Author: Abbey

(Banner image courtesy of iStock)

Let’s talk turkey. You can easily shell out thousands of bucks this holiday season on fancy presents, lavish dinners, and festive activities. Or, you can soak up every bit of the celebration while sticking to your budget. Just borrow one of these frugal-but-festive tips from real savers across the country.

1. GET CRAFTY FOR A DOLLAR.

“The dollar store has so much holiday stuff, including decorations and stocking stuffers. But there’s also some great craft supplies, especially if you get creative. I love making DIY ornaments for the grandparents.” —Molly Polins, Chicago, Illinois

2. MAKE IT A POTLUCK.

“I love hosting a big holiday dinner, but it can easily cost me $200 or more to get all of the groceries. Last year, I invited friends for a potluck instead. They seemed to love it, and I could focus on making a few of my favorite dishes instead of buying everything I couldn’t make from scratch. I probably spent $75 total.” —Rachel Cohen, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

3. VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME.

“Studies show that volunteering makes you happier and healthier—and I believe it. Definitely it’s become a tradition I look forward to. Last year I made door decorations for a Ronald McDonald House, where families stay when their kids are in the hospital. It sounds cheesy, but giving back reminds me that the season is really about sharing warmth and love. We all need that to get through the winter.” —Nicole Wells, Ann Arbor, Michigan

4. OGLE THE LIGHTS.

“Not all holiday activities have to cost a lot—or even a cent! One of my family’s favorite traditions is we pile the kids into the car in their jammies and drive around to look at Christmas lights, sipping hot chocolate from a thermos.” —Amanda Collins Simkin, Mount Prospect, Illinois

5. SET UP A DIY GIFT EXCHANGE.

“For the last five years, my group of friends has exchanged gifts by drawing names from a hat. We decided it has to be a homemade gift, and that challenge makes it both more fun and more frugal. One year I knit a scarf, one year I baked these killer cornflake-and-coffee cookies, one year I put together a photo book. Another little bonus of this set-up: We get together as a group to draw names and then again to swap gifts, so it’s like two little parties instead of one.” —Laura Liss, Sacramento, California

6. MAKE IT A MORNING MEAL.

“Hosting a dinner can be pricey. Even an evening shindig with appetizers and cocktails can add up. But breakfast is pretty cheap: Bagels, donuts, a giant quiche for everyone to share. Mimosas are scrumptious without being a big splurge. And while most people have a million invites for holiday parties later in the day, mornings tend to be pretty open. Who doesn’t love a good brunch party?” —Ellen Stura, Boulder, Colorado

7. WRAP YOUR HEART OUT.

“For kids, unwrapping gifts is nearly as fun as whatever present is inside. So I grab a lot of presents from the Target dollar bins and wrap things separately. They’re so excited to see all of that wrapping paper!” —Amber Kozawick, Chicago, Illinois

As of 2015, women are more likely to hold a college degree than men, but men are still filling the boardrooms, making the decisions, and running our country. After interviewing more than 50 trailblazing executive women for her book Earning It, Joann Lublin says there are two traits that set apart the women who do make it to the top: resilience and persistence.

Lublin, who is also The Wall Street Journal‘s management news editor, says she has had many experiences similar to the women she interviewed for the book, which was why she was motivated to write it in the first place. When she made interview calls early in her career, she says, she was often mistaken for a subscription saleswoman rather than a journalist. But now, at the top of her career, she’s able to share ways other women can make it to the top, too.

RESILIENCE

If you’ve run to the bathroom in tears after receiving a talking down from your boss, you’ve got some work to do. But the great thing about resilience is it’s a learned quality—and you can fake it until you make it. “Resilience is the persistence to bounce back in the face of setbacks [in your] career and and personal [life],” Lublin says. “If you can’t have resilience, you can’t make any headway.”

