Americans spent at a moderate pace last month, giving the economy a boost ahead of the holidays. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that consumers increased their spending 0.4 percent in November, the fifth month in a row that spending rose.

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• Fewer people apply for unemployment benefits
• New home sales rise 5.5% in November
• Stocks flat after mixed economic reports

It's traditional for many to cap a long season of Christmas shopping with more shopping once the holiday has passed. They spend gift cards and cash and exchange clothes that were the wrong size, wrong color or just plain wrong. However, people tend to treat gifts as "found money" and worry less about using the dollars wisely.

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Rates on fixed mortgages dipped after rising for five weeks in a row. Freddie Mac says the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage slipped to 4.81 percent from 4.83 percent in the previous week.

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