McCormick & Co. Our coverage of McCormick's oregano recall last week went viral fast. Hopefully, you've gotten the chance to check your spice rack. If not, now's the time. Then, see what other stories our readers were clicking on this week below.
1. Check Your Spice Rack: Oregano Recalled for Salmonella Risk
2. E-Z Pass Users Beware: New Phishing Scam Is Targeting You
3. Robin Williams' Estate Plan Spares His Heirs a Lot of Drama
4. FICO Score Changes Could Help Millions Get the Credit They Deserve
5. How to Get the Best Deal on College Textbooks
6. 7 Financial Tasks to Accomplish Before You Hit 30
7. 5 Car Rental Ripoffs You Should Avoid
8. Jackson Hole Buffalo Meat Co.: From Daydream to Dream Job
9. Mortgage Rates Slip to Near Lows for the Year
10. The Education Savings Account You Never Hear About
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For many employers, open enrollment season for some benefits happens in October. This usually sneaks up on some people, who scramble to decipher benefits and make elections last minute. Although you won't be able to see the options until the enrollment period opens, take time now to review your benefits. Are you taking advantage of any 401(k) matches? Are your fully funding your Flexible Spending Account? What about employer offered life and disability insurance? (A fun infographic from the Council for Disability Awareness shows your risks). Maximize your benefits and don't leave any money on the table.
1. Make the right choices at open enrollment -
Back-to-school time can be expensive if you're not prepared. Money is spent on clothes, books, supplies and technology -- and that's before the doors to the classroom have even opened. Before hitting the stores, do these two things:
- Conduct an online search for "coupon code" along with the name of any store you'll be shopping at. Typically you can find some great online deals.
- Get a list from you class or teacher of specific type of notebook, calculator, etc. required. If you can't get child's "must haves" from ahead of time, buy just the bare minimums until school starts and the list is available.
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It's hard to think about the holidays when we're just making it through summer, but now is the time to build up a financial cushion. Set yourself up with an automatic transfer to a separate savings account and participate in the Holiday Fund Money Challenge to build up a savings of $450. How much do you need for the gifts, travel, parties, entertaining, food and other holiday activities you anticipate? Planning will help to ease the stress that comes around the holidays.
3. Plan for the end-of-year holidays -
In lieu of scrambling at the end of the year to make contributions to retirement accounts by Dec. 31, double-check your contributions now and determine if there's room in your cash flow to allow for an increase to possibly max out by year end.
4. Maximize your retirement funding -
Summer is a typically a time of transitions. There are weddings, moves to new homes, possibly a new family addition and more. If summer is the time when these events take place, fall should be the time to take stock of how they're panning out. If you're recently married and haven't already, now is the time to have the money talk with your spouse and make decisions about spending plans, merging (or not merging) accounts, beneficiary updates and more. If you've moved, check out how the new location has affected your cost of living spending in terms of activities, gas costs, groceries and more. Ultimately with any transition, you need to review your spending plan and determine what areas (if any) need to be adjusted.
5. Consider your transitions -
If you're lucky enough to live in one of the states that actually experiences seasons, fall is the time to prep for energy savings by caulking and weatherstripping doors and windows, turning your thermostat back for a fixed period each day and insulating your attic, basement or outside walls.
6. Weatherproof your home - More from DailyFinance:
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