PennyWise: Personal Finance & Travel Tips

Self-checkouts aren't the only things becoming more and more common for shoppers. Now the option to donate money as shoppers pay at the checkout has become a common occurrence, but should you use the opportunity to share the wealth? On the latest episode of PennyWise, host Nat Cardona is joined by NerdWallet's Sara Rathner who weighs in on when it's a good idea to skip the charitable donation at the checkout and when it might be a good idea.

Read more on NerdWallet here!

About this program

Nat Cardona is host of Pennywise as well as Lee Enterprise's true-crime podcast Late Edition: Crime Beat Chrionicle.  Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. 

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created automatically and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies.

Welcome to Pennywise, a Lee Enterprises podcast. I'm your host, Nat Cardona. 

When it comes to supporting a charity, it doesn't get much more easy than donating at that card reader in the checkout line. But depending on your motivations and your financial situation, it might not be the best approach, really. NerdWallet Travel and credit card expert Sara Rathner joins us to help you decide whether you should give to charity on your next shopping trip or you're checking out a cash register at any given store.

And oftentimes you'll be greeted with that little donation. QUESTION Would you like to donate $1 or $3, $5 to whatever charity? So today we're focusing on if you should skip or give to a donation, whatever it may be. So let's just go right into it. We're going to play a little game of skip a bit. So let's say you want to have a significant impact and you want to give maybe a little bit more than a dollar.

When you head into Walgreens, what's your suggestion there? Should you skip the cash register then or give at that time?

In that case, skip the cash register and donate directly to the cause, either the one that's being offered to you at the register or another cause that's really meaningful to you?

And kind of what I just mentioned, a lot of times those questions that you'll be greeted with at the cash register are, Hey, do you want to make a small donation? So if that suits you, is this the time to give or a time to skip?

Yes. And it could suit you for a couple of reasons. One, you're giving budget might be a little bit low this year if you've had a tough year financially, but you still want to give money to causes, it could be meaningful for you and impactful to give a couple dollars here and there to different causes as you shop for the holidays, or if it just makes you feel good to spread your donation dollars around to a number of different causes rather than concentrate them all in one place, then in that case, giving at the register could be not just a useful way to do that, but also a convenient way to do that because it's something you can do while you're already completing other tasks in your life.

Okay. And this is maybe trying to get one of those tasks off your list, talking about tax breaks. So if you're hoping for an easy task, break. My guess is probably skip in this.

Year for a couple of reasons. First of all, in order to get a tax deduction for charitable donations, one, you'd actually need to itemize your deductions, which many taxpayers don't do. Many opt to take the standard deduction. So if you take the standard deduction, you're don't count on your charitable donations being a tax deduction you can still give, of course, is just not something that you're going to have to submit proof of when you do your taxes later on in a couple of months.

You also need to make sure that the charity in question is recognized by the IRS so that you could get that itemized deduction for it. And so you'll want to look into that before you give. And then the third thing is you need to be able to provide proof in the form of some sort of receipt that you've made this charitable deduction.

And so if you're spreading your charitable dollars around across multiple retailers at these, you want to keep receipts of everything so that if you do itemize your tax deductions, you'll have receipts available to provide proof of that. And that's just a little bit of an administrative lift. But honestly, so is itemizing your deduction. So if you're already doing all that extra work, then then you'll want this to count to.

Serve as all just go full in.

Yes.

So speaking of your budget, times are tough for a lot of Americans out there. You I'm going to cut a scene here. So you're at any given store and the person working at the cash register asks you, you said, would you like to give a donation to, you know, the Children's museum? The children's hospital? They really get you.

It seems every time like with a really, really a tough one that's hard to refuse oftentimes. But let's say your budget's a little bit tight. What do you do in that situation?

It's okay to graciously say, no, no, thank you. It's nice to do that. Right. And a lot of people feel pressure and guilt into giving. Our survey found that 67% of Americans don't actually like to be asked this question at the Register. And part of that is because nobody likes to feel pressured to give, especially at a time where budgets might be tight and you're already feeling kind of bad about all the other things you have to say no to.

