It’s budget time and although we should be working to control costs throughout the year, it seems cost cutting measures are focused on when we crunch our annual numbers. How is your company working to control costs? One simple change can certainly make a profound difference as the following story indicates.

An observant Walmart store manager in North Carolina sent an e-mail to upper management asking why all the lights in the vending machines in the break rooms needed to be on. Walmart unplugged the lights and is saving $1.4 million. This is just one example of a company employee coming up with a significant but simple cost saving suggestion.

Walmart encourages their employees to sniff out this sort of thing, believing there are three criteria all companies must develop to have a successful sustainability program: buy in at senior level management; set goals—one overly aspirational/one attainable; and get started.

Does your company encourage such actions? Please share your simple but cost savings solutions. I bet we could all use them!

Want to know where the jobs will be in the next 10 years? NPR is suggesting the following top 10 list in their recent article, “Where The Jobs Will Be This Decade”. They are:

1. Registered nurses
2. Home health aides
3. Customer service representatives
4. Food preparation and serving workers
5. Personal and home care aides
6. Retail salespersons
7. Office clerks
8. Accountants
9. Nursing aides, orderlies and attendants
10. Postsecondary teachers

If you currently have a job, thank your lucky stars and continue to do your best. If you’re job hunting leave no stone unturned and keep a positive attitude! Do you have any job hunting tips you’d like to share?

Another new year and another resolution to lose weight! No need to suffer alone though, you are not the only one in this boat! Ask around in your office and find a motivating partner to help challenge you to stay on track.

Consider stepping away from your desk for a lunch out now and then. Walk to the nearest food source if you can and consult these helpful sites when choosing what and where to eat.

To find healthy food near your office or home, go to HealthyDining Finder.com. Plug in your zip code and price range for help on where to eat healthy.

To see exactly what the calorie count is in your restaurant favorites, consult CalorieCount.About.com. No need to guess what you should or shouldn’t eat, just plug in the food for calorie info. The site also includes all kinds of helpful dieting tips.

You may even want to take a picture of you before as a motivational tool. It is possible to enjoy eating and dieting at the same time if you do a bit or preliminary information gathering and choose wisely. And your body will say Thank You too!

Get ready, get set, go shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving! Based on accounting terminology where black ink shows a positive profit margin on ledger sheets, retailers have named this biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday. Here are some tips for making the most of this shopping opportunity.

1. Do your homework. Shop the items you are interested in before you head out Friday morning. Compare existing prices and product details as not everything advertised as a sale is one.

2. Read the newspaper. Get an early edition of your local newspaper and read and clip ads and coupons.

3. Share the experience. Coordinate with friends or family members. Divide and conquer and you can cover more ground and more sales with far less effort.

4. Cover yourself. I’m not talking about bringing a blanket for your wait in the cold for the store to open, although that might not be a bad idea. I’m suggesting you bring the copy of the newspaper ad or print out paperwork that will help you justify pricing and product specifications. Beware the bait and switch.

5. Befriend. While standing in those lines, coordinate a divide and conquer plan rendouvousing at the cash registers. Chances are you are not the only one there for a particular sale item. Ask those leaving the store if it is still available, preventing you from waiting in a line for a product you’ll never get to buy.

6. Protect. Know the store policies before you buy. Can it be returned? What if the price is lowered even further later?

7. Exit strategy. Once you’re in your next step is to get out and onto the next store. Have your money or credit card ready and do whatever you can to help speed the check out process. This is not the time to ask for a price check!

If, however, this shopping frenzy isn’t worth the effort, consider placing gift cards in holiday cards this year so others can enjoy the experience of the after-Christmas sales!

Kellan Lutz plays Emmett Cullen, big brother of vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) in the movie, Twilight. A participating celebrity in our Cards for a Cause holiday card charity campaign, Kellan signed the back of his chosen card design with proceeds from the sale of it going to his selected charity, the Royal Family Kids’ Camp.

This is the card design he chose:

In November 2008, before the movie released, Kellan confessed in an interview his interests in autographs. “His autograph is elaborate, with each letter fully formed,” said the article. “I like signatures,” confessed Lutz. “I remember growing up just having fun doing it for no reason. I liked practicing.”

Back then he would actually spell out his name, “unlike Robert Pattinson who takes a shortcut by just signing his initials,” claims the article. But Lutz did admit that he knew he’d be doing conventions and events eventually which would require him to sign a minimum of 600 and “wow, it took me an hour to do 50. So I might have to get creative.”

Well, I kinda like his autograph! Take a look at it here and see what you think!