For most people, the holidays are a time of giving gifts for friends and family. But should we all just save our money this year? Read more!

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Will obesity make Medicare go bankrupt?

Barbara Bartlein Dec 2nd 2009 @ 1:00PM EST Filed Under: Health, Bankruptcy, Insurance-health

Americans are fat and are getting fatter. During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. In 2008, only one state (Colorado) had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty-two states had a prevalence equal to or greater than 25%; six of these states (Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia ) had a prevalence of obesity equal to or greater than 30%.

This increase in girth is also fueling the increase in chronic diseases such as heart disease, several types of cancer and diabetes. According to a new study by researchers based at the University of Chicago, the number of people with diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes will climb from almost 24 million this year to about 44 million in 2034. Over the same period, annual diabetes-related treatment costs are expected to increase from $113 billion to $336 billion in 2007 dollars. Medicare spending on diabetes is expected to jump from $45 billion to $171 billion and could exceed current projections for all Medicare costs.

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Man smashes HDTVs with a hammer at Target

Josh Smith Dec 2nd 2009 @ 12:30PM EST Filed Under: Shopping

Shoppers at a Target in Winona, Minn. were witness to an odd and frightening scene Saturday as a man entered the store and began smashing HDTVs with a hammer.

The incident occurred shortly after 5 p.m. when 39-year-old Jerome Eberle entered Target and started destroying HDTVs, cameras and other merchandise in the Electronics section of the store, causing a panic which emptied the store, according to police.

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Save us, Dubai World, from another year of bad commercial real estate!

Charles Feldman Dec 2nd 2009 @ 12:00PM EST Filed Under: Real Estate, Recession, Investing

Another year?

Maybe longer, says the chief economist with the Texas A&M Real Estate Center, before we even begin to see a recovery in the dismal commercial real estate market.

Should be pretty obvious why: despite nonsense to the contrary, any talk of an economic recovery is still premature, especially with the twin curses of unemployment and foreclosures continuing to rise.

The A&M economist predicts that it will be "high net worth investors" who will probably be the first to get their toes wet in any commercial real estate recovery.

But before the anticipated rise, says the economist, Mark Dotzour, there will come the deepening fall: He says real estate prices, rents and occupancy levels will all go further south.

Continue reading Save us, Dubai World, from another year of bad commercial real estate!

'Charlie Brown' Christmas trees a stylish way to save money

Aaron Crowe Dec 2nd 2009 @ 11:00AM EST Filed Under: Budgets, Shopping

Not every city can be as lucky as Washington, D.C., where on Thursday the "National Christmas Tree Lighting" begins at 5 p.m. Eastern.

There's enough hoopla around the tree near the White House to make you think the recession is over. The tree has its own Web site and Sheryl Crow will perform at the lighting ceremony. If your local TV station is broadcasting the event, you can catch the live Webcast.

In the city where I live, and probably in many cities throughout the country, budget cutbacks are forcing city governments to scale back their Christmas tree festivities. Where I live, for example, in Concord, CA, the city decided this year that instead of buying and installing a cut holiday tree, which one Web site that follows the city says would have cost $15,000, it's decorating one of the evergreen trees growing in the downtown plaza.

But many cities have tree lighting ceremonies this weekend and consider the cost of buying, decorating and lighting a tree a good way to bring the community together, along with bringing shoppers downtown with the tax dollars their holiday spending will add to the city coffers.

It looks like a large Charlie Brown Christmas tree, meaning the sparse one that Charlie Brown found before his friends spruced it up for him.

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New coupons worth $50 from Shortcuts.com

Julia Scott Dec 2nd 2009 @ 10:30AM EST Filed Under: Saving Money, Shopping, Bargain Babe

If you've never checked out Shortcuts.com, you're missing out on a lot of printable and electronic grocery coupons. After I registered on the free site I started getting emails about once a week letting me know when new coupons were posted. (Each coupon can only be used a limited number of times so the good ones get snapped up.)

