Budgeting & Saving
How to manage income, build savings, create budgets, and develop systems for financial stability. Covers emergency funds, savings accounts, high-yield options, and money management tools.
Latest in Budgeting & Saving
Arizona’s attorney general wants regulators to probe whether APS shifted about $587 million in large-user costs onto other customers
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes asked state utility regulators on Friday, October 9, to investigate whether a charge on Arizona Public Service bills moved about...
Consumers expect medical care costs to rise faster than food, rent and gas over the next year, a New York Fed survey released October 7 found
Households expect medical care to be the fastest-rising cost over the next year, with the median respondent putting the increase at 9.2%, according to the...
Pacific Power customers in California get a $111.83 Climate Credit on their November bills
Pacific Power’s California customers get a $111.83 Climate Credit on their November electric bills, the California Public Utilities Commission says. It is the second payment...
Home heating oil starts the winter at $6.042 a gallon, $2.487 above last year
The first weekly heating-season survey from the U.S. Energy Information Administration puts residential heating oil at $6.042 a gallon nationally for the week of October...
Connecticut heating aid pays $355 to $705, with applications open until May 31
Connecticut has been taking applications for heating aid since September 1, and the Department of Social Services will keep taking them through May 31, 2027....
Electric-heated homes face an average $1,196 winter heating bill, the Energy Department forecasts
Homes that heat with electricity are forecast to spend an average of $1,196 from November through March, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the...
Illinois heating aid has $240 million available through August 13, 2027 or until funds run out, and every eligible household can apply starting November 1
Illinois has $240 million available for heating and electric bills this winter, and applications run through August 13, 2027, or until the money runs out....
Pennsylvania heating grants are scheduled to close April 23 and add $50 for households with someone 60 or older if funds allow
Pennsylvania’s heating-aid season is set to close on April 23, 2027, and the state plans to add $50 to cash grants for households that include...
Nebraska’s online auction of unclaimed safe-deposit-box items ends October 13, with Pennsylvania’s unclaimed-property auction following on October 28
Nebraska’s State Treasurer is selling the contents of abandoned safe-deposit boxes on eBay, and bidding closes just before 8 a.m. Central time on Tuesday, October...
Six-month Treasury bills paid savers 4.314 percent at the October 5 auction
Treasury auctioned $82 billion of six-month bills on October 5 at a high investment rate of 4.314 percent, the first decline in the weekly sale...
Post offices close and mail stops Monday, October 12 for Columbus Day
Every Post Office in the country will be closed on Monday, October 12 for Columbus Day, the Postal Service said in an October 5 announcement,...
Every FSAFEDS flexible spending account holder who wants to continue in 2027 must re-enroll by December 14
Enrollment in FSAFEDS, the flexible spending account program for federal employees, closes at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on December 14, 2026, and the Office of Personnel...
EIA expects retail diesel to average about $4.50 a gallon in 2027
Retail diesel should average about $4.50 a gallon next year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says in its October forecast released on October 6. That...
Utah’s temporary 31.9-cent gas tax rate expires December 31, Ohio’s tax holiday ends January 2, and Minnesota’s combined rate rises to 32.8 cents January 1
Three states change what drivers pay in fuel tax within a few days of each other around the New Year. Utah’s temporary rate of 31.9...
WIC pays $27 a month for a child’s fruit and vegetables from October 1
Children enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children receive $27 a month toward fruits and vegetables beginning October 1, 2026,...
Senior property-tax relief deadlines are still open in New Jersey until November 2 and in Pennsylvania until December 31
Two state property-tax relief programs for older homeowners are still accepting applications, and they run on different clocks. New Jersey’s single combined 2025 application for...
A 3.10% savings account leaves $1,170 a year behind a six-month Treasury bill
Ally Bank’s Online Savings account paid 3.10% APY on Oct. 1, 2026, the date stamped on its own rate page. Treasury’s daily yield curve for...
The poorest fifth of households now spend 9.86% of their income on electricity and gas, up from 9.38%, NEADA says
A household in the lowest income fifth spent $1,705 on electricity and natural gas in 2025 against income of $17,291, which works out to 9.86%...
Homes heated with electricity face winter bills about 9% higher, while propane users face an 8.7% rise, NEADA says
Households that heat with electricity are projected to pay 9.0% more this winter, and propane users 8.7% more, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors...
Savers can now get 4.41% on a six-month Treasury bill and 4.59% on a one-year, both up about 0.4 point since Sept. 1
On Monday, Sept. 28, Treasury’s daily par yield curve put the six-month bill at 4.41% and the one-year at 4.59%, each about 0.4 point above...