The spirit of the holidays is about spending time with family and friends, being thankful for the things that we’ve accomplished and the lives we’ve led, and showing appreciation to everyone who has made the year possible. Sometimes the year ends on a high note, as we celebrate the achievements. Sometimes we simply want to turn the page on an otherwise difficult twelve months. For many, this year will seem more like the latter but it’s important to remember that as difficult as it was for you, chances are there were scores facing much tougher challenges.

It’s on this more somber note that I present to you the 2011 Holiday Tipping Guide, which hopefully will give you an idea of what is considered customary when it comes to showing appreciation to those in the services industry who have gone above and beyond. These are merely guidelines, it’s up to you to decide what makes sense for both your area and your own finances.

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I’ve always found it funny that Labor Day is a day when many people don’t actually do any labor. As a federal holiday, that means your post office, your local bank, and a few other places will be closed in observance of barbecues and parades. Wikipedia has a little history behind the day, which became a federal holiday back in 1894.

Enjoy the day off! We’ll be back with posts tomorrow.

I hope you’re enjoying Independence Day because we are, we’ll off for the day and returning tomorrow with our regularly scheduled programming!

(Photo: jeffrey)

Memorial Day, observed on the final Monday in May, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service to our country. It was once known as Decoration Day and enacted to honor soldiers, both Union and Confederate, in the American Civil War but was expanded to all Americans in all wars. In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill set the day as the final day in Monday (along with Washington’s birthday and Veterans Day) to create a three day weekend, rather than the traditional May 30th date. This year, the two coincide.

We’ll be back tomorrow.

Depending on when you read this, it’s either New Year’s Eve’s Eve, New Year’s Eve, or sometime in 2011… regardless of when you read it, I hope you had a fantastic time ushering in the new year with friends and family. A new year brings new opportunity, a chance at something bold and exciting, and I hope you’re ready to take advantage of it. The last few years have been tough but things are starting to turn around and it’s time to make the most of it!

(Photo: hisgett)

I wanted to wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday. To those who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas. For those who had celebrated Hanukkah, I hope you enjoyed the Festival of Lights earlier this month. For those who celebrate neither, may you have good times and safe travels wherever you may be. We’ll return to semi-regularly scheduled program next Monday.

(Photo: tunruh)

Today, all across America, families will be sitting down to enjoy their annual Thanksgiving feast of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and all the other yummy goodness that is our more gluttonous holiday. While you might think the focus is on the food, in reality it’s on the company. We work those long hours not because we want more or better food, it’s so that we can enjoy these times with friend’s family.

Happy turkey day! (we’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming next Monday)

(Photo: master-phillip)

To all the men and women who have served our country, thank you.

“Veterans Day” was first celebrated in 1919 when President Woodrow Wilson declared November 11th, 1919, as a national holiday to commemorate the end of the first World War. An act was passed in 1938 to make permanent Veteran’s Day as a legal holiday each year, thought it was called Armistice Day and was primarily a day to honor World War I veterans. It wasn’t until 1954, with the approval of Public Law 382, that November 11th became Veteran’s Day. You can read more about the history of Veteran’s Day from va.gov.

Either way, celebrate Veteran’s Day with gusto and thank someone for their service.

Interesting aside, the official spelling of Veterans Day has no apostrophe.

(Photo: usarmyafrica)

There’s been a bit of a row over Target’s advertisement slamming homemade costumes (video after the jump) and it’s no wonder – homemade halloween costumes are awesome. In fact, the homemade Iron Man costume in the advertisement is pretty good relative to some of the things I’ve been able make. Check out the sweet cardboard helmet, light-up chest and flashlight hands… I mean it looks pretty darn good. A lot better than a cheesy plastic thing made in China for $2 (and sold for $25) that doesn’t even light up.

More importantly, why make fun of parents who are trying to do the right thing? Making a costume is a lot more fun and resourceful than buying a piece of junk plastic costume. The fun is in the whole experience, not just running around collecting candy. Also, the costume is unique. A million other kids will be running around with that unimaginative costume, only one kid will be wearing that costume.

What do you think? Are homemade costumes da bomb or just cheap?
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Can you believe it’s the first Monday in September already? I would say that this year has absolutely flown by but with the severe weather (multiple feet of snow in the winter, multiple days of 100+ degree weather in the summer), I think I’ve acutely felt every single day as it passed.

With Labor Day upon us, I did a little bit of research into the origins and thought it’d be fun to know the history of the holiday. Labor Day was first celebrated in 1882 and when you think about its origins, it’s actually a pretty ugly story. In 1894, there was the Pullman Strike in which a labor dispute (3000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike and President Grover Cleveland sent US Marshalls and the US Army to break the strike) led to the deaths of 13 strikers and the wounding of 57 others. As a way to reconcile, we celebrate Labor Day as a national holiday with parades, barbecues, and other minor celebrations.

So on this Labor Day, get some rest, relaxation, and we’ll be back with more personal finance tomorrow!