Behold, my favorite part of Fourth of July.

Three things come to mind when I think of reasons I like the Fourth of July: barbecues, family and it’s not Christmas. The Fourth of July is a relatively inexpensive holiday, unless you go all out on the fireworks.

Still, you are not really obligated to spend a bunch of money on fireworks. You don’t have to find out how much your significant other, mom or cousin is spending on fireworks and then try to spend roughly the same amount. In general, Fourth of July is a stress-free, low-cost holiday — and for that, I love it.

Barbecues are the bomb

I love barbecues. This makes sense because I love summer and food. However, despite the fact that I hate the cold, if I were invited to a barbecue when it was 14 degrees, I’d probably go. Lucky for me, barbecues are a very inexpensive thing to love. I’ve never wondered if I needed to get a cash til payday loan in order to be able to afford to attend a barbecue.

Sure, it can get pricey if you provide all of the food and drinks yourself and invite 25 people, but who does that? Every big barbecue I’ve been to since I can remember was potluck style. The host generally provides protein, and guests provide beverages and side dishes. I’ve even been to some barbecues where the host basically said “I’m firing up the grill. Come over if you want to use it.”

Free fireworks

Sure, you could end  up spending lots of money on fireworks pretty easily. Fireworks can get pretty expensive pretty fast. But if you plan ahead for this expense and remind yourself that it’s an option, not a necessity, there’s no pressure and you won’t end up totally depleting your bank account and maxing out  your credit cards like you might at some other (cough, Christmas, cough, cough) holidays.

Of course, for the people who create those big, elaborate fireworks in the sky, they are very expensive indeed. But, hey, we don’t have to worry about that do we? Really, we just have to worry about charcoal, ground beef and ketchup. Let everyone else worry about everything else. That’s the spirit of the Fourth of July!

Travel is a tough one

Of course, the place where you’ll run into big expenses is travel. Many people want to travel to be with family for Fourth of July, but this is another area in which there’s not a whole lot of pressure. Of course, this depends on your family. It all depends on the amount of pressure they put on you to attend family holiday gatherings in general. The equation is roughly:

Pressure to come home for Christmas* X .5 = Pressure to come home for Fourth of July

*Can substitute Channukah or other appropriate late-winter holiday

As you might have picked up by now, I am basically opposed to the commercialism, pressure and stress associated with Christmas. Lucky for me, I have arranged a trade with my family. I have agreed to always visit for Fourth of July as long as I never have to visit for Christmas. So the travel expenses are tacked onto the cheap holiday, Fourth of July, and subtracted from the expensive one. Another winning equation.

Your local post office will likely close at noon. Hurry!

Ah, what to do when a federal holiday falls on the weekend. It always causes confusion. Of course, even when federal holidays fall on regularly scheduled Mondays it causes confusion. Which holidays count? Which ones don’t? I can assure you, though, that you can still get fast payday loans through Personal Money Store today.

Well, the federal government has come to the conclusion that if I have to work the Friday before the Fourth of July, so do the postal workers. However, many of them will get to leave early.

July 3 and July 4 details

The Seattle Times reports that mail delivery today will not be affected. However, most post offices will close for retail purposes at noon. So, if you need to use the post office, hurry up!

On the Fourth of July there will not be mail delivery and post offices will be closed. Only holiday express mail will be delivered Saturday. Mail delivery and post office hours will be back to normal Monday.

Are banks open today?

The short answer is yes, banks are open today. Of course, it depends on the bank. There’s no law that says they can’t close early or not open at all today … is there?

It appears to me that the Saturday bank schedule will also be basically normal: Most banks will be closed but a few grocery store branches might have limited hours.

Sounds like a regular Saturday to me. However, if you use a standalone branch of your bank that usually is open on Saturdays, it will probably be closed tomorrow.

A few more tidbits

People have a lot of questions about what’s open and what’s not today and tomorrow. This is going to vary widely by region, but I have found some answers that apply to the area where I live that might be able to be applied nationwide, at least in general.