And this is just one more thing to have to say no to. And it makes you look like a total Scrooge, at least in your own mind. But the person asking the question does not know the full story of what's going on in your day to day life. And so that moments of discomfort where they ask you a question, you have to say no and you feel really bad about it.

And there's that awkward silence in there. It's okay. Just let the moment pass in a sure transaction. Ultimately, the most important thing is making sure that you and any anyone in your household has as much financial security as you can have. And then hopefully you might be in a place later on where your situation has stabilized and now you can give as generously as you're able.

And so it's okay to say no to stuff. It's okay to say no. In general. It's a complete sentence.

How do you do that sometimes, man? And I was just going to say it's good to keep perspective because those people are just doing their jobs.

They're just doing their job. They were told by their manager to ask the question, so don't take it personally and they don't take it personally. If you say no, it's maybe they do you, I don't know. But like so what? They're probably also I mean, you know, it's just it's everybody's just doing the best they can.

That's a great attitude and perspective of anything else you want to add about this charitable donation stop at the register that I didn't mention.

So we talked a little bit about tax deductions is now 2024 and all of your actions will be applied to that tax year. Yes.

So start early in that case.

So. Yeah. So, yeah, you know, listen, I mean, maybe it's a situation where like by the end of the year you're feeling so strapped for money or buying gifts and paying for travel and entertaining and hosting guests, and it's just a very expensive time of year. But you want to give to charity and you don't want to feel that pressure.

Maybe give to charities at times of year where you aren't spending so much money on other things and spread your donations out not just to different charities, but throughout different months of the year. And that might make it easier for you to have that charitable giving budget that feels realistic given all of your other obligations.

Nothing like wham bam at the end of the year.

Yeah, you already have so much other stuff going on at the end of the year. Maybe take a little pressure off of yourself and be charitable over the summer or in the spring or in February, like Valentine's Day Show the love by giving donations to causes that you care about at a time of year where you're not really spending much money on too many other things unless you have a habit of buying really expensive Valentine's Day gifts, it's another story entirely.

 

Anyways, that's all I have for you. I am sure I will talk to you more in the future.

Are you a Disney fan, but weary of the prices and endless lines at the theme parks? Or perhaps you have a large family and taking a trip to Orlando, Florida or Anaheim, California isn't in the budget. In this week's episode, host Nat Cardona is joined by NerdWallet's Sally French who has 5 U.S. destinations for Disney fans that aren't Disneyland or Disney World.

Read more on NerdWallet here!

About this program

Nat Cardona is host of PennyWise as well as Lee Enterprise's true-crime podcast Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicals. Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts.

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created by Adobe Premiere and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

Welcome to Pennywise, a Lee Enterprises podcast. I'm your host, Nat Cardona.

Calling all Disney fans! Orlando, Florida and Anaheim, California. Been there, done that, right? Are you looking for a new adventure to express your love for Disney? We have NerdWallet travel rewards expert Sally French with us today, ready to share five alternative Disney inspired destinations. All right, Sally, we've got a fun topic today, as you know.

I know pretty much anyone in the living world knows Disney fans are big fans. They're just all hyped up for all things Disney. The two destinations we have in the US are the one in Anaheim, Disneyland and then Disney World in Orlando and all the things that come with it. But you've recently written an article about five US destinations that Disney fans may not know of that are maybe some hot places for them to go.

So let's just jump right into it. I looked at this list and was pretty surprised by every single one. First one being New York City. 

Yes. You know, this is a major tourist destination for anyone, Disney fan or not. But there are some good reasons for Disney fans to skip the Disneyland and Disney World vacation in 2024 and maybe head to New York City instead. So, for starters, Disney's official stuff is the two musicals that it's got running Aladdin and Lion King. Lion King is an absolute classic, really stunning art.

