• Eric Roberge is a certified financial planner and founder of Beyond Your Hammock. 
• He tells his 30-something clients the key to building wealth is spending less than you think you can afford. 
• Looking rich and acting rich are not the same as being rich, Roberge says.

If you want to be rich, you need to stop trying to look rich.

Here's the trap many 30-somethings fall into: You live in a swanky place in your town because you finally earn enough money to afford some nice digs. You look at your coworker or your neighbor and you see the fancy material things they have, or the lavish vacations they take.

And you believe they're rich because of these things. Because you also want to be rich, you start doing the things they're doing in order to get there.

But guess what? They're probably not rich!

Yes, of course there are people out there who have significant wealth who can buy whatever they want without consequence.

But the vast majority of people who look rich are just that. They look like they have wealth.

If you could look at their bank accounts and financial statements, you'd probably find that they're spending more than they can afford… and this is the person you emulate in an effort to get rich yourself.

You replicate what they're doing and end up in the exact same boat. You spend more than you can truly afford. You act rich, but never actually become rich.

SEE ALSO: Bad spending habits that rich people always avoid

DON'T MISS: I'm a financial planner — here are the best 7 pieces of advice I can give you about money in your 30s

Looking and acting rich are not the same thing as being rich

The author of The Millionaire Next Door and Stop Acting Rich and Start Living Like a Real Millionaire, Thomas Stanley, called this aspirational spending. And it will kill your ability to build wealth.

Aspirational spending tends to happen when you believe you will be rich one day, and you just need to start acting rich now while you're on your way.

But the very act of acting rich today is what prevents you from ever becoming rich.

Again, most people who spend a lot don't have a lot (unless they came from an extremely wealthy family and have oodles of money that they can dive into like Scrooge McDuck).

But we've all experienced the pressure to keep up with the Joneses that comes from our society and culture. It's really, really tough to ignore what people around you are doing, what your family and friends do, and what advertisers and marketers tell you to do to be happy.

If you give in to that pressure to "keep up" and keep spending, you end up in this never-ending rat race where the only thing at the finish line are a few status symbols and an exhausted, empty bank account.

What happens when you don't overspend, but spend at least as much as you earn

Of course, you may already get this at some level. You're smarter than to spend more than you make in a month.

But what if you bring home $5,000 per month and spend every last dollar of that $5,000? You're not spending more than you earn. Is that okay?

Well, not really.

Spending right at your means, even if you don't go over and spend more than you earn, is like trying to take a race car up to 200 miles an hour with a warped wheel.

If anything goes wrong — you hit a bump, you swerve, whatever — you're done. There's no second option when you're going full throttle in your financial life. There's no safety net.

If anything changes, your financial plan combusts.

The thing is, we know things will change. Everyone has to deal with unexpected expenses when things don't go as planned. But since we know something is going to happen… it's really not so unexpected, is it?

You need to plan for the unexpected, which means you need savings to support you during the times life doesn't go perfectly.

My best piece of advice about money: live below (not just at) your means

If you're spending at your means, you're still spending too much money.

Imagine trying to build a sandcastle and your way of transporting the sand is a sieve.

You go over to scoop up the sand and carry it back to where you want to build your sandcastle, but by the time you get there all the sand is gone.

That's what happens when you live at your means. So the single best piece of financial advice I can give to someone in their 30s -- or anyone trying to build wealth -- is to not just live at your means, but to live as far below your means as you can.

Why? In order to reach financial freedom or any major financial goal, you need to save money.

Think about it. Are you going to work forever? If you're not, how will you pay for your life when you're not working? Where does that income come from?

One day, you'll stop working whether you want to or you're forced to stop (via age, health, other factors). If you haven't built up another source of income, you'll suddenly have no money with which to fund your life.

This means you need to build your own income stream if you want to generate wealth beyond your paycheck. By saving and investing the money you don't spend, you start to build a surplus.

You can grow that pile of money into a new income stream which allows you to supplement or entirely replace your existing income stream (again, your existing income is probably your job).

It's just a fact: We all need money to live. You can get that through your job, large investment accounts that provide return, owning real estate, etc.

(If you want to develop an income stream from something like real estate or a business, then where does that initial investment come from? You have to save for it.)

No matter what you do, that income has to come in. Unless you're independently wealthy, you need to create your own assets that produce income.

For most of us, myself included, the only way to create the assets we need to reach the level of wealth we want is to break off a piece of your current income and save and invest it.

Which means you have to spend significantly less than the net income you make each month. In other words, live well below your means.

A mustachioed Italian plumber with a penchant for jumping on the heads of his enemies is, unbelievably, one of the most popular video game characters in the world. Hell, he's one of the most popular characters in the world period. 

Of course, I'm talking about your friend and mine, Super Mario:

It's been over 35 years since Mario first appeared in 1981 arcade classic "Donkey Kong," and, since then, he's been in, like, a lot of games (the Mario Wiki estimates somewhere in the neighborhood of 170). These range from classics like "Super Mario World" on the Super Nintendo, to more esoteric fare like "Hotel Mario" and "Mario's Time Machine."

And now, he's even on Apple's iPhone and iPad!

Perhaps you have young kids at home who are quickly falling in love with "Super Mario Odyssey"? Or maybe you are? 

Good news: That's a ton of history to dig through! That's where this list comes in: We put together the 10 best Mario games ever made and where to find them (excluding spin-offs like the "Mario Tennis" franchise, "Mario Kart," or "Mario Party" and "Paper Mario"). Let's begin!