The DMV will be closed today and tomorrow. In general, regarding the DMV, it’s always safe to err on the side of “closed.” Columbus Day? Closed. MLK Day? Closed. Pioneer Day in Utah? White House dog’s birthday? Yeah, the DMV will pretty much shut down if it has any sort of excuse at all. Like 3 p.m. on a Wednesday.

Get to the good stuff

Whether the liquor store is open on the Fourth of July or not might depend on whatever the local liquor control board says, as usual. However, as long as the state you live in doesn’t mandate that liquor stores be closed, you can safely assume they’ll be open for usual business hours for today and tomorrow.

I mean, what liquor store owner would voluntarily shut down the store on the Fourth of July? That’s just bad business sense.

Government and garbage

In general, city and county government offices will be closed today and tomorrow. These offices generally operate like the DMV and close down whenever they can. After all, they make the rules, right?

Luckily, garbage collection for the most part will proceed as usual.  Thank goodness. Garbage collection is one of those things you don’t shut down unless you have a really, really good reason. Like a massive hurricane.

If you are still asking yourself “Is the post office open today?” or “Are banks open today?” you might want to just call the specific locantion you’re thinking of and ask. Of course, it’ll probably be busy, so if it’s not too far, you might just want to head down there and take a look-see.

A traditional Chicago Dog: all beef Hot Dog, yellow mustard, relish, onions, tomato wedges, pickle spear or slice, peppers and a dash of celery salt on a steamed poppyseed bun.

Taste of Chicago 2009 promises to be as big as ever, which is pretty big. In fact, Taste of Chicago is the largest outdoor food festival in the world.

It started out smaller in 1980, when the Taste of Chicago was held for the first time. At first, the festival was on the Fourth of July, but Taste of Chicago 2009 is a 10-day extravaganza that is sure to bring tons of traffic, tourists and, of course, money to Chicago.

Inexpensive cuisine

Taste of Chicago 2009 isn’t all about money. In fact, the food is pretty cheap. The hundreds of booths at Chicago’s famed Grant Park serve up all kinds of cuisine in exchange for tickets. Don’t dream of going up to a booth at Taste of Chicago 2009 and saying “Take my cash now!” Food vendors only exchange food for tickets.

Tickets cost $8 a dozen, making each ticket only about 66 cents. Most of the booths offer “taste” options for 2 or 3 tickets. There are so many booths, you could hit only a tiny percentage of them and chose the “taste” option, which adds up to between $1 and $2, and be stuffed.Think of it this way, if you buy your dozen tickets for $8, you will be able to sample food from four places, possibly six. Regular-size portions cost about 10 tickets ($6.60) and most booths serve half-size portions for six or seven tickets.

Big names and big bangs

Besides the food, Taste of Chicago 2009 will offer up some pretty healthy portions of entertainment. Following tradition, Taste of Chicago 2009 will feature fireworks, though they’ll be on the night of July 3 rather than on the Fourth of July.

Also, Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy will put on a concert on the Fourth of July, and festival goers can watch for free.

Tourist dollars fuel economy

Besides the money the food will generate at the festival, Taste of Chicago 2009 will bring in plenty of revenue for various businesses in Chicago. It’s projected that 3 million people will attend the festival and the event will pull in more than $12 million in revenue.

Of course, many festival goers will be Chicago residents themselves. However, the famed festival will also attract plenty of out-of-towners, bringing money into the hotel and transportation industries there. Naturally there will also be plenty of items of clothing and other souvenir gear to commemorate attending the event.

The Taste spreads

As Taste of Chicago has grown in popularity, other cities — in the U.S. and abroad — have started to follow suit. Some include Tastefest in Detroit, Bite in Portland, Taste of Danforth in Toronto, Taste of Kalamazoo, Taste of Addison, Taste of Lincolnshire, Taste in Dallas, Taste of Madison in Austin and Taste of Peoria.

Taste of Chicago 2009 is expected to feature all of the traditional, celebrated Chicago fare famously served at previous festivals: Chicago-style pizza, Chicago hot dogs, barbecued ribs, Italian Beef, Maxwell Street Polish Sausage and Eli’s Cheesecake, to name a few.