Debit cards are a reasonably new thing in New Zealand and are being pitched quite strongly as the answer to shopping online this holiday season. If you’re concerned about going over budget on the credit card, or you don’t yet have a credit card (and tend to borrow one off a parent or flatmate), a debit card may be the solution for you.

The Visa debit card from Westpac (called the DebitPlus Card) has been introduced as the best way to shop online and overseas when attaching to a New Zealand bank account.

Also launched this year is the Loaded Card, again from Visa and available through New Zealand Post’s new website, loadedcard.co.nz which is a re-loadable pre-paid Visa card. This card provides roughly the same benefits in shopping online as the DebitPlus, however it is not attached to a standard bank account.

Debit cards that can purchase online are the standard option in many countries overseas (e.g. in the UK with Maestro and Solo cards) although in New Zealand it was EFTPOS that took off from an early stage (which could not easily transact online).

Constant reminders of the current world economic state may be hard to dodge in our media-filled lives, but that doesn’t mean scrimping on luxuries - just a change in the kind of luxuries we consume.

The entertainment industry believes that sectors like video games and DVDs will be buffered from the effects of the financial crisis that are hitting many other industries. When the film Iron Man hit DVD stores on September 30 in the US, the same week that the $700 million bailout bill was in proposition, the movie sold a record 500,000 copies on Blu-Ray for the first week. Similarly, the new James Bond film Quantum of Solace, which opens in New Zealand today, pulled in nearly US$30 million more on its opening weekend in the US in mid-November than its predecessor, Casino Royale.

While there is no question many are tightening their belts on luxuries, it seems lower-priced entertainment is taking a bit shift to replace the luxuries of the past. While parents may have taken their children on a waterskiing holiday over Christmas in previous years, the trend this year may be buying a gift in the form of a Nintendo Wii console and a few supplementing Wii Fit games to virtually ride the waters.

With options for NZ shopping online just a click away, consumers are expected to buy up larger this year on in-home entertainment. Instead of buying a new car or taking a trip, consumers are moving to a more cost-conscious way of enjoying their disposable incomes, so don’t be surprised when you find yourself with more video games and high-def entertainment than you can shake a stick at this Christmas!

Image from Flickr.

The festive calendar really ticked over yesterday: just five weeks until Christmas. While shopping malls have had decorations up and yuletide tunes playing since the start of November, consumers throughout New Zealand can really now starting thinking about managing their Christmas this year.

Planning your Christmas needs to start early, so it’s a good idea to start a list now. Cook a Christmas meal, or order everything from the deli the day before? Decorate the Christmas tree with last year’s ornaments, or take advantage of the many stores already offering discounted Christmas products? Buy New Zealand made products, or imported gifts? Decisions, decisions! NZS.com is here to help you out with many of your common Christmas queries, and we’ll be regularly featuring tips and articles on the blog in the lead up to Santa’s visit.

While we’re five weeks out, you should get onto planning your Christmas party and start putting together your Christmas cards list. More tips to come next week!

Image from Flickr.

Do you have a No Circulars sign on your letterbox? I don’t, and for good reason. I’m always eager to snap up a bargain, and revel in clipping coupons for half price dinners, free DVD rentals and cheap lawn mowing services.

There are certain days of the week when my mailbox is full of circulars, and some days it gets a bit much. Sure, one of them will have a bunch of great deals, but the rest of it is just physical spam. The pre-digital version of what we can reasonably easily keep out of our inboxes in the online world.

Being a truly ‘green’ country, it is surprising that there aren’t more regulations on circulars production and distribution - we’ve all seen hundreds of ad campaigns focusing on recycling, but never think about cutting waste off at the source.

The good news, times have changed and I don’t even need to scour the circulars and clip coupons anymore - online voucher companies now offer printable vouchers (and for the super eco-friendly, TXT voucher downloads). They’re simple to search for in your region, and you can print off as many as you like on one page - so you’ll never have to pay full price for pizzas, DVDs, haircuts and car regos again! Saving money doesn’t get easier when it’s on demand like that.

I’m off to buy one of those No Circulars signs…

While food prices have risen 9.9% this year, the weekend’s weather proved that summer is definitely on its way - and so are fresh summer food prices.

Statistics New Zealand said yesterday that average food prices actually fell (albeit by a mere 0.3%) in October. The decrease is mainly due to the fruit and vege prices, particularly lettuce (down 50.7%) and tomatoes (down 24.9%).