SEE ALSO: Nintendo's new Mario game is a great argument for buying a Nintendo Switch

10. "Super Mario Bros. 2"

It may seem like an unlikely place to start, given that it's not a "real" Mario game, but "Super Mario Bros. 2" is fantastic. Notoriously, it's a re-branded, slightly altered version of a game that already existed at the time: "Doki Doki Panic." Whatever.

"Super Mario Bros. 2" is an excellent Mario game.

It's the first to allow you to play as Mario, Luigi, Toad or the Princess. Each of them has their own special attributes. Princess can float mid-jump for a moment or two. Luigi has a slightly higher jump than anyone else. More importantly, it's a surrealist adventure full of crazy landscapes, crazier enemies, and a bird that shoots eggs out of its mouth. It may not be the first Mario game you should start with, but it's one that you absolutely should not miss.

Where can I play this game?

"Super Mario Bros. 2" is available for purchase on the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Virtual Console. It's also one of the 30 games on the NES Classic Console.

9. "Super Mario Land"

The first mobile version of "Super Mario" came with "Super Mario Land," an excellent standalone Mario game that took the concept of the original NES game and created something entirely new. It's still a standard "platformer" game — you start on the left side of a level and traverse it by moving to the right, killing enemies and avoiding your own death along the way — but "Super Mario Land" is full of delightful additions, like an underwater vehicle you get to pilot. It's a bizarre, thrilling Mario game that, admittedly, was especially impactful on my very young brain when it was first released back in 1989.

Where can I play this game?

"Super Mario Land" is available for purchase on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.

8. "Super Mario 3D World"

"Super Mario 3D World," simply put, is the best Mario game that's been made in the last five years. It's gorgeous, fresh, and perfectly designed. Like the best "Super Mario" games of the modern era, it seamlessly blends nostalgia-laced gameplay with fresh twists. 

As a nod to "Super Mario Bros. 2," players can choose to play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, or Toad — each has the same special ability that they had in the original NES game. "Super Mario 3D World" also borrows the overworld map concept from "Super Mario World" (the SNES game) and evolves it to its next logical conclusion: as an explorable world unto itself, full of secrets. 

Each level in "Super Mario 3D World" feels like a gift waiting to be unwrapped, and playing it co-op with friends and family is a true delight. It may very well be the best game Nintendo made for the Wii U.

Where can I play this game?

"Super Mario 3D World" is available for purchase on the Wii U, digitally on the eShop and in-store on disc. Buy it on Amazon right here.

Three out of the five most expensive zip codes in America are located in the tony suburbs of Silicon Valley, where tech moguls pay all cash and bid well above asking price for mansions.

Still, a historic property located down the road from Facebook and Google has some serious sticker shock. 1550 Portola Road in Woodside, California, hit the market for $48 million in July, up almost 700% since the compound last sold at the height of the recession in 2008.

Once belonging to socialite Adelaide Kirkbride, the sprawling circa-1915 home sits on seven acres with a private lake and horse stables. It is currently the priciest listing in Silicon Valley.

We spoke to listing agent Pierre Buljan about what makes this home worth the dough.

SEE ALSO: Inside the most expensive zip code in America, where tech moguls like Eric Schmidt and Paul Allen have their mansions

Woodside is a semi-rural enclave of Silicon Valley where the technorati, including Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, and SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, have lived over the years.

For $48 million, you can be neighbors with the most influential people in tech.

The property at 1550 Portola Road — named "Canardia"— once belonged to local socialite Adelade Kirkbride. An unnamed real-estate investor bought it for $6.1 million in 2008.

The home was not foreclosed on, contrary to past media reports, according to listing agent Pierre Buljan. Multiple families owned the property through a family trust; after several members died, the bank sold it for a bargain price during the housing crisis in 2008.

• The only way to fully get over a breakup is to wait it out.
• But there are plenty of strategies to help reduce your emotional distress and become a functioning human being again.
• Those strategies include resisting the urge to Facebook-stalk and finding a silver lining in the experience.

The only way to truly get over a breakup is to give it time.

As biological anthropologist Helen Fisher previously told Business Insider, "The day will come when that person who's been camping in your head is out. And you wake up in the morning and you realize that yesterday you never thought about them at all."

In fact, research suggests that we tend to overestimate how long it will take us to feel better after a breakup.

That said, if you've just landed in Splitsville, there are plenty of ways to speed up the recovery process — so you can show up to work as a functioning human being, and not a sobbing mess. Below, find five scientific and expert-backed ways to cope with a rough breakup.

SEE ALSO: 7 strategies that can help make your relationship happier in 10 minutes or less

Don't Facebook-stalk your ex

A study published 2012 in the journal Cyberpsychology found that people who creep on their exes' Facebook profiles are more likely to have negative feelings for the person, more likely to desire that person, and less likely to grow from the breakup.

It's hard to say whether looking at an ex's Facebook profile directly causes distress, or whether it's the other way around. Either way, do yourself a favor and try to resist the urge to "just check" what your ex has been up to since the breakup.

List five 'must-haves' and five 'can't-stands' in a potential partner

That's a tip from Andrea Syrtash, dating expert and author of "He's Just Not Your Type (And That's a Good Thing): How to Find Love Where You Least Expect It."

Syrtash previously told Business Insider she recommends going deeper with each value — so instead of "must have brown hair and brown eyes," try "I must be attracted to this person."

One benefit of this exercise is that you might realize while you want someone who's emotionally open, for example, none of your exes have been. From there, you can start to look for a partner who's more suitable for you.

