A report this morning from the Orlando Business Journal indicates online spending is down, but only by 1% from 2008 and Q1/2009. That is pretty darn good news!

Unlike brick and mortar businesses and offline industries that have taken a severe beating, online spending has been fairly stable.

Why? It takes no gas, you can shop for price and you can shop when you want to, if they are out of stock, you don’t have to drive to another store, just click the button!! Those are major benefits in this economy!

I have done the majority of  my purchasing online since 2004.  I have even leased and  purchased two automobiles!  If you have common sense (like “don’t leave your wallet in the seat of your shopping cart at the grocery store” kind of common sense), and obey the rules, your credit card is safe, your purchases are safe. If you are still afraid you don’t have the ability to be safe whe you purchase online, go out and spend $10 on one of those prepaid debit cards at Walmart/CVS/Walgreens, etc.  I have a “GreenDot” card that I use when I go to sites I haven’t been to before.  That totally limits my exposure.  For $5 I can put on only enough to make my purchase, or any amount I am comfortable with.  Yeah, it costs to do it, but I save more in 1 year doing that than I do running around to stores in my truck.

Just a thought I wanted to share….