Monday, November 23, 2009
The Grand Experiment
Personal finance columnist Brian O'Connor is conducting a 10-week experiment, trying to lop $1,000 from his family's budget. In addition to weekly columns, find more updates here from Brian's blog and Twitter posts.
Your Money blog
Reader tips: Spreadsheets, coupons and Walmart, oh my!
Despite this week's miss on the savings goal in the auto/transportation category, Grand Experiment's first week of reader submissions is in, and includes some good ideas … Continued
Twitter posts from Brian O'Connor
- SaveAGrand: Just missed $100 this week, saving on childcare, but still ahead by saving $518.39 in 5 budget categories. http://bit.ly/8eAKB0
- SaveAGrand: My flex account saves $1,200+ a year on medical costs for my kid. So far, $428.39 in savings! http://bit.ly/PS4ns
- SaveAGrand: Trying to cut $100 out of the cost of raising my son. Check in Monday to see if I make it this week! http://bit.ly/MJwMs
- SaveAGrand: Pinch pennies or slash dollars? Good Bankrate.com story on the pros and cons, but penny pinchers lose. http://bit.ly/3oFDE8
- SaveAGrand: I did it! Saved even more than $100 in this week's Grand Experiment! http://bit.ly/2cdknF
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AP Headlines
Money and Markets
- How the major stock indexes fared on Monday - 06:04 PM
- Weak dollar, home sales data carry stocks higher - 06:02 PM
- Gladstone to create class of senior shares - 05:46 PM
- Earnings roundup: Tyson Foods, Inter Parfums - 05:34 PM
- Tax credit gives home sales best boost in decade - 05:30 PM
- Gold touches new high of $1,174 as dollar weakens - 05:22 PM
- Tyson Foods posts 4Q loss on beef charge - 05:19 PM
- Gas prices fall to begin busy travel week - 05:18 PM
- Inter Parfums posts 3rd-quarter profit - 05:16 PM
Brian J. O'Connor
The Grand Experiment: Taking a baby-sitting stand
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. - 11/23/2009
Holiday trimmings on your rental car
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. - 11/23/2009
Late payments on credit cards drop in 3rd quarter
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. - 11/23/2009
3 ways to give thanks at work
With Thanksgiving this week, it's the season for giving thanks, even in the often thankless Motor City. - 11/23/2009
Brian J. O'Connor
The Grand Experiment: Cutting kid costs
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. - 11/16/2009
Plan carefully with flexible medical account
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. - 11/16/2009
Flexible spending accounts face hit in health overhaul
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. - 11/16/2009
6 rules if the boss is a buddy
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? - 11/16/2009
Recession intensifies GenX discontent at work
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. - 11/16/2009
Brian J. O'Connor
Grand Experiment: Unplug utility costs
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. - 11/09/2009
Making debt vanish? Don't bet on it
Reduce your debt by 60 percent! Stop collection calls! Be debt free in 12 months! The siren song of debt settlement firms is getting harder to ignore these days, especially if your finances are out of control or creditors are knocking at the door - 11/09/2009
IRS may have a refund for you
Wouldn't it be great if the Internal Revenue Service were looking for you to give you money? - 11/09/2009
ECONOMY WATCH
5 tips for better meetings
Do your weekly meetings feel like a waste of time? More importantly, does your company have that kind of time to waste? - 11/09/2009
What you need to know if your bank fails
New York -- Dozens of banks have failed this year. What do you need to know if yours is next? - 11/05/2009
Lose your job? Rebuild your career
As the U.S. unemployment rate climbs to almost 10 percent, and Michigan sits at 15.3 percent, no industry or profession has been spared when employers needed to cut jobs. That includes fields once considered untouchable. - 11/02/2009




Award-winning Your Money columnist Brian J. O'Connor of The Detroit News offers news and practical personal finance advice.