Try not to assume that the breakup reflects something wrong with you

A 2016 paper in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin suggests that your ability to deal with a breakup has a lot to do with your sense of self.

One of the study authors, Lauren Howe, broke it down in The Atlantic:

"In our research, people reported the most prolonged distress after a romantic rejection when it caused their self-image to change for the worse. People who agreed that the rejection made them question who they really were also reported more often that they were still upset when they thought about the person who had rejected them."

On the other hand, Howe wrote, people who responded with remarks such as, "I learned that two people can both be quality individuals, but that doesn't mean they belong together" tended to have an easier time with the breakup.

Howe recommends that we try to "question our own narratives" about what the breakup reveals about us in order to have an easier time coping.

Tiger Woods is back.

After a tumultuous ten months that included his fourth back surgery in four years and an arrest after being found asleep in his car on the side of the road, Woods is finally back competing in a PGA Tour event.

This isn't the first time Woods has needed to come back. His career was derailed by affairs and a subsequent divorce from his wife, and his return to golf dominance has been hampered by injuries.

But despite this, Woods is still worth an estimated $740 million and is one of the highest-paid athletes of all time. That means plenty of cash to spend on yachts, private jets, megamansions, and video games.

Take a look at how he spends it all, below.

Tony Manfred and Mary Hanbury contributed reporting to a previous version of this article.

SEE ALSO: Injuries, infidelities, and poor choices: How Tiger Woods unraveled from the greatest golfer in the world

Tiger Woods has made more than $1.4 billion since turning pro in 1996.

Source: Golf Digest and Forbes

More than $110 million of that came from on-course winnings. He's No. 1 on the all-time money list, by far.

Read more: The 30 highest-paid golfers of all time

Roger Federer recently passed Woods as the highest-paid athlete of all time from a non-team sport.

Read more: Roger Federer has overtaken Tiger Woods as the top money-maker in individual sports with $110.2 million in earnings

All work and no play makes ... well, certainly nothing good for office morale.

When Business Insider toured the offices of Yelp, LinkedIn, Facebook, Kickstarter, and Adobe, both virtually and in person, we found that they're all full of opportunities to have a little fun in the workplace during the day.

From swinging around in the gym to playing some fun, old-fashioned board games, here's what these employees do at the office when they aren't working:

SEE ALSO: A look inside Kickstarter's Brooklyn office, where employees enjoy perks like a secret rooftop garden, coffee on tap, and plenty of dogs

DON'T MISS: A look inside Facebook's New York office, where employees of the $280 billion company enjoy virtual reality games and an in-house pastry chef

SAS employees can cool down throughout the day by swimming a few laps in the company pool.

They're also free to visit the meditation garden for a group yoga session.

See the full SAS office tour »

Employees at Yelp's Manhattan office can enjoy a game of corn hole during work hours ...

Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for Sunday's episode of "The Walking Dead,""Time for After."

Sunday's "The Walking Dead" showed that Eugene is really just looking out for himself and that others may be a little impatient when it comes to executing Rick's master plan. It also introduced another way survivors may become infected, which could spell disaster for Rick's group.

The season's seventh episode had a lot of little callbacks to the comics that show watchers may have overlooked. Keep reading to see what you may have missed.

SEE ALSO: 'The Walking Dead' just made a big change to one character from the comics

DON'T MISS: 'The Walking Dead' hints at a new way to get the zombie virus

Dwight gives Eugene a menacing pep talk about how he needs to keep his mouth shut.

Eugene figured out that Dwight betrayed Negan and now he has to decide whether or not to tattle on him to the Sanctuary leader.

Dwight tried to scare him into keeping silent just a bit longer.

"You don't got blood on your hands yet. But that's coming," he tells Eugene. "Once you do those things, you become those things and there’s no going back. No forgetting it."

Dwight's talking about how the apocalypse has changed him, and how it made his old wife Sherry leave him.

After escaping the Sanctuary, Dwight's wife Sherry left him a note at their old home apologizing for how she made him change.

"But now you've killed and you've become everything you didn't want to be, and it's my fault," Sherry's note read. "You were better than me. Most people are. I let Daryl go because he reminded you of who you used to be, and I wanted to let you forget."

A man with a portion of his face melted off helps secure the Sanctuary door from the undead.

We've seen him before in season seven.

• Since its earliest years in the 1930s, Saudi Aramco has gone from a speculative attempt to find oil to the most powerful company in the global oil industry.
• The company has its roots in oil exploration by American engineers during the interwar years as the USA looked for a way to exploit growing international demand for petroleum.
• When drilling began in the 30s, no one was even sure if there was oil in Saudi Arabia.
• As Aramco prepares for an international listing, Business Insider decided to look into the rich and fascinating history of the company.

LONDON — When Saudi Aramco lists on the stock market in 2018, it will almost certainly be the biggest initial public offering in history, likely valuing the Saudi state oil company at as much as $2 trillion — more than twice the market capitalisation of Apple.

So important is Saudi Aramco’s listing to global stock markets, that major financial centres are practically tripping over one another to get a slice of the Aramco pie. 

US President Donald Trump has personally intervened, tweeting in November that he "would very much appreciate Saudi Arabia doing their IPO of Aramco with the New York Stock Exchange," adding that it is "Important to the United States!"

As it stands, the kingdom’s ruling family plans to list at least part of its business on Saudi Arabia's stock exchange, the Tadawul, in 2018. It is then widely expected to list in another segment on an exchange in an international financial centre — that will most likely be New York or London, but Hong Kong and Singapore are also thought to be contenders.

