Between the kids, the friends, the co-workers and the significant other, the gift-giving season can be strenuous on the pockets. You strive to get everyone the perfect gift, while putting the trimmings on the Christmas tree, feeding the family on Christmas Day, and pleasing professional contacts with a great gift idea. But at what cost?

On average, Americans are expected to spend about $854 on gifts this holiday season alone, according to Yahoo! Finance. To some, that’s close to a week’s pay, which usually means cutting back extremely during the coming New Year. Minimize that expenditure and give inexpensive gifts that are more sentimental then the latest iPhone and you could have a win-win on your hands. Here are a few gift ideas that are budget-friendly, do-it-yourself, or simply straight from the heart, without costing you a whole paycheck in advance.

iStockphoto

Prepare and Give Your Tastiest Dish

One great idea to give this holiday if you are trying to budget while gift to a whole family is prepare and give your favorite dish or treat! Whether it is cookies, homemade candy or pie, or making something straight from the heart, something straight from your stove is a great gift for an entire family. It also saves on the money spent buying individual gifts. If someone has been raving about one of your scrumptious side dishes since Thanksgiving dinner, gift them one for Christmas. Or if baked goods like cookies are your specialty, bake a couple dozen and find a special holiday cookie tin. The only real cost is a little grocery money, elbow grease in the kitchen, and time.

If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s when American’s love you, you are literally on top of the world. But eff that up, and they will not just kick you when you’re down, they’ll stomp all over you and act as though they never knew your name.

Lance Armstrong is finding that out now as virtually everything that has come to define him in the last 16 years or so is being erased from his legacy following the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to ban him from cycling and strip him of his seven Tour de France titles. Since then, Lance has also been dropped from endorsement by Nike and he has stepped down from his position as chairman of the Livestrong cancer foundation “to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career.” Though those factors alone may make one conclude that the world as he knows it has crumbled before him, it’s really just the tip of the iceberg. He still has one other entity to contend with: the American people.

Despite still being a cancer survivor and his contributions to the awareness of the disease as well as establishing a place online where those affected by cancer can find information, it seems the majority of people feel like Gawker writer Hamilton Nolan, “Take Off Your God Damn Livestrong Bracelets.” Through several expletives, Nolan advises Livestrong supporters to “cut that dirty mother**king bracelet off your wrist and throw it into the trash” now that Armstrong has been disgraced as a “lying cheater.” My question is what does one have to do with the other, while simultaneously thinking, my, how the mighty have fallen.

Armstrong’s situation is not unlike many other fallen American heroes like Tiger Woods, Mike Vick, and Jesse Jackson whom I immediately thought of watching the cyclist’s situation unravel. Because Woods could do no wrong on the green, it was assumed he also could do no wrong off of it, and so he was placed on this idyllic pedestal of perfection and once he made a misstep—albeit a pretty large one—his fame, fortune, and fanbase went the way of the typewriter; bye bye. And so it was with Michael Vick, who is now beginning to see a resurrection in his career, but back in 2007 his last name might as well have been Mike Jones because when someone said his name, Americans were like, “who?” Jesse Jackson suffered a similar fate. Once everyone knew he had a child with his staffer, it didn’t matter what civil rights work he did or what legislation he helped pass. Every career accomplishment was overshadowed by that one critical mistake.

Though I used black men for my examples, Armstrong (and many others who have befallen similar fates) prove this isn’t a racial thing. American’s are fickle in their devotion. I understand from an advertising point of view that endorsing a person whose behavior is not in line with your company values (term used loosely) is not good business, but what is frustrating is the way people turn their backs on these individuals as if they aren’t allowed mistakes. And how an error in one’s personal life comes to overshadow, and in some instances cancel out, their career accomplishments. If Armstrong did in fact use drugs then yes he should be stripped of his titles. But that has nothing to do with his work with cancer.  Michael Vick’s dog fighting had nothing to do with his ability on the football field. And yes, Tiger did his ex-wife terribly wrong by sleeping with women all over the country, but what does that have to do with his ability to get a hole in one? Not a darn thing.