Conversely, potatoes and bread were big pullers in the other direction, both with increased prices in the last month (potatoes 20.6% and bread 3.2%). Is this the economy’s way of getting Kiwis ready for beach weather by cutting carbs in favour of salads?

The price of cheese isn’t the popular news headliner that it was earlier in the year, but the report also noted that while a block of cheddar has risen by 39.2% this year, the October month saw it drop by 4%.

Image from Flickr.

According to a recent US study, consumers now prefer online bargain shopping to in-store shopping for holiday gifts. It seems busy malls and shopping centres aren’t the primary place for Christmas presents anymore for anyone who normally purchases anything online at least four times a year.

The reasons for finding bargains online are mainly attributed to the potential savings in time, which 88% of respondents designated as their key reason for shopping on the net. Locating hard to find products, avoiding mall crowds and greater selection were also deciding factors in shopping online instead of in physical stores.

E-tailing Group, the body who conducted the survey, stated that value spending is definitely the mantra this year as multitasking shoppers keep tabs on the web to get the best deals:

“Holiday gift buying is particularly impacted by this propensity for shopping smart as consumers preview online to get the most for their money.”

In New Zealand, things are set to follow the trend with online department stores offering bigger and better ranges of branded products as heavily discounted prices. When safe shopping online is so fast and easy, why wouldn’t you want to avoid the shopping centres this holiday season?

Image from Flickr.

Did you get into a department store or shopping small over the weekend? The first of November hit on Saturday, and with it what seems like hundred and thousands of Christmas decorations. Yes, it really is on its way again!

Before all the Christmas hype gets to you (we’ve got seven weeks until the big day), make sure you grab some weekend holiday deals and give yourself a break from thinking about the obligations which come with the yuletide period: small talk with extended family, bickering with your siblings, the massive undertaking that is the Christmas Day lunch.

Christmas can be a fun and happy time once the day finally arrives and is taken care of, but the thought of planning it can be a bit too much to handle at this busy time of year. Planning trips and booking deals online makes a weekend jaunt out of town easy, fast, and great for spare of the moment decisions. Seven weeks of Christmas means seven free weekends leading up to it - how many getaways and can you fit in at hotels before the year is out?

The newspapers have already started advertising restaurants with Christmas function availabilities - which means the festival season is about to kick off! Yes, it’s still eleven weeks away, but we’re all so busy these days it’s really only eleven weeks away!

Christmas functions are always the first to get organised, and then comes the stressful part: Christmas Shopping. So many gifts to buy, so few ideas. Have you starting thinking about how you’re going to tackle your shopping this year?

Christmas sales online are now more popular than ever, you can find the best discounted brands at amazing prices on the NZ web, even when the malls and shopping centres won’t budge on their RRPs.

Christmas shopping for kids is made super-easy online, check out our ideas for the best toys for Christmas 2008, to take all of the guessing out of your little ones’ present buying this year. Make sure you buy brands online to save on time, money, and the most important thing: your sanity!

New Zealand-wide, councils have offered cell phone and credit card payment methods for parking metres for a year or so now, offering a convenient alternative to carrying coins in our streamlined, electronically structured world.

Is paying for parking via your cell phone account much used avenue for inner city parking payment in New Zealand? Or perhaps, do the transaction fees associated (50c and upwards) put Kiwis off?

Major banks in Mexico have just partnered with telecommunications corporations to launch a mobile charge service, a technological advancement tipped to go worldwide over the next year. Cell phone users are able to link their mobile phone accounts to their bank accounts, and pay for everyday things such as taxi fares and meals at restaurants, via text message.

This service is initially targeted at technophile teens, and has seen significant success already in the birth country of much of today’s technological gadgetry: Japan. Will New Zealand teens soon be able to spend their pocket money as easily as they would sending a 4-second SMS to their best friend?

The official price for the iPhone 3G was released just 90 minutes ago - although telecommunications provider Vodafone’s website has been sparsely accessible since then due to overloading.

The entry level 8GB model can be bought for the cheapest upfront price of just $199, upon signing up to a 24 Month Plan with 1GB of data for a whopping $250 per month access fee. Minutes and texts are included in this package.

For a smaller ongoing fee, the new iPhone 8GB model is available for an upfront price of $549 with the monthly plan price set at $80/month for 250GB of data.

Similarly, the 16GB iPhone ranges from $349 (1BG plan) -$699 (250MB plan).

The iPhone goes on sale in 3 stores at 12.01am Friday in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and nationwide at 9am.

Image from Flickr.