There is also some suggestion that the kingdom is still considering whether to actually pursue an international listing for part of its behemothic state oil company, and if it may instead favour a private placement of its shares.

Finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan, told the Financial Times in October that an international listing is just one "option."Saudi Aramco could look for private investment overseas instead of an international IPO, Al-Jadaan said.

"We agreed and we have said publicly that Tadawul is for certain," he told the FT. "[But] are we going to go with an international market? If we go, where are we going? And if we go, are we going public or we are going private."

Regardless of how Aramco decides to go public, it is almost certain to be the biggest event in the markets in 2018. But how did Aramco get to where it is today?

Ahead of the IPO, Business Insider decided to take a look at the storied history of the oil giant.

In the interwar years, global demand for oil boomed. The invention of the internal combustion engine was among the key drivers.

Before we get to Aramco, a little on the history of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia was formally founded in 1932 when its first king, Ibn Saud, united four regions of Arabia — Hejaz, Najd, Eastern Arabia, and Southern Arabia — into a single state, following a series of conquests over the course of three decades.

Ibn Saud led the country’s efforts to find oil, and under a year after he took power, Saudi Arabia signed its first oil concession agreement with the Standard Oil Company of California — Socal, as it was known, would later become Chevron, now one of the world’s most important oil producing firms.

In November 1933, a management company for the concession, known as the California Arabian Standard Oil Company, or Casoc. Casoc, in effect, marked the very beginning of what we know as Saudi Aramco.

LONDON — The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Survey examines the financial health and risks of countries around the world.

While Britain's public debt is the cause of constant debate and concern for policy-makers and politicians, the ranking shows that Britain is not even among the top 10 countries with the highest levels of borrowing.

In fact, debt-to-GDP ratios around the world have increased in recent years as governments take advantage of historically low interest rates to pile up cheap debt before rates inevitably begin to rise.

Here are the 17 countries with the highest level of government debt.

17. Egypt — 97.1%. Following a period of economic turmoil after Egypt's Arab Spring, the Central Bank of Egypt announced in April this year that the country's public debt has increased significantly, a figure which is being driven up in a vicious circle driven by the current budget deficit.

16. Spain — 99.3%. Spain's troubled economy is blighted by a 17.1% unemployment rate and one of the highest levels of public debt in Europe.

15. Mauritania — 99.6%. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a huge country with a tiny population of 4.3 million located in Northwest Africa. The IMF said in 2016 that its high level of public debt was linked to a 30% decline in the price of iron ore, which accounts for nearly 50% of its exports.

Warning: There are potential spoilers ahead for the mid-season finale of "The Walking Dead."

AMC is promising that the 90-minute mid-season finale of "The Walking Dead" will have a moment everyone will be talking about the next morning. 

What does that mean?

We have a few guesses, but the most logical one is that a big character is going to get killed off. And, hopefully, it's not in the form of another brutal bat to the head.

With ratings for the show stumbling south, "The Walking Dead" could really use a jump starter. What better way than to kill off a fan favorite? (Unless it's Daryl, because then everyone riots.) If someone gets killed off next Sunday, here's who we think is most likely to get the axe.

9. Michonne — 10%

Actress Danai Gurira was off filming Marvel's "Black Panther," but that doesn't mean she's a goner. Michonne's death would be a devastating one for Rick to handle and would help explain his tears at the start of season eight. 

But she's one of the strongest female characters left on the show. Getting rid of her would be a risky move. Plus, we see her in the flash-forward at the season's start.

8. Rosita — 20%

Rosita hasn't been a fan favorite for a while. So it wouldn't be a big, shocking surprise to see her leave. 

Plus, she gained some respect from fans Sunday night when she was one of the few characters speaking sense in keeping with Rick's plan. Maybe Rosita's turning a new leaf.

7. Gregory — 25%

Nothing would give us more pleasure than seeing Gregory squirm a bit. But as much as we'd love to see him go, he probably still has a few tricks up his sleeves.

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

The Insider Pick:

• Holiday decorations bring feelings of warmth and cheer even in the darkest and coldest days of the year. Testing, setting up, and connecting Christmas lights can be anything but a joyful experience, though. The KooPower Waterproof Battery Fairy Lights are our top choice because they are controlled by a remote and powered by batteries, so there is no proximity to an outlet or hands-on access required.

I'm a man who likes his holiday decorations. I spend hours and hours every November climbing up and down ladders and scrambling around on the roof stringing up dozens of feet of Christmas lights on every peak and roofline of the house. Then I spend about 15 minutes taking them all down again in January, thanks to a secret holiday light hanging technique I came up with a few years back. But that, friends, is a secret. Kind of. I'll probably explain it if you ask. (Cough cough use file clamps on the shingles cough!)

With all those hours spent decorating the home come a fair share of frustrations, though, from the nightly task of plugging the strands in because you can't find a timer to the cord that's too short to reach the outlet and the yearly search for the one burned out bulb, to the pleasure of your ladder falling away from the roof, leaving you deciding between risking a jump or calling your wife to ask her to come help you out of a less than impressive situation.

To that end, this year I've worked to assemble a buying guide filled primarily with holiday lights that not only look great, but that also make your life easier.

Included with a couple of classic plug-in options, this guide features Christmas lights that get their power from batteries and that get power from the sun. We have lights controlled via a handheld remote and those that are beamed out of a projector. Like it or not, the holiday season comes with its fair share of stress, so let's not make hanging the holiday lights one more source of it.

Sure, those old strands of tiny incandescent bulbs you have tangled up in boxes on the garage shelves are probably fine ... but these lights are definitely better. Upgrade your Christmas light game this season with these shining examples of great holiday lights.

