Limit your spending over the holidays

Almost everyone falls into the trap of spending a ton of money around Christmas time. You always have that struggle inside of you to decide who to buy a gift for and who to leave off your list. Many times that list can be very long, which equals very expensive. There is an easy solution to this problem though: just remember its the thought that counts!

Just because you feel obligated to get someone a gift (which is stupid anyway) doesn't mean that you have to buy them an expensive one. They will appreciate much more a gift that actually means something than just something that is expensive. Try to buy gifts that either remind someone of a good time you had together or of a special occasion. You could also give them something you made, and you can be as creative as your brain lets you be with that one. It could be as simple as several desktop backgrounds you made in photoshop all the way to handmade furniture. Another good option is to listen closely to what they say and figure out the things they really want besides the obvious things, because if you give them something they didn't specifically ask for then they will appreciate it much more and know that you care enough to listen and figure out what they want.

Some tips for choosing the right gift:

-Think about your relationship you've had with that person and make a list of all the memorable times you've had together, then try to think of something that will always remind them of that time.

-Think of a way to solve one of their needs by making something yourself instead of buying it. They will know you put a lot of time into it and appreciate it more.

-Don't give junk. No one needs anymore stuff to put in their attic or garage.

-Be creative. Don't go to Wal-Mart and buy the first thing you see. Be creative with your gift and if it doesn't have any meaning make up something that makes it seem special.

-Always remember, its the thought that counts

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cyber monday from generation x finance

Generation X Finance has posted a good article on some major retailers running Cyber monday deals. If you weren't able to find what you were looking for from what I wrote then check out his post. There are some great deals, so if you haven't finished your Christmas shopping then today is the time to do it!

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Cyber Monday Deals

There are many deals this coming monday which has been named "Cyber Monday." It is basically Black Friday online. You can check out this site for a good list of merchants participating in Cyber Monday.
You can also google "company cyber monday" and replace "company" with whatever store you want to see. This should bring up some good deals also.
Another idea for shopping on this day is to use coupons. These are deals in the stores, but you can still use coupons. So search online for coupons before making a purchase. By doing this you can get some really really great deals.

Here are some great deals from our affiliates! By shopping through them you get great deals and also support this site!

From Office Depot:

Seagate 250GB FreeAgent External 3.5 Hard Drive - $79.99 After $20 Instant Savings!
D7460  Photosmart  Printer - $144.99 After $35 Instant Savings!
HP R742 Digital Camera - $149.99 Before $20 Instant Savings!
HP A526 Photo Printer - $79.99 After $20 Instant Savings!
SanDisk 1GB CF Ultra II Card - $24.99 After $10 Instant Savings!
Linksys® WRT54G Wireless-G Router - $89.99 After $10 Instant Savings!

Overstock is having a huge sale this weekend, including Cyber Monday. It is free shipping plus huge discounts on everything. Check it out through the following link.

10% Off O-Day Sale plus Free Shipping at Overstock.com! Offer valid 11.23.07 to 11.28.07 Only

Then my favorite store, Wal-Mart, is also doing the Cyber Monday thing here:

Huge Cyber Monday Savings at Walmart.com

I hope you are able to get the deals you want through these links! There are some really good deals on here, and once again I encourage you to try using coupons on top of these promotions! You may get deals so good you can resell on Ebay and make a profit!
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Cyber Monday = Black Friday Online!

Almost every major retail store this year is participating in Cyber Monday, which is basically Black Friday online. There will be a ton of great deals you can get without ever leaving your recliner. There are a ton of reasons why this is great.

*Don't have to fight crowds

*Don't have to go store to store, or even leave your house

*Don't have to waste time in line

*Shop all your favorite stores in the time it takes to go to their website

*Save a ton of money and do all your Christmas shopping in one day

Check back soon for a list of great Cyber Monday promotions!


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Black Friday Deals

Here is a list I have made from our affiliates of good deals for Black Friday, so you don't have to waste your time searching for them I put them all in one place! A lot of these are online deals, so you don't have to deal with all the confusion and getting up early. I highly recommend doing all of your Black Friday shopping online. Anyway, here's the list.