Lublin shares Drugstore.com CEO and former Charles Schwab CIO Dawn Lepore’s story by way of example. In 2010, two years after Lepore beat a rare cancer of the appendix, her husband was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. This made Lepore the sole breadwinner for her family. She would work all day and then stay in the hospital until 2 a.m. “Her co-workers didn’t think she should keep working, and she considered giving up her board seats,” Lublin says. “She considered giving it all up to be with her husband.” But Lepore’s husband convinced her not to quit—neither of them wanted the cancer to win.

In 2013, Lepore told SUCCESS of her climb to the top, “I do think you need a lot of resilience and commitment, and I’ve always been a sucker for a challenge. There must be something innate to my personality—if you tell me I can’t do something, I want to prove I can.”

PERSISTENCE

“It’s the idea that it doesn’t matter what life throws at you—you turn it into lemonade and you keep pushing,” Lublin says.

As a 29-year-old high school English teacher, Abbe Raven was desperate to break into the television industry, Lublin says. So she joined dozens of other women at the lingerie department of Macy’s, where A&E TV executives were hosting a recruiting event. But when she saw all of her competition, Raven headed toward the door. With no applicable experience, she thought she’d never get a television job.

But as the event wound down, Raven told herself, “No, this is your shot,” Lublin says. So she turned around and introduced herself to the head of programming, who recommended that she call the vice president of the television studio. And that’s where Raven’s persistence finally kicked in. “She called him five times a day,” Lublin says. On the 10^th day, she said she’d do anything to get a job, even if it was just photocopying scripts. Raven was hired as an entry level employee and worked her way up through the ranks of the company. In 2005, she was named A&E Networks’s second CEO, and in 2013 she became its Chairman (she retired in early 2015 after 33 years with the company).

In the retirement memo she sent to her employees, Raven perfectly encapsulated her persistence:

When I started out xeroxing scripts and answering phones as a few dollars an hour assistant in 1982—I would never have imagined I would become a manager, director, and senior executive—not to mention the President and CEO and then Chairman of a major media company. That was never my goal. My goal was to find something I would love to do, something I could contribute to in my own way—something to be part of.

Raven’s and Lepore’s stories are obviously extreme examples of persistence and resilience. But if you’ve ever negotiated a raise you deserved, applied for a competitive job, or leaned in to a new challenge, you already have a bit of their grit.

Activity trackers have been a hugely popular way for people to monitor their daily steps, workouts, and sleep habits for a few years now (see: the rubber strap of a FitBit or Jawbone on the wrists of all your friends). In fact, about one fifth of Americans own one of these kind of wearables [PDF], and the American College of Sports Medicine named it the top fitness trend to watch in 2017. And the smart accessories of tomorrow feature incredibly cool, innovative new functionalities. Read on to see how one of them might help you boost your fitness, health, and mental wellness.

1. LVL; $150

 
Do you drink enough water? Chances are you don’t, according to BSX Athletics, the company launching the new LVL hydration monitor. The brand says a whopping 70 percent of people are chronically dehydrated. This wrist-worn gadget keeps tabs on your level of hydration to help ensure you’re always drinking enough water—so you’ll have more energy, be less likely to overeat, and sidestep headaches. But LVL also measures your heart rate, how many calories you burn, how much you move throughout the day, and how well you sleep.

Find It: BSX Insight, available summer 2017

2. UA SPEEDFORM GEMINI 2.1; $150

 
The wearable market is really stepping in a new direction with the emergence of smart sneakers. You don’t have to wear a wristband with these running shoes from athletic brand Under Armour; they have a built-in chip in one of the soles that syncs with MapMyRun for GPS tracking and stores data about your workouts—like steps taken, distance covered, interval splits, and route. And good news: You don’t have to carry your phone with you while you jog for the shoes to record all your stats.

Find It: Under Armour

3. ALTRA TORIN IQ; $220

 
With the sensors in each foot bed of the Altra Torin IQ sneakers, you can track your distance covered and cadence when you run. Plus, you can learn about your foot strike (if your forefoot or heel touches down first with each step) and get audible cues about small changes you can make to improve your form on the go so that you can move more efficiently.

