Month: November 2010

And the Shopping Season Begins!

Posted by joslyn – November 30, 2010

Americans spent 45 billion dollars** over this past weekend…. better than predicted for the Black Friday to Cyber Monday stretch. The media is abuzz with the news of “consumer spending rebounding.” But all we care about is whether we get it together to buy worthy Christmas gifts, right?

The big holiday gift this year seems to be The Kindle. So, Amazon is doing well on that front. In fact, according to the Consumer Electronics Organization, consumer electronics were way up there in terms of what people bought this weekend. Maybe they’re not the best source of unbiased information, but that’s probably true, I reckon.

What are you planning on investing in, gift-wise, this year?

**According to the Huffington Post, “The weekend after Thanksgiving, typically the busiest shopping weekend of the year, saw about 212 million shoppers, up 8.7 percent from last year’s 195 million, according to the National Retail Federation, which logged the busiest holiday weekend since at least 2004.”

Financial Gratitude and Money Energy

Posted by joslyn – November 23, 2010

Before the holiday shopping season kicks off, Thanksgiving week is the perfect time to reflect on gratitude, financially speaking. What are you financially grateful for this year?

Even in tough times, a good place to start is always the whole “Well, at least I have a roof over my head…” (not to mention a computer and an internet connection), but it sometimes takes a little ingenious creativity to find something in your particular financial situation to be thankful for.

The real question is, does money even make us happy? Jean Chatzky recently wrote a book called Ten Commandments of Financial Happiness that asserts statistics to prove otherwise. At the very least, these statistics show, more money makes us only marginally happier.

This topic is an angsty one in our Western culture. Is it shallow to equate money with happiness? But then again, why is financial stress so often one of the driving factors in divorce, suicide, and depression?

On the new age end of the spectrum, it’s often said that gratitude and giving are the keys to abundance. In other words, the more you give to those in need, the more financial rewards you can expect to reap—in some sort of ironic energetic loop.

Hmmm, mixed messages.

The reality is, financial stability is important. Take the time to reflect on how you’ve created your own financial happiness—and how you’d like to see things shift in the future.

Here’s an interesting interview with Maria Nemeth, Ph.D, author of The Energy of Money and longtime teacher of courses on money and our relationship with money.

Cyber Monday

Posted by joslyn – November 18, 2010

Mark your calendars for Cyber Monday: Black Friday’s savvy Internet sister. On the Monday after Thanksgiving, ecommerce heavy hitters offer big deals to kick off the holiday shopping season (which, contrary to the latest preemptive Christmas decorations in our local malls, does not officially start until after turkey day).

If you’re the type who likes to get a head start on your Christmas shopping without ever leaving the comfort of your Macbook, check out www.cybermonday.com for an aggregate of all the best deals. For the truly consumer-ambitious, they’ll be offering temporary hourly deals throughout the day.

Be aware that the Cyber Monday website is run by Shop.org, part of the U.S. trade association National Retail Federation. They’re the ones who neatly coined the term “Cyber Monday” in a savvy marketing move.

Let the shopping frenzy begin.

Why is it Called Black Friday?

Posted by joslyn – November 16, 2010

Why such a gloomy name for what is supposed to be our most jubilant shopping day of the year? The day after Thanksgiving kicks off our Christmas shopping season—the season our retail economy pins its great hopes on each and every fall.

The East Coast has been using this term since the 60s, although it took a while to spread throughout the country (and our television airwaves). Presumably because it’s a day off for most workers, it has always been considered a practical time to hit the stores in order to get a head start on Christmas shopping. But with trillions of people hitting the shops that day, it’s not exactly a well-kept secret.

The reason it’s called “Black Friday”? Well, legend has it that this phrase originally was coined by Philly policemen to describe the mayhem of so many overexcited people hitting the streets in a rabid frenzy of ruthless Christmas shopping. But more recently the media has exploited the term to refer to shopkeepers’ transition from being “in the red” to “in the black” due to consumer holiday spending.

Ironically, Black Friday is not actually the most lucrative shopping day of the year for stores. Being a nation of procrastinators, that place is reserved for the Saturday before Christmas—at least according to Snopes.com, an urban legends reference page.