Worrying about money this weekend ?

Worrying about money this weekend ?

A Friday Profitable Moment….Just for the readers of this Blog.

All week we have reported horrible economic news - whether it’s Britain’s tax the rich budget, or Spain’s double digit unemployment. We have been battered by US company results and beaten up by the IMF telling us it’s the first global recession since the second World War. The losses will rack up to more than $4 trillion dollars. Phew. That’s a lot to take in over one week.

There is so much to worry about that it’s hard to switch off at the weekend. We can try and escape but there are always the nagging worried of bills unpaid, jobs at risk and financial dangers ahead.

But the weekend is now upon us, and I asked on the show, whether or not you would be worried by money this weekend. Here are some of your thoughts. Let me know whether you are worried, and what you can do about it.

I am in Paris this week, filming, but I hope that whatever you’re upto this weekend (a brisk walk, some gardening, a bit of shopping) It’s profitable !

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jade59@richardquest No we will not worry about money this W-E,we learn a while ago worrying won’t change a thing,W-E is a break,so we’ll have one

qM@richardquest I don’t worry about money. I worry about the lack of money!

Gotaclue@richardquest No. It’s not as though I’m going to buy a new Rolex this weekend.

swortman1@richardquest i worry about money all the time. prices keep going up and there not showing sign of going down.

healthysalone@richardquest No. Worrying is a pointless activity regardless of the situation. I know of no situation that has changed because I worried.

eastcoastjac@richardquest I do not worry about money - I have more than enough to meet my needs. Positive thought and Law of Attraction in action.

boezel@richardquest NO! From a terrace in the Netherlands

jbtorres@richardquest with all of the recent company financial reports, I should worry

ixVintageKissxi@richardquest I think that it’s hard for people not to be worried about money right now. Very few people have that luxury anymore about money everyday until the recession ends.

boxtersushi@richardquest nope! About to run to the bank for our weekly cash (since beginning of year cash only excl travel) now tons of money on hand!

Gatorfitz@richardquest Not Worry, I wiiJust watch what I spend and be smart.

woodythehawk@richardquest Affirmative!!! I am on a fixed US retirement income and living in Egypt, and the end of the month is drawing near.

Tacarigua@richardquest Money is no problem — the problem IS money.

PepsiZecoon@richardquest We might be tight on budget, but we do manage. So I myself, won’t.

javiaven@richardquest Worry? Why worry? I’m going skydiving! Like the economy! Gerooonimoooo!!!!

mananqureshi@richardquest We worry about money every weekeend richard1 where it goes! heaven knows! (giggle)

Rikki_ND@richardquest What’s the point in worrying? Economies are cyclical and we will recover from this too, we’ve been through worse and survived!

R_P_Perry@richardquest They can’t take money I dont have. No need to worry I have a shotgun and enough food for the weekend Should be fine come Mon

buklah@richardquest I find myself worrying,itsnot something I can help. Will I lose my job, Can I afford my standard of living? Can I pay my bills

foxybacon@richardquest I must admit that I am not majorly worried about it. Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be :o )

The Economy: Why it feels even worse

The Economy: Why it feels even worse

As you've heard us and others report, the U.S. economy, more so than other worldwide economies, is dependent on spending decisions made by consumers. Consumer behavior drives spending habits, spending habits drive corporate profitability, and corporate profitability drives the stock market.

Success in the stock market is one of those things that make Americans feel better about the economy, along with increases in wages (not happening) and increases in home prices (also not happening).

Typically, we measure economic strength or weakness using the GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, which is historically thought of as the broadest measure of economic activity.

But, while GDP may be a good measure of the whole economy (and it may not be, but that's another story), it doesn't reflect all the things that matter to you.

In the fall, we took a look at five measures of the economy that reflect how things really are out there, to see if your fears and concerns are justified. The measures we chose are those that we "touch" on a daily basis.

We looked at how the economy is affecting you, via jobs, personal income, personal savings, industrial production, and home prices.

