Mpi / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Uncle Sam may have some money for you

About 100,000 Americans have a reason to look forward to contacting the Internal Revenue Service: Uncle Sam has some money for them.

The IRS announced Wednesday that 99,123 taxpayers are due refund checks, and these checks aren’t small change. The average undelivered refund check is $1,547, up about 5 percent from last year.

The IRS is hoping to pay out a total of $153.3 million in refund checks that couldn’t be delivered because of mailing address problems.

You can check to see if the IRS has a check waiting for you by going to the government’s Where’s My Refund? website. (You will want a copy of your tax return in front of you.)

Even if you think you are owed a refund, watch out for scams. The IRS does not contact people by e-mail, and it doesn’t ask you to send your personal information by e-mail, so if you receive those communications, they are probably bogus.

About 100,000 taxpayers a year typically see their tax refund checks returned as undelivered, IRS spokesman Eric Smith said.

The IRS has been pushing people to file electronically and to get their refunds deposited directly into their bank accounts to avoid snafus. Even if you mail in a paper tax return, Smith said you can choose to have the IRS send your refund directly into your bank account.

 “Everybody wants the money and they want it as quickly as possible,” Smith said. “We want to help them to get it.”

Related:

Who pays if the Social Security cap is lifted? Not many taxpayers

Wealthy Americans: Tax the rich (and by the way, we are not rich)

Universal Studios

Are you dreading the idea of being nice this holiday season? You're not alone.

You endured Black Friday. You survived the pepper spray and the taser guns. You may have even nabbed an awesome bargain or  decided to cut back a bit this season because of the grim economy.

But it's not even December yet. There's still a lot of misery left to endure.

At least that's the take of the venerable Consumer Reports, which asked its readers what they dread most about the holiday season.

Most of the top stress-inducing fears are obvious:

• 68 percent of the respondents dread crowds and long lines
• 37 percent fear gaining weight
• 37 percent fear going into debt.

But No. 10 on the list is a bit of a surprise. According to the survey, 15 percent dread the notion of "having to be nice." Yep, the idea of a forced smile and a "Have a nice day!" is just too much for some Americans. And nearly a quarter of those surveyed (23 percent) just can't stand Christmas music. The Grinch would be so proud.

"For all the chatter about nostalgia, family fun and gift giving this time of year, many people don't like too much of a good thing," said Tod Marks, senior editor at Consumer Reports.

"This commercial overindulgence wears on most of us," Marks said. "The long season appears to sour teh Tiny Tim in all of us."

The poll's results of the survey were based on a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,013 adults.

For the full list, see the story here 

What are you dreading most this season? (Be civil, folks.)

Intex Raised Downy Queen Airbed was the largest of the models we recommend.

By Kara Reinhardt, Cheapism.com

It’s less than a month before Christmas, when the children will nestle all snug in their beds — provided there are enough beds, that is. If you have family and friends coming in for the holidays, an inflatable air mattress can make a cost-effective guest bed. While visions of sugarplums might be a stretch, loved ones can rest in relative comfort for less than $70.

Size dictates price to a certain extent, but you can find up to a queen-size air mattress on a budget. Heights range from between 5 and 8 inches for camping to about 25 inches, comparable to the height of a mattress and box spring. Higher air mattresses tend to be more expensive and feel more like beds. It’s also easier to lie down on and get up from a mattress that approximates the height of a bed. However, a shorter, narrower bed works fine for young children. Just be sure never to place an infant on an air mattress. The Consumer Product Safety Commission warns that the soft surface of an air mattress poses a risk of suffocation.

Many budget air mattresses come with some type of pump included. A built-in electric pump is easiest to use: Just plug it in, turn it on, and watch the mattress inflate. (Pricier models sometimes come with a remote control.) A separate pump costs $10 to $50 more, so if you buy a mattress without a pump, be sure to factor that in.

Low-cost air mattresses tend to be made from easy-to-clean, puncture-resistant vinyl such as polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. Many feature a top surface with a soft texture to prevent sliding. Multiple air chambers translate to a firmer (and often more expensive) mattress. Some air mattresses also contain “coils” that connect the top and bottom to help prevent sagging.

Below are Cheapism’s top picks for affordable air mattresses.

• The Intex Raised Downy Queen Airbed (starting at $50) is the largest on our list. It’s made with two air chambers on top of each other, measures 22 inches high, and features a built-in electric pump. Hundreds of user reviews vouch for its comfort and durability. (Where to buy)
• The Coleman SUV Quickbed (starting at $25) is designed to fit in the back of a sport utility vehicle. At 41 inches, it’s just wider than a twin, making it a bit compact for two people. Users find it a comfortable, cheap choice for car camping. (Where to buy)
• The versatile Coleman 4-in-1 Quickbed (starting at $40) can function as two twin beds, zip together as a king, or stack up as one tall twin bed. Reviewers say it works best in the twin configurations. (Where to buy)
• The AeroBed Guest Choice Air Bed (starting at $58 for a twin, $65 for a queen) comes with a stand-alone electric pump that quickly inflates the mattress. Reviews deem it a good short-term option for overnight guests. (Where to buy)

More from Cheapism:
Cheap Air Mattresses
Cheap Digital Cameras
Cheap Christmas Trees and Holiday Decor
Outlet Shopping vs. Retail

Today Money financial expert David Bach joined us for a live Web chat Wednesday to answer your questions.

