It's almost time for my favorite holiday, Black Friday. Of course, I'm kidding, but as someone who loves to shop, I do look forward to Black Friday and Cyber Monday each year.

Shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be a great time to score deals on items that you've wanted to purchase, but you can also get easily sucked into overspending if you're not prepared. Check out the BALANCE blog post below for tips on how to avoid overspending on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Halloween is right around the corner, and if you don't already have a costume, this is your sign to make your own. If you're not super crafty, no need to worry, these costumes are super easy to make; plus, they're also super cheap.

Halloween can get pretty expensive once you've bought a costume, accessories, candy, treat bags, etc. Save some money this year and make one of the creative costumes below:

Everyone loves a good showdown; It's why we're all so plugged into football season right now. But what about a financial showdown, credit cards vs. debit cards.

Most Americans carry several different payment cards in their wallets; some debit, some credit. Maybe you have a system in place for which card to use when, or perhaps you use one type all the time. But do you really know the difference and when it is more beneficial to use one over the other?

Check out the BALANCE blog below, where they put debit cards and credit cards in a one-on-one showdown to see where and when using them may be best for your finances.

Have you grabbed your copy of the October Grand Strand Magazine? You'll definitely want to grab one and check out the Women in Business Edition, featuring profiles of some of our area's most prominent businesswomen.

One of my favorite things about being a homeowner is decorating my house for each season. With the first day of fall being next week, I figured it was about time to get started on my fall décor. Unfortunately, the décor had been picked over everywhere I looked or was super expensive, so I decided to make my own.

The dog days of summer are officially here. I used to dread this time of year as a kid because I knew that the start of a new school year was sure to follow. I always hated kissing summer goodbye, but at least I got to go back-to-school shopping.

I've always been a shopper, so my favorite part of heading back to school was shopping for new clothes, shoes, and supplies. Growing up in a small town in Virginia, we didn't have many retail stores to get the things we needed, so we always came to the beach for our big back-to-school shopping trip. If she could, my mom always tried to plan our trip on tax-free weekend.

This year, tax-free weekend is August 6th-8th. If you're planning to shop, check out my blog post from last year's tax-free weekend for a few pro tips.

It's beginning to look a lot like Independence Day! Well, at least at my house it is. Independence Day has been my favorite holiday for as long as I can remember. Even as a kid, when everyone else liked Christmas or Halloween, I was an Independence Day type of girl. Fireworks, summer weather, and great food; what more can you ask for? 

I love to stay busy. If you looked up a busy bee in the dictionary, I'm sure my photo would be right there. Most every night and weekend, I busy myself with some event or activity.

I'm not quite sure if I keep myself so busy to avoid boredom or if I just have a serious case of FOMO (fear of missing out). Either way, I try to stay in the know on upcoming community events because of my desire to keep busy.

It may be because so many events were canceled last year, but this year's summer social calendar is jam-packed! Below are some of the fun events I've attended/ plan to attend this summer. Join in the fun, and maybe I'll even run into you there.

Camptown Ladies sing this song, doodah doodah!

Schools are out, and summer is here, which means it's time for summer camp. Some of my favorite childhood summer memories took place at summer camp.

As soon as I was old enough, my parents signed me up for any and every day camp possible—Sports camp, dance camp, cooking camp, you name it. Summer day camps were a great way for me to try out new activities. Day camps allowed me to attend a week-long camp to see if I enjoyed the activity before joining the team or signing up for an entire year of lessons.

Day camps were also a great way to meet other kids in my area. Since most of the day camps that I attended were local, I met lots of kids from the other side of town and made lots of new friendships.

Once I got a little bit older, I started going to sleepaway camps. Attending sleepaway camp was the first time I had ever really been away from home or my parents for more than one night, which really helped me develop a sense of independence. I still learned lots of new activities as I had done at day camp, but I also learned how to do things by myself, like waking up and getting ready, packing my suitcase, getting places on time, etc.

When I was packing up to leave my very first sleepaway camp, I threw all my dirty clothes back into my suitcase, including my wet towels and bathing suits. At the time, I didn't realize that the wet clothes would get everything mildewed in my hot suitcase throughout the day. Needless to say, that was a lesson that I learned the hard way, and one my mom still has never let me live down.

Attending summer camps provides kids with the opportunity to learn new things, meet new people, and gain independence from their parents. It is such a wonderful opportunity with so many life lessons.

Click here for my local summer camp round-up, which includes both day and sleepaway camps that your child may enjoy this summer. Below is a recent Living Local Carolina segment, where Rainee and I got a behind-the-scenes look into Wildlife Action Summer Adventure Camp at Fork Retch Wildlife Refuge in Mullins, SC.

When I think about summer, the first thing to come to mind is vacation. As a kid, summer is when you get a break from school, go to new places, and try new things. Other than the one week of paid vacation that you worked all year to take, summer is pretty much the same as any other time of year for adults. But what if this summer, we too, could spend all summer on vacation.