We charted them on a scale of 0-to-10: 0 being the worst that each of them has been since 1980; 10 being the best.

1980 was our starting point because experts agree that the economy before then was so different from what it is now that it would be like comparing apples and oranges.

Now, over a year into the recession, we're taking a look at it again.
We call it the CNN "Real Feel Economic Index."

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New for '09: GPS tour guides

New for '09: GPS tour guides

Today's penny-pinching travelers actually benefit tourism entrepreneur Lee Little, founder and CEO of BarZ Adventures in Austin. Business is booming for his three-year-old company, which sells Palm (PALM)-like GPS-enabled tour-guide devices. Called Rangers, they play audio and video keyed to points of interest at the user's location, such as a national park.

More travelers are now going lean and green on vacation, hiking and taking adventure trips closer to home instead of going abroad. A survey by TripAdvisor found that 73% of Americans say they plan to visit a national park in 2009, up from 62% a year ago.

This is where the Ranger comes in.

"During a trip to Yellowstone, I was astounded by how little information there was at national parks," says Little, who positions the BarZ service as a replacement tour guide. "All I wanted was to understand why some geysers shoot straight up and some bubble out."

His Rangers are currently in use in 18 U.S. parks, zoos and historic sites. Little says his 15-employee company is growing at an annual rate of 300% and has raised more than $2 million in funding to date. He would not specify revenues, however.

Little is also selling the Ranger as a money-making opportunity for entrepreneurs in the travel business. Bill Lilley, co-owner of Go GPS Tours in Key West, Fla., invested about $35,000 to buy 50 BarZ Rangers. He then filmed his own tour content. A year ago, Lilley started to rent Ranger units out of Lazy Dog Island Outfitters, the clothing store he co-owns. Since then Lilley has seen the number of $29 rentals rise to 20 per day (other BarZ tours rent for $9.95) and has sold 18 advertising deals for $250 to $1,000 apiece.

"We wanted something that could deliver stories with speed and accuracy and be small enough to carry," Lilley says. As of November 2008, he had almost recouped his investment.

A year ago, brothers Jeff and Trevor Swyers invested $300,000 to buy 300 Rangers to launch GeoQuest Tours, a service offering GPS tours of Utah's Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. After filming their own content and having BarZ weave it together, GeoQuest launched two tours - each in six languages - in August 2008. During the first few months - going into slow park season - they found they were getting only about 10 daily rentals of the $25 tours, but they are shooting for 150 per day by 2009.

Chris Jones, principal analyst at high-tech market research firm Canalys, praises BarZ's Ranger device as unique and a "neat thing." But he cautions that to reach the next level, BarZ will need to add many more locations and figure out a way for customers to take the tours using other GPS-enabled devices, such as cell phones and PDAs.

Says Jones: "There's a lot of opportunity here, but it's only as good as the content they deliver." To top of page
Have you filed for first-time unemployment benefits in the past month? Or have you accepted a significant pay cut - 20%, 30% - in order to start working again? If so, e-mail realstories@cnnmoney.com and tell us your story.

Next Little Thing 2009: Entrepreneurs whose cutting-edge ideas will keep us talking for the next 12 months.

CNN MONEY

2009: Year of the thaw

2009: Year of the thaw
Why the great credit freeze of 2008 won't turn into the Great Depression of 2009.
(Money Magazine) -- Well, we were partly right. At this time last year, we said that the stock market would be increasingly volatile in 2008, that home prices would fall further and that a subprime blowup could propel the economy downward.

But not in our wildest dreams did we foresee anything like the kind of jaw-dropping, stomach-churning ride that lay ahead. The economy in recession (as most experts now believe)? The Dow off 40%? Credit markets frozen worse than Sarah Palin's hometown? Precious few saw all that coming.

Peering into the future is tricky in the best of times. But even though predictions always turn out to be flawed - it's impossible for even the smartest experts to nail this stuff perfectly - you cannot build a future without first guessing what challenges you'll face on the way there.

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