And then Aladdin is just so much fun. The genie is hilarious. It's just great energy. So if you want to see a Broadway musical, those are two good ones to see. And not far from Broadway is the Times Square Disney Store. Unlike your usual mall Disney store, this one's two stories. It's got the usual Disney merch, but it's also got cool, unique, unique New York merchandise.

And then finally, my best free to visit option and doesn't require, you know, that $100 plus Broadway ticket or buying stuff at the Disney store. This one's free You can head to the New York Public Library. What's really cool is they have the actual original plush versions of Stuffed Winnie the Pooh and all his friends. So little stuff, Tigger, Piglet, all those guys.

So I think that's a pretty cool historical thing to see that Disney fans in the plaza.

Who do guess it's super awesome. Very, very cool. The next saw an even less of what I expected. Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. What's Disney related We're.

We're heading south to Hilton head get a little more warmth from New York and this is home to a really interesting Disney owned resort. It's called Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. And it's part of the Disney Vacation Club. And this is a sort of timeshare like program. And to be honest, Nerdwallet does not recommend that most people join this unless you're the most ardent Disney fan who spends a lot of money as it is.

In fact, the baseline cost to join it now is more than $30,000. And then there are annual resort fees or sorry, sorry annual annual dues for DDC. But what's interesting is you don't necessarily need to be a DVC member to stay at this resort. You can pay cash rates when available. And another thing that people do is they rent DVC points from existing members who just aren't vacationing that year.

00:03:27:18 - 00:03:52:13
Speaker 2
And so I will pay you to use your points instead. And it's interesting, unlike the resorts that are, you know, super high energy, you have a ton going on. Hilton Head is more leisurely. This is good for the Disney fan who want some Disney touches, but also just wants to go fishing or hiking or swimming. And so this is a really great way to take a Disney vacation that's far more relaxing than your theme park vacation.

Actually, that's fascinating. I wish I could talk to somebody that's a part of that because I had no idea. That's nuts. Yeah, yeah.

And you know, it can definitely be worth it if you truly go to Disney every year and, you know, sometimes you can get DLC, look at, you know, a resort like the Animal Kingdom budget, Disney World, which is so beautiful and has actual animals out front. You can get rooms there for the equivalent of like 100 or $200 in your DVC points versus, you know, the cash rates.

There are can be easily over 400. So it can be a good deal. The problem is you have to commit to a Disney vacation every single year, which you might not necessarily want to do, or maybe just something like, you know, hopefully not another COVID pandemic happens and you can't travel that year and you're kind of out of luck.

Yeah, we don't want that at all. But the next place we have, we're heading down to Missouri. Yes.

This is Marceline, Missouri. I and this is Walt Disney's considered his hometown. Walt Disney was actually born near Chicago, but he spent most of his boyhood in Marceline. So so we consider this Walt Disney's hometown. And it's actually said to have shaped his vision for Main Street U.S.A., which is the iconic entrance to the park. And when you go to Marceline, you really feel that same thing.

It's a small town, feel really cute, small town. And then if you're a Disney fan, you have to go to the Walt Disney Hometown Museum. They have tons of memorabilia. They've got Walt's desk there from when he was a grade school kid. And you know, it is because he carved his name in the desk just like we all did when we were in first grade.

Walt Disney did the same thing. And you can see that desk there on some other cool stuff. You can see his boyhood home. A really great place to check out if you're a Disney fan.

And Sally, I see that you've maybe gone there before from this date.
I checked it out. I saw I saw his desk with my own eyes. And it's a fun spot. It's sort of a little hard to get to it. I would recommend flying into Kansas City Airport and then you definitely will need a rental car to get there. But if you're a Disney fan, it's absolutely worth it.

Yeah, Missouri is one of those cool little spots, various parts across the state. I'm from Chicago, and so Illinois is obviously the next state over and there's a lot of hidden gems there. And I just really didn't know that Walt Disney's Hometown Museum was one of them. So not to mention it totally is. So we're heading towards your neck of the woods, San Francisco.

