Recent studies show that credit card protection plans, often advertised as a way to guard against unexpected events such as unemployment or illness, are not only expensive but also provide little in return.

According to the Government Accountability Office, consumers spent $2.4 billion on credit card protection plans in 2009 while credit card companies only paid out $518 million in benefits. Ouch! So why is it such a bad deal?

Do you have a sock drawer full of unused gift cards from the holidays? If so, you're definitely not alone.

Some experts believe that consumers leave over $5 billion on gift cards each year. That's a lot of unused dough! However, thanks to a new Seattle-based startup, TangoCard.com, you'll no longer have an excuse to let another penny go unspent.

Americans love to return things. It's part of our shopping culture. Try buying something in Asia and then returning it a few weeks later because you decided the color just wasn't right. They'll look at you like you're crazy!

Return policies become especially important to us around the holidays. If you bought an expensive dress for your wife on Black Friday, you wanted to make sure she would have plenty of time to return it when she opens it on Christmas morning and nearly gags at its pure ugliness, right?

The holiday shopping season is in full swing, which means retailers and credit card companies are working overtime to win your business. So what do the retailers have up their sleeves this year?

Nothing really new—just sales, sales, and more sales! Obviously they work, or else we wouldn't have shoppers fighting over flat screen TVs at 4 a.m. in the aisles of Walmart.