Today is Valentine’s Day! Now don’t panic if you’re still working out some plans and/or gift ideas. I have some tips for you! (Just so you know, this week’s blog is not directed at my husband, who’s always very good at making plans. Love you, hun! Happy Valentine’s Day!)

If you haven’t thought much about what to do today, here are a few ideas, from hitchedmag.com:

• Create Something Together: Make a scrapbook or time capsule with your partner or children, parents, or friends, and fill it one with meaningful mementos. (The “time capsule” could be just an old coffee or box can that you place in the closet and open on a significant anniversary/day.) So all that sentimental stuff – photos, old movie tickets, take out menus, etc. – that Marie Kondo is encouraging you to toss out you can instead put in the time capsule or scrapbook. Talk about sparking joy!
• Make A Romantic Meal at Home: Cook something that’s simple and serve the meal on a candlelit table. Play some soft, relaxing music in the background. And make sure to help your loved one clean up after the meal.
• Go On A Picnic: If you live in a warm climate, take your valentine outside and enjoy some sandwiches and snacks. If you live in a colder part of the country, take your picnic inside; place a few blankets on the floor, and enjoy your meal right there.

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be dinner out at an exclusive restaurant or expensive jewelry or a big box of chocolate, although those things are pretty nice! Valentine’s Day just means spending time with a loved one (or loved ones).

We’re all crazy busy and so don’t always appreciate the people in our lives. So make this day special for the special people you know and love.

Oh, and don’t forget to record anything you buy your valentine, like flowers, candy, apparel, etc.

Have a very happy Valentine’s Day!

Best Regards,
Taylor

Are you a Millennial? If not, do you know a Millennial?

Well it seems that Millennials – anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019) – really like to shop online.

Millennials are certainly more active on social media than older generations, and this impacts how they look for information as they shop. For example, Millennials are much more likely than the general population to “conduct online research for common items like food and cleaning products,” according to The Nielsen Company.

And Millennials aren’t just doing research, they’re also buying a lot of consumer packaged goods (basically, anything packaged with a barcode). Check out this chart – based on NCP data – regarding the percentage who purchased consumer packaged goods online in the past three months:

How do Millennials – and others – get online? Well, according to Nielsen data, Millennials are “highly mobile, and their smartphones are increasingly becoming their go-to devices when it’s time to shop.”

This is how the various demographic groups get online, according to Nielsen:

Since so many Millennials, and other groups, shop online, here are some tips for recording those very purchases!

• Online purchases may come in one or multiple shipments and don’t always include a packing receipt. Consider printing out your email/order confirmation so you can refer back to it when reporting your purchase.
• If your items do come separately, please scan them as you receive them.
• If an item arrives with the UPC barcode covered by another label, try carefully peeling off that label and scanning the UPC barcode on the item (or manually enter the barcode number if the barcode is damaged).
• If you buy something from the website of a retailer that also has a storefront, make sure to report the trip as an online purchase. For example, if you order something from Walmart’s website, select “walmart.com” when you record the purchase (whether the item was shipped directly to you or picked up at the store).

As always, thank you panel members for reporting all of your purchases, especially the online ones.

Have a great weekend!

Well, it’s almost Groundhog Day. And that means if the little critter sees his shadow there’s only six more weeks of winter. Or is it if he doesn’t see his shadow there’s six more weeks of winter?? I always get confused.

But anyway … With much of the country in a deep, deep, deep freeze, any thoughts of winter being over and done with works for me! It’s been ridiculously cold in many parts of the country.

So let’s hope for an early spring as we await the “official” word from our groundhog friend.

Did you know that Groundhog Day marks the halfway point to the spring equinox? Here are some other facts about the day and the little guy himself, from The Old Farmer’s Almanac (almanac.com):

• According to legend, if a groundhog sees its shadow on this day, there will be six more weeks of winter; if it doesn’t, then spring is right around the corner. But, as the Almanac says, “If he sees his shadow, we’ll have six more weeks of winter; if he doesn’t, it’ll be six weeks till spring” because, of course, the dates of the equinox do not change.
• Groundhog Day also represents “the triumph of spring over winter—and birth over death.” Originally, this was a Celtic festival marking the cross-quarter day, or midpoint of the season.
• The Christian church later called this festival of light, “Candlemas.” The English name refers to the candles lit that day in churches to celebrate the presentation of the Christ Child in the temple of Jerusalem.
• In the 1800s, German immigrants to Pennsylvania brought their Candlemas legends with them. Finding no badgers but lots of groundhogs, they adapted the New World species to fit the lore.
• The groundhog, also known as a woodchuck or whistlepig, typically makes its home in the brambles and thickets that grow where forests meet fields. There, it digs burrows between 4 and 6 feet deep and up to 40 feet long—removing as much as 700 pounds of dirt in the process.

Now if you’re curious about the long-range weather forecast in your area of the country, check out this page on The Old Farmer’s Almanac’s website: www.almanac.com/weather/longrange

Stay warm my friends! And have a great weekend. And go Rams!

Best regards,

Taylor

Monday, January 21, is Martin Luther King Day. Our office, along with many other companies, banks, libraries, and the post office, will be closed.

So this is a good time to check out some facts about Martin Luther King, Jr., and the holiday that bears his name.

Facts about Martin Luther King, Jr.

