Sunday, November 22, 2009

Ready or not, it's here

Posted by Jill Boynton November 20, 2009 11:11 AM

It’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but the Christmas season is in full force as evidenced by the commercials, ads and catalogs I’ve seen in the past two weeks. Retailers are hoping that consumers will not scrimp on holiday giving, as this time of year often determines a company’s profit, especially small companies. Many families are on tight budgets or feeling financial constraints, but no one wants to disappoint their family at Christmas. If you’re on a budget this year, here are some tips for keeping the holiday giving in check:

1.Determine an overall budget for the holidays. Make a list of everyone you will be buying gifts for as well as expenses associated with parties, meals, etc. Set a limit on what you’ll spend on gifts. If the total cost is too much for your paycheck, adjust the budget until you’re able to pay for everything from your current income, instead of putting purchases on a credit card and worrying about the bill next year.

2.Consider group gifts. This works really well in large families. I have 6 nieces and nephews on one side of my family. My siblings and I decided years ago to assign one sibling to each niece/nephew. We purchase one gift on behalf of all the aunts and uncles at a reasonable cost, such as $50 or $75. That is less than the cost of 6 gifts, and the child gets one nice gift instead of 6 small ones.

3.Set expectations with your children. Let them know the gifts will be smaller, or less in number than previous years. Talk about things you can do together to celebrate the holidays that doesn’t involve buying “stuff.” You might be surprised at what your children come up with.

4.Pay with cash or a debit card. Leave the credit cards at home.
Let’s here from you – what ideas have you come up with to reduce the budget, but increase the fun for the holiday season?

Even with finances tight, I hope everyone will find one extra dollar here or there to stuff into the Salvation Army kettle, or buy a toy for Toys For Tots. We all need to remember to be thankful for what we have.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Christmas Shopping Advice for Women

MELKSHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - DECEMBER 01: Christ...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Here's an article from the UK, but the information is sound and surprisingly funny!

This article was written by a man to assist women buying presents for the man in their lives by helping them think "like a man". Most women will tell you that buying for a man is the most difficult present they have to get, so this article comes at the right time. Read on ladies and learn how to really please your man this Christmas!

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Author: Scott Morein

Published: 20th November 2009 10:35

Following our recent article offering some invaluable advice on the subject of how to shop successfully for women this Christmas (Christmas Shopping Advice for Men), regular AboutMyArea visitor Scott Morein offers a riposte on behalf of the menfolk of Neston...

8 out of 10 women in Neston say the single most delightful thing about Christmas is spending fantastically extensive amounts of time in shops, finding the right gift for the man / significant other (delete as appropriate) in their life.

It has been said that 75% of all statistics are made up on the spot, however this particular little pearl of wisdom is from the informed position of one who has had to so the waiting, whilst women spend extensive amounts of time in shops.
This time is not spent finding the right gift for the man / significant other, it is just time spent being indecisive and preparing a mental inventory of every stock item that might be different from whence they last frequented the store only a day or so earlier.
Some women believe that men are generally lazy and disorganised, and this is the force behind the lack of motivation for the shopping trip. Men generally however, like you to think this, and will use subtle methods to entrench this belief in the fairer mind.
There are of course some women who believe to the very depths of their core that they know what men want from the shops, but on behalf of the more subtle sex, a few hints, tips and suggestions that will not necessarily make your shopping easier, but hopefully, will make it more successful.
Size Does Matter
The thought and beauty of a well-crafted piece of jewellery, or carefully considered book will always receive thanks but inside, he is crushed to the core. Big parcels, regardless of content are always successful. Ideally, big parcels containing multiple items, regardless of any relationship between the items, is even better.
Premature Presentation Is Good
Any parent will know that once it is known a gift exists in the house, great anticipation and anxiety commences within the heart of the recipient. Men prefer to get it over with, and rarely see the point in delaying this with a lengthy exhaustive build up to a certain climactic date and time. If you have it, let him have it.
Apply The Mother Test
If your Mother would either disapprove or not understand, then you are half way there.
Boys And Their Toys
Some oft repeat the axiom that boys don't grow up; their toys just get bigger. A good rule of thumb is that if it requires construction or is self-propelled, and has 'for ages 8 & over' written on the box, then this will be just fine.
Socks, Pants & Jumpers
Socks: Good.
Pants: Fine.
Jumpers: No.
It's Not About Him, It's About Who He Used To Be
Do not under any circumstance proffer anything that is intentioned to change habits, behaviours or interests. He became entrenched in his ways on the way home from school aged 13 so there is no point trying. Self help books, exercise regimes, grooming products etc. will all generate polite thanks to you, and misery in him.
No Car/Motorcycle Accessories
He may have his heart set on some car accessory or similar, but even if you have found the exact manufacturer's specification & barcode for the item that he is considering having tattooed on the inside of his eyelids, do not buy it; it will not be the right one. Don't ask me to explain, just trust me on this one.
Lingerie
This is a lifestyle choice beyond the remit of these comments.
So to conclude, make it big, make it quick, make sure your mother disapproves, ensure it will occupy great amounts of his time, respect his mental age but above all, ignore what he thinks he wants. Men rarely if ever know their own mind.
Scott Morein