Here’s one of his answers to questions from the live chat. (See below for the full Q&A and video of David’s TV appearance this morning.)

Teisha asked:

“With the new year coming up, what five pieces of advice would you offer in terms of becoming better financially fit to start out a new year?”

David replied:

“Teisha great question. Are you a Today Show Producer, we can write the segment right now for you.

Okay my five pieces of advice for 2012...are...drum roll!

1) PAY YOURSELF FIRST. That means the moment you earn a dollar, you direct at least the first hour of income in the day to retirement account (like a 401k plan, IRA, Roth IRA or SEP IRA).

2) SAVE MONEY AUTOMATICALLY. That means that everything you save for you make the money move automatically. You have your earnings deposited automatically for you, and it's moved automatically at your bank into the various savings accounts you set up for retirement, emergency, college savings, home etc.

3) PAY DOWN YOUR DEBT. If you have credit debt, rather than worry about investing right now focusing on paying the credit card debt down. Go to www.finishrich.com/dolp and download my tool to help you pay down your debt or go to www.debtwise.com which is a site I promote with Equifax that helps you pay down your debt. Debt reduction is the key to financial security and freedom...so get serious about paying it down in 2012.

4) REFINANCE FROM 30 YEAR TO 15 YEAR. If you can afford to make extra payments on your mortgage do it., and you are really ready to get serious about being debt free, refinance from a 30 year to a 15 year mortgage. The rates on mortgages are the lowest we have practically ever seen, and now is a great time to do this.

5) GET SMART FINANCIALLY. To me the best investment you can make financially in 2012 will be in your own financial education. Learn more, read books, take classes, tune into us each week on Money 911, visit money.today.com ... make learning about money learning everything you can about YOUR MONEY, what you own and invest in a 2012 reality.

Thanks for the question....hope you enjoyed today’s chat!”

Here’s the full chat archive and David’s TV appearance:

If you have a question for our TODAY Money experts, submit it here. 

To sign up for an e-mail reminder for our next chat, click here.

When the risk of workplace sexual harassment is high, companies pay bigger salaries, a new study shows. And that may just be because it's cheaper to give a bump in pay than it is to banish bad behavior.
 
Just as employers dole out bigger paychecks to workers in jobs that come with a risk for injury and fatality, many are now paying more when the risk for sexual harassment is high, says the study's author Joni Hersch, a professor of law and economics at Vanderbilt University.
 
And it turns out this strategy might actually work. Hersch cites an example of a female mining engineer who chose to put up with sexual harassment rather than take a lower paying job with better working conditions. “She could have had a nicer job, but she likes the higher pay,” Hersch said.
 
For the new study Hersch calculated the risks of sexual harassment by industry, age group and sex by scrutinizing claims filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Her study was published in the American Economic Review.

When she combined that data with information on pay, Hersch came up with some intriguing results.  For example, she found that while women were six times as likely to be harassed as their male counterparts, men were getting far more relief in their paychecks.
 
Echoing the disparity between male and female incomes, the payoff for putting up with harassment was an extra 50 cents an hour  for men and an extra 25 cents an hour for women.
 
Mining and construction had the most EEOC complaints by women. Interestingly, mining also turned out to be bad news for men, scoring the second highest, right behind the information industry, when it came to EEOC complaints. 

For the most part, the worst places for women to work were those dominated by men. An exception is the leisure and hospitality category, which includes the restaurant industry.

Leisure and hospitality employees an almost equal number of men and women. But women still bore the brunt of harassment with 7 times as many claims to the EEOC as men.

And when Hersch looked specifically at food services, she found that the rate of harassment among women aged 25 to 44 was second only to that experienced by women working in mining.

Perhaps not surprisingly the rate went down with age.

With the economy still in the tank, Hersch expects companies are going to continue to be able to buy their way out of the problem for quite some time.

“With over 9 percent unemployment for the last four years, it’s not likely to change,” she said. “At a time of such high unemployment people are reluctant to leave their jobs and or to file a complaint.” 
 

Sean Gallup / Getty Images file

Bathers relax on inflatable water mattresses near the beach at Porto Katsiki, on the island of Lefkada, Greece, in 2010.

There’s good news and bad news on the American vacation front courtesy of a survey from Expedia.com.

Released on Wednesday, the Vacation Deprivation Study revealed that U.S. workers let two days of vacation go unused this year, down from three days last year.

Unfortunately, the drop wasn’t realized because people took more vacation days — the average American worker took 12 days in both years — but because they received, on average, 14 days of vacation this year vs. 15 in 2010.

“In terms of days they left on the table, as in ‘It’s yours and you gave it away,’ it went down,” said Joe Megibow, vice president and general manager. “But we’d like to see the gap get closed by people using more of their vacation days rather than having employers give them less.”

Less, of course, is a relative term as the annual study once again showed Americans getting far fewer vacation days than their peers in most other developed countries. Surveying 7,800 employed adults in 20 countries, the study (as usual) showed that workers in Europe get far more time off — 25 to 30 days per year — and tend to use almost all of it.