• King was the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize when he won it at age 35. That record was broken in 2014 by a 17-year-old activist named Malala Yousafzai. 
• At the Atlanta premier of the movie Gone with the Wind, Martin sang with his church choir.
• He went to college at age 15 and became a minister at 19. He had his doctorate degree by age 25.
• There are over 730 streets in the United States named after Martin Luther King, Jr.
• The name on his original birth certificate is Michael King, which was a mistake. He was supposed to be named after his father who was named for Martin Luther, the leader of the Christian reformation movement.

Facts about Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, according to theodysseyonline.com:

• MLK Day is only 1 of 3 national holidays in the U.S. honoring an individual person. George Washington, Christopher Columbus, and Martin Luther King, Jr. are the only individuals with national holidays honoring them. President’s Day, although commonly attributed with Lincoln’s birthday as well, was chosen because of Washington’s Birthday and was originally in honor of him alone.
• MLK Day is celebrated on the third Monday of January because of King’s birthday. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. MLK Day is celebrated on the third Monday of each January because it is close to his birthday.
• MLK Day is observed by groups in over 100 nations.

PSC Closed On Monday
As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, our office and the Panel Support Center will be closed on Monday.

Remember To Take Part in Our New Year’s Resolution Scavenger Hunt Sweepstakes! 
Don’t forget, this scavenger hunt is still going on until Wednesday, January 23.

Similar to our other scavenger hunt sweepstakes, I’ve hidden images in past blog posts for you to find. All you need to do is go through all of my blog postings from 2018 and look for the six New Year’s Resolution-related images (graphics).

When you find any of the images listed (salad, scale, etc.), make a note of the blog post title where you found the image. After you have found all of the images, go to the link below andfollow the instructions. 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NCPBlog_ResolutionSweeps

I hope you have a nice weekend.

Did you make a New Year’s resolution? If so, have you kept it so far? (If you did make a resolution, tell us about it!)

Whether or not you made a resolution, make this resolution to play our New Year’s Resolution Scavenger Hunt Sweepstakes!

Similar to our other scavenger hunt sweepstakes, I’ve hidden images in past blog posts for you to find.

Your goal: Go through all of my blog postings from 2018 and look for the six New Year’s Resolution-related images (graphics) described below:

New Year’s Resolution                        Image To Find

·     Eat Healthy                       Salad

·     Exercise More                    Sneakers

·     Lose Weight                         Scale

·     Save Money                         Piggy Bank

·    Travel More                          Luggage

·    Learn A New Skill                Musical Instruments

When you find any of the images listed (salad, scale, etc.), make a note of the blog post title where you found the image. After you have found all of the images, go to the link below and follow the instructions. 

Go here to post your responses: 

surveymonkey.com/r/NCPBlog_ResolutionSweeps

Here are some other important details:

• To be eligible, you must provide the exact title of the blog posting. (You may find it easier to copy and paste the exact title into the response field.) You do not need to include the date of the posting.
• From all of the correct entries, five (5) winners will then be selected in a random drawing. Each winner will receive a $50 Amazon Gift Card claim code! (Please make sure to give us your contact information.)
• The contest ends on Wednesday, January 23.

Please check out the rules.

Make sure you stick to this resolution! Good luck!

Amazon.com is not a sponsor of this promotion. Except as required by law, Amazon.com Gift Cards (“GCs”) cannot be transferred for value or redeemed for cash. GCs may be used only for purchases of eligible goods at Amazon.com or certain of its affiliated websites. For complete terms and conditions, see www.amazon.com/gc-legal. GCs are issued by ACI Gift Cards, Inc., a Washington corporation. All Amazon ®, ™ & © are IP of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. No expiration date or service fees.

Have you finished your holiday shopping? Have you even started it yet? (Don’t mean to be all judgy, but you better get going soon!)

How are you doing with your holiday shopping? Let us know!

This may not surprise you, but many, many people will still be shopping through Christmas Eve. (My husband being one of them!)

According to a really interesting survey from the National Retail Federation, more than 40% of holiday shoppers surveyed expected to finish their holiday gift shopping by Wednesday (12/19).

However, according to the National Retail Federation, 24% plan to make their last purchases Saturday or Sunday and 7% said they will still be shopping on Christmas Eve. And 4% said their final gifts wouldn’t be bought until after Christmas.

The survey found that 56% of holiday shoppers – about 134 million people, up from 126 million last year – plan to shop this weekend on “Super Saturday,” the last Saturday before Christmas.

Of consumers who had completed half or less of their shopping, 44% said they were still deciding what to buy, up from 42% last year. Meanwhile, 27% were waiting for family members to share their requests, while 26% cited other financial priorities, 25% were too busy with other activities, and 22% admitted being procrastinators, according to the National Retail Federation.

As of December 12, consumers still shopping planned to make their remaining purchases online (51%), at department stores (41%), discount stores (25%), apparel stores (21%), electronics stores (17%), local/small businesses (14%), and grocery stores (13%).

The survey also found that 53% of consumers have already purchased clothing as gifts; 38% gift cards; 37% toys; 32% video games, books, and movies; 24% food or candy, and 23% electronics or computer-related accessories.

No matter what you buy or where you buy it from, please remember to record all of your holiday – as well as your regular – purchases!

I wish you all the best. Hope you have a happy and healthy New Year!

I’ll be talking with you again in January. (Here’s a little teaser – we’ll be having a new contest early in 2019!)

PSC Holiday Closings
The Panel Support Center will be closed on the following days:

• Monday, December 24
• Tuesday, December 25 (Christmas Day)
• Monday, December 31
• Tuesday, January 1, 2019 (New Year’s Day)

Our PSC would like to wish you and your family all the best this holiday season and in the New Year!