I know that some of you think that shopping on the day and weekend after Thanksgiving is pure lunacy, and it is to some extent. But, I have to admit that I given into the temptation of making it a small tradition to go out every year, because there’s something exciting about getting up super early and waiting in line for a great deal. I can’t stand when I see or hear about people fighting over an LCD TV or a Barbie Doll, but for the most part, getting out and shopping on the busiest shopping day of the year gets me pumped up for the holiday season.
Erik FolgateErik and his wife, Lindzee, live in Orlando, Florida with a baby boy on the way. Erik works as an account manager for a marketing company, and considers counseling friends, family and the readers of Money Crashers his personal ministry to others. Erik became passionate about personal finance and helping others make wise financial decisions after racking up over $20k in credit card and student loan debt within the first two years of college. Another one of Erik's projects is the site, Stuff We Google.
6 Pitfalls to Avoid for Black Friday Deals Shopping
Erik Folgate
Marriage and Money Issues and Problems: Compromise on Details, Not Principles
Erik Folgate
It’s no surprise that money is one of the biggest sources of arguments among married couples, and it’s also the number one cause of divorce in North America. When it comes to money, we often butt heads with our spouse.
I could come up with a million different reasons for why we often disagree with our spouse about money, but most of it is simply due to pride, selfishness, and a lack of communication. What we often overlook is that many times we’re not fighting with our spouse over principle, but rather we’re just fighting over details of a certain financial aspect.
The 50 Best Jobs In America 2010
Erik Folgate
Are you in college and wondering what to major in? Are you soon graduating and wondering if you need to go to graduate school to start a career you’re passionate about? CNN Money recently came out with their 50 best jobs in the United States for 2010. You need to take these lists with a grain of salt, but they are a good reference for figuring out what you might be interested in and what careers have the most job growth potential in the future.
Macbook Air Review – Is It The Future Of Laptops?
Erik Folgate
Last spring when the iPad came out, I said to myself, “Okay, I guess that means they’re getting rid of the Macbook Air.” Why? Because when the Macbook Air first came out, it didn’t have anywhere near the response that the iPhone or iPad had in terms of amount of sales in record-breaking time. A lot of people did the “Oooo and Ahhh” about the razor thinness of it, but questioned if it was a solid laptop solution for people who had heavy computing needs. Well, I was obviously mistaken about Apple getting rid of it in their product line. Instead, Steve Jobs came out yesterday and said, “The Macbook Air is the next generation of Macbooks.” This didn’t sit well with some of the Mac-heads that rock a 17″ Quad-Core Macbook Pro tricked out with a 2 terabyte hard drive and 8 GB’s of RAM.
5 Cheap and Tasty Beers For Football Season
Erik Folgate
Football season is in full swing, and that means you’re probably consuming a lot more beer than you usually do. I’m definitely a fan of beer, but I don’t throw them back like many of you probably can. I also need to admit that I’m sort of a beer snob. I actually drink it for the taste, not just to get a buzz.
I’ll drink Bud Light and Busch in a can if it’s my only option, but otherwise, get that junk out of my face. So, if you don’t like beer and you just drink it because everyone else is, this post isn’t for you. But, if you do like the taste of beer and you’re into the craft beer scene, then I’m sure you know that beer drinking can get a little pricey.
The New Credit Card Law Fees Of 2010 Take Advantage Of Customers
Erik Folgate
I’ve told you once and I’ll tell you again, playing with credit cards is like playing with snakes. The more you play with them, the more you have the chance of getting bitten. Everyone knew that the fees associated with credit cards were getting completely out of hand, and finally the government acknowledged the predatory fee structure of these cards. As a result, the government recently passed legislation that limited which fees credit card companies are allowed to charge and how much they’re allowed to charge.
Baby On A Budget Tips: The Five Biggest Costs Of Having A Baby
Erik Folgate
If you’ve been following my posts on Money Crashers, I revealed a couple of months ago that my wife and I are expecting our first baby! We’re really excited, but just like all new parents, the fear of the “unknown” is always there. Will I be a good parent? Will our baby be really fussy? Will the day-to-day parenting stuff come naturally once he arrives? Was it the right financial time to have a baby? The last question wasn’t too big of an issue for us. We’ve been trying for our first for a long time now, so we’ve been putting away a “baby fund” for a while now to cover both the expected and unexpected baby expenses.