Find It: Altra Running, available March 2017

4. LEAF URBAN; $139

 
Like other trackers on the market, this device from Bellabeat counts your steps, sleep, overall activity, and calories burned as well as alerts you to move when you’ve been still too long. Unlike some of the others, the Leaf Urban also monitors how stressed you are and includes built-in breathing exercises to help you relax. Plus: With its period tracking and fertility calendar, female users can get a close look at all aspects of their reproductive health.

Find It: Bellabeat

5. CAEDEN SONA; $179

 
This bracelet is another tracker that’s not just about counting steps and calories you burn (though it does that, too): The Sona follows your heart rate closely to see how various activities spike your stress levels. It also provides guided resonance meditation sessions so that you can maintain focus throughout the day.

Find It: Caeden

You learn at a very young age that you should call 911 in an emergency. And, according to the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), people in the U.S. make approximately 240 million 911 calls every year. But not all those calls warrant emergency attention from police, fire department, or paramedics. So what, exactly, constitutes an emergency?

Only call 911 if a person or property is in immediate danger. A serious medical emergency warrants a 911 call, so don’t hesitate if you witness a heart attack, stroke, anaphylaxis, broken limbs, choking, drug overdose, drowning, a psychotic episode, or uncontrolled bleeding. If you see smoke or flames, witness a crime being committed, or see a car accident in which someone has serious injuries, call 911. And note that most states are still not equipped to process texts to 911, so stick to using a landline (so the dispatcher has access to your location) or, if you can’t access one, a cell phone.

According to TQ Gaskins, the lead dispatcher at a college police department in Southern California, you should only call 911 to get help for an immediate threat. “If you are at home and hear someone in your house, this is the time to call 911. If you come home and find someone broke into your home while you were away, then you should call the non-emergency line,” she says. “911 lines really need to remain open for people dealing with life-threatening or potentially volatile situations.”

According to Gaskins, most people aren’t aware that every agency has a non-emergency or business line. Go online to your city’s government website to find the non-emergency phone numbers of your local police, fire, and information services, and save them in your phone.

Don’t call 911 to file a noise complaint, report a traffic accident without injuries, or notify the police that your car was stolen. To report a missing person, call your local non-emergency phone number rather than 911, unless the missing person is a child, elderly, or has developmental disabilities. (And it probably goes without saying, but don’t call 911 to ask about weather conditions, parking restrictions, or when your electricity will come back.)

Still not sure if your situation warrants a call to 911? If you’re ever in doubt, err on the side of caution and place the call, then follow the dispatcher’s instructions.

Step aside, Black Friday. The Monday after Thanksgiving, dubbed Cyber Monday in 2005, promises some of the best deals of the season. And the best part? You don’t need to change out of your pajamas to score them. Here’s how to make the most of the shopping bonanza.

1. GET A HEAD START.

Cyber Monday may have Monday in its name, but last year, a handful of major retailers kicked off their discounts the Sunday night before, says Courtney Jespersen, retail and shopping expert at NerdWallet. “Sign up for email lists and follow the social media feeds of your favorite stores so you know the precise moment when deals drop,” Jespersen says. “If you show up to the sale too late, you may miss out on some of the best discounts.”

2. SIGN IN.

Just like at the mall, great deals can mean heavy traffic for online retailers. And this can cause inventory to move quickly, Jespersen says. “Last year on the online shopping holiday, Target shoppers had to wait in a virtual line to add deals to their cart,” she says.

Be prepared by making an online account at your favorite retailers before the traffic spikes. That way you don’t have to waste valuable time entering your billing and shipping information at the checkout.

3. APPLY COUPON CODES.

Before clicking “place purchase,” check for any additional promo codes you can add. You can usually find these in banner ads on the site or by using a resource like RetailMeNot. You may also get emailed a special one-time discount code if you sign up for the retailer’s mailing list for the first time, Jespersen says.