“In Europe, vacations are considered a way of life not a luxury,” said Megibow. “Even in countries where respondents reported less financial strength, they still go on vacation.”

Conversely, almost half of U.S. respondents reported their financial situation as “solid” or “good,” which according to Megibow, suggests a very different point of view: “In the U.S., people view vacations as a luxury,” he told msnbc.com. “Even though Americans report slightly stronger financial health, vacations are still one of the things that gets cut.”

Part of the problem may be that such feelings are being tempered by past events. “People are still focusing on the bad news and not taking in good news like retailers doing well,” said Alden Cass, a performance coach and CEO of Competitive Streak Consulting Inc. “They’re almost having a PTSD-like reaction to things that are out of their control.”

Far better, suggests Cass, is to just let go. “People need to get away to reduce the amount of anxiety in their lives, to disengage from their BlackBerrys and iPhones and to not worry about the things they do on a daily basis,” he told msnbc.com. “Sometimes lying on a Caribbean beach where there’s no Internet access is the best recipe for coming back with a clear head, an objective mindset and a better attitude.”

On the subject of disengaging, at least, Americans seem to be getting the message. When survey participants were asked how often they checked e-mail or voicemail while on vacation, 41 percent said never, 34 percent said sometimes, 20 percent said regularly and just 4 percent said constantly.

“Americans don’t get a lot of vacation,” said Megibow, “but on the few days they take, most are checking out [from work], which is great.”

More stories you might like:

• Missing but not forgotten: D.B. Cooper and other mysteries of travel
• Personalized guidebooks: your trip, your way
• Theme parks get ready to rev it up in 2012

Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

Burger King / Reuters

Burger King says the new fries, now a bit wider in diameter than a No. 2 pencil, will be available by December 5.

Burger King, the second largest hamburger chain, has changed its french fry recipe for the first time since 1998 as competition from upstarts and traditional fast-food rivals mounts.

Burger King said it made the new fries thicker, reduced sodium and added a coating that makes them crisper and keeps them hotter longer.

The fries, now a bit wider in diameter than a No. 2 pencil, will be available in its more than 7,000 North American Burger King restaurants by December 5. Prices remain the same.

"We're always trying to have the best menu possible. French fries are a big seller for us and we want to make sure we're always improving," said Leo Leon, vice president of innovation.

Leon said Burger King tested the new fries against other options.

"This, by far, was the winner," he added.

Burger King's move comes a little over a year after rival Wendy's introduced thinner "natural cut" fries that leave some skin and are sprinkled with sea salt.

McDonald's french fries often take the top spot in customer surveys, but independents such as Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Smashburger and In-N-Out Burger have been dialing up the pressure.

"The competition to have good quality french fries is heating up," said Darren Tristano, executive vice president at consulting firm Technomic, who recently tried the new Burger King fries.

"Making them thicker certainly makes them easier to eat, and since many of them are consumed in the car with one hand on the steering wheel, that's probably not a bad idea."

Burger King said the new fries have 20 percent less sodium than their predecessors.

The smallest, $1 portion has 330 mg of sodium and 240 calories. The fries are cooked in trans fat-free vegetable oil and do not contain animal products, Burger King said.

On December 16 Burger King is promoting its new fries by giving away $1 "value" portions for free. The new fries will be available outside the United States in 2012.

The trend in french fries is toward more "natural" offerings. That includes fries that are or appear to be made from fresh-cut potatoes and topped with "artisan" toppings such sea salt.

"The term natural seems to resonate (with diners), even though there isn't a great definition of natural," Tristano said.

In-N-Out cuts its french fries in its restaurants every day and cooks them in cholesterol-free vegetable oil.

Five Guys cooks its fries in peanut oil and gives customers the option of having them "cajun style."

Smashburger seasons its regular fries with sea salt. It also offers fries made from potatoes or sweet potatoes that are "toasted with rosemary, olive oil and garlic."

McDonald's lately has attempted to reinforce its position as the top french fry seller by promoting its fries, Tristano said.

Investment firm 3G Capital bought Burger King last year and took it private in a $3.3 billion deal. Burger King has 12,400 restaurants around the world.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Patagonia

Each year, lots of people promise that this will be the year they cut back on holiday spending, focus on the true meaning of the holidays and end the season without that other holiday tradition: credit card debt.

Some people actually do trade shopping and splurging for caroling and cookie making. But, based on retail sales figures, it appears that most years, most people don’t.

This year is starting off no different: Although many people said they are worried about being able to afford holiday items, Black Friday weekend saw record crowds and higher spending levels than last year.

Lately, some companies and organizations have been trying to make the most of those more altruistic intentions.

On Black Friday, jacket maker Patagonia ran ads urging people NOT to buy its clothes if they didn’t need them.

In a post on the company’s blog, the high-end outdoor clothing maker explained, “It would be hypocritical for us to work for environmental change without encouraging customers to think before they buy.”

It’s an interesting marketing tactic that plays into the company’s longstanding environmental activism, which includes its Common Threads pledge to cut down on waste.

A nonprofit called The Center for the New American Dream also is asking people to take a pledge, this one promising to do things like “give the gift of time” and “consider less gimmicky, less commercial gifts.”

