Charity at holiday time means more than just putting your change into the traditional red buckets at the entrances to big-box stores. Needs at the holidays are even more pressing on families, with cold weather threatening coupled with stress over whether they can provide any sort of meaningful holiday for their loved ones.

While traditional holiday charities such as the Salvation Army are fine places to contribute your charitable income, there are other options for giving your money…and your time. In some cases, the time is even more precious than the money.

1. Pantries/Food Drives – Thanksgiving and Christmas puts tremendous stress on food pantries. They are often pushed to the edge of their resources. Consider donating cash as well as food items so the pantry can purchase holiday-specific items such as Thanksgiving turkeys.


2. So...

Do you like the idea of good deals but not the idea of standing outside the mall in a three-point stance waiting for the doors to open for pre-dawn Black Friday savings? Then Cyber Monday, which will be held on November 30th, 2020 — the Monday following the Thanksgiving holiday — is for you.

Cyber Monday was coined to characterize the large amount of online shopping that took place on the first workday after Thanksgiving, when people had access to their presumably faster work computers. It has grown since its origin in 2005 to generate an estimated $9.4 billion in sales in 2019, up 19.7% from 2018, according to Adobe Systems. While bosses across America fret, their employees take advantage of great Internet deals.

What are some of the best w...

What brightens up your holiday shopping season? You may prefer a quiet Christmas season at home, large family gatherings at the home of the relative who drew the short straw, or hand-to-hand combat on Black Friday at the mall. However, everyone agrees that saving money on Christmas shopping gives the holiday an extra layer of cheer. Here are nine suggestions to increase your holiday cheer and your savings account simultaneously.

1. Make a List – Avoid the temptation to go shopping without a list and look for holiday inspiration. You'll find inspiration, along with many gift items you didn't really want at a higher price than you should have paid. Know what you are shopping for and avoid costly holiday "mission creep." After all, even Santa makes a list (and checks it twice).

2. Make a Budget – A budget is the key to any form of saving. Once ...

Practice Safe Shopping

What does Black Friday protection mean to you? Maybe it's helmets and elbow pads as you battle your fellow consumers for doorbuster deals. Maybe it's protecting your space in line.

Maybe it should be taking precautions to prevent identity theft.

The holidays represent peak season for identity thieves – probably because there are more transactions and more opportunities for theft. According to 2018 data compiled by ACI Worldwide, the number of "buy online, pick up in-store" (BOPIS) transactions between Thanksgiving Day and December 31 increased by 20% over 2017, while attempted fraud over the same period increased by 13%.

Reduce your chances of identity theft over the Thanksgiving weekend by following these common-sense methods for practicing "safe shopping."

Seven Ways to Thwart Black Friday Fraudsters

1. Protect Your Purse/Wallet –

5 Black Friday Shopping Tips

Price-Matching Credit Cards

7 Tips For Cyber Monday Shopping

Moving during the holidays can be a headache with all the seasonal activities and obligations – not to mention unpleasant weather in many locations. However, there are plenty of positives to buying a home during the holidays that may make the headaches of moving worth the effort, including the seven listed below.

1. Less Competition – The same issues that make holiday moving a hassle tend to keep people from shopping for homes at that time. While there may be fewer homes available, there are also fewer homebuyers – and that should equal less competition for any home that fits your needs.

2. Motivated Sellers – Home sellers don't enjoy moving over the holidays any more than homebuyers do. It's likely that people who are selling their homes over the holidays are highly motivated to do so. Perhaps they must relocate for a new job, or their home has been on the market for a long time and they need the money from a sale before the yea...

Black Friday, this year on November 27, offers some of the lowest prices of the year on many consumer goods including TVs, other electronics and toys. Savvy shoppers save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on this single day.

Shopping on Black Friday is extremely hectic and overwhelming due to so many amazing deals. Stores open extremely early and most only offer their best deals on a first-come, first-serve basis. Finding and keeping track of all of these deals is not easy. To help you, we have put together these tips for saving at both online and in-store sales on Black Friday.

1. Make a List of Items You Want to Buy - Your objective for Black Friday should be to buy only the items on your list at the lowest price possible. Please note, we did not say you should buy the items with the biggest discounts at each store because you should not. Why not? Retailers will try very hard to get you to buy things that are not on your list. This d...