you'll know right away whether you can "BNPL" as they say.
Now it's time for the cons. You can be fined for missing or late payments. Unlike a credit card, you don't have any cash back or rewards like those cards we talked about a couple weeks back. Then you have the issue of returns, which can get confusing while you still have to make these payments.
Overall, you need to be smart with your money. They recommend using BNPL on necessary large purchases like a mattress or a computer. At the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference. Are you a rip the band-aid off kind of person or maybe slowly but surely?
Another quiz question - what does BOPIS stand for? "Buy Online Pick Up In Store." I know a lot of us are used to the crazy same day delivery from Amazon, but BOPIS is on the come up. You still have the convenience of shopping online and picking out what you want without rolling through the aisle, but this might be a quicker alternative for all you last-minute shoppers. Not to mention safe it keeps your purchases safe from porch pirates.
Now that you're shopping at your favorite stores to pick up your purchases, you always see or hear about signing up for a store credit card. While that 15% off may seem enticing, here's what you need to know before you sign:
First, the positives are you do get some perks and rewards. If you shop there often that could really add up. These include free shipping and early access to sales, which is a nice plus.
Finally, like you hear from the cashiers, "Would you like to save 20% on your purchase today by signing up?" You will definitely get those coupons to save you extra cash.
While all that sounds great, we always teach you if it's too good to be true it probably is. These cards have sky-high interest rates. We're looking at 26.6% on average. So, do your research before telling the cashier to sign you up.
All of you will now pass the holiday shopping quiz with flying colors. Make sure you know what works best for you and your wallet when trying to spread holiday cheer.
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