Read on in the slides below to learn why the KooPower Waterproof Battery Fairy Lights are our top pick and why you might also love the Good Tidings Light Ceramic Multi-Colored Holiday Lights, the Proteove Christmas Laser Light Projector, the ORA LED Solar Powered String Lights, and the Brizled LED Mini String Christmas Lights.

SEE ALSO: The best Christmas decorations to deck your halls

The best Christmas lights overall

Why you'll love them: The KooPower Waterproof Battery Fairy Lights are battery powered and operated via remote control, so once they're in place, you can look forward to weeks of effortless enjoyment.

One of the worst things about Christmas lights is the fact that you have to plug them in every time you want them to light up and unplug them when you want them to go dark. That is, unless you have a timer. But even with a timer, you still need the lights to end up near an outlet, or at least be close enough to the outlet that an extension cord can connect the two. This necessary proximity to power happens to be the other worst thing, by the way. With the KooPower Waterproof Battery Fairy Lights with Remote and Timer, both of those situations are things of the past.

The KooPower lights are powered by three AA batteries, and when only lit for a few hours each night, these three batteries will keep the lights aglow for days. With good quality batteries, the lights will shine for 60 hours before needing a change, so even if you left the lights on for four hours every night, that's more than two weeks per set, or likely only one battery change per holiday season. And what's more, you could set these lights up 100 miles from the nearest power outlet if you really wanted to.

Then we have the remote control, which eliminates the need for ready access to the lights and for use of an external timer. With the remote, the lights can be programmed for an on/off cycle, set to twinkle, fade in and out, do a chasing flash pattern, and more. The lights stay cool, thus are safe for use on an indoor tree, and are water-resistant, thus suitable for outdoor hanging.

The KooPower Waterproof Battery Fairy Lights score a solid 4.4-star average on Amazon, with a customer named Monica saying that for use where "there is no outlet... these [lights] worked perfectly." An owner named Jennifer said she loved "how small but powerful they are."

A TopReviewsProduct.com write up about KooPower battery lights appreciated that their "memory function will play the same mode the next time you turn on [the lights] so you do not have to re-set [them] over again." 

Pros: Battery power lasts many days, controlled by remote, tiny but bright bulbs, great price

Cons: 36-foot strand too short for some applications

Buy the KooPower Waterproof Battery Fairy Lights with Remote and Timer on Amazon for $14.98 (originally $29.99)

The best classic Christmas lights

Why you'll love them: The large, softly glowing colorful bulbs of the Good Tidings Ceramic Multi-Colored Holiday Lights look just like something out of "A Christmas Story."

Sure, LED bulbs are bright, energy efficient, cool to the touch, and last for years. But you have to admit, there's something so warm and comforting about classic incandescent bulb Christmas lights. Especially those oversized bulbs known "in the business" as C9 bulbs.

The Good Tidings Ceramic Multi-Colored Holiday Light Set comes with 25 big, colorful bulbs that shine with a light both bright and soft at once. They will light up your Christmas tree, they look great framing a window or doorway, and they're hard to beat when strung across the roofline of the home, especially when a blanket of snow rests around them.

The strand measures 24 feet long, a great length for an indoor tree though a bit short for use outdoors unless you're willing to buy a few strands of the lights. They will last for years, though, albeit with an occasional bulb swap needed. Doing so is easy, though. It's just like changing a standard light bulb.

The Good Tidings Ceramic Multi-Colored Holiday Lights are UL listed for indoor and outdoor use and they connect to any standard socket or extension cord. If the soft frosted bulb look isn't to your liking, they also come in a transparent variation. (But listen, these are the ones you want, OK?)

The retro-style Good Tidings Ceramic Multi-Colored Holiday Light Set has a 4.1 out of five-star average online, with one owner named Ali speaking for many when he says: "I love these lights! They were one of my favorites when I was young and have returned!"

Pros: Classic vintage charm, bright lights visible from a distance, easy bulb changes

Cons: Short strand length, glow much warmer than LEDs

Buy the Good Tidings Ceramic Multi-Colored Holiday Light Set on Amazon for $19.95

The best Christmas light projector

Why you'll love it: Setting up the Proteove Christmas Laser Light Projector takes all of about five minutes, four of which involve getting it out of its packaging.

Look, laser light projector holiday decorations aren't for everyone, I get that. But falling off of ladders, finding that one burnt out bulb, and realizing you don't have a long enough extension cord to connect the light strands to the outlet? That stuff isn't for everyone, either. And besides, some people find a gently swirling, twinkling display of red and green sparkles quite attractive.

The Proteove Christmas Laser Light Projector makes decorating your house for the holidays easier than ever. You simply plant the projector in the ground using its included stake (or set it on a driveway or patio with a flat disc-shaped base, also included) and aim the thing at your house. Plug it in, and then fire it up; that's all there is to it.

The projector creates thousands of tiny dots of light, which can be set to green, red, or green and red. The lights cover up to 2,150 square feet of surface when the unit is set up 30 feet away, and the projector can be controlled by a remote that is reliable within 40 feet.

You can also, by the way, set the colored dots to slowly swirl about, or you can add decorative features like little Christmas tree, snowflake, or bell icons. Your call on that...

You want my opinion? Aim the projector up into the trees for a truly dazzling effect, and stick with traditional lights on the house. Those two approaches together make for one fine holiday tableau.

You want other people's opinions? Well, this projector has a glowing five-star average rating on Amazon. An owner named Phillip calls the system "probably the easiest and fastest solution for holiday decoration," while another customer claimed that: "every neighbor wants one for their house."

