(CLICK TO ENLARGE)
Halloween, just a week from today, is an enjoyable holiday for all ages. There’s trick-or-treating for the young ones, parties and haunted houses for the older children, and scaring the trick-or-treaters that come to your door as an adult. But all of the efforts that go into making Halloween special can run up quite a bill. You open your credit card bill in November, just as the winter holiday shopping begins, and–BOO! You’re spooked by Halloween charges. Read on to learn stats about spending and tips to avoid exorbitant Halloween costs.
First, though, the National APR Average dropped last week, from 15% to 14.99%. Though that seems a small change, it’s notable that this is the first drop in the National APR for three months.
The National Retail Federation performed its ninth annual survey of Halloween spending habits this year. They found that 161 million Americans, or 68.6% of the population, plan to celebrate Halloween this year. That’s up from 63.8% in 2010. Spending is also the highest in the survey’s history, at an average of just over $70 per person for this year, and a total of $6.86 billion for the country.
Even though less than a third (32.1%) of respondents said the state of the economy will affect how they spend this Halloween, 87.1% are hoping to spend less this year than last year. Nearly 19% of them will accomplish this by making their own costumes, while 16.6% will reuse last year’s costume and 40.2% have resolved to spend less on candy.
For the large percentage of folks planning to save money on Halloween candy this year, a good tip is to buy generic brands or buy (securely wrapped) candy from the bulk section of the grocery store. You might be tempted to make your own candy, but this will scare parents, and not the good Halloween kind of scare. Another option is to get your neighbors together and split the costs. Go along with the 35.6% of folks who will reuse or make their own costumes this year, and you’ll be sure to save plenty of money. Practice vigilant safety this year to avoid unexpected medical bills. After Halloween, don’t rely on minimum payments, as you’ll end up paying more interest over time. And if you’re concerned about your APR, talk to your credit card company. Tell them about those better deals you’ve been finding, and you’ll likely hang up with a more manageable APR.
As for the top-pick stocks:
Apple clocked in at 398.55 last week, dropping about 20 points from our previous report. Stocks are somewhat unpredictable in the wake of the death of Steve Jobs and the release of the iPhone 4S.
Barrick Gold was at 44.70, a fall from 47.98.
Adobe Systems Inc, at 26.80, saw a growth of nearly .3 points last week.
Associated Estates reached 16.00, up just .07 from our last data.
Alliance Holdings’ 46.50 is a decline by just a tenth of a point.
0 Comments Received
Leave A Reply