Another Sailing Thru the Recession Column

Sale! Sale! Sale!

Actually, in French sale means dirty. Anyway, we did a column on being careful about buying gift cards from stores secretly about the go out of business, now here's some interesting tips about avoiding the temptation from those EVERYTHING MUST GO sugns--they DON'T have to go home WITH YOU:

From the Street.com:

There are bound to be a large number of store liquidation sales this year, but you'd be smart to skip them.

Circuit City recently announced it had hired liquidators to sell off its inventory. While you might think this is a great time to find deals, the truth is that liquidation sales offer few bargains. Keep these facts in mind before spending your hard-earned money.

You don't need it: If you heard about a liquidation sale where a company is selling some type of gadget and now you find yourself wanting one, you did exactly what the liquidator wanted you to do. If you really wanted the gadget, it would have been on your list, after all.

The first rule of smart shopping is that, if you don't need it, it's not a bargain no matter what the price. Liquidation sales are a good way to convince yourself that a want is within reach, and therefore a need.

The prices aren't that good: When people hear the words "liquidation sale," they assume the main purpose is to get rid of merchandise quickly, meaning cheaply. While moving the inventory is one goal, it's not the primary goal. The main point is to make money.

read more here.