They’re known as Porch Pirates. You see them almost nightly on TV news, stealing packages off people’s porches. It’s so convenient to order everything online. Unlike the old days, delivery people don’t take the time to ring the doorbell and hand you the package. Nor do they take it back to a warehouse and try to deliver it again when you may be home.

Last week, I was really fortunate to save a lot of money on six Black Friday purchases. All items were things I’d been planning to buy, except SD cards that I can always use since I’m a photo journalist. The sandals were the best deal. They price was $180 and were on sale for $49. I was thrilled they fit. Unfortunately, the boots I tried on, with a much lesser discount, didn’t fit.

Photo: Wildlife Madagascar My niece Debra Erickson is embarking on a fantastic, challenging project. Debra’s founded a group called Wildlife Madagascar. Madagascar, an island country off the southeastern coast of Africa, is known for its unique wildlife. Some of its most well-known animals are lemurs, which are only found in Madagascar. Of the 112 lemur species, 98 percent are endangered with about a third considered critically endangered.

For years, I’ve been working on providing consumer and financial information to people to help them make smart financial choices. Since I’m in the process of setting up a new website, Unlocking the Power of Your Money, I’d appreciate your financial support. In early July, I received an announcement from Typepad, the platform which had hosted my blog for more than a dozen years, that it was going out of business.

For many people, myself included, a good portion of the day is spent preparing food, shopping for it, eating it, and cleanup after cooking. In fact, I just finished lunch and cleaning the kitchen. We spend a lot of time dealing with food, but many people don’t realize how much food they throw away every day – from uneaten leftovers to spoiled produce to parts of fruits and vegetables that could be eaten or repurposed.

You may be exhausted from Thanksgiving celebrations, Black Friday bargain hunting, and Small Business Saturday shopping. So, it seems easy to sit in your armchair today or on Cyber Monday and order lots of stuff online. However, you could get trapped in some of the pitfalls that are common on Black Friday. Probably the biggest problem is buying things that really aren’t on sale.

After writing about tips for Small Business Saturday shopping, I headed to downtown Olympia to see what was up. I found no mention of Small Business Saturday, few bargains, and a moderate number of shoppers. The biggest crowd I saw was outside the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. A performance must have just been concluding. I did take my own advice and I shopped for something on my list.

While it’s great to support your favorite small business on Small Business Saturday, there’s no need to break your holiday shopping budget in the process. Here are some tips to help you save money today as you shop: Check your list of holiday purchases to see which ones you may be able to buy at your favorite small shops. Go to the website of small shops in your area to see what might be on sale.

On Black Friday, you can get some of the best bargains of the year. However, consumers also can be tricked. A recent study found 36 percent of items offer for sale on Black Friday had no savings compared with their pre-Black Friday prices. Be sure to compare prices continually to make sure you’re actually getting a bargain. In addition, stick to your budget.

On this day of thanks, I hope you and your loved ones are able to gather together and celebrate the positive things in your life. This afternoon, I enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with members of my church. The food was fabulous. I got a kick out of a note on pans of gravy that said “Costco gravy,” because I’d written about how to make gravy and what to do if you have lumps.

Each year, the U.S.PIRG Education Fund, a consumer group, tests toys prior to the holiday season to let parents know problems they may encounter. For the group’s 40th “Trouble in Toyland,” it looked at: Four toys that contain A.I. chatbots that interact with children. The group found some of these toys will talk in-depth about sexually explicit topics, will offer advice on where a child can find matches or knives, act dismayed when you say you have to leave, and have limited or no parental controls.

For years when I was growing up, my family went to Cashmere, Washington, from Orondo, to my great aunt Mable Kenyon’s home to celebrate Thanksgiving. The meals were fabulous. After I was married and had kids, I could cook a pretty great Thanksgiving meal, with all the trimmings, myself. Learning to cook and provide tasty food is a big farm tradition.

With airline travel, you never know what’s going to happen. As I tell my daughter, who I go to visit in Spain frequently, there are a dozen things that can go wrong. I breathe a sigh of relief after each step: little traffic on the way to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, having your documents and ticket, getting through security, making it to the gate in time, changing planes in time, and more.

“Bread & Butter,” a newsletter on Substack, is being relaunched by Consumer Reports, a consumer testing and advocacy organization. It’s a free, weekly that focuses on helping people save money and spend less. Written by Yasmeen Khan, a multimedia journalist who has covered the mechanics of modern living, “Bread & Butter” brings back part of Consumer Report’s 90-year history for a new generation.

I’ve gone to holiday dinner when the host or hostess serves gravy from a jar. Yes, gravy can be lumpy, which has happened to me a time or two. However, gravy is easy to make. I grew up on farms and I often asked my mom, “What kind of potatoes are we having tonight.” We had gravy often. My mom was really great at making potatoes and gravy.

Thanksgiving is a day people gather to celebrate and share thanks for their family and friends and express gratitude for the good things in life. A turkey dinner, with all the trimmings, is often a highlight of gatherings. Football and Black Friday sales also are important to some. Average person’s spending over the five-day Thanksgiving period is estimated to be $235 with the average cost of a 10-person Thanksgiving dinner expected to be $58.08.

Eighty-five percent of American consumers are planning to spend the same amount or less during the 2025 holiday season compared to 2024. Last year, 81.7 million Americans shopped in person on Black Friday, while 87.3 million made purchases online. While people are looking for bargains during the holidays, especially at Black Friday sales, a study found 36 percent of items offer no savings compared with their pre-Black Friday prices.

The holidays can be a time of great stress. I’ve written many times about ways to make things calmer so you can get more joy, such asking people to bring food items to holiday dinners rather than exhausting yourself doing it all. When it comes to your money, it’s also important to plan ahead to reduce stress. Here are some tips from the FDIC, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and others worth considering:

Gift cards are a lame present, but if you need to buy one due to lack of time, you didn’t know what to get for a gift, or for some other reason, it’s best to be pick out a good one. Gift cards are the most popular type of present for the 19th consecutive year in 2025. However, some gift cards are better than others.

President Trump and his advisors have come up with yet another questionable idea. Extending the length of the 30-year mortgage to 50 years. Yes, that would reduce the monthly payments of a typical homeowner who paid 20 percent down to about $250 a month. While that seems like it would be helpful, the 50-year mortgage has very serious problems: Most people would not pay off their mortgage before they die.

Although the holidays bring great joy, the season can also be a stressful time as you work to get everything ready. Planning ahead and being organized is the key. Nothing is worse that finding great presents, then find you’ve missed the deadline for shipping it. The U.S. Postal Service has announced the deadlines for the 2025 holiday season for the Lower 48 states.

It breaks my heart when I hear reports of seniors who have had money stolen, sometimes all their retirement savings, by a romance scammer. One senior woman reported her “love” in Nigeria had taken all her money, and she had to go live with her brother. Another woman fell in love with “John” and send him money on gift cards.

It’s no surprise. Candidate Trump and his backers were clear that they intended to cut federal regulations, including consumer protections, in addition to reducing the size of government. The Trump administration announced on Friday that it’s rolling back consumer protections for airline passengers created by the Biden administration that would require airlines to compensate passengers for flight delays and cancellations.