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Experts analyze best Black Friday deals, practices
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As the old saying goes, a bargain is something you dont need at a price you cant resist. This year, experts have analyzed the best Black Friday deals and practices. - photo by Liesl Nielsen
As the old saying goes, a bargain is something you dont need at a price you cant resist. And nobody knows this better than Black Friday shoppers who come home and realize that, amidst the crazed kerfuffle, theyve made a purchase that will be about as useful as the forgotten spinach salad on Thanksgiving.

To help shoppers avoid falling into Black Friday traps and find worthwhile holiday deals, experts have analyzed the best deals offered by the biggest retailers for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the holiday season that follows.

This year, Wallet Hub, a personal finance website, analyzed 35 of the biggest U.S. retailers 2016 Black Friday ads and compiled a list of the stores offering the largest average discounts as well as the largest discounts for each product category.

Among the top retailers are Macys (with the largest average discount of 63.4 percent), Stage (62.8 percent), JCPenney (62.8 percent), Harbor Freight (62.6 percent), Gordmans (61.6 percent), Kohls (58.1 percent) and Shopko (55.6 percent).

Best Buy is also offering one of their best discounts this year, according to Jon Vincent, founder of earlyblackfriday.com, a website that posts Black Friday deals from major retailers each year and alerts consumers to product availability.

Really the best deal right now is at Best Buy. Theyre offering a Toshiba 49 4K Ultra HD TV for $199.99 and if you want to go a little bit bigger, Wal-mart has a Philips 55 4K Ultra HD TV and thats $298, Vincent said.

While these deals are doorbuster deals and can only be found in-store on Black Friday, Vincent recommends doing the majority of Black Friday shopping online.

I would say 95 percent of the deals you see in the ads are going to be online on Thanksgiving, Vincent said.

Shopping online also allows the customer to price check while browsing the product options, ensuring they arent overpaying or falling into a Black Friday marketing trap.

Just because something says 60 percent off, it might not be a great deal. I would just try to do a Google search and compare with different prices of various products to see, like, is that 60 percent really good or is it just a couple bucks off (the) everday price, Vincent said.

Wallet Hub experts also recommend that shoppers avoid purchasing any product that is discounted below 40 percent. While the deals may be tempting, products with a discount below 40 percent may be Black Friday marketing traps.

Too often consumers get swept up by the size of the discount without ample consideration of the value of, or need for the product. Devon DelVecchio, Professor in Marketing at Miami University, told Wallet Hub. A 70% discount on an ugly sweater just means you spent 30% too much for an ugly sweater.

Vincent adds, however, that some smaller discounts may be worth it if the product in question isnt normally discounted.

"Just getting 20 percent off is better than nothing at all, but if youre kind of blindly shopping, I would go with that 40 percent rule," Vincent said.

He also recommends checking to see which day retailers are offering the biggest discounts. While Amazon is offering 10 days of Black Friday, the biggest deals are on Thanksgiving Day.

While many stores also offer a general discount on certain product categories on Cyber Monday, Vincent believes that Black Friday deals can be better.
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How to avoid 'sharenting' and other paparazzi parenting habits
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A recent study revealed parents often spend up to two hours staging a single photo of his or her child to post online. - photo by Amy Iverson
Before having kids, some people just dont appreciate their friends baby posts. But after having a child of their own, three fourths of new parents jump right on the parental social media bandwagon. If you have become a member of this group, there are some rules to follow for posting responsibly.

Much of a parents worry is how to teach their children to use social media responsibly. We talk with our kids about privacy, oversharing, and setting restrictions on their devices to keep them safe. But parents themselves need to look in the digital mirror once in a while. Before having children, it doesnt take as much effort to think about what to post online. Its up to us to decide what we share about our own lives. But once you become a parent, there are many questions to think about regarding what is appropriate to post about your kids on social media.

In a recent survey, kids clothing subscription company Mac and Mia surveyed 2000 new parents to find out how they are documenting their kids lives on social media, and what concerns they may have.

First of all, people without children seem to feel a bit differently about the onslaught of baby pictures online than those who are parents. 18 percent of people say before they had kids, they were annoyed by their friends baby posts. But after having children of their own, 73 percent admit they post progress pictures of their little ones every single month.

Not only are new parents letting the world know each time their baby is a month older, but they are posting about their kids every few days or so. Men and women report they post 6-7 times per month about their baby.

And while 70 percent of new parents say the benefit of using social media is how easy it is to help family and friends feel involved, there are some downsides. Here are a few tips to avoid the pitfall of becoming paparazzi parents.

Dont miss the moment

In the Mac and Mia survey, some parents admitted to spending up to two hours to get the perfect shot of their baby. That seems a little extreme. New and old parents alike should be careful about spending so much time taking pictures and videos that they dont enjoy the moment. Years ago, I decided to never live an experience through my phone. A study by Linda Henkel, a psychology professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut, found that when people took pictures of objects in an art museum, they didnt remember the objects as well as if they simply observed them.

This photo-taking impairment effect can happen to parents as well. If we are so consumed by getting the perfect photo, we can miss out on the moment all together, and our memory of it will suffer.

Dont forget about privacy

60 percent of couples say they have discussed rules and boundaries for posting their babys photos, according to the Mac and Mia survey. Even so, men are 34 percent more likely to publish baby posts on public accounts. If parents are concerned about their childrens privacy, keeping photos off of public accounts is a given.

In the Washington Post, Stacey Steinberg, a legal skills professor at the University of Florida, and Bahareh Keith, a Portland pediatrician, wrote that sharing too much information about kids online puts them at risk. They write that all that sharenting can make it easier for data thieves to target out kids for identity theft. Check that your privacy settings are where they should be and never share identifying information like full names and birth dates.

Dont be paparazzi parents

36 percent of parents say they take issue when their childs photo is posted online by someone else. Responsible social media users will always ask permission before posting a photo of another child. But parents should also think about whether their own children will take issue with their own posted photos a few years down the road.

When parents are constantly snapping pictures and throwing them on social media, it can be easy to forget to pause and make sure the post is appropriate. I always use the billboard example with my kids. I ask them to picture whatever they are posting going up on a billboard in our neighborhood. If they are okay with that, then their post is probably fine. Parents should ask themselves this same question when posting about their children. But they should also ask themselves if their child would be OK with this post on a billboard in 15 years. If it would cause embarrassment or humiliation, it might be best to keep it private.

Once children reach an appropriate age, parents should include them in the process of deciding what pictures are OK to post. Researchers at the University of Michigan surveyed 10- to 17-year-olds and found children believe their parents should ask permission more than parents think they should. The kids in the survey said sharing happy family moments, or accomplishments in sports, school and hobbies is fine. But when the post is negative (like when a child is disciplined) or embarrassing (think naked baby pictures or messy hair), kids say to keep it off social media.
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