To read the original article>>click here

Friday, November 20, 2009

Buyer Beware: Holiday 'Must Haves' Could Fly Off Store Shelves

Image by John Michlig via Flickr

Here is an article that explains what to expect this year when you think about Christmas shopping. It's a good thing I started my shopping early because, as this article points out, if you wait much longer you may not be able to get the gift you wanted to get and will be stuck trying to find something else instead.

Read this article and then get out there and get busy shopping! Maybe you need to check out all the bargains online too. Visit Christmas is coming too soon! for some ideas this year.

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Price Cuts, Reduced Inventory Could Create Shortfalls on Hot-Selling Gifts

By TROY MCMULLEN

Nov. 19, 2009 —

The holiday season won't be very merry for Americans hoping to give -- or get -- Amazon's Kindle, Apple's iPod Touch or a top-of-the-line LCD television.
Electronic gadgets are always a big holiday favorite.
But this year, with retailers slashing prices in a tight economy, popular gift-giving items like electronics, video games and TV's are expected to clear store shelves well ahead of Christmas, say retail analysts.
"It's been a very difficult year for retailers and the holiday season isn't expected to be strong," says Nancy Koehn, a professor at Harvard Business School.
Koehn says the harsh sales environment is forcing retailers to slash prices to get buyers in the aisles.
But many big top retailers also are cutting back inventory levels on higher priced items to prevent unplanned markdowns at the end of the season.
"By tightening inventory, stores will be creating demand for popular items, particularly those in a higher price range so you should expect to see a lot of early buzz for popular items in some stores," Koehn says.
Last year, holiday sales were essentially flat and fourth-quarter earnings for many retailers tanked amid a widening U.S. recession.
This year, top stores like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Sears are well into "Black Friday" price-cutting mode, and the heavy discounts likely will accelerate by Thanksgiving, when items are likely to be marked down 40 to 50 percent.
(Google Trends has been showing strong public interest in Black Friday sales events since Halloween.)
All of this means shoppers looking to scoop up some of the season's most popular items could find themselves out of luck if they wait until weeks before Christmas to venture into stores.
"There may still be good deals if shoppers wait until late December to shop," says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with NPD Group, a retail consultant firm in Port Washington, N.Y.
"Stores like to create a bit of frenzy on top selling items, but this year they may actually have a real one."
So which products are expected to fly off store shelves this season?
Amazon's Kindle is the clear favorite among many who follow retail trends. The wireless device downloads books, magazines, and newspapers to a high-resolution 6-inch electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper.
Amazon says the device, which retails for $259.00, can store more than 15,000 books and magazines. And this week, Amazon announced Kindle for personal computers, which allows users to read the 360,000 Kindle books on their laptops or PCs.
Like the Kindle, the iPod Touch is expected to do well this season. Apple boasts that the pocket-sized computer will do almost everything a regular-sized personal computer will do. Users can download movies, music, surf the Web, send e-mail and play video games.
The iPod Touch starts at $199 for an 8 GB model. A 64 GB model costs $399.
Netbooks, the small, portable personal computers, will also be at the top of shopping lists this season. The lightweight, wireless computers allow users to surf the Web and create documents on the go. Retailing for about $200, these devices also are more affordable.
LCD televisions are expected to sell quickly despite a still shaky economy, say experts. Ranging in size from 52 inches to pocket sized, LCD TV screens are already top sellers at places like Best Buy, which have been selling them all year.
Video games have been a hot seller that past few years and this year Activision Blizzard's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" is already breaking sales records.
It took in a record $550 million worldwide during its first five days on sale. That tops the previous record of just over $500 million set by "Grand Theft Auto IV" last year. The latest in the "Call of Duty" video game franchise went on sale Nov. 10.
Retailers and industry experts say the simplest way to avoid being shut out of the hottest items is to shop early, of course. Going online is one way to do that, but the National Retail Federation reminds shoppers that many retailers will gladly hold in-stock items for consumers via a phone order.
Modifying expectations this season also will be helpful.
"Let's face it; some of these items well certainly be gone well before Thanksgiving," says Jeff Sweenic, a manager at the video game retailer Game Shop in Denver, Colo. He advises shoppers to pivot now and begin thinking of suitable back-up gifts.
"If we sell out of something like "Call of Duty" there are still plenty of other games people will gladly take as a gift."

