The Fun Times Guide

A Fun Christmas Giving Idea: Help Somebody If You Can

Christmas is a joyous time of the year filled with gifts and gatherings -- where people enjoy the fellowship of family and friends. The classic image of Christmas is watching children opening gifts with wide eyes and wide smiles as the whole family gathers around the Christmas tree.

But for many, this wonderful time of year falls short -- with feelings of solitude, loneliness and even worry about where the next meal is going to come from. For a family in desperate need, there will be very little thought given to Christmas this year, let alone gifts for the children.

Why not make this a memorable Christmas for a person or a family in need? Help somebody if you can.

Continue reading: Make It A Christmas Someone Else Will Never Forget

Black Friday Shopping Strategies & The Best Black Friday Tips ... Ever!

Here's my best collection of Black Friday shopping tips.

This list covers everything you should do ahead of time, in the planning and preparation stages. Plus, Black Friday shopping tips that you can't live without -- like what things you should do the morning of Black Friday and what things you should do while you're in the stores taking advantage of Black Friday sales.

Things To Do Before Black Friday

Start shopping early. No, not on that day (Black Friday), but even earlier! Many stores are offering pre-Black Friday sales weeks before the big day. And the night before Black Friday may yield even better deals yet!

Before you even begin to look at the Black Friday advertisements, you want to know the store policy on returns. The question you need answered is if they lower price on an item that you have already purchased, will they refund the difference? If so, what time period (usually a month) is this service in effect? If the store will refund the difference on an item purchased for more on a prior date, then there is no need to wait in line to purchase that item on Black Friday. Simply go to the store the week before Black Friday and purchase the item. When Black Friday comes along, stroll into the store (conveniently bypassing all the lines and crowds of people fighting for what you are carrying — or even waiting until the afternoon when the crowds have thinned out a bit and all the items are already gone from the store) and ask for the difference.  Source

Don't miss these other Black Friday strategies to outsmart the competition!

Sign up for email alerts & newsletters. If you really want to score the best deals, you need to whittle down your list to a number that's manageable. Email alerts & newsletters are a great way to be among the first to learn about a new item to go on sale somewhere, and fine-tune your Black Friday shopping list.

TIP: You can keep track of your Black Friday shopping list and the store ads all in one place with the following iPhone Black Friday apps: 

• Fat Wallet Black Friday iPhone App
• DealNews Black Friday iPhone App

Clean your cookies. When shopping for Black Friday deals online, retailers can tell which products you've already looked at and your basic shopping habits online. 

Retailers base a lot of their online promotions and price points on shoppers' habits. So, it's not uncommon for shoppers to notice price fluctuations after repeated purchases on the same site. Prices typically drop for these power shoppers as an incentive, but there have been documented occurrences of increases, too. You can check to see if this is happening to you by logging out from the retail site, clearing your browser's cookies, and then revisiting the product page. If you find a lower price, buy it -- re-registering with a new customer account if necessary.  Source

Buy a newspaper the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It will be full of Thanksgiving fliers and sales announcements! You will want to take the store ads with you when shopping on Black Friday (see why below). And use a highlighter and/or Sharpie marker to identify key items that you may need to reference while in the store. Use these store ads to create your Black Friday shopping list.

Check out the Black Friday Survival Guide: Planning.

Continue reading: Best Black Friday Shopping Tips

A Newbie's Guide To Scoring Some Great Black Friday Deals

What Is Black Friday?

Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. It's always the day after Thanksgiving.

How did Black Friday get its name?

For years, the day after Thanksgiving has been the day that retailers traditional go from being "in the red" (in debt) to being "in the black" (making a profit). Hence the name: Black Friday!

Black Friday officially marks the start of the holiday shopping season, as there's only 4 weeks left to shop until Christmas.



What Are Black Friday Sales Like?

The Friday after Thanksgiving sales usually include the most unique items that you'll find this particular year and the lowest prices on many of the most popular everyday items as well.

Black Friday doorbuster prices are typically very hard to beat -- at any time of year.

The challenge and allure to Black Friday shopping is the fact that there are only limited quantities available at these low, low prices. It's not unusual that a store would only have a dozen or so items available at that one-time-only Black Friday price.

So there's obviously an adrenaline rush that comes with being one of the lucky ones who was able to score a deal on an item you wanted. It's kind of similar to "winning" a bid on eBay and the satisfaction you feel for being the lucky "winner" -- when you know so many other people also wanted that item. Only the deals are usually much sweeter at Black Friday sales.