The organization also has a template e-mail where you can invite people to sponsor your pledge by making a donation to the Center for the New American Dream. The group describes itself as helping “Americans consume responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life and promote social justice.”

Kathy Hedge, the group’s deputy director, said about 800 people have signed the pledge so far. Although the organization has in the past offered tips for simplifying the holidays, this is the first year they are offering the pledge. They’re hoping it will make people more likely to keep their commitment to cutting back.

“I think any time you actually make a pledge you’re a little more likely to carry through,” Hedge said.

In 2008, at the height of the recession, we profiled four families who had decided to cut back on their holiday spending.

When we checked back in on them in January, they had mostly kept to their more limited budgets, and they felt good about it. That turned out to be one of the few years when holiday spending actually fell, by 4.4 percent.

Readers, what about you?

Related: Anti-Black Friday actions urged

Pepperidge Farm

This kid may not know it, but he's got his hands on one of the hottest brands in America.

If you have your finger on the pulse of the nation’s hottest brands, you’re wearing a Uniqlo jacket, zipping around town in a Kia Soul, cooking with Skillet Street bacon spread and taking notes with a Sharpie pen.

Advertising Age on Monday revealed its list of the nation’s hottest brands. It’s a mix of older brands that have managed to find new life and up-and-comers you may not have heard of, yet.

Among the ones that may not ring a bell to everyone: Japanese retailer Uniqlo, which Ad Age chose because of its success in cracking the tough Manhattan retail market. The advertising magazine also lauded Skillet Street for taking the grassroots popularity of a hamburger topping called “bacon jam” to a national audience and Pickle Juice Sport, a sport drink made of exactly what you think it’s made of.

Several brands you may remember from your childhood also make the list. Ad Age gives Sharpie props for expanding its line of writing products and getting celebrities to use the company’s pens for signing autographs. The toddler-friendly Pepperidge Farm Goldfish also earns a spot on the list for juicing up the 50-year-old brand with offerings like crust-free bread with its signature smiley face on it.

Read the full list here.

Readers, what's your favorite brand?

Anna Staab gets her ticket at Walmart for a $199 Xbox with Kinect and a $50 gift certificate.

By Eve Tahmincioglu

Extended Black Friday hours may have angered those store employees who had to work before their turkey dinners were digested, but many shoppers were happy with this year's earlier store opening times because they found fewer raucous crowds and shorter lines as a result.

“This was the absolute calmest Black Friday I have ever experienced,” said Nathan Luna, 24, who began his shopping trek at 12:08 a.m. this morning and headed to Best Buy in Wheaton, Md.

While things may have been more relaxed, projections for the number of consumers heading out on the biggest shopping day of the year are up.

According to data compiled for the National Retail Federation by BIGresearch, up to 152 million people plan to shop over the Black Friday weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), that's higher than the 138 million people who planned to do so last year. According to the survey, 74 million people say they will definitely hit the stores and another 77 million are waiting to see if the bargains are worth braving the cold and the crowds.

Overall, electronics and clothing were among the biggest scores for many consumers, especially video game players and high-end fashions. And many shoppers said they found the sales items they wanted, unlike past Black Fridays that offered slim pickings; and lots of sales people to help them navigate the stores.

Here are some first-hand accounts of the day and deals from Black Friday aficionados:

“The crowds were very well-behaved,” said Brad Williams, 39, an analyst for Duke University who headed out at 9:15 p.m. last night with his wife Wendy. “The line at Target, as I said, was enormous, but my wife said that the people there were jovial and pretty Zen about the wait. No pushing or shoving whatsoever.”

The couple has two young kids, but grandparents take the kids after Thanksgiving dinner to their house so Brad and his wife can shop unfettered.

"The crowds seemed to be bigger this year at Target and Kohl's, but smaller elsewhere," Williams added. "I think that has to do with when we arrived. We were in the teeth of the initial rush at those two places, but by the time we got to Crabtree, about 3 a.m., that had subsided and the second rush, when non-crazy people are getting up, hadn't yet begun."

Brad Williams

Orderly crowds at the Tanger Outlets in Mebane, N.C.

The deals overall were good, he said, but his “best bargains” were “a pair of Lucky Brand jeans for my wife, which were $18 (original outlet price was $69.50, they were on clearance for $30, and 40 percent off that), and a Brooks Brothers sports shirt, which was $29.90.”

Wendy Novicenskie

Brad Williams shows off his Black Friday loot.

Anna Staab, 51, Metamora, Il., hit the stores around 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving and found lots of merchandise available at Walmart and Menards, a regional department store chain. “After seeing plenty of merchandise left at Walmart at this hour we wondered if it had something to do with the economy or if people were just avoiding it due to the earlier hours,” she surmised.

Staab, a retired Post Master who has seven kids living with her, some foster, some adopted and some biological, said she needed to be out early to get the big bargains and ended up with quite a few.

Her biggest complaint was where Walmart placed the sales items.

“Big box items, i.e. trampoline, ping pong table, power ride on toys, were all at the back of the store. Customers had to fight the crowds with the huge boxes,” she explained. “They need a better system for those.”

Nathan Luna

Nathan Luna grabbed an iPad for $454.

And Staab didn't like that many retailers staggered sales throughout the night.