A Consumer Expert review noted that the Proteove Christmas Laser Light Projector allows for easy programming "for two, four, six, or eight-hour durations."

Pros: Amazingly easy setup, remote control operation, multiple functions

Cons: Lacks charm of actual strands of lights

Buy the Proteove Christmas Laser Light Projector on Amazon for $39.99 and up

• When "Jersey Shore" was in its prime, it was the most-watched show on MTV.
• MTV recently announced that the cast is going to reunite for "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation."
• The cast was known for their iconic tans, outfits, and hairstyles. And some of them haven't changed much.

"Jersey Shore" was a phenomenon. People loved it, people hated it, people loved to hate it.

These nine guidos and guidettes were among the most recognizable people on the planet. And people have been so passionate about a reunion that MTV finally listened.

From the days of GTL, grenades, and smush rooms, to parenthood and marriage, the cast of Jersey Shore has grown up along with us. Let's see how their lives have changed since the show premiered back in 2009.

SEE ALSO: The best TV show of every year since 2000, according to critics

Nicole Polizzi, better known as Snooki, became one of the breakout stars of the show.

When "Jersey Shore" first began, the housemates did not particularly like Snooki all that much. Of course, everything changed with the Punch Heard 'Round The World, when an (ex)-gym teacher punched her in the face. The outrage was national, and turned this guy rightfully into a villain.

After this incident, the housemates and America both decided to love Snooki for who she is: a ridiculous, hilarious human being. Everything she said was instantly quotable; "Where's the beach,""It was like trying to fit a watermelon into a pinhole," and "Meatball problems."

She goes by Nicole now.

Now, Nicole is a wife and mother of two. She's still close with her castmates, especially Jenni. In fact, the two of them had their own show "Snooki & Jwoww" which lasted for four seasons.

She also has her own podcast ("It's Happening with Snooki and Joey"), clothing line (The Snooki Shop), Etsy store (Nicole's Craft Room), and has written three books. She's turned herself into a brand. Not bad for someone whose original claim to fame was getting punched in the face.

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino also shot to fame after the show premiered.

Mike's antics got him into a lot of, for lack of a better word, situations. During his time on the show, he got in fights with every single other member of the cast. He actually put himself in a neck brace by ramming his own head into a wall before Ronnie could do it to him. 

However, his personality and tendency to expose his abs all the time made him one of the most recognizable faces from the show. By season 6, The Situation was taking home $150,000 per episode.

The INSIDER Summary:

• Royal wedding cakes have been enormous over the years, with multiple layers weighing hundreds of pounds.
• At the wedding, the first piece is often cut with a ceremonial sword.
• Here are 11 incredible wedding cakes from royal weddings around the world.

Royal weddings are extravagant affairs, and the cakes are no exception. Baked by hardworking teams of the finest chefs, they're often made of multiple layers weighing hundreds of pounds, decorated with intricate flowers and delicate swirls of icing, and displayed on artful stands.

We've already looked at how gorgeous royal wedding dresses look around the world.  Now, here are 11 of the most incredible royal wedding cakes.

Royals definitely don't skimp on any aspect of their weddings — including the cakes.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip's wedding cake in 1947 weighed 500 pounds, stood at nine feet tall, and took two weeks to make.

Prince William and Kate Middleton's cake was a little more understated, but no less intricate.

In San Francisco, an influx of tech workers has driven up the cost of housing and pushed natives to the far reaches of the city. And in the remote waterfront neighborhood of Hunters Point, an entirely new community is rising on the site of a former nuclear testing facility.

Lennar Corp.— the nation's largest housing builder — and its California-based spinoff Five Point have set out to transform the retired San Francisco Naval Shipyard into a bustling live-work community with 12,000 new homes and approximately five million square feet of office and commercial space. The project has a price tag to match its hefty ambitions: $8 billion.

The redevelopment of the neighborhoods around the shipyard and Candlestick Park, where the San Francisco Giants once played, began in 1999. The project has taken so long, in part, because it involves the cleanup of radioactive contamination. In the 1940s, the shipyard hosted a federal nuclear program that included a secret laboratory where researchers ran tests on the effects of radiation on living organisms. Its closure in 1994 left behind San Francisco's worst toxic-waste dump.

Now, the "micro-hood" at Hunters Point is starting to take shape, with 234 homes sold (about 83% of the completed units) and another 49 condominiums marketed for sale.

Take a look inside the rebranded San Francisco Shipyard.

SEE ALSO: Another former radioactive-waste site off the coast of San Francisco is turning into a $5 billion housing development

The bus ride to The SF Shipyard reminds me of the approach to Walt Disney World when I was a kid. For half a mile back, roads signs welcome you to a real-estate wonderland.

After a roughly 45-minute bus ride from downtown, I arrived in The SF Shipyard.

It was less glamorous than I expected. Wire fences separated swaths of dirt from other plots of dirt. A few residents walked their furry companions along the paved roads.

The city bus drops residents off along the back of the development, where rows of condominiums meet what remains of the retired San Francisco Naval Shipyard.

As the year ends, so do some of your favorite TV shows.

We said goodbye to a lot of shows in 2017, and with this being the first year Netflix decided to start canceling shows, it may seem like more shows are falling by the wayside compared to previous years.

The networks, as usual, axed plenty of shows old and new, like the comedy "2 Broke Girls," which faltered in ratings later into its run. One of CBS's new show,"Wisdom of the Crowd," was cancelled after its star, Jeremy Piven, was accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of its premiere in September.

