gift giving

January's retail and food services sales rose a sharp 7.8% from January 2010 and 0.3% from December. For the most part, merchants and manufacturers worked to line up wares that consumers want at prices that attract those who are now more frugal.

Retail sales have perked up, but consumers aren't resuming their old habit of using credit cards to splurge on gifts. According to a new poll, more than half of American adults say they're sticking with cash this holiday shopping season.

If you've got children or grandchildren on your holiday gift list, instead of just buying sweaters or electronic gadgets, try turning your year-end gift giving into smart estate planning, too. Tax experts say that before 2010 comes to a close, many older Americans, retirees and well-heeled...

Ho, ho, ho! Talk about holiday spirit. After the initial excitement of scheduling a booth at a holiday bazaar or picking up my super-special heritage breed turkey for Thanksgiving, I realize how expensive this is all going to be, and my holiday spirits drop considerably. Especially my financial...

According to a survey on Valentine's Day gift giving, overall Valentine's Day spending is up 50 cents, but the average gift people are giving to their significant other is down almost $4 from 2009. Even though this brings Valentine's Day gift spending down to the levels we saw in 2004, ladies will...

An economist at Duke University believes that "gift inflation" is a prime problem during the holidays, one that makes everyone less happy in the long run. The solution? Spending less and keeping it simple.

After a random survey of 1,000 online members, online cash-gift registry Lottay.com believe it has an idea of what shoppers will be searching for come holiday gift-giving time. And according to the survey, it ain't gift cards. "A cow, a monkey, a hookah, and Satan," well, yeah, but definitely not...