Eight years ago, I experienced my first retail Black Friday. I had been working at jcpenney.com for almost a year, and we were feverishly gearing up for the busiest season of the year. Little did I know what that meant. But the next few weeks pulled me into a world of craziness that I now look forward to every year. There are a number of explanations for the origin of the term Black Friday. Some people link it to the cut-throat approach consumers take to stake out and claim their bounties. Others note that most retailers do the bulk of their business near year’s end, when shoppers push retailers “into the black” - an accounting term signifying profitability. Whatever the origin, it’s the best time of year for bargain hunters to save.

Ten years ago, online shopping was finally taking shape after a few years of experimentation. A few companies had ventured online to see if there was a new frontier to reach consumers, and a little company called Amazon.com was in its fifth year of selling books and diversifying into a broader range of products.

I remember hearing that we should save the first 10 percent to 15 percent of our earnings. As a business, Southwest Airlines is known for spending less when times are good, so that there is something to dip into when times get lean. Yet in recent years, before the recession, the savings rate for Americans dropped to record lows.

If you think you can’t afford to remodel your home and increase its value, think again. Remodeling can be costly, but with materials and labor costs at an all-time low, this could be the least expensive time to update your home. Most Realtors say it’s kitchen and bathroom updates that give you the highest return on investment when it’s time to sell. Because October was National Kitchen and Bath month, salespeople have been focusing recently on the best items for updating these important rooms.

Growing up in the Texas Hill Country, I was your typical all-American boy, playing sports and dreaming of reaching the Super Bowl, World Series or World Cup some day. The camaraderie of the team, the pride of being an athlete and the cheering fans were intoxicating. Late into high school, I realized I wasn’t actually professional material, and the excitement of game day was gone. Or so I thought. I never imagined the thrill of victory would return years later—and my uniform would be pink.

When I was growing up, my parents were adamant about making sure we saved money any way and every day. This was borne out of necessity—my father was a land surveyor, and my mother worked in an adminis trative function for a large company. They weren’t paid huge sums for their hard work. But my sister and I were never without the things we needed, thanks to our parents’ personal sacrifices and their ability to make a dollar go as far as possible. As a child, learning how to save money had an effect on me, a profound and deep one I carry to this day. In fact, helping others save money has become my calling and career.

I have never been a huge coffee drinker, but everyone in my family is. Growing up, there wasn’t a day that our single-cup coffee maker wasn’t working overtime to keep up with the demand each morning. My family wasn’t alone. Of course, this was before the days of a Starbucks on every corner, when we all decided that it was OK to drop $3 (or $4, or $5) on every cup of coffee. There definitely are benefits to the convenience of Starbucks, but it’s hard not to remember the old days as a simpler time.

Some tips for the next computer purchase When I was getting ready to head to college, my mom decided I needed my own computer. She always made sure we had what we needed, but she also knew the value of making us save money and buying the things we really wanted on our own. Now, I really wanted my own computer, so for her to buy it for me was a real coup. We spent one evening comparing machines, turning ourselves into experts in a couple of hours. In the end, I walked out with a gigantic desktop that felt like it was the most state-of-the-art machine ever made.

Cooler weather doesn’t mean cheap fun is over As the seasons change, outdoor activities for the kids may fall away. Colder weather starts picking away at the countless outdoor options of the summer. That’s unfortunate for many reasons, not the least of which is that many outdoor activities can be done on the cheap. There’s nothing quite as easy as having the kids play in the backyard or heading to the park to burn off some energy, without you having to spend any cash.

Time’s right to think about savings on heat Summer is beginning to fade. For some of us, the heat hasn’t fully dissipated, but a few rainy days and some cooler weather give the feeling that fall is truly approaching. It seems like a strange time to start thinking about winter and heating, because the last thing on your mind is making your house warmer. But now is the perfect time to consider ways to make your abode winter-friendly and save some money.

Think about what was happening on this date last year. We were in the most intense part of the presidential campaign. The economy had begun to wobble. A few days earlier, the government bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Tomorrow, Lehman Brothers will file for bankruptcy. The next day, the stock market will plummet, and a couple of days later the Federal Reserve bails out AIG.

Igot a flat tire last weekend. And it wasn’t one of those “I accidentally ran over a nail and now my tire is flat” flat tires—it was an “I took a curve too tight and hit a curb at 20 mph and blew out my tire “ flat tires. I consider myself a decent driver—I’m 30 years old, with plenty of driving experience, and I haven’t had a ticket or a wreck in almost 10 years. But I still made a boneheaded mistake: in this case, not paying attention to a median. It ended up being a $160 curb.

The talk around the DealTaker.com offices lately has been about my boss, Kevin Strawbridge, as he represents our company in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. It’s a 40-mile walk, spread out over two days, that raises money for breast-cancer research. He’s been walking every day (breaking the 10-mile barrier this week), and we’ve all been supporting him as he trains for this great cause.

My Great Aunt Doris used to tell me there were days of the week that were better for buying bread than others. You could tell the freshest loaf, she’d say, by the color of the twist tie on the bag. As an 8-year-old boy, it seemed like I was being initiated into a secret society that guarded the ancient twist-tie code and all its secrets. (I also was reading a lot of Hardy Boys books at the time.)

Ihave never been much of a nomad—I like to find a place to live and stay there for a few years. Having just exited my 20s, my housing expertise has been generally limited to apartments, and I’ve rarely known anyone who lived in one apartment for longer than five years. I’ve preferred apartments to buying a house because it’s easier to move if my life circumstances change. And in today’s economy, more and more people face the prospect of moving.