"Certain things went on sale at 10 p.m. Thursday, then midnight, then 8 a.m.," she noted.

Besides a few annoyances, she was able to get the one thing she really wanted. She's most proud of the Xbox with Kinect she got at Walmart for $199 and a $50 Walmart card included, about half the price it was last year.

The iPad 2 was the only thing Nathan Luna was looking for.

He arrived at the Best Buy in Wheaton, Md., at 12:20 a.m. and found the parking log jammed and a line of more than 700 people.

“Less-experienced Black Friday shoppers would have probably turned around in horror, but I pressed on,” said Luna, a TV photographer who has been Black Friday shopping since he was a kid when he shopped with his mom and grandmother.

Nathan Luna

Lines formed at the Best Buy in Wheaton, Md., and police were on hand to keep things moving smoothly.

Despite the crowds, he said, a group of police officers helped shuffle shoppers into the store and the line within 20 minutes after the store opened.

Nathan Luna

There were big crowds at the Best Buy in Wheaton, Md., but lines moved quickly, according to one shopper.

“I was greeted by a wall of Dynex 32-inch TVs and thousands of people jamming up the aisles,” he described. “I asked the greeter where the iPads were, and he directed me to the back of the store. I had to bump a few elbows to get back there, but when I did, I noticed something new.”

Instead of a line snaking around the entire store, he said, there were check-out lines scattered throughout the store near key items.

“When I got in the iPad line, I literally had eleven people in front of me,” he said, adding that it took about a half hour to check out, compared to the hours it has taken during past Black Fridays.

He eventually got his iPad for $454.

Erin Mellini was happy she paid $10 for VIP parking through Livingsocial for the Rockaway Townsquare Mall in Rockaway, N.J., because she ended up with a prime parking spot.

“The VIP parking was nice and close, and it gave me peace of mind my car was in good hands because the mall security was in charge of it,” she said.

Erin Mellini

Erin Mellini with the hard drive for $30 she was able to snag.

Mellini, 25, a zookeeper and educator from Randolph, N.J., found the mall relatively quiet when she got there at 5 am.

“The stores were not really picked clean,” she added, but “any deep discount item, which you needed a ticket for, was gone.

For example a $199, 42-inch HDTV from Best Buy was gone, but I got an external Toshiba hard drive that I was intending to buy and didn’t have to deal with the mad rush at midnight. I got it for $30 which is a very good price.”

The best deal, she noted, was a $40 WiFi streaming media player from Walmart.

“I was happiest to get that, which was a door-buster deal,” she explained, adding that most of the stores had a great supply of advertised merchandise.

Mellini acknowledged that she and her friend Erica, who joined her on the shopping excursion, didn’t have the same "adrenaline rush" they had on previous Black Fridays because the crowds seemed to be so spread out given the extended hours.

“We still had a great time and intend to maybe go out at midnight next year if that is going to become the norm for stores,” she added.

Related stories:

Black Friday turns ugly: Two shot, 15 pepper-sprayed

Why Black Friday shopping is crucial for retailers

National Retail Federation

Thanksgiving is over, and that means retailers are hoping you’ll put down the fork and pick up the credit card.

The holiday season can be a make-or-break time for retailers: It made up nearly 20 percent of total retail industry sales last year, according to the National Retail Federation, a trade group. Those stocking stuffers and sweaters added up to a whopping $453 billion, according to the NRF.

Still, it’s not always a predictable time of year, especially lately. Holiday retail sales fell sharply in 2008, in the depths of the recession, but saw a sharp gain last year.

This year, retailers are expecting holiday sales to rise by 2.8 percent, to $465.6 billion.

A large chunk of that shopping will happen over this holiday weekend, starting as early as Turkey Day itself. About 22 million shopped on Thanksgiving Day last year, according to the NRF.

Black Friday has been the biggest shopping day of the year for the last seven years, according to ShopperTrak, which estimates consumer traffic.

BIGresearch for NRF

If you do go shopping this weekend, you are quite likely to buy clothes. About half of Black Friday weekend shoppers say they purchase clothes or accessories. Books, CDs, DVDs, video games and toys are also popular items. 

BIGresearch for NRF

Related:

How Black Friday got its name and became a tradition

Avoid Black Friday madness (and still get great deals)

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

People walk past a store in New York City.

Today Money and msnbc.com expert Allison Linn joined us for a live Web chat Wednesday to answer your questions about holiday shopping and managing your finances.

Here’s one of her answers to questions from the live chat. (See below for the full Q&A.)

Matt asked:

“This year, my wife and i decided to buy each other ONLY necessities (socks, underwear, etc.) We are thinking about doing that for our kids too. Thoughts?”

Allison replied:

“Wow, Matt, that's a great strategy for saving money. I do think that it probably depends on how old your kids are and what their expectations are for the holidays. If you are going with necessities for them, you probably want to talk about that beforehand, explain why you are doing it and talk about how they can craft and appropriate holiday wish list. It can be a great holiday tradition, though, and who knows - my kids LOVE getting pajamas for the holidays, and that's become a holiday tradition for us.”

If you have a question for our TODAY Money experts, submit it here. 

To sign up for an e-mail reminder for our next chat, click here.

