Young & Free South Carolina powered by South Carolina Federal Credit Union

Hello everyone! Hopefully everyone had a terrific first weekend of 2010, and now we can all enjoy a terrific first full week of the new year. =) Monday, January 4th, the #9 UNC Tarheels pay a visit to the College of Charleston for some mens basketball.The Cougars are 5-0 at home, but the Tarheels are the reigning college basketball national champions and have only recorded 3 losses on the season. It will be quite a challenge for the Cougars to topple UNC, and they need your support!

The game doesn't tip off until 7 p.m., but I'll be out there by noon handing out megaphones and other goodies, and for the first time we'll have our new money grab machine ready to go! Come check it out for your chance to win some Young & Free prizes! I'll be right outside the student entrance to the Carolina First Arena, and the car will be there too so you can't miss it! If you're still in town during winter break, you won't want to miss this basketball extravaganza. =)

-Josh Sutherland

If your resolutions include trying to save more money and being fiscally responsible, you should check out this article detailing ten ways to save money in the new year.

Here's the article, and here's a sample:

2) Track your cash
Shoppers can’t account for an average $21 spent each week, according to a September survey by Visa (V). Tallied up, that’s $1,092 per year in mystery purchases. Sign up for a free financial management site like Mint.com or Wesabe.com, which sync with your bank accounts to automatically sort and track purchases. You can also set budgets for individual categories, and receive email or text alerts when your spending nears that pre-set limit. There are plenty of sites out there, so use our guide to find the right one for you.

Check out all of the suggestions and take them to heart, and maybe you'll have a bit more money to your name by the time 2011 starts! Be safe and responsible this New Year's Eve, and I'll catch you on the other side!

-Josh "Big Saver" Sutherland

blog comments powered by Disqus

As you know, American New Years traditions include champagne, fireworks, and resolutions that some of us actually keep. But what about some other traditions found throughout the world?

Check out this site detailing traditions of different cultures around the globe. Here's just a sample:

Russia:

In Russia, Santa is replaced with Grandfather Frost. He looks much like Santa Claus but arrives on New Year's Eve with his bag of toys. He wears blue instead of red. Father Frost can punish any evil doer by freezing them. Often kids dance around the tree, tell rhymes to Father Frost then receive their presents.

They have large decorated trees in the centers of the major cities. The most formal New Year's celebration is party held at the Kremlin. As many as 50,000 attendance tickets are sold in the weeks before the annual event.

The Russian meal on New Year's is primarily meat and potato dishes.

Check out all the countries and see if you want to adopt any of their customs! Have a safe, responsible New Year's Eve!

-Josh "Grandfather Frost" Sutherland

blog comments powered by Disqus

Watch the 12seconds and answer the poll!

-Josh "Save Money" Sutherland

Hey everybody! There are only a couple of days left in 2009! Now's the time to wrap up your resolutions from 2009 and make some new ones for the coming year.

The most common New Year's resolutions have to do with spending less money, watching your diet and trying to get in shape, or quitting some bad habit. While these are all certainly worth trying to stick with for the entire year, most people seem to break their resolutions within the first couple of months! Set reasonable goals for yourself and maybe a year from now you can take another step.

For example, if your resolution is to quit smoking cigarettes, don't try to just go cold turkey. Maybe in 2010 you'll just cut down on your consumption and by 2011 you'll be done for good.

You could also try getting into good habits instead of just shedding bad ones. Maybe you should start to keep a real budget for yourself, to see exactly where your money goes and what you can possibly spend less on to help you save for something you really want! Take some time today to list some things you want to achieve in the new year!

-Josh "Resolved" Sutherland