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The Money Overview

Personal Finance

Day-to-day money decisions for individuals and households. Practical guidance on budgeting, saving, spending, credit, debt management, and financial planning.

Latest in Personal Finance

Budgeting & Saving

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...

Insurance & Protection

A Michigan waiver letting storm-struck SNAP households report food loss late expires October 6

A federal waiver that lets Michigan SNAP households report food lost in the September 3 storms after the usual deadline runs through October 6, the...

Budgeting & Saving

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,...

Insurance & Protection

SNAP lets households with a member 60 or older deduct the medical costs above $35 a month that insurance does not pay

A SNAP household that includes someone 60 or older is allowed to subtract that person’s out-of-pocket medical bills from its income, but only the portion...

Credit & Debt

The Education Department extended to December 31 the deadline for Direct Loan borrowers, parent PLUS included, to enroll in automatic debit for a rate reduction

Student loan borrowers who missed the September 30 cutoff for an automatic-debit interest rate reduction now have until 11:59 p.m. Eastern on December 31, 2026,...

Smart Spending

Consumers and third-party payors who paid for a listed generic drug can claim from a $200 million Sun Pharma and Taro settlement until November 9, but Indiana and Ohio are excluded

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Taro Pharmaceuticals USA paid $200 million to settle every consumer and third-party payor claim in the generic drug price-fixing lawsuit, and...

Smart Spending

Consumers who bought a listed generic drug between May 2009 and December 2019 can file a claim without a receipt until March 8, 2027

A court notice for the State Attorneys General Generic Prescription Drug Settlements states that no receipts are required with the claim form, and the filing...

Insurance & Protection

Federal workers and retirees choose among 45 health carriers and 118 plan options for 2027, and postal retirees among 17 carriers

The Office of Personnel Management’s plan menu for 2027 lists 45 carriers offering 118 plan options in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program, used by...

Smart Spending

Barnes and Noble Education closed 68 physical campus stores, leaving 602

Barnes and Noble Education closed 68 physical campus stores in the thirteen weeks ended August 1, 2026, and finished the quarter with 602 physical stores,...

Insurance & Protection

Four long-term-care insurers asked Maryland to raise premiums on about 12,666 policyholders

Four insurers have asked Maryland regulators to approve premium increases on individual long-term-care policies held by about 12,666 policyholders, and none of the increases has...

Smart Spending

Stamps are untouched by the Postal Service price increase that starts October 4

Postage stamps are not part of the Postal Service price increase that starts October 4. The Postal Service’s temporary holiday change covers four products only,...

Budgeting & Saving

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...

Insurance & Protection

Federal retirees and employees face a 9.3 percent overall average health-premium rise for 2027, with enrollee shares up 10.9 percent on average, and Open Season runs November 9 to December 14

The Office of Personnel Management announced on September 30 that premiums in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program will rise 9.3 percent on average for...

Smart Spending

Amazon’s Prime order tops up earlier refunds by as much as $149

As much as $149 more can now reach Prime customers who received earlier refunds, capped at $51, under the Federal Trade Commission’s $2.5 billion order...

Insurance & Protection

Marsh found 59 percent of employers plan to change their health plans for 2027 to hold costs down

Higher deductibles, variable copay plans, a larger employee share of premiums and, for some employers, dropped GLP-1 coverage are the levers behind a survey result...

Insurance & Protection

Marsh says employer health costs would have risen 11 percent in 2027 if employers changed nothing

Eleven percent is what employers said their current health plans would cost more in 2027 if they did nothing to lower it. That figure comes...

Smart Spending

The Federal Trade Commission and two state attorneys general say Lens.com’s hidden fees routinely double the advertised price

The Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of Utah and Nevada say Lens.com’s hidden fees routinely double the price the contact-lens seller advertises, a...

Credit & Debt

Anyone whose Equifax credit score was misreported in spring 2022 must opt out by November 27 to keep the right to sue

Equifax’s $100 million fair-credit-reporting settlement carries two deadlines a month apart that point in opposite directions. Class members who want to keep the right to...

Credit & Debt

Treasury’s own rule example shows an $850 federal benefit losing $100 rather than 15%, because the offset cannot reach below $750 a month

A federal benefit check of $850 does not lose 15 percent to a Treasury offset. It loses $100. The reason sits in the Treasury regulation...

Smart Spending

Google has agreed to pay $48 million of a privacy settlement over period-tracking data, and the window to claim closes October 15 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific

Google has agreed to pay $48 million of a $59.5 million settlement over period-tracking data collected through the Flo app, and the window to claim...

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