The real problem here is the heroism and the god-like qualities we attribute to mere men simply because they can dribble, shoot, pass, putt, catch, or throw a ball (or ride a bike really freaking fast). We give these individuals so much power and put them on such a high pedestal that when they tangentially disappoint us, their place in society, and our minds, is reduced with equal speed and  agility and so they fall, almost instantaneously, to the very bottom. For some reason we like to make people perfect, only to tear them down when they prove what we, in some capacity knew all along, they are not. I get feeling cheated, I understand feeling lied to, but why does everyone forget they too are human when they point the finger at someone else’s mistakes. Why do fans and onlookers act as though these people asked to be praised and exalted and proclaimed role models simply because of athletic or political prowess and take these individual’s perfection in one arena as an indicator they are perfect overall.

Part of being a self-proclaimed admirer, fan, etc. of a person is accepting who they are totally. And if you’re only going to appreciate them for one aspect of their person then you shouldn’t shame them when they mess up in other areas. It’s easy to let the negative outweigh the positive in the moment of scandal but at the end of the day if we were all being judged with that same measure that we use on these public figures we’d be at the bottom of the totem pole too. They say you find out who your true friends are when you’re down and I’d extend that same thought to fans. If you completely turn your back on these individuals when they falter then you have no business being there when they rise again.

Brande Victorian is the news and operations editor for madamenoire.com. Follow her on twitter @Be_Vic.

For singles in America, if you like it you don’t necessarily have to put a ring on it anymore. Results of Match.com’s second annual Singles in America survey show nearly two-thirds of singles are unsure about getting married in the future.

A decent portion of Americans over the age of 21 still want to jump the broom some day—about 34.5%—but another 27% say no thanks to exchanging vows, and the remaining 38.5% say they’re uncertain about the whole thing. Of the 5,541 single adults included in the survey, 90.5% are heterosexual; 56.5%  have never married, 30.9% are divorced, 10.2% are widowed, and 2.4% separated.

Marriage has been on the decline for several decades now, so the finding isn’t totally surprising. About 21.3% said they don’t have time to be with someone or they prefer to be alone, and only 12.7% are actively seeking a relationship. Nearly half (46.8%) say they are not actively looking for a relationship but if they met the right person they would consider it; 16.9% are dating someone; and another 2.2% like to keep their options open.

Bella DePaulo, a visiting professor of psychology at the University of California-Santa Barbara, who wasn’t involved with the study but researches singles, says the findings show staying single is actually an option that many embrace—despite the “woe is the single woman” banter that’s constantly thrown around.

“It smashes probably the most pervasive myth about single people is that what they want most is to escape being single,” she says. “These numbers are in the context of a society that still greatly glorifies marriage.”

What would be great is if when people saw these results they would realize they apply to black women too and they’ll stop trying to figure out how to get us married. As the findings show, we’re not all drying to cross the threshold like yesterday.

Are you in the uncertain/don’t want to get married category or are you still hoping to walk down the aisle?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Times are hard and it turns out there are a lot of things Americans are willing to give up in exchange for having their bills paid and sex is one of them.

A small, hypothetical survey of 1,045 people by polling firm Toluna, on behalf of bill-paying company BillFloat, found 18 percent of Americans would give up sex for six months in exchange for having someone else pay their bills for just one month.

Another 26 percent of respondents would turn off the TV for a month if their bills were paid for them; 21 percent would give up digital devices and their cell phone, and 14 percent would go without Internet access.

On the other hand, there was one thing hardly anybody was willing to do for cash and that was gain weight. Only 9 percent would add 15 pounds of body weight in exchange for not having to pay their bills this month. Overall though, 52 percent said they’d rather suck it up, pay the bills, and keep the sex, TV, and Internet.

Where do you stand? Would you give up sex for 6 months to have your bills paid for a month? What about digital devices?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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The human papillomavirus (HPV) sometimes seems harmless because there are rarely any symptoms associated with it, but researchers believe the virus is responsible for the increased rates of mouth and throat cancer during the past 25 years, and new research says 7% of Americans now have HPV in their mouths.

The study, published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association is the first to assess the prevalence of oral HPV in the U.S. population, and from the ages of 14 to 69, across men and women, the incidence was found to be 6.9%.

The findings also indicate that oral sex, rather than kissing, is the main cause for the spread of the virus—most likely because people still don’t understand that the practice can lead to disease.

