As a teenager, Trevor Bolin was a drug-abusing high school dropout. He helped support his meager income pumping gas by hauling possessions to the pawn shop, where he picked up just enough money for fast food dinners.

By 17, Bolin decided he'd had enough. He came up with a plan, and within two years, he'd quit drugs and was close to paying off $85,000 in debt. By 28, he earned his first $1 million in one year. And he did it simply by coming up with a plan and putting the plan in motion.

"My life has nothing to do with luck, good or bad," writes Bolin, 32, now a British Colombia businessman and city councilor, in his new book, Take Charge and Change Your Life Today. "It revolves around working hard, giving back as much as (if not more than) I get, accepting that attitude is everything, and being grateful for what I have."

This year's holiday feasts will cost more than ever, says the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Food prices jumped four to five percent in 2011 and are expected to continue climbing next year.

Toni House , author of Savvy Shopping: How to Reduce your Weekly Grocery Bill to $85 per Week or Less, says consumers can have their fruitcake and eat it too, without breaking the bank. House, a mom with executive level experience in accounting and the restaurant industry, House succeeds in paring down her monthly grocery bill for her family of four to $250.

"It takes savvy shopping," she says. "Worried about going broke serving big holiday meals? Forget it. Consumers can save on the Christmas trimmings and trim the 2012 household budget with planning, patience and grocery shopping 'guard rails' to keep your cart in line."

The holiday shopping season brings its mix of good and bad tidings. The usual surge in spending gives a strong boost to the economy. In fact, the recent fall in the national unemployment rate to 8.6 percent in November is largely due to increase in consumer spending and retailers' need to employ additional staff, a factor which will likely continue throughout December.

However, irresponsible shopping could put your own finances in trouble this season, depleting your cash reserve and putting you (and the economy) in a serious dilemma for the New Year.

Based on a survey conducted among South Florida Caribbean-Americans residents in mid-November, consumer spending will remain high this holiday season. Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed, mostly women, were saving especially for holiday shopping. The average amount saved was $2,800, ranging from a minimum of $540 to a high of $6,100. The majority planned to use savings to purchase household items (curtains, comforters, etc.), electronic equipment (TVs, music component sets, and cell phones), gifts, toys and clothing for the kids.

Lowell Hawthorne, President & CEO of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill (GK), the nation's largest Caribbean franchise chain, was awarded the Jamaica Observer's Business Leader Award for 2010. The award was presented by Observer Chairman – Gordon "Butch" Stewart at a banquet held on Wednesday, November 30 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica. This award is considered to be the island's most prestigious and coveted business award.

Lowell Hawthorne was named winner among nine nominees in the Diaspora who are also trailblazers in their chosen fields. Nominees for the 2010 award included: Richard M. Powell, co-founder and co-senior managing director of the Florida-based private equity company AP Capital Partners Inc; Vincent HoSang and his wife Jeanette, founders and principals of the New York-based Royal Caribbean Bakery; George Yap, founder and principal of Miami-based LEASA Industries; Beverly Nichols, founder and principal of the New York-based Beverly's Home Health Care; Marcus Simmonds and his wife Monique Hamaty-Simmonds, operators of the Miami-based Tortuga Imports; Verona Greenland, founder and president of the New York-based Morris Heights Health Centre; and Vincent Lai and his wife Lorain, founders and operators of the Toronto-based, Nicey's Food Mart.