4. FOCUS ON CLOTHING AND SHOES.

The deals for these items are traditionally better on Monday than they are on Thanksgiving and on Black Friday, says Benjamin Glaser, features editor with DealNews. Conversely, Glaser notes that Black Friday is the best day to buy a laptop or television.

5. GET TEXT ALERTS FOR DEALS.

If you’re planning on making a big purchase, set up a text or email alert for that item on price-tracking sites, says Sarah Berger, columnist for Bankrate’s money-saving blog The Cashlorette. “That way, you’ll never miss a deal,” she says.

For starters: CamelCamelCamel will email you when the price drops on a product you’ve been watching on Amazon; SlickDeals watches prices on Amazon, Ikea, Buy.com, Newegg, Gamestop, and others; Get Invisible Hand will let you know if the item you covet is less expensive elsewhere; and CheapShark focuses on video game prices.

6. CHECK MESSAGE BOARDS.

Many people will post deals that they’re interested in and that they’ve found to shopping message boards, Berger says. She recommends you check out Fatwallet.com and Slickdeals.net for Cyber Monday intel.

7. USE THE LIVE CHAT FUNCTION.

Andrew Schrage, co-owner of the personal finance site Monday Crashers, says you may be able to convince a customer service representative to cough up a modest coupon code that you can apply to the store’s already-low prices.

8. ABANDON YOUR CART.

A few days before Cyber Monday, put the item you want into your virtual shopping cart—and then abandon the cart (leave without completing the purchase), Schrage says. “A few days later, you might find an email in your inbox with a discount code” to entice you to buy, he says.

This Thanksgiving, you’ll gather with your friends and family to laugh, reflect, and stuff yourself silly. And for 65 percent of American households, that family includes a member with fur, feathers, or scales. Go ahead and let Fido or Fluffy join in the celebrations (and indulge in some table scraps) on Thursday, but be sure to follow the below safety guidelines outlined by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and ASPCA.

DO: FEED YOUR PET TURKEY.

Unless your dog or cat has an allergy, turkey is perfectly safe—with a few caveats. Keep the pieces small, make sure they are fully cooked, and be sure to remove all bones.

DON’T: SHARE YOUR BREAD DOUGH.

The yeast found in raw bread dough can cause painful gas and bloating in your pets that can quickly turn into a medical emergency.

DO: PREPARE A FEAST OF THEIR OWN.

To keep your dog occupied when the humans sit down to dinner, give him or her a delicious canine-safe treat. Before dinnertime, mix bits of turkey, sweet potato, and pumpkin puree in with your dog’s regular kibble, stuff it into a Kong, and stick it in the freezer. The frozen meal will keep Spot busy for much longer than his usual dinner would.

DON’T: LET THEM EAT CAKE.

Chocolate is a big no-no for dogs, as is an artificial sweetener called xylitol that is often found in sugar-free baked goods.

DO: KEEP THEM ENTERTAINED.

Remember: A tired and distracted dog is a happy dog. The excitement of guests arriving can be overwhelming for some pets. To keep your dog calm, make sure you take him to the park, dog run, or on a long walk in the morning to tucker him out. If all the excitement becomes too much, give your dog some “me time” with plenty of his favorite toys in another room or his crate.

DON’T: LEAVE THE TRASH OUT.

A full house makes for distracted hosts. To make sure your four-legged friend doesn’t stick his or her nose where it doesn’t belong while you’re looking the other way, make sure your trash is covered and properly stored out of reach.

DO: STAY ALERT.

Keep a close eye on your pet to make sure she doesn’t make a dash for the door in the midst of the chaos. (And you should always have the proper identification tags for your pet and get her microchipped just in case she gets out.) Immediate action can also make all the difference if your pet swallows a dangerous food, plant (here’s what’s hazardous for dogs and cats), or foreign substance.