Champs Holiday Sale! Take 20% off $100. Use Code LKS17N6B. Valid through 12.1.

Take $15 off $90 at ESPNShop.com.  Use Code LKSP7N59. Valid 11.1-11.30.

Footlocker Black Friday Sale! Take 20% off $100.  Use Code LKS17VCP.  Valid through 12.1.

Take $15 off $90 at Footlocker.com! Use Code LKS17CN5. Valid 11.1-11.30.

Save up to 50% on Last Minute Fares at Hotwire!

Save up to 90% + Free Shipping and No Tax at Magazines.com! Shop Now!

Netflix - Only $4.99 a month. No Late Fees. Try it for Free!

HP Pavilion dv6628us 15.4 Widescreen Notebook Computer With Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T2310 $499.99 - After $100 Instant Savings & $200 in (2) Mail-in Savings!

Maxx Digital PN3000 Portable GPS Navigation System $99.99 - After $100 Mail-in Savings!

Motorola® Bluetooth® Enabled Headset H300 $9.99 - After $30 Mail-in Rebate!

Save $50 After Mail-in Savings on Select Cameras of $199.99 and Over!

Westinghouse 42 HD LCD TV $799.99 - After $250 Mail-in and Instant Savings

Black Friday Product Deals from Overstock.com! Valid 11.22.07 to 11.25.07

Get all your holiday shopping done at Prep Sportswear! SHOP NOW>>

Save Big this Friday at Walmart.com


I hope you get some really great deals, but remember, be frugal! Don't waste your money on junk you don't need!
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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Now get away from your computer and eat some turkey and tell your mom you love her!

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college and finance carnival

College and Finance blog has just released the Fifth Carnival of College and Finance. Cheap Dates for College Students was featured in this carnival.

This is a really good carnival. There are a lot of useful and relevant articles, and I encourage you to check it out here.

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Wachovia transfer fee

I just realized that to transfer money out of Wachovia online into a different bank there is a $3 fee. That is absurd. There is no reason for them to charge a fee for that, they are just trying to screw their customers out of money. I have news for them, I'm doing them a favor by letting them store my money, I don't have to leave it with them. And this fee isn't helping my decision to keep it there. I have several bank accounts with other banks, and there are no fees for anything on them, including transfers. I am going to contact Wachovia and issue a complaint.

If you have a Wachovia checking account, please contact them and complain about this fee. Let's try to get it taken away, because there is no reason for them to impose it on us. Until they take it away, I will continue to take money out through paypal, which is a free way to do it.

You can contact Wachovia by logging in online and clicking on customer service, then clicking to contact them and send a secure message. Hopefully if they recieve enough feedback, they will remove this fee. Please comment on your feelings about this fee and any ideas you have for getting it removed.

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Wachovia free checking online is good

I have had some issues with Wachovia in the past, but this post is going to be positive. Wachovia now has their online banking set up where you can transfer money between other banks and Wachovia. This was one of my biggest complaints before, and I'm not sure when they added this but it upgraded Wachovia in my book from unusable to usable. With that in mind, here is a list of the top 5 reasons Wachovia is a good bank to use for checking.

1. Wachovia is big. There are branches across the country from the West Coast to the East Coast. This is important because you have access to your money for free whereever you go.

2. Good online services. Free bill pay is one feature that can be really handy. Also as I mentioned earlier, you can transfer money easily between Wachovia and your other banks online. The only problem with this is there is a $3 outbound fee when you transfer money out. I think that is ridiculous. The only other thing I don't like about the online services is they charge you to download your info into Quicken.

3. Checking is free. No fees, no minimums, nothing. This is my minimum requirement for opening any type of banking account. Why should they charge me for me to let them have my money? That would be dumb.

4. Services. Wachovia is a big bank, so they offer many services. Everything from business options, loans, financial planning, insurance, investing, you name it they can help. The only thing I use is checking, so the other stuff I cannot endorse because I haven't tried it.

5. View transactions online and in monthly statements. I like to be able to go online and find out what I've spent money on and keep up with my finances, because I hate waiting until the end of the month to see everything. Wachovia makes this possible.

