Holiday Shopping: Spend If You Can, Don't Buy Gift Cards

It's 'Black Friday,' and therefore on the basis of some unwritten law, the start of the Christmas shopping season. Retailers look forward with hope and dread to this day; what happens on the day after thanksgiving is an indicator of what things will be like until the holidays are over.

What you may not know is detailed in this holiday message being circulated in Orange County, in the form of a paper flyer. While the memo has no address, source, signature or name on it, it does contain valuable information:

"[Stores that are planning to close] ....after Christmas are still selling gift cards, even though the cards will be worthless after January 1^st. There is no law preventing them from doing this. On the contrary it's referred to as 'Bankruptcy Planning.'..."

The list of stores closing appears to be accurate; reliable sources online and public announcements by the retailers make this information available to anyone who bothers to look for it. Doing a quick search of the above statement revealed that is has been published on a numerous blogs and informational sites. Preliminary fact checking found the infomation to be public and verifiable. Check it our for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

For legal reasons I will not publish this list here; it's all over the net anyway. Check it out for yourself. The supporting link at the bottom of the page leads to a conservative overview of the situation. You might actually get some really good deals at some of these retailers. Just stay away from the gift cards.

If you have money you can afford to spend, please do go out and shop today; your fellow Americans are counting on you to continue the cycle of consumption that has got us this far. People are working at these retailers for slightly more than minimum wage,if they're lucky, and they need every cent of it.

With social service agencies and food banks strained to the breaking point, and more layoffs and job losses expected, this holiday shopping season has a lot riding on it, and the outlook is not good.

So far, the bailout doesn't seem to be working for anyone except the banks. The bailout for the 'Big Three' automakers that is under negotiation at this time is being used by right wing politicians as an excuse to attack the UAW. Go ahead if you have the money; buy your husband, wife, son, or daughter a car, and Buy American!

Please, enjoy your holiday shopping, just stay away from gift cards.