Retailers Struggle

The struggling economy has meant that this year Black Friday is shifting from a one-day sale event to a month-long stretch of promotions, as retailers work hard or early holiday sales.
Retailers from Wal-Mart to Amazon already have launched ad campaigns boasting of dramatic discounts.
Kohl's annual pre-Christmas flyer went out last week and Wal-Mart is releasing its Christmas catalog early. Meantime, Amazon is set to unleash an ad blitz for holiday sales this week.
Koehn, at Harvard Business School, says retailers want to avoid a repeat of last Christmas when many sliced prices aggressively just before the holidays, hurting sales margins.
"This environment will certainly force retailers to cut prices early," she says. "What remains to be seen is if this strategy will actually work."

To read the original article>>click here

Thursday, November 19, 2009

How to Clean Small Ornamental Gourds for use as Christmas Tree Ornaments

Image by orangejack via Flickr

Christmas is fast approaching. Maybe this year you and the family can have a craft night and make your own gord tree ornaments? It's really easy and lots of fun. Read the article below to learn how to do this--then get busy. Your children will remember this fun time for the rest of their lives. Who knows? Maybe you might even start a family tradition.
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from EmptyEasel.com by Kim "Gordie" Carver

In my previous article I shared several important tips for safely carving gourds. With those tips in mind, let’s get started on a gourd or two!
Today, we’re going to clean and prep a couple of gourds for our next project—making Christmas tree ornaments.
You may find that you already have everything you need to get the job done. All it takes is dish soap (Dawn is what I use), warm water, a copper scrubby, at least one dry ornamental gourd, and a dish towel.
Cleaning-Ornamental-Gourds

You won’t be cutting into the gourd at all since it’s going to be a hanging ornament, so I’ll only cover how to clean the outer shell.

