detnews.com - Personal Finance

Holiday trimmings on your rental car

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:00:00 EST

Travelers have been able to score decent deals on hotel rooms and airfares over the last year. But car rental prices have increased dramatically despite the weak economy.

Brian J. O'Connor: The Grand Experiment: Taking a baby-sitting stand

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:37:00 EST

It's a tough balancing act: Cut too much, and the best sitters will simply drop the Your Money family. Yet you need sitters smart enough to help your kid with homework, not some tween-age girls giving him plot points to the latest "Twilight" installment. Child care always is a gnarly problem, and in this case the answer is simple: Dad.

Late payments on credit cards drop in 3rd quarter

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:00:00 EST

NEW YORK -- For the first time in a decade, more people paid their credit card bills on time in the third quarter this year than in the second quarter.

3 ways to give thanks at work

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:00:00 EST

With Thanksgiving this week, it's the season for giving thanks, even in the often thankless Motor City.

Brian J. O'Connor: The Grand Experiment: Cutting kid costs

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:37:00 EST

My first thought was to furlough the young 'un two days a week to his grandmother's, where the savings on chicken tenders and Cheerios alone would put me over this project's $1,000 final goal.

Plan carefully with flexible medical account

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:07:00 EST

One of the tricky issues employees need to sort out as they choose their benefits for next year is whether to put money aside in a medical flexible spending account, and if so, how much.

Flexible spending accounts face hit in health overhaul

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:07:00 EST

Those tax-free spending accounts that you and your co-workers use to help pay for dental work, insurance copayments or over-the-counter drugs face a hit under the health overhaul bills in Congress -- unless a coalition that includes a powerful union, insurers and others can stop it.

6 rules if the boss is a buddy

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:00:00 EST

You have lunch together every day, grab an occasional drink after work, and have gotten each other through work-related crises. So wouldn't it be strange if your office buddy became your new boss?

Recession intensifies GenX discontent at work

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:00:00 EST

CHICAGO -- They're antsy and edgy, tired of waiting for promotion opportunities at work as their elders put off retirement. A good number of them are just waiting for the economy to pick up so they can hop to the next job, find something more fulfilling and get what they think they deserve. Oh, and they want work-life balance, too.

Brian J. O'Connor: Grand Experiment: Unplug utility costs

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:52:00 EST

This week's Grand Experiment has really flipped the switch on some big savings. The budget category is "utilities" and, as with every week of this project, I aimed to cut at least $100 out of my family spending. That included water, electric, cable TV, phone and cell phone service.