Charles Rex Arbogast / AP

Very few shoppers set a strict holiday budget, according to a new survey.

Given the state of the economy, it comes as no surprise that many Americans are worried about how they’ll be able to pay for all their holiday expenses.

The trouble is, most of us don’t seem to be doing much to plan for it.

A new survey from the National Endowment for Financial Education finds that just 31 percent of consumers plan to set a budget this holiday season. That’s only slightly more than last year, when 27 percent said they were making a budget.

The vast majority said they weren’t going to set a holiday spending budget. Still, only 10 percent said they often spend more than they want to. That’s about the same as last year.

The wealthier the household, the less likely they were to set a budget.

Half of the people NEFE surveyed said they were more worried about being able to afford holiday expenses than they were five years ago. Nearly 4 in 10 are just as concerned about holiday spending as they were five years ago.

Harris Interactive conducted the survey of about 2,800 adults earlier this month on NEFE’s behalf.

Related:

Shop smart and save money this holiday season

'Christmas creep' annoys, but seems to work

By Kara Reinhardt
Cheapism.com

For all the time we spend saying “cheese” over the holidays, we seem to spend little time admiring the photos that result. Family portraits that don’t make the cut for the Christmas card wind up languishing on a memory card. A digital picture frame lets you put all those photos on display. It can also make a thoughtful gift, even for someone who’s not very tech-savvy, if you preload it with a selection of favorite snapshots. Respected brands such as Kodak and Sony offer plenty of features -- and, more important, excellent image quality -- for less than $80.

Look for resolution of at least 640x480 for a 7-inch frame. Larger frames require more pixels to display crisp photos. Experts recommend an aspect ratio of 4:3, the automatic setting on most digital cameras, or 3:2, which is standard on digital SLR cameras. Widescreen may be the way to go in an HDTV, but in a digital frame, an aspect ratio of 16:9 can make photos appear distorted or cropped.

You can fill a digital frame with pictures in a few different ways. Probably the simplest method is to insert a memory card or USB flash drive. Loading photos from a computer using a USB cord is a common alternative. Most models come with some internal memory so you don’t have to leave an external memory source in the frame all the time. A more sophisticated option is to transfer photos wirelessly, but low-cost frames seldom offer that capability.

Extra features available in this price range include a remote control, a slide show function, and built-in speakers and support for audio files, so you can set your photos to music. Many frames also double as a clock, alarm clock, and calendar.

Below are Cheapism’s top picks for affordable digital photo frames.

• The 7-inch Pandigital PAN7000DW (starting at $60) earns praise from experts and users for its ability to support not only image files but also music and videos. It offers 800x600 resolution, 1GB of internal memory, and a remote control. It also comes with a timer that can be programmed to turn the display on or off. (Where to buy)
• The 7-inch Kodak EasyShare P750 (starting at $77) can be found on sale for as little as $60. It boasts 800x600 resolution, a remote control, and 2GB of internal memory, at least double the amount of any other frame on our list. It’s also the only model efficient enough to earn Energy Star status. Reviewers recommend it for people without a lot of technical know-how. (Where to buy)
• The 7-inch Sony DPF-D710 (starting at $67) features a remote control and a timer and automatically rotates images to the proper orientation. It comes with 128MB of internal memory and a 16:10 aspect ratio but uses black bars to keep from stretching or cropping photos to fit the screen. Its 800x480 resolution is lower than our other picks’, but experts and users rave about the image quality. (Where to buy)
• The Tao Digital Photo Keychain (starting at $10) makes an appealing stocking stuffer. It comes in eight colors and packs 16MB of memory and three to four hours of battery life into 1.5 inches. Reviewers admire the vivid display. (Where to buy)

One final tip: PCMagpoints out that there’s no need to buy a device to display your photos if you own an iPad. You already have a $500 frame.

More from Cheapism:
Cheap Digital Photo Frames
Black Friday Deals
Amazon vs. Walmart
Cheap Tablets

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Brown-bag it to the corner office?

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and flattery can get you everywhere. In that spirit, here are some tips for copying the folks in the corner office.

Careerbuilder.com surveyed 561 CEOs, senior VPs and other top managers about everything from what they eat for lunch to how they part their hair. Here are some highlights.

The myth of the power lunch. Careerbuilder found that about 4 in 10 senior managers bring their own lunch, while only about two in 10 eat at a sit-down restaurant. A surprising 23 percent said they normally don’t have lunch at all.

Don’t drink and manage? Nearly one-third of big bosses said they skip the alcohol at company events. Of course, that means about two-thirds do enjoy an alcoholic beverage at a happy hour or company party. Wine and beer were the most popular office event drinks, while only 3 percent of senior leaders said they do shots (we’re guessing that gets pretty interesting).

Dress the part: The majority of senior managers said they prefer business casual attire, while 18 percent wear jeans or shorts and only 14 percent wear a business suit.

Keep the pink at home: When it comes to colors, conservative hues win. Navy blue is the most popular color, followed by black. Male managers are more likely to go navy, while female managers prefer black. Almost no manager likes red or pink.

And the hair: There seems to be a virtually even split between those that part to the right and those that part to left. Only 7 percent said they shave their heads or are bald.