How to clean a gourd

Fill a small bin with soap and water and thoroughly soak your dish towel in the sudsy water. Submerge the gourd to get it wet, then take your dish towel and without wringing it out fold it in half and put it on top of the wet gourd.
Let it sit for a minute or two before you turn the gourd over and put the towel over it again. Wait another couple of minutes. This will help soften the mold and dirt on the outer shell, making it easier to remove.
Take the towel and set it aside. Now, with the copper scrubby begin lightly scrubbing every inch of the gourd making sure to get off every bit of mold, skin, and dirt.
If your gourd has a lot of blackish areas on the shell like the gourd on left in my photo, you can try adding a little bleach to the water and letting it soak a bit longer. (The bleach may lighten it considerably, or even get rid of those black marks completely.)
As you scrub, rinse the gourd frequently under cold water. Even if you can’t see any dirt or mold clinging to the shell, your fingers should be able to feel if there is anything left on there—once you start, you’ll know what I mean.
The gourd’s skin will probably look white or yellowish. Your fingers can usually feel the difference between the cleaned shell and shell with skin left on it. (You will have to remove your gloves though to feel any skin left on the shell.)
Because the gourd soaked for a little bit, the shell might have gotten a bit soft. Hold the gourd lightly in your hand so you don’t inadvertently crack the shell or puncture a hole in it. These small ornamental gourds have a thin, fairly weak shells and it doesn’t take much to break them, especially when they are wet.
Please note that if you are going to clean more than one, let no more than a few soak while you are cleaning one. Too many soaking at one time will cause them to get too soft before you can work on them. I usually have no more than three soaking while I work on one.
Once your gourd is completely cleaned, just put it in a dish strainer to air dry.
Not too hard, right? Make sure to come back for my next tutorial where I’ll show you how to engrave and decorate your ornamental gourds with a Walnut Hollow wood burning tool—just in time for the holidays!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Christmas buying for the entire family's entertainment!

Now more than ever may be the time to "bite the bullet" and make that major purchase of a new LCD wide-screen TV that you have been eyeing. With the cost of going out to the movies constantly rising, not to mention fighting the crowds, don't you think you and your family deserve to watch movies at home on your new HDTV?

I plan to buy a new LG-55-inch-LCD-HDTV for Christmas for my family because we are becoming more of a "stay at home" family since money is getting tighter. Even the teenagers will be able to enjoy our new set because of the interface capability with their gaming systems. Check this out! This offer won't last long.

LG free TV promotion

LG's free gift offer is a little simpler: buy a TV and get a bonus one. This is ideal if you need a second TV for your study or the kids’ room. If you buy one of LG's selected LCD or plasma televisions you're eligible to receive a free 23in LCD television valued at $849. The cheapest eligible television is the $2999 42in LG 42LH50YD LCD television....

View the entire article here>>

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Christmas buying for the readers in your family

Image by jakebouma via Flickr

Both of my daughters are voracious readers and you will never find them without a book hidden somewhere on their persons. Because they read, I have been toying with buying them a really special gift this year that they will enjoy for years to come. Of course, I am talking about a Kindle Reader. My problem is deciding which size to get them.

Since they both carry purses, I may opt for the smaller, 6" reader that can fit in a bag and go anywhere. The other plus to this gift is that there are so many books and magazines and newspapers available for the reader at a very minor cost. I could give them the reading materials for birthday gifts. Hey, what an idea!

I can see my girls sitting on a beach in Cancun reading a book with the reader--that would probably be my youngest daughter.

My oldest would probably be found reading in bed for the most part, but still she would be reading at quite a fast pace. I think the reader, being small and light-weight would make reading in bed easier and more user friendly.

What do you think? Do you think I am on the right path with this gift?

You can get more information on the Kindle Reader here.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Gifts for the computer person on your list

I don't know about anyone else, but I am the grandmother of two grandsons. They are both VERY into computers--but for different reasons altogether.

My oldest grandson is into music, social activities, gaming, and using the computer for typical teenage fun.
For him, I am thinking of buying him his own netbook computer that he can carry around with him where ever he goes. I have done some research and I think I will look into getting him the ASUS Eee PC 1000 HE Netbook Computer because it is only 10.1 inches and has a 9.5 hour battery life. I think this will be a great addition to his arsenal and will be of use to him for years to come.

For the youngest grandson, I think I will look into getting him a Wii consoles game and accessories because he is really a gamer and although he has other systems, I would like to encourage him to be physically active while playing his games. Besides, he loves sports and this system should enhance his enjoyment of the games.

That will conclude my total Christmas shopping for the grandsons and I think that was the easiest shopping I have done in years. Now all I have to do is find the money and get busy ordering online! Yea! Christmas is coming--and this year I might actually be ready!