We've also included in this roundup the shows that knew their end was coming, like  "Orphan Black,""Girls,""The Vampire Diaries," and "Bloodline." HBO's "Vice Principals," for example, was always set to be finished after two seasons. 

Here are all the shows that were canceled this year, from broadcast to Netflix:

SEE ALSO: All 26 notable new Netflix original shows that debuted in 2017, ranked from worst to best

"Wisdom of the Crowd"— CBS, one season

"Me, Myself & I"— CBS, one season

"Me Myself, & I" hasn't been officially canceled, but it might as well be: after six episodes, it was pulled from the schedule. 

"The Blacklist: Redemption"— NBC, one season

Warning: There are potential spoilers ahead for "The Walking Dead" mid-season finale.

AMC promises Sunday's "The Walking Dead" mid-season finale will be one viewers will want to tune into live. Why? There's supposed to be some big, shocking moment which will have everyone talking.

Though we believe that means a big character is biting the dust, there are a few other possibilities. Keep reading to see what we're expecting to see on the 90-minute mid-season finale. 

1. We'll find out who's in that mystery helicopter.

Rick's over here worried about Negan and the Saviors, but maybe he has a greater concern ahead of him.

It's been a few episodes since we saw the mysterious helicopter fly overhead. Could some characters from "Fear The Walking Dead" show up or is the show setting up another future villain that's more eccentric than Negan? 

You can read more on who we think is flying that helicopter — if anyone — here.

2. A really big character dies.

This is the most obvious answer. Seven episodes into this "war" and the biggest loss may have been a CG tiger.

Who gets the axe? The biggest shockers would be Carl, Daryl, or Negan if the show really wants to make an impact.

Negan hasn't been received too fondly by TV viewers after his violent killing of Glenn and Abraham on the season seven premiere. Maybe it's time to give this villain the boot although he becomes a major character in the comics.

Chandler Riggs, who plays Carl, has been showing off a shorter haircut for a new movie role. Since he's also going to college, fans think he may not return. 

Daryl has been a fan-favorite for years. Killing him off would definitely get people talking, but probably not in a positive way.

We've made a shortlist of characters likely to die on the mid-season finale here.

3. Heath returns!

We know this is a long shot, but this is the biggest plot hole the show has left unanswered. What happened to Heath when he mysteriously disappeared on season seven?

Maybe he has teamed up with Oceanside and he's riding in on his own revenge train. We already know he's not a big fan of Rick.

We may have to wait a bit longer to see him return though. Showrunner Scott Gimple told Entertainment Weekly we may not see Heath until season nine. Still, a fan can dream.

Netflix's prolific year in original programming has produced a number of critically acclaimed new shows.

Three of the streaming service's original series that debuted in 2017 have even earned the rare designation of a 100% "Fresh" rating on the reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

The satirical comedy-drama "Dear White People," the animated, puberty-centric sitcom "Big Mouth," and a reboot of the cult 1990s show "Mystery Science Theater 3000" all earned universally positive reviews on their way to notching an unblemished critic score on the site. 

Here's why these three Netflix original shows were so critically acclaimed:

SEE ALSO: All 26 notable Netflix original shows that debuted in 2017, ranked from worst to best

"Dear White People"

Critic score: 100%; Audience score: 65%

A serial adaptation of the acclaimed 2014 film of the same name, Netflix's "Dear White People" takes a satirical and incisive look at the issues that a group of students of color deal with while attending a fictional, predominately white Ivy League college.

NPR's Eric Deggan called the series a "pop culture-savvy, sometimes explicit, always entertaining look" at the process of "young people negotiating a world where struggles over identity grow more complex every day."

Netflix renewed the series for a second season over the summer, and production for it began later this year. 

Watch the series on Netflix here.

"Big Mouth"

Critic score: 100%; Audience score: 79%

"Big Mouth," an animated sitcom from comedian Nick Kroll and writer Andrew Goldberg, follows a group of teenagers adjusting to the trials of puberty, with a surreal and explicitly hilarious narrative that also feels true-to-life.

Business Insider's Carrie Wittmer spoke to Goldberg about the series, and he described the show's writers room as "often [feeling] like you've sat in a day of therapy... where you're reliving these memories that are traumatic or embarrassing or awkward, but you're getting the feeling that other people have been through it, too."

Netflix renewed "Big Mouth" for a second season less than a month after releasing its first 10-episode season in late September. 

Watch the series on Netflix here.

"Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return"

Critic score:100%; Audience score: 92%

"Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return" reboots a Comedy Central cult classic from the 1990s, wherein a human (played by comedian Jonah Ray, in this rendition) who is imprisoned on a spacecraft builds a team of sentient robots to watch bad movies with and crack jokes over the footage.

The Los Angeles Times' Robert Lloyd described the new series as closely following the original show's formula, which has "grown legendary with time," and is "still a scrappy, silly thing, probably best experienced late at night, with friends."

Netflix renewed the reboot for a second season last month, bringing the series total to 12 seasons.

Watch the series on Netflix here.

Not everything on television is portrayed as accurately as it may occur in real life. Obviously, this is true in the case of sci-fi shows like "The Walking Dead" or "The Handmaid’s Tale" (well, hopefully), but sometimes even shows that are supposed to be realistic can’t quite get certain things right.

When it comes to mental illness, many TV shows have a hard time really hitting the nail on the head. Not only is that discouraging, it’s also damaging.

