National Spending Journal – By Shoeboxed

Despite widespread price-slashing this holiday season, retailers are already calling 2008 one of the worst seasons on record. Sales plunged in most categories of retail this year as consumer spending continued to decrease, despite retailers’ best efforts to entice shoppers with big discounts.
Total retail sales, which excludes cars and other vehicles, dropped by 5.5% from [...]

In the year that brought us a presidential election, a tanking economy and Tila Tequila, there were some great songs. Despite doomsayers proclaiming the music industry is dead, musicians and producers made some great hits this year. Here is Billboard’s list of the top 20 songs and albums of the year.
Do you think the markets [...]

Based on data from Google searches this year, Forbes has determine the most popular items this year for Christmas gifts. It appears that consumers are dreaming of electronics this year. Nine of the top 10 most wanted gifts are gadgets, from music players (3) to video games and consoles (4) to digital photography toys (2), [...]

This was originally part of our Shoelabs page, but we thought it made more sense to be here on the blog. This was part of our holiday shopping promotion stuff we did at the end of last year.
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Remember those Advent calendars you had has a kid? Each day in December you opened a new door [...]

I tend to think that financial, physical, and mental clutter are interconnected. A writer for Simple Dollar ( a financial blog “for the rest of us”) blogged on Unclutterer (organization for all) about this concept in a great entry that I wanted to share with you. “The Connections Between Mental, Physical, and Financial Clutter” preaches [...]

We all know someone who shops a lot. They talk about how much they love it, about what they bought. Some even openly admit that they have a problem. Nicole, blogger and author of Budgeting Babe wrote an article about her shopping addiction.[link] She gave a few smart tips for people [...]

According to a study completed within the last year, purchases made by women accounted for more than eighty-five percent of all consumer expenditures. Yes, it’s hard to believe, but women shop more than men. But the real question is why? The answer may surprise you.
Research conducted by Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitorâ„¢ confirmed [...]

A new epidemic has hit America. While most scientists refer to it as oniomania, this condition is more commonly know as compulsive shopping, compulsive buying, or compulsive spending. Our society is constantly bombards by TV commercials, magazine advertisement, and online banner ads that persuade us to spend money—usually on purchases that we don’t need. [...]