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Live Twitter feed can be costly

Aaron Crowe Dec 2nd 2009 @ 10:00AM EST Filed Under: Technology

A TV station's live Twitter feed on a billboard is a prime example of how costly -- and unintentionally funny -- such news can be to someone's career.

Next to three photos on a billboard of two of WPMI-TV's anchors and its chief meteorologist ran the live Twitter feed headline "3 Accused of Gang Rape in Monroeville" under the headline "Right Now on Twitter."

You'd almost think it was a billboard put up by The Onion, a fake news and satire site.

The billboard and Twitter feed were meant to promote the Mobile, Ala. station's breaking news, but the snafu with the electronic billboard has led to the station's general manager and news director being suspended from work for a week without pay, according to the Web site Lagniappe.

The NBC affiliate, which calls itself "Local 15," covers Alabama and part of Florida.

Whoever is in charge of the station's Twitter feeds must now be keeping in mind that photos of three of its employees are next to the live feed, since more mundane tweets such as "Cat Food Recalled Over Thiamine Deficiency" and "Utility Bills May Go Down" are going up.

Get out and network: How to find a business organization

Janean Chun Dec 2nd 2009 @ 9:00AM EST Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Career

Want to join a business organization, but don't know where to start? Maybe it's been a while since you ventured out of your social networking cave and met up with real humans. Not to worry -- our tips for understanding business organizations will take you from shy to savvy.

Chamber of Commerce. These general business organizations allow you to mingle with other professionals from a variety of industries via informal monthly mixers. Sometimes Chamber of Commerce meetings include special speakers, presentations or discussions on business topics to keep you plugged into your general business community.

Professional/trade associations. Professional business organizations can help you by providing industry statistics, industry newsletters and publications and, most important, a list of association members. Talking to other members of these business organizations can be an invaluable way of really digging into the trends in your local industry as well as bigger trends affecting the industry overall. Between the literature and the contacts, you can tap into trends and customer buying habits. Some examples of these business organizations are the American Medical Association, American Bar Association and National Association of Professional Organizers. Here's a secret tip: Join the trade association your top clients belong to, so you can get direct insight to what your customers want -- not to mention direct contact with a bevy of prospective customers.

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Can Williams get a tax break for her tirade?

Kelly Phillips Erb Dec 2nd 2009 @ 8:00AM EST Filed Under: Tax, Celebs & Money

It was the tirade heard 'round the tennis world.

U.S. Open Champion Serena Williams, in the midst of defending her titled against the unseeded, unranked Kim Clijsters, faulted on her serve in the second set. On the second serve, Williams was called for a foot fault (which replays indicated might not have been the proper call), making it a double-fault. The double-fault changed the entire game.

Williams went back to serve again -- and didn't. Instead, she stopped and walked over to the line judge, shouting at her, cursing and waving her racket and ball. Williams allegedly threatened the line judge, screaming, "I swear to God I'm f****** going to take this f****** ball and shove it down your f****** throat, you hear that? I swear to God."

The line judge, whose name has been withheld by the USTA, then went over to the chair umpire. After a conversation, the chair umpire awarded a penalty point to Clijsters, which ended the game.

The outburst initially resulted in a $10,000 onsite fine from the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) for Williams' bad behavior. It was the maximum onsite penalty that could have been imposed.

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Chick-fil-A again offers a year of free meals to first 100 on Thursday

Aaron Crowe Dec 2nd 2009 @ 6:00AM EST Filed Under: Bargains, Food

Residents of Oklahoma City, OK, Easton, MD and Aurora, CO should start lining up now if they want to get a free Chick-fil-A meal each week for a year when the fun-loving fast-food chicken restaurant opens in their cities Thursday.

Every time Chick-fil-A opens a restaurant, the first 100 customers get a free meal each week -- 52 weeks of a chicken sandwich, potato fries and a drink.

People camp out overnight to get the 52 free food coupons, which adds up to about $250 in savings for the year, according to a recent "This American Life" podcast on people who are up in the middle of the night. All of the Chick-fil-A fanatics may already know about this, but it came as news to me.

The event has grown so popular over the past five years that the company has a new policy for the large crowds that number beyond the "First 100," as they're known.

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