David Pogue's wallet guide: "Information is money"
Yahoo finance columnist and “Sunday Morning” correspondent David Pogue has a new guide to help keep your finances in line. In his new book, “Pogue’s Basics: Money,” he offers 200 essential money-saving tips and shortcuts that could help you beat the system.
What drives us to make unhealthy money decisions? Is it fear?
Pogue said he thinks that “depends on how afraid you are of your current situation,” but here’s his main point in his third book of his New York Times best-selling series:
“We leave money on the table everywhere we go. If people say time is money, my argument is information is money,” Pogue said on “CBS This Morning” Wednesday.
Here are some of Pogue’s tips that you may have never known:
Gift cards
Gift cards are a hit or miss as gifts. According to Consumer Reports, more than 20 percent of gift card recipients do not use one or more of their cards. But they can be useful, even for people who have cards for stores where they do not shop, thanks to sites like CardCash.com, GiftCardGranny.com and CardPool.com, where shoppers can purchase them for up to 85 percent of face value.
Those who do use gift cards could also purchase them off these sites for less.
“Get a $100 iTunes gift card for 85 bucks,” Pogue said in giving an example.
Avoid markup prices
According to Pogue, if you pay full price for items at Banana Republic, Gap or Old Navy, you’re a “sucker.”
That’s because they’re all owned by the same mother company, which means “they all have the same price schedule.”
“About every three months, usually tied to the holidays, they mark the entire store off 40 percent,” Pogue said. “If you sign up for their credit card, you get 20 percent off and you get five dollars off for every hundred dollars you spend. And so if you look into the very basics of these things... you’ll find you’’ll never pay the markup pricing.”
Extended warranties
Pogue said extended warranties for anything other than mobile devices -- like for refrigerators -- are pretty much a “waste of your money.”
Best Black Friday deals
Not every store offers Black Friday steals. Check out BlackFriday.com, which rounds up a list of stores that have special deals.
Credit card debt
Americans have an average credit card debt of $9,600. Pogue suggests asking the credit card company to lower the rate.
“If you explain to them that you have a plan to pay it off... they will help you out,” Pogue said. “Just ask.”
Spend on experiences
“Science says the best use of your money is not on objects -- which will give you a temporary spike in happiness and not thereafter -- but to spend it on experiences that you’ll remember and discuss, like travel, a cooking class,” Pogue said. “Things like that that you’ll always remember that becomes a part of you.”