Those who suffer from mental illnesses may have to see their conditions play out on the small screen in ways that are exaggerated, inappropriate, or just plain incorrect. Representation matters, especially when considering the strength of the stigma surrounding mental illness. Not only do those who deal with mental illness have to face a society that villanizes them and prevents them from receiving adequate health care, they also have to deal with visual media that mocks them or degrades them.

But these seven shows are encouraging to those who may struggle with their own mental health issues, making sure that their characters are portrayed accurately and without perpetuating the stigma.

"This Is Us"

Obviously, every episode of "This Is Us" comes with a fair warning: grab the tissues. Sometimes the episodes are circumstantially sad, maybe because of emotional wedding vows or tragic losses, but it can also be because of just how relatable the characters’ struggles really are.

In a particularly powerful scene, the NBC hit took on panic attacks and showed Randall (Sterling K. Brown) as he attempted to get through one while talking on the phone with his brother. Randall shook, sobbed, and struggled to breathe during the scene as his brother identified the problem and ran to help him.

This is important. Millions of Americans struggle with anxiety and there are so many myths about the disorder. For Randall’s anxiety to be portrayed with real symptoms, real emotions, and real consequences is powerful for those whose disease is invalidated and labeled fake.

"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"

This CW show always brings the laughs. Watching co-creator and star Rachel Bloom’s Rebecca get into an array of shenanigans while somehow bursting into song is a treat, but sometimes it can enter into pretty emotional territory.

Throughout the series, Rebecca struggles with her anxiety and depression. She’s constantly in her head and as much as it can be amusing to see some of her more over-the-top moments, it can also be really relatable for those who suffer from those mental illnesses in real life.

For Bloom this is not only intentional, it’s also close to home.

"Rebecca is ­depressed, and as my co-­creator, Aline Brosh McKenna, and I were writing that episode, the anxiety and depression that had invaded my own brain like an alien when I was a kid came back in full force," Bloom told "Glamour."

Bloom’s candid admission is why it’s critical to have a large spectrum of writers and showrunners at the helm of TV shows. How can someone without a mental illness write about a character who suffers from mental illness while remaining realistic? This is evidence of how important it is to have people who live with mental illnesses in the writer's room when these episodes are created, or better yet, have them at the helm.  

"Grey’s Anatomy"

"Grey’s Anatomy" doesn’t exactly have a taste for subtlety. In a show about extremely sexy doctors and constant disasters in the world’s most dramatically unlucky hospital, there is some shred of truth.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that’s often portrayed in ways that only serve to strengthen the stigma surrounding it. People with schizophrenia are usually shown as stereotypically “crazy” people, floating between constantly changing personalities and living in awful circumstances. This isn’t the case for so many people with schizophrenia.

"Grey’s" took on schizophrenia in an episode about a homeless teen and in the end, it actually got it right.

Instead of relying on tropes, the show played on what is real about the illness, its treatment, and the misconceptions surrounding it. The patient’s parents lacked awareness about her illness and were unsure about the legitimacy of her symptoms which proved how misinformation can only lead to breakdowns of communication and emotional pain for everyone involved. In the end, her parents’ support and their desire to learn were the reasons for the family’s reunion.

"Grey’s" also shows its main characters’ own ongoing battles with things like addiction and depression and it does it in a way that feels less romanticized or glossy than so many other shows.

A fantastic game just arrived on the Nintendo Switch, and there's a good chance you've never heard of it. 

The game is "Battle Chef Brigade," and it's a true delight — charming, beautiful, and smart. Best of all, it's like no other game that's come out this year. 

That's great news if you're playing "Battle Chef Brigade," but it's unfortunate if you're in the position of convincing people to check it out (hi!). Explaining what it is takes some effort, but here's my best attempt.

SEE ALSO: The Nintendo Switch is the hottest game system of the year — here are its 15 best games

You play as Mina, a fledgling cook from a small village who wants to join the ranks of the world's most serious chefs: the "Battle Chef Brigade"!

Mina is upset. She's stuck in a small town, working for her mother in her family's restaurant. She feels trapped.

The only way out for Mina, she realizes, is through cooking. And this is where the bizarre mash-up of gameplay comes in. First, you must hunt for ingredients:

Just outside of Mina's kitchen is a backyard rife with creatures and plants waiting to be harvested and cooked. This section of the game is called the "hunt," and it involves hacking and slashing through various types of enemies. Upon killing one of these enemies, ingredients are left in their place. 

Everything around us is becoming connected. As a result, we are seeing shifts in investments and returns. There is already a great demand for network expansion, cyber security and insurance. And generally, the prices of hardware will fall as IoT becomes less of a novelty.

All of this opens up a huge opportunity for everyone to make and save a lot of money. We will invest $6 trillion in IoT between 2015 and 2020, which will yield $12.6 trillion ROI over the next decade. Enterprise will make up the majority of the investment dollars, followed by government and consumer.

BI Intelligence has created a slide deck exploring the most disruptive trends in IoT. To get a more detailed view of the progression, landscape and projections of the Internet of Everything, access the complete slide deck by clicking here.

Some of the topics covered include:

• The market drivers for the IoT.
• Forecasts for the IoT market.
• A breakdown of how many industries are utilizing IoT devices.
• A look at how governments are using the IoT to revolutionize their cities and defense.
• An examination of the smart home and connected car market.
• And much more.

Below are 8 sample slides from the 60-page deck. Want the full deck? Access it here for FREE >>

Want the full 60-page slide deck?  Access it Here - FREE >>

Want the full 60-page slide deck?  Access it Here - FREE >>

Want the full 60-page slide deck?  Access it Here - FREE >>