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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

Credit & Debt

Student-loan balances in the old SAVE plan have grown since Aug. 1, 2025, as the interest pause ended

Borrowers left in the blocked SAVE repayment plan have faced a quiet but expensive reality for more than a year: interest resumed on Aug. 1,...

Budgeting & Saving

A top CD still pays about 4.1% after the Fed held rates steady

One current certificate of deposit offer shows that a yield above 4% remains available even after the Federal Reserve held its policy rate steady in...

Smart Spending

Airlines must send an automatic cash refund for a canceled or badly delayed flight when you decline alternatives

A canceled or significantly changed flight can trigger an automatic refund to the original form of payment, but only when the traveler does not accept...

Smart Spending

Sam’s Club raised its membership fee to $60, its first increase in almost four years

Sam’s Club has reset the price of entry to its warehouses. The standard Club membership now costs $60 a year, up from $50, after the...

Smart Spending

Certain Delta Dental members can claim up to $16.50 from a $12.67 million tracking settlement before Aug. 20

A proposed $12.67 million privacy settlement offers a $16.50 cash payment to a specific group of people who held accounts on a Delta Dental-related online...

Smart Spending

Buyers of a qualifying U.S.-assembled new car can deduct up to $10,000 of loan interest on 2025 through 2028 returns

A temporary deduction can reduce federal taxable income by as much as $10,000 of qualifying vehicle-loan interest each year from 2025 through 2028. The car...

Smart Spending

Billions in forgotten money sit with state treasurers, and one free search covers most states

State unclaimed-property programs hold billions of dollars that businesses could not return to the rightful owners. A free national tool can search most participating states...

Smart Spending

$39 billion in matured U.S. savings bonds sits unclaimed, and a free federal search finds any in your name

Roughly $39 billion in United States savings bonds has quietly stopped earning a penny of interest and is sitting unredeemed, much of it forgotten in...

Smart Spending

Walmart and Target no longer match competitors’ prices, ending a way shoppers trimmed their bills

Two of the country’s largest retailers have quietly removed a tool that budget-conscious shoppers leaned on for years: matching a rival store’s advertised price at...

Smart Spending

Parents whose children used Google Play apps under age 13 can file a settlement claim before September 14

Families whose children downloaded or used apps from the Google Play Store while under the age of 13 have until September 14, 2026 to claim...

Smart Spending

Fanatics shoppers who paid a handling fee can claim two $5 vouchers before the August 27 deadline

Shoppers who bought sports merchandise from Fanatics and were charged a separate handling fee can now collect a small piece of that money back, but...

Insurance & Protection

Seven ACA insurers plan 2027 exits after enrollment drops over 1 million

Seven insurance carriers have announced full or partial exits from Affordable Care Act Marketplaces for 2027, after plan selections fell by more than one million...

Smart Spending

Sony’s $7.85 million PlayStation settlement faces an October 15 approval hearing

A $7.85 million settlement figure does not yet translate into money available for PlayStation customers to claim. The court has scheduled an October 15 fairness...

Smart Spending

USPS package base prices stay 8% higher through January 17

A temporary postal surcharge can become easy to mistake for a permanent rate once it has appeared on receipts for several months. The current package...

Smart Spending

Forever stamps now cost 82 cents after USPS raises mailing prices

A four-cent postage increase looks small at the kitchen table, but it changes the economics of every recurring letter, greeting card and bill payment sent...

Smart Spending

Disney’s $50 million streaming settlement opens claims through September 8

A $50 million partial settlement with Disney is accepting claims from qualifying YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream customers through September 8, 2026. The fund does...

Smart Spending

Owners of 5,952 recalled SDADI step stools can request a full refund

Nearly 6,000 SDADI kitchen step stools are now attached to a full-refund remedy after a federal recall identified collapse, tip-over and entrapment hazards. The July...

Smart Spending

Owners of 5,918 recalled teething toys can request a full refund

A full refund is available for about 5,918 Sili Factory pull-string teething toys recalled after federal regulators found that their silicone strings violate the mandatory...

Smart Spending

Nara formula buyers can request refunds for all lots sold through June 2026

The Nara Organics infant-formula recall is unusually broad: every listed lot that reached the U.S. market from July 2025 through June 2026 is included, and...

Smart Spending

$5,000 Dohman breach-loss claims run through September 10

A proposed data-breach settlement involving Nebraska accounting firm Dohman, Akerlund & Eddy gives eligible class members two very different cash paths before September 10, 2026....

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