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Flip-flops are a bigger office don't than strapless tops

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Sick employees who try to fight through their runny noses and sore throats while on the job might seem like workplace troupers, but new research shows they may actually be suffering from a bad case of insecurity.

A new Concordia University study found that employees who were insecure about their jobs also were more likely to attend work while ill — making them present in body but not in spirit.

"Secure employees don't fear retribution for an occasional absence because of sickness," Gary Johns, the study's author and a management professor at Concordia's John Molson School of Business in Montreal, said.

According to the research, over six months employees reported trekking into the office three times while sick; comparatively, they called in sick and stayed home only about one and a half days in that same time period.

Some professions, including caregivers and people working in early education, showed higher rates of employees coming to work while sick. Those working on interdependent projects or in teams also showed higher levels of what the study refers to as "presenteeism."

"Often, a person might feel socially obligated to attend work despite illness, while other employees feel organizational pressure to attend work despite medical discomfort," Johns said.

Although companies have long dealt with issues of increased cases of sick days from employees, Johns said his research suggests businesses actually should be doing more to curb employees’ perceived workplace obligation to be at the office when they’re under the weather.

"Estimating the cost of absenteeism is more tangible than counting the impact of presenteeism," Johns said. "Yet a worker's absence — or presence — during illness can have both costs and benefits for constituents."

The full study, which included surveys of more than 400 employees, was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

More stories from our partner

• 10 Scariest Business Blunders of the Year (So Far)
• 17 Great Business Ideas for 2012
• 5 Steps to Quitting the Job You Hate and Starting Your Own Business

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Telecommuting parents have little chance to escape the messy world of parenting, a new study suggests.

If you’re considering telecommuting to salve your stress from the constant juggling of work and family, think again.

A new study shows that “telework” takes a toll on the very employees who might desire this option most — those who feel especially torn between job responsibilities and family. For these people, the more hours spent working at home, the higher the risk of burnout, according to the report, published in the Journal of Business and Psychology.

That’s because when job and family are in the same place, some workers feel there is no chance for downtime —no respite or time to relax, said Timothy Golden, an associate professor of management at the Lally School of Management and Technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

“A teleworker may feel conflict more because you’re being constantly reminded of your home role: whether it’s what you need to do as a parent or household chores,” Golden said. “And that can make exhaustion worse."

Golden surveyed 316 employees from a large computer company that allows workers to  telecommute and to work with a flexible time schedules.

To ferret out the level of job/family conflict, Golden asked employees to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 how strongly they agreed with statements such as, “My work keeps me from my family activities more than I would like,” “Due to pressures at work, sometimes when I am at home I am too stressed to do the things I enjoy,” “The time I spend on family responsibilities often interferes with my work responsibilities,” and “ Because I am often stressed from family responsibilities, I have a hard time concentrating on my work.”

Golden also surveyed the employees about their level of exhaustion. Study volunteers were asked to rate on a scale of 1-5 how strongly they agreed with statements such as, “I feel emotionally drained by my work.”

Telecommuting was a boon to workers who felt little or no conflict between work and family. But those who were the most torn between home and work responsibilities showed increasing levels of exhaustion as hours spent teleworking rose.

Still, Golden said,  even among those who feel strong conflict, telecommuting can be a good choice if it’s done right. That means having clear boundaries, both mental and physical — such as a door to one’s home office — between work and family.

“Telework, if it’s done well, can be very beneficial,” he added. “You save time commuting. You don’t have to deal with the stress of being delayed on your way to work because of traffic or weather. You have the comfort of working where you want to. But you have to think ahead of time about what might impact you if you’re working from home.”

Michael Nagle / Getty Images file

Shoppers look for bargains at Toys "R" Us last year. The big-box chain is opening at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving this year.

Call it Black Friday fatigue.

With stores racing to open ever earlier on Thanksgiving (Wal-Mart’s doors will open at 10 p.m.!), a backlash is growing, with some retailers and analysts questioning the madness.

“The lunacy of opening at 12 midnight or even earlier on Thanksgiving evening shows that this whole Black Friday thing has run out of legs,” said IDC Retail Insights program director Greg Girard. “Black Friday is a race to the bottom, and it’s just become another ad avenue.”

Other analysts think this year's extended hours are meant to distract shoppers from a lack of exciting inventory.

“If you build it, they will come,” said NPD Group chief industry analyst Marshal Cohen, “but they won’t come in the dead of night. To me, you’re not going to sell more product just because you’re open more hours. It’s more of a smoke screen than it is a solution to the issue.”

This year, some stores are choosing not to take extreme measures to lure in bargain-hungry customers as they kick off a season that is expected to bring in about $465.6 billion in sales, a modest 2.8 percent increase over last year.

Sears, for one, has decided to pass on the trend for midnight openings set by big-box retailers including Best Buy, Kohls and Target. Toys 'R' Us is opening at 9 p.m. Thanksgiving night, an hour ahead of Wal-Mart.

Last year, Sears chose to keep its doors open on Thanksgiving from 7 a.m. until noon, with the idea that shoppers would come in early to rack up a few deals and then head home to their families for a midday meal.

But while the company did have good numbers that day, “The customer feedback was very clear,” said Sears spokesman Tom Aiello. “The customers liked the deals, but they didn’t like the idea of Thanksgiving shorted as a holiday.”

