If you’re looking for deals, Black Friday is the time to get them. Retailers know this is a time when they expect a lot of traffic and lines out the door. Except now, they don’t want physical traffic. Long lines are more of a hazard than a vanity metric, and retailers would rather get your business on a different platform.

2020 is going to make Black Friday a different event, and that’s a great thing. Very few people wanted to spend their Thanksgiving Day lining up for bargains, but that doesn’t mean bargain hunters can take the day off. Many of the best deals will be found exclusively online. Other deals will be honored online, but you may need to work with customer support. Regardless, Black Friday means big business. In 2019, Americans spent over $7.4 …

In 1969, all the cool kids were wearing denim. Finding a good pair of jeans was a challenge, and one store wanted to change that. That store would become known as “The Gap.”

The name of the store comes from the term “generation gap.” It was a simplified way to buy jeans with a massive selection under one roof. The new generation was going to change the way customers shopped for clothing, and admittedly Gap became pretty cool. Decades later, that generation is on the wrong side of the generation gap. …

Each year, we wrap up with seasonal gatherings consisting of family, friends, food, and presents. It can be an exciting time, but an expensive one as well. Holiday spending seems to climb each year, as prices rise and holiday traditions become more elaborate. As much as people want to believe the season is about the people and the “spirit,” money plays a big role in the holiday experience.

More than ever, people are becoming more concerned with unnecessary spending. Even if you look forward to the holidays and plan for holiday spending all year, you can’t justify it as necessary. If you spent no money on gifts, you’d survive. …

I’m going to be honest with you: I love Target. Like many shoppers I will go in there in need of one or two items. Then, I leave the store with a cart full of stuff and a bill that’s three times the expected amount.

This is no coincidence, Target is a retail store and they want customers to spend. The phenomenon is so common it’s now referred to as the “ Target effect.” …

Apple’s online store demonstrates how complicated the shopping experience and product lines have become.

When it comes to the retail experience, Apple has risen the standard. They place a huge emphasis on employee knowledge so they are able to comfortably and confidently talk to customers. I know from experience that Apple cares about its employees and customers, and they want the customer experience to be the best one possible.

There was a time when I was super knowledgeable on Apple’s product lines, but I also thought they were super intuitive. Each product had a name and potentially a descriptor. Think back to 2005: you had the iPod and the iPod Mini. If you opted for an iPod, you would probably be able to deduce it was larger than the Mini variation. …

People often feel nostalgia for the past, viewing it as a simpler time. It’s also common to look back and see how price inflation has impacted us today. Despite this, there are actually parts of life where we are spend less. As our lifestyles evolve, some things become less important. Other things are replaced with cheaper alternatives, or the cost to create the product is reduced.

Over the past decade or two, I see some areas of life where my quality has significantly increased but I spend less to obtain this standard of living. Often, this has to do with the evolution of technology or reduced costs in production. …

Every generation of gaming brings innovations in hardware, software, and marketing. The next generation of gaming will be released in under a month, but gamers seem to have mixed reactions to the upcoming Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X. These consoles will bring some competition to the ninth generation of gaming, but the excitement for these consoles pales in comparison to the sixth generation.

The sixth generation of gaming is noted for DVD technology on The Playstation 2 and Xbox. It also ushered in an era of Nintendo’s tiny Gamecube Game Discs. …

There’s a lot to love about SoCal. We’ve got sun, beaches, warm weather, and some of the best food in the country. Southern California also isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. There are some negatives, and these are the things that forced changes into my daily life.

Don’t get me wrong, the benefits outweigh the costs for me. There are a number of differences I didn’t quite anticipate when I moved. When weighing the costs and benefits, some costs appeared after I made the move. …