“I don’t think people think of oral sex in the same way they do with traditional intercourse,” said Fred Wyand, director of the HPV Resource Center at the American Social Health Association in Research Triangle Park, NC. “Sometimes younger people engage in oral sex so they don’t have to worry about pregnancy. They may not even make the link between oral sex and STDs.”

Since most oral HPV infections are harmless and oral cancers are still somewhat rare, there isn’t a total cause for alarm, but there could be down the line. This is why the researchers say doctors, parents, and sexual partners need to talk about the use of protection upfront.

“It’s something people are not comfortable talking about, but it is protective,” Dr. Hans Schlecht, assistant professor of medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia who wrote an editorial accompanying the study said in an interview. “If you are going to be intimate with someone, there are some adult conversations you need to have.”

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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By Charlotte Young

If you’re Muslim in America, chances are you’re happier with your life than the general American public.  According to the Christian Science Monitor, a Pew Research Center survey reveals that 82 percent of Muslim Americans are happier with the way things are going in their lives.

The survey, which was created to study the demographics, experiences and opinions of Muslim Americans, also shows that 56 percent of Muslims are content with the US, compared to 23 percent of the general public. In 2007, a previous survey conducted on the Muslim American demographic, revealed that 38 percent of Muslim Americans were more content with the way things were going in this country, compared to 32 percent of the general public.

The survey, as well as its 2007 predecessor, was conducted by Pew researchers curious to find out if public fear of home-grown terrorism had led Muslim Americans to feel increasingly segregated in the US and in anger turn to support extremist views.

Scott Keeter, the Pew director of survey research, tells the Christian Science Monitor that “there’s been no increase in favorable views of Al Qaeda, of suicide bombing, or Islamic extremism.” In addition, although Muslim Americans admit that they do often face discrimination, they “do not regard the American people as particularly unfriendly to them.”

The recent results show Muslim Americans experienced a change of heart in their opinion of Obama. In 2007 only 15 percent were impressed with the president. The current survey results also reveal that they are more satisfied with President Obama’s leadership at 76 percent than the general public, which show at 46 percent.

Although 70 percent say they have “a very negative opinion” of Al Qaeda, the beliefs on Islamic extremism shift within the community. Native-born Muslims are more likely to support Islamic extremism that Muslims born elsewhere. And African-American Muslims are least likely to say they have a “very unfavorable view of Al Qaeda.”

As far as discrimination goes, 55 percent believe that being a Muslim has become more difficult after 9/11. Twenty-two percent say they have endured name-calling and 21 percent have underwent added scrutiny at airports.

According to the survey, 2.75 million Muslims currently reside in the US. About two thirds wire born abroad of those 18 and older, and 25 percent arrived in the US since 2000.

Dating experts rejoice! According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 96 million people in the United States who have no spouse. That means 43 percent of all Americans over the age of 18 are single.

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Another day, another report about the “mystery” behind President Obama.

A new Pew Research Center study released Thursday says one in five Americans believes—incorrectly—that Obama is Muslim. Headlines read “Obama’s Religion Still a Mystery For Some.”

Who are the “some” that still find Obama’s religion a mystery? Yes, I know that the sum of the “some” = one in five Americans, which equals 20 percent of the population, but seriously, I want to meet a real, live person who thinks that Obama refrains from pork and alcohol, and prays to Allah five times a day.

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(Time) – This is a big week for guns and the people who want to carry them. The question: Just how big? The Supreme Court ruled on Monday, June 28, in a challenge to Chicago’s gun-control law, that Americans in all 50 states have a constitutional right to possess firearms for self-defense. Gun-rights supporters are ecstatic about the decision. The floodgates are now open for lawsuits challenging state and local gun-control laws nationwide. But based on what the majority actually said, it seems likely that many of these challenges will fail.

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(USA Today) — After toiling for three decades in finance, it wouldn’t be surprising if 65-year-old Patrick Althizer kicked back and lived off his savings and Social Security. But with a spirit not ready for sedentary retirement — as well as college costs for two daughters — he veered off to a new career path: leading shutterbugs through the stunning waterfall areas of Yosemite National Park.

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