Day-to-day money decisions for individuals and households. Practical guidance on budgeting, saving, spending, credit, debt management, and financial planning.
Somewhere in a suburb outside Austin, a homeowner who has never filed a claim and never missed a payment pulls a letter from the mailbox....
A worker who set aside the full $3,300 in a health flexible spending account for 2025 and spent only $2,400 on medical bills lost $900...
Krispy Kreme customers who placed online orders and Trader Joe’s shoppers who bought certain grocery products may be in line for cash payouts this summer,...
Summer airfares are running 21% above last year – but analysts say the cheapest move is to wait and book August, when fares finally drop...
Every major streaming service except Amazon raised prices in 2026 — Netflix’s top plan now runs $26.99 a month, and the typical household is juggling...
Open your health insurance bill for 2026, and the number staring back might make you do a double take. For a 55-year-old self-employed consultant earning...
That $120 pair of sneakers you split into four payments at checkout? It may already be sitting on your credit report. FICO has started incorporating...
Open your latest credit card statement, find the line that says “interest charged,” and multiply it by 12. If you carry a balance anywhere near...
Five years in a row, the number on the renewal notice has gone up. The national average home insurance premium is projected to reach roughly...
A family of four in Phoenix charges $400 in groceries to a Visa card, not because they overspent on steak, but because the paycheck ran...
A $25 billion drop in credit card debt sounds like Americans are finally getting ahead. That’s the top-line figure from the Federal Reserve’s G.19 consumer...
The Federal Reserve has not touched its benchmark interest rate once in 2026. Through every scheduled meeting this year, the Federal Open Market Committee has...
When Maria Gonzalez opened her Citizens Property Insurance renewal notice at her Hialeah home last spring, she braced for another increase. Instead, her annual premium...
Forty-two percent of Americans carrying credit card balances say they expect to stay in debt for the rest of their lives or for years to...
A 22-year-old in Austin buys his mother a gold bracelet, a spa certificate, and a brunch reservation that runs $150 before tip. A 68-year-old retiree...
A 22-year-old buying her mom a spa weekend and a 70-year-old picking out a card and a bouquet are both celebrating Mother’s Day. They are...
Imagine writing a check for $6,580, lighting a match, and watching $10,000 more burn on top of it. That is roughly what happens when a...
When Maria Gonzalez opened her homeowners insurance renewal last spring in Hialeah, the number barely registered as a surprise anymore: $11,400 for a three-bedroom concrete-block...
By the time Mariana closes her laptop at 5 p.m. each weekday, her second shift is already queued up. The 24-year-old marketing coordinator in Austin...
Forty-two percent of Americans who carry a credit card balance believe they will be in credit card debt for the rest of their lives. That...
Retirement Shield
Keep more of your money in retirement
Plain-English help keeping more of your money in retirement. The free Retirement Shield newsletter covers the benefits, deadlines, and money mistakes that cost retirees.