Friends and Family Moving In Together To Save Money
Erik Folgate
I read an article today on USA Today about friends and family moving in together to save money during the rough economic times. It got me thinking whether this trend is because the economy isn’t great and unemployment is higher than usual, or if it’s because people are moving back to the “old days” when we seemingly wanted to be closer to our loved ones? Maybe people just want to save money, but it could also be a change in the way that we want to live.
What To Buy And What Not To Buy At IKEA
Erik Folgate
There aren’t a ton of IKEA retail stores in the United States, but if you live in or near a large metropolitan area, you might have one of the Swedish retail behemoths near you. Even if you don’t, you can order some of their products online or from their catalog and have it shipped to your door. IKEA has built a frenzy around the concept because it offers some insanely cheap prices on many of their items, and they get away with it by keeping overhead as low as possible and using extremely efficient operation processes. However, not everything at IKEA is a great buy or worth it.
ING Direct Electric Orange Debit Card – Earn 1% Cash Back
Erik Folgate
If you’ve read my posts in the past, you know I’m a big fan of ING Direct. One of the best decisions I ever made was to open an Electric Orange checking account from ING Direct to complement my ING savings accounts. As part of the account, I got a debit card that allows me to instantly transfer funds from the ING savings account to the ING checking account, which in turn allows me to use money from my emergency fund or other savings category instantly. I don’t have to wait 2 days for the money to transfer to my primary checking account.
Google Apps For Small Business Review
Erik Folgate
One of the most important aspects of running a small business is to keep an organized office. With a small operation, there typically isn’t a lot of money in the budget to put into an expensive IT infrastructure, and most small businesses don’t worry about it too much because their small amount of employees allows them to communicate and collaborate easily. However, email is still a huge part of the business world, shared calendars are invaluable, and collaborating on documents that are constantly changing is a big part of service-based small businesses. Google Apps offers all of those features and A LOT more. If you own a small business and you don’t want to pay $300 per MS Office license, then keep reading.
The Difference Between Needs and Wants
Erik Folgate
My pastor has been doing a mini-series on stewardship and personal finance the past couple of weeks, and a lot of it was very practical, but the final week was more about how our hearts and personal tastes dictate how generous we are and how that affects the choices we make with our money. When you boil it down, making a financial decision with our money comes down to needing something versus wanting something. There is sometimes a very fine line and sometimes it’s very obvious, but one thing is for sure: we all have different opinions on what is a need and what is a want.
What To Expect At Your Company’s Benefits Open Enrollment
Erik Folgate
Most of your companies will be holding their open enrollment period this fall and the beginning of 2011 for your health and retirement benefits. With the recent health care reform changes, health insurance premiums will rise even higher each year. Recent financial reform legislation may also increase the fees that stock brokers charge within your retirement plans. Don’t be surprised to see a lot of changes to your current health care options and 401(k) options. Expect more out-of-pocket expenses with your health plans and your boss to be throwing incentives at you to get and stay healthy. Here are some quick facts from CNN Money Magazine about what you can expect at your next open enrollment
4 Ways To Fund College or NFL Football Season Expenses – Game Tickets & Tailgate Party Ideas
Erik Folgate
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, even more exciting than Christmas for big college and pro football fans. I’m a huge college football fan. I bleed orange and blue. Yes, I’m a Florida Gator fan, Go Gators!
Now that I’ve made a ton of enemies by revealing that, I’ll try to win you back by helping you come up with alternative ways to fund your tailgate parties.
7 Bad Behaviors That Lead To Financial Disaster
Erik Folgate
When I was convicted to change the way I handled money at the young age of 22, it wasn’t an educational revelation. It was an emotional and behavioral revelation, because I realized that the problem was ME. A lack of education was definitely one of the factors why I didn’t handle money well, but ultimately, it was my bad behavior and irrational thought process about money that led me to a ton of debt at a young age. If you’re sailing along in life with debt and you think that you’ll be okay once you start making more money, you might already be exhibiting bad financial behaviors and ways of thinking that could lead to a financial disaster. I completely agree with Dave Ramsey that personal finance is 80% behavior and 20% knowledge/education. Here’s 7 warning signs that the problem is YOU.
