Enter Patch's 'Deck the House' Contest For a Chance to Win $100,000

Did you decorate your house for the holidays this year? Enter our 'Deck the House' contest and you could win $100,000 for your local school district and $500 to pay your electric bills!

We’re launching our annual Deck the House Contest to find the most over-the-top holiday decorations in America—the best “decked” house in the country—the one home so spectacularly decorated that everyone in town jokes your holiday decorations could rival Rockefeller Center’s. If this sounds like your house, upload a photo or video of your home to our contest page from Nov. 26 to Dec. 16. Use this link—deckthehouse.patch.com/arlington—to upload your photos or video. (Note, the link goes live on Monday, Nov. 26.) Only residents of Patch towns are eligible to enter. We’ll select 24 regional finalists, and from them, pick one grand prize winner. Patch will pay up to $500 of the utility bill for each finalist, while our national winner will …

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Baby Steps

A Head Start on Holiday Shopping

Using technology and proper planning to get shopping out of the way.

Perhaps I’m jumping the gun covering the topic of holiday shopping in early November. But since the winter weather has already hit us with its first punch, I figure it’s time to get a head start on the holiday season too. There are huge advantages to shopping early. One is avoiding the December chaos and constant crowds at every mall. After you’ve already finished shopping, driving by a packed parking lot instead of fighting for a spot comes with a certain smug sense of pride. Starting early also takes the edge off the inevitable budget strain of the season. Spending money over a number of months is much less painful than dropping it all at once. And when everyone is still cramming in their shopping the week before Christmas, those of us …

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