Think Outside the Gift Box

HESC offers money-saving ideas for college students during the Holidays

Highlights:

• Think twice before buying gifts on credit
• Be a conscious consumer: alternative gift-giving

(Albany, NY: Dec. 2, 2011) If you’re like most students, you probably don’t have much money for the holidays and may be wondering how you will be able to exchange gifts with friends and family. The New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) offers some timely tips to help college students save money during the holiday season.

Consider this before you grab your credit card and head for the mall:

Ninety-one percent of college undergraduates have credit cards and average over $3,000 in credit card debt not including student loans. It's not easy to pay off thousands of dollars of debt..

Assuming your credit card interest is 19.9 percent and you make an initial payment of $60 (which is two percent of the balance) and continue to pay the minimum payment on time each month, it will take 36 years to pay off, as long as you make no other charges. If you made a $60 payment each month (which would be more than the minimum payment), it would still take almost nine years to repay. Read more about managing credit cards at the U.S. Federal Reserve’s credit card information webpage.

Conscious consumerism
Think outside the gift box this year and still have a meaningful holiday season. Here are some “alternative” gift-giving ideas that require little or no cash:

Make gifts
Get your friends together, pool your talents and your resources to purchase craft supplies and have a craft party before you leave for the holiday break. You’ll have an afternoon of fun with your friends and have personalized crafts to give as gifts. You can find ideas for inexpensive projects online or at a craft store.

Regift
The term was coined on Seinfeld and some still think the idea is tacky, but regifting can be a practical solution for gift-giving if done with a little planning.

Everyone has hardly-worn sweaters, barely-played CD's, unread books or other things you just don’t love, but are in like-new condition. Consider giving these as gifts to someone else you know who will appreciate them. Use some common sense etiquette and make sure you're not giving the item to someone who is likely to see the person who originally gave you the gift (don’t give a gift from Grandma to your kid sister).

Get together with your friends to have a regift swap for another fun and inexpensive afternoon activity and have like-new gifts for giving to your family and friends.

The gift of your time
Make coupons to give to your loved-ones that offer your services for childcare, a car wash (that you will do), a lunch date with an elderly relative or friend, a dinner cooked by you, a massage, lawn care, dog walking or anything you can do for someone else. Your time is valuable…the gift of your time can be priceless!

If you must spend
Consider buying “gently used.” Look for consignment shops to purchase some unusual gifts that you might never see in a big-box store. Some music and video stores now offer used CD and DVD sections. Used book stores offer top selling best-sellers at a fraction of the retail price.

Armed with a plan to make or buy low-cost gifts for holiday giving will empower you to stay in control of your spending and keep some extra money in your pocket, without using a credit card.


Editors - for more information, contact Kathy Crowder, Sr. Vice President for Communications at 518-402-1448; kcrowder@hesc.org.