As any traveler who has been on a cruise can attest, the early bird gets the deck chair. Passengers are known to rise at the crack of dawn and plop down newspapers, towels, and bags to lay their claim to prized chairs with primo …
Personal Finance
How to Support America and Drink Beer in the Same Gulp
Even though it’s been four years since the Belgium-based company InBev purchased Anheuser-Busch, a certain subset of consumers is still having a hard time swallowing the idea that Budweiser is not made by an American company. …
The New Way to Pick a Place to Retire
Retirement living is no longer about sunshine, golf, hospitals and low costs. It’s about senior-friendly activities, jobs, transportation and technologies. A new report examines 78 criteria in 359 cities to rank the very best …
Last Gasp for the Stick Shift?
Sales of new manual-transmission cars are up significantly this year, on pace to hit the highest rate of stick shifts sold since 2006. That news must put smiles on the faces of the dwindling breed of drivers who prefer stick …
TV Prices Shrink — Yet Average TV Purchase Costs More
The longer technology is around, the cheaper products get for consumers. The price of a 32-inch flat-panel television, for instance, reached an all-time low average of $435 during the second quarter of 2012, down from $546 in the …
Post Office to Default on $5.5 Billion Pre-Retiree Health Payment
Today the U.S. Postal Service will fail to make a $5.5 billion Congressionally mandated payment to cover health care costs for future retirees. At post offices around the country, everything will function normally. Postal trucks …
Why Kids Will Feel the Pinch on Back-to-School Duds
If any good came of the recession it was that individuals refocused their values and that families started discussing debt and what they could and could not truly afford. Psychologists predict it’s just a matter of time before …
Why We Stopped Buying Fast-Food Combo Meals
Bundling is everywhere: Insurance policies, TV and Internet connectivity and cellular service packages are ubiquitous. Yet the granddaddy of bundled purchases, the fast-food combo meal, has fallen out of favor. According to …
7 Easy Ways to Reduce Email Overload
Follow these best practices to avoid wasting half your day on email.
Can an Aluminum Truck Really Be Considered ‘Ford Tough’?
Ford’s F series truck, America’s best-selling vehicle for three decades running, has been successful largely because of its reputation for strength and durability. As the ads have said over and over, the truck is famously built …
Home Prices Rise Across the Board
The real estate report is happy — housing prices are up across the country. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city index, a volatile but closely watched index of house prices, was up 0.9% from the month before. That jump follows a …
Back to School: Top Five Things That Stress College Students
Fitting in? Finding a date? That’s nothing. College students are more stressed than ever, and money issues have emerged as the top culprit.