If done properly, a smartly built green home featuring solar power, energy-efficient appliances, and proper insulation can result in the owner facing monthly electricity bills amounting to $0, or thereabouts. Now, one homebuilder …
california
Gas Prices: More Predictions of $5 Per Gallon by Memorial Day
Most states haven’t hit the $4 mark for a gallon of regular. Nonetheless, gas prices around the country have soared for four weeks in a row, at a pace that would mean $5 per gallon in many states by the start of summer.
Struggling to Stay Afloat: Number of Underwater Homeowners Keeps on Rising
Despite signs that some housing markets are improving, the overall trend is for home prices (and values) to keep dropping—and dropping. As values shrink, more and more homeowners find themselves underwater, the unfortunate …
Gas Prices Already Top $4 a Gallon in Three States
Consumers have been warned to expect a gallon of regular to cost $4 by springtime. For drivers in three states, four bucks or more per gallon is already a reality.
Big Brother Backlash: Citizens Unite to Bring Down Ticket-Generating Red-Light Cameras
Are videocameras at traffic lights meant to make roads safer? Or just serve as an easy way for states and municipalities to dish out tickets and raise revenues? Considering the serious money generated by cameras—as much as $480 …
Gas Prices Usually Fall in February—But Not This Year
Most years, the cost of filling up at the pump drops in February. Why? Demand for gas decreases during the mid-winter as people go into semi-hibernation, and gas prices tend to follow on a downward trajectory, before rising again …
Should Cities Have to Patronize Small, Local Banks?
Many Americans expressed their dissatisfaction with escalating bank fees by eschewing megabanks in favor of smaller institutions or credit unions. Should cities do the same thing? Last week, the city council in Berkeley, Calif., …
Fine Dining on the Cheap: Restaurants on Sale Coast to Coast
It’s easy to see why the start of the year is a slow time for restaurants. Diners tend to stay home and cook not only because the weather’s cold, but because they probably have yet to pay off the credit card debt accrued via …
Stop Changing the Oil Every 3,000 Miles Already!
The idea that the oil must be changed in a car every 3,000 miles or three months is a myth that even Jiffy Lube admits is not true. Nonetheless, the majority of drivers still insist on changing the oil more often than necessary, …
After Walking Away from a Mortgage, No Regrets—Not Many Consequences Either
Two years ago, a national debate raged regarding strategic default: Was it wrong to walk away from one’s mortgage? Or, when a homeowner is underwater—owing more than the home was worth—is it a purely business situation in …
Free Admission to Over 1,000 Museums on Saturday
In what’s become an annual autumn tradition, Smithsonian magazine is sponsoring a day of free admission to more than 1,000 museums around the country. This Saturday, September 24, is the big day when normal entrance fees are waived.
Q&A: What We Learned Skipping Supermarkets and Restaurants For a Year
Last October, Rachel Hoff and Tom Ferguson embarked on an experiment in hyper-locavore healthy eating. For the next 12 months, the couple from Vallejo, Calif., wouldn’t set foot in a grocery store or restaurant. Their family’s …