Thrifty Thinking: Holiday Shopping Tips from The Penny Hoarder

During the holiday season, consumers will be spending their hard earned money on holiday gifts, entertaining, food and decorations. However, according to the National Retail Federation, heading into the holiday season, it appears shoppers are being careful with their spending and constantly on the lookout for bargains. Sales have been lackluster, and the NRF predicts only a modest increase in sales over last year.

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, has for years marked the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. But Black Friday continues to diminish in importance for shoppers as major retailers have begun offering deals online right after Halloween in order to get the jump on one another and drive more holiday sales overall. People are also choosing to shop on their mobile devices at their own leisure. 

It’s no secret that the real way to conquer holiday spending without feeling the financial sting well into the new year is by staying on budget. Kyle Taylor also known as “The Penny Hoarder,” can be seen in the interview below to discuss:

-        How viewers can manage their holiday spending and stay within a budget

-        Taking advantage of cash back credit cards

-        How to save money on gifting essentials like wrapping paper and greeting cards

Kyle Taylor and his family like to joke that his entrepreneurial spirit began when he was 8 years old. His dad worked for a large credit card processor so there were always old terminals and cash registers lying around the house. Instead of playing with “Power Rangers” like the rest of his friends, Kyle used playtime to try and convince family members to invest in his conglomerate of make-believe banks and equity markets that he was running in the living room. When he was 15 Taylor started clipping coupons to help his mom pay the grocery bill. He joined a few coupon trading groups and started vigorously looking for new ways to cut costs. The grocery bill quickly fell until it was under $20 a week. Since then he has used non-traditional methods of saving and earning money to help pay for rising tuition bills, car payments and rent, all the while never having to answer to a boss. After much encouragement from friends and family, he decided to start blogging about his wacky and weird ideas for making, earning and saving money. That’s when the “The Penny Hoarder” website was created.