by Doug Desjardins After a disappointing back-to-school sales season in 2009, retailers are looking forward to better days this year as consumers ramp up spending. According to a survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF), the average family will spend $606.40 this year on clothing, supplies, electronics and other back-to-school staples, a big jump of Continue Reading
ArchivesJuly, 2010
31JulOnline Sales Increase but at a Slower Pace
by Doug Desjardins Online sales continued to increase in June but, like brick-and-mortar retailers, they appeared to lose some momentum entering the summer. A report from MasterCard Worldwide estimates e-commerce sales increased 9.7% in June, ending an eight-month streak of double-digit gains stretching back to October 2009. That increase included Memorial Day sales, since the Continue Reading
31JulAdvice for Students
College students are known to have some of the worst financial habits, at a time when good money-handling skills are needed most. Keeping that in mind, I've begun compiling some tips so I can lecture advise Mr. College Bound on how to be sensible with his finances while away from home. Don't sign up for Continue Reading
30JulCha-Ching!
When I was a teacher, I learned very early on that it was best to stay on the good side of the secretaries and maintenance crew. Working for a website, I've discovered that I don't want to do anything to tick off the Tech Geniuses that keep this site rolling smoothly. So how could I Continue Reading
30JulCyber-Accessories
Both my older children will be starting the school year with new laptops. Mr. College Bound will be shopping for his laptop soon, while Miss Freshman Year is required to rent a school-issued tablet PC. It's not as easy as plug-and-play when it comes to getting a new computer all set up. There are all Continue Reading
29JulHot Book Trends in 2010: eBooks Dominate
by RM Fiedler eBooks, hardcovers, and Stieg Larsson are the hot trends for the first half of 2010. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) reports on the eBook boom for May 2010 book sales, which “grew 162.8 percent for the month ($29.3 million)” and observes that “year-to-date eBook sales are up 207.4 percent.” The International Continue Reading
29JulHappy Feet
When it's summer and you go someplace where moms congregate, you'll notice something: they're all wearing sandals. Whether it's beachy flip-flops or dressier thongs with metal accents, sandals are definitely in. Except for me. I own a couple of pairs of sandals, but I never wear them for long. They're just not comfortable--there's no support Continue Reading
29JulBuild a Healthy Salad
After discovering that a salad at his company cafeteria would cost about $8, my husband asked me to buy ingredients so he could bring a salad from home. His idea of a healthy salad and mine, however, are two wildly different things. First of all, he wanted a ten-cup Tupperware container to hold it. That Continue Reading
28JulBackyard Baseball
When the weather's good, there's a nightly baseball game in the backyard that borders ours. Our neighbor, a dad of two, is in charge of this game. He takes the roles of pitcher, coach, umpire and color commentator. And according to Mr. Third Grader, there's quite the variety of specialty pitches for this game: Shnuckle Continue Reading
28JulMy Personal Radio Station
One benefit of having an iPod is the Genius feature in iTunes. It takes all the work out of making music mixes. Operating on the same principle as one of my favorite websites, Pandora, the Genius feature allows you to choose a particular song that you like, then creates a playlist of other similar songs. Continue Reading
27JulBand Crazy
Recently I had an appointment with a new doctor. Overall, I was pretty impressed. His staff was courteous and helpful. The nurses were cheerful and put my mind at ease--there's always that initial nervous feeling when you meet a new doctor. And when the doctor burst into the room, he showed a high-energy personality, bantering Continue Reading