That's correct. So there's the hometown museum in Marceline, Missouri, and then there's the Walt Disney Family Museum. And this is located in San Francisco. Walt Disney, whose family lives in the San Francisco Bay area. So this museum was actually founded by his daughter, who has since passed away. But now it's sort of overseen by his grandchildren. And this is a really cool place, especially if you love history of any type, whether it's Disney history or just, you know, World War Two era history, Depression era history is really compelling.

00:07:06:19 - 00:07:37:10
Speaker 2
And they have cool stuff in there. They have a multi plane camera, which is just one of three in the world that was used to film animated movies like Pinocchio and Bambi. And there's an amazing Disneyland model, and it's really fun to look at. You could spend hours and hours there. And besides the the Walt Disney Family Museum, there's other really interesting Disney touches on the other side of the Bay Bridge over in Emeryville, which is the city adjacent to Oakland, is Pixar's headquarters.

You can't walk through. But they do have, you know, some stuff that you can see out front. And of course, when in Oakland, you need to stop for ice cream at Fenton's Creamery, which you can see that exact version animated in the Pixar film app.

I didn't know that. And the other one little aside that you had mentioned, Disney at Berkeley, the library, that's very similar to the one in Monsters University I can contest. That's true. And I'm a good old friends. I went to Berkeley and we walked through it and I was like, my God, I'm 20 years old. Look at this.

This is just like the movie. It looks familiar, doesn't it? It's that's really last on on the list here. Looks like Oahu, Hawaii. Tell me more.

Now. This is another vacation club outpost, so much like we talked about with the Hilton head, where you have to be a DVC member to stay. Alani is the DVC resort. But again, you can rent points or you can book remaining rooms on cash. This is an interesting resort. It's removed from Waikiki Beach. Where is all the tourists hullabaloo?

This is an area called Colina, which is a little quieter, a little bit off the beaten path from Waikiki. And you can meet Disney characters here. The lines are so much shorter than meeting them in the parks. So if you want to meet Moana, you want to meet Mickey and Minnie, come do it here. And they've got giant pools and water slides, and then they've also got the Disney treats.

So Disney fans loved it. You can buy that there. You can buy a spare moose Ruby in the shape of a mickey Mouse. And then, of course, if you do love toilets, you might as well head to Oahu anyway, because they've got the Dole plantation there, which is definitely a must visit for any door fans.

Yeah, I've heard. It's very beautiful too, from the pictures that I've seen it Absolutely beautiful. Is it fair to say, since we're wrapping up this list here of these other Disney destinations, that you're a Disney fan yourself?

Ooh, I think you got me. How did you guess?

I don't know.

I've been to all of these places because I'm such a personal fan. In fact, I was just at Aulani last week doing some very important research. I had to buy a Mickey shaped spam musubi just to make sure that I knew what I was talking about when I came to talk to you.

Okay. And can you just tell me exactly what that is? I mean, I know you're saying the word spam, but I don't know what the next part is.

Yes. Is there spam? Musubi is is a great Hawaiian classic treat. And you can buy these everywhere. You can buy them in the little mini markets like little ABC stores. And it's basically just a piece of spam and some rice and it's wrapped in seaweed and it's really tasty and those sprinkles and seasonings on it. And you can also customize these things.

So if you want to get fancy, you could add some egg. You could add a little shrimp, you could add, you know, avocado. You can get fancy with a spam movie. But, you know, the fanciest for Disney fans is eating the rice in the spam in the shape of a Mickey Mouse head.

Yeah. So once in a lifetime event can't be said.

All right, Sally, anything else you need to add? Want to add about these Disney destinations?

You know, there's so many good destinations around the U.S. and I think, you know, so many of us Disney fans go to Disneyland and go to Disney World. And we think we've seen it to the max. We've seen every corner. But there are so many other places to go travel to and experience Disney without being at a theme park.

And save yourself some of those lines, too. Thank you so much, Sally. I appreciate it. 

Thank you.