So the chain will revert to its original plan to open at 4 a.m. on Friday. “I think there’s a group of customers that don’t aspire to get up in the middle of the night,” Aiello said.

Retail chain JC Penneyalso decided to stick with a 4 a.m. opening time this year so employees can spend Thanksgiving with friends and family, according to a company spokesman.

Employees at Target and Best Buy have launched petition drives on the website change.org protesting the early openings. “A midnight opening robs the hourly and in-store salary workers of time off with their families on Thanksgiving Day,” wrote petition creator Anthony Hardwick, who identifies himself as a Target employee.

Some local retailers are still undecided on their Black Friday hours and will make last-minute decisions, according to Cohen.

Others are resisting the bonanza that is Black Friday altogether—or at least, they engage in more subtlety. Seattle-based retail chain Nordstrom has avoided opening its doors on Thanksgiving throughout the company’s history and in recent years has posted signs in its stores that read, “One holiday at a time.”

Nordstrom waits until the morning of Black Friday to unveil its Christmas decorations, though it will open doors early that morning in some locations.

“It’s not as in your face,” said Forrester vice president and senior analyst Sucharita Mulpuru, “but there’s a reason that Thanksgiving weekend that people work longer hours and [the stores] pull out all the stops as far as offering sales and promotions—because that’s the nature of that weekend.”

Analyst Greg Girard of IDC said Black Friday is virtually absent from the websites of brand-oriented stores like Gap, Nordstrom and Lord & Taylor.

"And they’re doing something much more surgical in that they’re moving towards direct communications, like text messaging to consumers," he said. "They’re getting to consumers with whom they have a longer lifetime relationship."

Nordstrom, like many higher-end stores, doesn’t rely as heavily on Black Friday to make or break its sales year. Black Friday “is among our most high volume days. But it isn’t our largest sales day of the year, unlike many retailers,” said Nordstrom spokesman Colin Johnson.

Apparently you’ve noticed that your grocery bill is going up.

A post this week on the rising cost of food we eat at home prompted thousands of you to weigh in on how your grocery runs are crimping your budget. Nearly 47,000 of you took our poll, without about half saying it’s hard to afford the food you need.

Many readers shared tips for cutting down on food costs. Some readers said they are growing their own veggies and hunting their own meat, while others said they were clipping coupons, avoiding pricier processed foods and buying only what’s on sale.

“We try everything to cut back or eliminate on food and spending. We work harder and longer, yet still we struggle to pay the mortgage,” one reader wrote.

When you’re struggling with everyday costs, it can be stressful to think about how you are going to pay for holiday gifts — especially if the holiday push began while it was still shorts weather.

A post this week on how retailers are marketing holiday shopping earlier and earlier, and even offering Black Friday deals on the evening of Thanksgiving, got a lot of you talking.

On our Facebook page, some of you welcomed the chance to finish up your Thanksgiving pie and head out to the stores.

 “What is the big deal??? It's all good!!! Thanksgiving is a family holiday, what better way to spend a holiday after dinner than shopping with family for family!!!!” one reader wrote.

But other Facebook users weren’t so enthusiastic.

“It's a horrible idea. Makes you realize how much businesses want to make that extra buck. Thanksgiving is for time to spend with your family and friends, NOT to go shopping,” another wrote.

On to one of the bigger budget items: College tuition.

We’ve written a lot about how much of a burden the cost of college is, but what about the payout? Another post this week looked at a government estimate that a college degree could net you $1 million more over your life than if you just have a high school diploma.

Many of you were skeptical, especially considering the stress of student loan debt and the difficult job market.

“How odd. My degree was only good for lining the bottom of a bird cage. Too many people with job experience vying for the same jobs I was. I eventually had to start a career in a profession that had nothing to do with my college studies. Beyond typing that is,” one reader wrote.

Also this week, Hip2Save’s Collin Morgan dropped by for a chat. Her advice for those debating whether to brave the crowds on Black Friday or even the night of Thanksgiving: Hold off until Cyber Monday!

"In my opinion, Cyber Monday is better! Plus, you are not wasting gas and time since you can snag deals in your PJs without having to deal with crowds!" she said.

It’s that time of the year: It's darker, colder, and we're fretting about the arrival of the electric bill.

You have a lot more to worry about if you live in Connecticut than if you live Colorado.

The Energy Information Administration this week released the most recent data comparing Americans’ average electricity bills by state.

The 2010 figures show that residents of Hawaii, Maryland and Alabama have a lot more to fear in their electric bill than folks living in Utah, New Mexico or Montana.

There are plenty of reasons why electric bills vary much more widely than, say, the price you pay at the gas pump.

Jonathan Cogan, an information specialist with the EIA, said one big help is if your energy comes from a low-cost source, like hydropower plants in the Pacific Northwest or coal-fired plants elsewhere in the country.

In addition, the cost depends on how much power people use. In the South, for example, people depend heavily on electricity for air conditioning in the summer and are more likely to use electricity for heat in the winter, Cogan said.

In the Northeast, on the other hand, air conditioning is less prevalent and most people use other power sources, like gas, for heating.

The full list is available here.

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