Wachovia is a pretty good bank with many options and it is pretty useful, although I still prefer my credit union checking account. I'm not sure why, maybe I'm just really loyal. I have to have this Wachovia though because when I leave the state I don't have access to my credit union. I would recommend Wachovia because it's good enough for free checking, is easy to transfer money between it and your high-yield savings account, and it is big so you have access to your money no matter where you go.
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HD DVD vs Bluray: buy HD DVD

For some time now the hot news in the technology market has been HD DVD movies. Everyone is speculating which format will win, Blu ray or HD DVD. It is like the vhs vs beta max debate of the 80's. The Blu ray format is made by Sony and is incorporated into the new PS3, so they have an advantage there. HD DVD is made by Toshiba, and is much cheaper than Blu ray. I believe that this will ultimately make the HD DVD the standard for high definition movies.

Many stores are dropping the prices on the Toshiba HD DVD for the holidays, and while some are just having black friday sales on them many stores such as walmart are dropping the price permanently. The trend is to drop the price right under $200, which is a very good price for technology this new. Because of the big difference in price between the two formats, I believe that after the holidays the HD DVD will slowly pull away from Blu ray in sales. Once a lot of the players have sold on black friday and other holiday promotions, people will begin to buy the movies in that format, which will be the deciding factor ultimatly. The more movies that are bought in one format or the other, the better the chance that that format will win the battle.

So watch for these sales near you, as they will probably be selling out quickly, and I would stay away from wasting money on a Blu ray player unless you are buying the PS3, in which case the price isn't that bad for what you get. Also, for those interested in stocks, watch for Toshiba. I'm not a big stock person, but I think there is a good chance that the Toshiba stock will take off during and right after the holdiay shopping season. Also, if you are watching for a good deal on these keep your eye on Ebay, Amazon, Overstock, and other discount websites. You can sometimes get some great deals on these websites. Also, watch for coupons and promotional coupons from office depot, best buy, and other major retailers. Especially this time of year you can get some really good deals if you are willing to shop around a little bit.
Office Depot, Inc
Overstock.com, Inc.
Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC

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making changes

I'm sure you've noticed I have made some major changes to the site. Please comment if there is anything not working well or that you think doesn't look good. I appreciate feedback and will try to respond to all of it.

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7 ways to make money

Everyone needs a little extra money. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, you still want more. Hey, I’m just being honest, I mean its true isn’t it? Don’t you want some more money?

Anyway, I’ve compiled a list of things to do to get a little extra money on the side. All of these are useful in college, most are useful to anyone. So, here’s the list.

#1. Sell stuff on eBay.

-Everyone has junk somewhere that they could get rid of. In your home, you have your attic and your garage, 2 places that normally have all kinds of stuff you don’t need. If your in college, you should realize every time you move into or out of a dorm room that you have too much stuff and need to sell it.

#2. Check college career center for work.

-Most colleges have a career center place on their website where local businesses can list work they need done. This is a good place to get some work, whether it is a weekend job or a full-time job.

#3. Classified ads.

-Many times people list stuff in classified ads in local newspapers/Craigslist/Facebook that they need done, such as mowing yards or helping move them into a new house, or help paint their house. . Many times you can make some decent money just by responding to these ads.

#4. Sell your books.

-Amazon and half.com are great. You can sell pretty much any book on there, whether it is a textbook or just a random book someone gave you. You can create space and make money by selling books you don’t need. And for future reference, try checking out books from the library instead of buying them.

#5. Free money.

-Get free money by taking advantage of promotions, such as the ING Direct $25 promotion going on right now. Also, you can get a lot of free money by taking advantage of credit card offers, but you have to be careful with those or you can get yourself in trouble.

#6. Get freebies and sell them.

-There are many ways to get freebies, which I will address in a different post. You can either save money by getting useful stuff such as deodorant, toothpaste, and other random stuff, or you can get freebies like laptops and microwaves and sell them. This is pure profit.

#7. Do something you like and make money for it.

-If you have a hobby making stuff, sell stuff you make. Blog about whatever you love. Figure out what you spend most of your time doing or thinking about, and then create a blog about it. Put Google ad words on there and get some passive income rolling in. Sign up for affiliate links. I've heard some great success stories about people doing this.

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