On Black Friday, bargain shoppers can score tremendous deals by keeping their eye on the biggest sales that can be had:

• only on this one day
• only for certain times during that day
• only on select items
• and only at select stores

My Experience With Black Friday Shopping

There are Black Friday junkies who get up early each and every year to take advantage of all the post-Thanksgiving Day specials.

Then there are Black Friday newbies who are eager to see what all the hype is about for the very first time.

I'm somewhere in between. I've been participating in Black Friday sales since 2005. I'm serious about my Black Friday shopping -- in terms of hunting down the very best deals that we most need (or want). Then on the morning of Black Friday, I'm on a mission to buy just those items. I try hard not to let Black Friday sales get the best of me by buying a bunch of things I don't need. (That's just what the retailers want, you know.)

So that's why I compiled a list of the best tips for Black Friday shopping. And I use that list each year when I'm preparing for my Black Friday shopping trip.
 

Continue reading: Newbie's Guide To Black Friday

Thanksgiving Trees: Christmas Tree Shaped, With Seasonal Autumn Ornaments

Why wait until Christmas to put up a tree?

I'm not talking about a Christmas tree though... I'm talking about a Thanksgiving tree. (And no, I'm not referring to a child's craft project. That's a Thanksgiving tree with entirely different purpose altogether.)

Some consider this Christmas-shaped tree that's decorated with fall-theme ornaments and colors simply an Autumn tree.

Whatever you call it, decorating a tree for the time between Halloween and Christmas is quite common.

Thanksgiving trees -- which are placed inside the home or out on a porch -- are enjoyed between the Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays. Typically, the day after Thanksgiving is when the traditional Christmas tree goes up.

It only makes sense. There are already Halloween trees (yes, they're decorated with Halloween-themed ornaments) and Christmas trees (including upside down Christmas trees), so why not a Thanksgiving tree?

Continue reading: Thanksgiving Tree Photos

How To Find Military Addresses For U.S. Troops Who Would Like To Receive Holiday Care Packages

This time of year, we always send a care package or two to U.S. Troops overseas.

If you want to send a holiday care package to the Troops, but don't know where to send it, the following information should help.

First, here are a couple of tips that might be helpful as well:

Before You Send Care Packages To U.S. Soldiers

Ideas For A FuN Holiday Care Package

Tips For Sending Food & Other Items To U.S. Military

Other Great Ideas For Soldiers' Care Packages

Fun Things To Include In Military Gift Baskets

Here's how to find a military address for U.S. Troops...

Continue reading: Find An Address For U.S. Soldiers

Top 3 Product Tracking Sites That Send You Price Alerts When Your Favorite Items Go On Sale

Let's face it, most of us don't have a lot of time to shop. I know I don't.

One way that you can minimize the time spent shopping for the best deal is to use online shopping sites that provide automatic price alerts via email when a product you're looking for goes on sale.

Here are the best product tracking sites that alert you of price drops via email...

Continue reading: Get Price Alerts When Your Favorite Items Go On Sale

How To Find Your Lost Cell Phone With Free Programs Online

If you've lost your cell phone (or more likely, just temporarily misplaced it), you can enter your cell phone number at Where's My Cell Phone and your phone will ring right away. Then, all you have to do is listen for the ring, and see where that ring is coming from!

Of course you could also call your cell phone number from a land line or a friend's cell phone, but if neither of those is available to you, then this free service would come in really handy!

I heard about this cool free service from Kim Komando's Cool Tip of the Day.

Kim says:

The site does not share or store your phone number. But you can block your number if you wish. If someone else accidentally enters your number, your phone won't ring.

For the record, Google Maps' click-to-call is another way to call your own cell phone. You can also use Google Voice to call your own cell phone.

Continue reading: How to Find A Lost Cell Phone

Military Care Packages - Tips For Sending Food & Other Items To U.S. Troops

Tis the season to do something special for the Troops.

Whether you know someone who is currently serving in the U.S. Military or not, there are lots of fun ways to do a little something special for those who are going above & beyond for people like you and me.

Jim and I have sent fun holiday care packages to the Troops for the past several years -- usually 2 gigantic boxes each time. (By the way, they always reached their destination, and in a timely manner too.)

The first few times, we sent our packages to soldiers we didn't even know. Then, for a couple years, we sent holiday care packages to our nephew, a Marine, who was serving in Iraq. This year, since our nephew is back in the States, we will be sending our holiday care package to more U.S. soldiers we've never met.

Here's a collection of tips -- everything you need to know to send a care package to U.S. Troops...

Continue reading: Sending Food & Other Items To U.S. Military