The holidays are finally over and more likely than not, you have a whole barrage of new stuff you got as gifts or perhaps you had purchased them yourself. It’s no big secret that the Christmas season is always an excuse for most people to splurge – whether it’s for their own consumption or as generous gifts for the people they love. Let the facts speak for themselves. According to the statistics done by the National Retail Federation, holiday sales have been continuously increasing by 3.5% during the last decade, with an annual growth of 5.6% or about $563 billion between 2011 and 2012.

With the holidays quickly approaching, you have a lot more on your plate than you normally do. But life is too short to sweat the small stuff. When you stress over trivial matters you can hardly enjoy all of the festivities. If you find yourself stressing over what you will make for holiday dinner or how you will afford to buy your child the gifts they want, here are some tips to avoid the stress so you have time to smile and appreciate what you have in life:

In the midst of the holiday season, business owners find themselves very busy. Between wrapping up another fiscal year and planning their own holiday agenda, it is easy to overlook the importance of implementing strategies to raise awareness to their employees that December is National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month. Not only does this decrease the chances that the company is sued in the event of an accident following an office party, but it can also save lives.

The costs of farming in New York State, especially on Long Island, continue to escalate. Labor expenses, fuel costs, equipment prices, and land values have all increased dramatically over the past number of years. However, prices for farm products have not increased at the same rate. Long Island and New York Farm Bureau representatives have stated that many farmers clear a profit of only 1 or 2 percent when 2012 harvests are done. (Refer to Newsday, Oct.24, 2012 " Bureau: Cost of LI farming up dramatically"). Some farmers are operating their farms at financial losses.

There are only a few weeks left before the end of the year. It is amazing that the older we become, the faster time flies by. The end of the year is always a good time for a business owner to review the past year, and see if we met our business goals. Did your day care business meet the business goals you established for 2012?  If you did, congratulations. If not, why not?

December is typically the start for the holidays. However, the festivities also tend to result in drunken and drugged driving. Therefore, December is also National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month.

December is a busy month for everyone. People are running with holiday shopping, business people are gearing up for the end of another year, and most important restaurants are preparing for holiday parties and New Year's Eve celebrations. As a restaurant owner, you anticipate the busy holiday season as a great way to close the year. People are usually in a cheerful mood and come to your establishment to celebrate. Often, these cheerful moods are accompanied by spending attitudes. You want to be prepared to make the most of these times.

You love the holidays because it means you get to spend time in your kitchen baking and cooking meals for the people you love the most. However, being in the kitchen during the holiday season is often dangerous. Don’t let your home catch fire this holiday season. Prevent your house from becoming a statistic. Out of every five house fires that will occur this holiday, two will be a result of a kitchen fire that occurred because someone wasn’t careful with their cooking and baking.

Hurricane Sandy and the recent nor easterner winter storm that struck New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania caused property loss in the billions of dollars and resulted in the deaths of at least 105 people in the United States. Power outages peaked at more than 8.5 million homes and businesses. The destruction and loss of power were caused by tidal surges, and the downing of many trees due to hurricane force winds. The number of trees that were destroyed by the storms are in the thousands. This means a huge amount of work for landscapers.

On October 29, 2012 a massive storm that started out as Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast and caused property loss in the billions of dollars and resulted in the deaths of at least 105 people in the United States. Power outages peaked at more than 8.5 million homes and businesses. Hurricane Sandy will go down as of the most destructive hurricanes in U.S. weather history. "About 100,000 homes and businesses in New York City and Long Island were so damaged by Hurricane Sandy that restoring power to some of them may take months." (New York Governor Andrew Cuomo)