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Everyday Cheapskate: My Life as a Frog

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

I have been told if you attempt to pop a frog into a pot of boiling water, he'll jump out every time.

But if you put the little fellow into a pot of cold water, set it on a low flame, and warm it slowly, he'll sit back, relax and let you cook him to death.

The frog is so impressed by the nice warm, cozy feeling he doesn't pay attention to what...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: Reader Discovers It's Difficult to Pay the Balance to the Penny

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Dear Cheapskate: This is petty perhaps, but how does one ever completely pay off a credit card account?

We paid off a credit card recently (Hallelujah!) by sending a check for the exact amount of the balance due taken from the monthly statement. The following month we received a bill for $1.91 -- all of it a finance charge! Sure, it's not much,...Read more

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

SEC exempts data-center bonds from key securitization rules

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The Securities and Exchange Commission has made it easier for data center owners to sell asset-backed securities, potentially opening the door for more debt sales as tech firms scour Wall Street for ways to pay for artificial intelligence.

The SEC said a major subset of data-center securitizations don’t need to have disclosures and investor ...Read more

Mandel Ngan/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Millions sign up for Trump Accounts, but are they wise investment?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Karla Perez and her husband are supporters of President Donald Trump, so when they learned this summer about new investment accounts his administration designed for children, they quickly signed up their one-year-old son.

“What we hope is that when he’s 18 and he can access it, that he has money to set up his future, whatever he wants to do...Read more

Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

A house, a car, a little breathing room: Why middle-class life feels increasingly out of reach

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

It’s a good time to be a middle-class American. And yet it’s never felt worse.

By many traditional measures, the economy is strong. Unemployment remains near historic lows, and middle-income Americans are making more than they were 50 years ago.

Yet millions of Americans who have followed what was long considered the formula for a middle-...Read more

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Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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7 Tips for Getting Out of Your Rental and Into a Home

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

For many renters, homeownership can feel less like a financial milestone and more like a moving target. Prices rise, interest rates change, rents increase and saving a down payment can seem painfully slow.

That is especially true for younger adults. People under 30 may be dealing with student loans, early-career salaries, high rents and limited...Read more

7 tips for reining in an out-of-control bill

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

When an electric bill suddenly jumps, it can feel as though the house has developed an expensive habit while nobody was looking. Sometimes the culprit is obvious — a heat wave, a cold snap or guests staying for several weeks. Other times, seemingly small changes in everyday energy use quietly add up.

The good news is that lowering a power ...Read more

5 things you'll love about LVP, and 2 that you might not

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Luxury vinyl plank flooring has gone from a budget-minded alternative to hardwood into one of the most popular flooring choices for busy homes. Known as LVP, the material combines realistic wood looks with durability, relatively easy installation and low-maintenance care.

For households with pets, children, muddy shoes or the occasional spilled...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: How to Keep Ants Away Once You've Treated the Ant Hill

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

You've finally done it.

After weeks of watching tiny armies march across the patio, tunnel through the lawn, or pop up between steppingstones, you located the ant hill and treated it. Victory at last.

Or so you thought.

A few days later, there they are again. Maybe not in the exact same spot but close enough to make you wonder if they're ...Read more

Kristian Carreon/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Study: All the ways San Diego homeownership is cheaper than other US cities

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

If you take away the substantial purchase price of a San Diego home, a new study claims that the rest of the cost associated with owning a home here is less than many cities.

An index from the University of San Diego, which launched in April, says the overall cost of owning a home in the county is lower than many areas in terms of energy bills,...Read more

John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Chicago high-rise powered by geothermal could set new standard for development

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

One of Chicago’s first all-electric, geothermal-powered residential high-rises is taking shape in Fulton Market.

The 33-story apartment project at 410 N. Elizabeth St. could set a new standard for Chicago development, perhaps proving that massive new high-rises can drastically reduce reliance on fossil fuels, cut carbon emissions and reduce ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Is my plan to lower my homeowners insurance premium smart?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: My homeowners insurance premium jumped again this year, and I am trying to bring the bill down. I am thinking about lowering the coverage amount on my house and raising my deductible to save some money. Is that a smart way to cut the cost, or am I setting myself up for trouble? — Gerald

A: There is a right way and a wrong way to cut costs,...Read more

Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times/TNS

Seattle's 'wary' home shoppers leave housing market in limbo

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

SEATTLE — As more for-sale signs sprouted in front yards this summer, homes across the region sat on the market awaiting home-shoppers willing to make a leap despite high prices and stubborn mortgage rates.

At current demand, it would take more than three months to sell all the single-family homes listed in King County, according to a measure...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

'It's not like I'm painting a tiger on my house': Hollywood's Sunset Square squabbles over its historic preservation rules

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

LOS ANGELES — In 2017, Hollywood's Sunset Square was named a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone, solidifying its place in L.A.'s architectural history. Four years later, Lady Gaga's dogwalker was shot in the chest outside a vacant house in the middle of the neighborhood.

A small contingent of Sunset Square residents insist the two events are ...Read more

Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS

Family's home lost to foreclosure sits empty in legal limbo: 'The system feels like gangsters'

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

DENVER — A two-story house that once sheltered a family of six sits empty on a corner lot in Green Valley Ranch as years of legal wrangling over homeowners association fines, metro district foreclosures and Denver’s affordable housing covenants continue to move through Colorado’s judicial system.

A year after a Denver District Court judge...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: Without Trust, You've Got Nothing

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Of all the things I've ever dreamed of being, advice columnist was never on the list. But here I am, playing one every day. That's because while my inbox loads up with tips, hints and questions related to frugal living and getting out of debt, many questions spill over into dilemmas -- family, life and love.

Dear Cheapskate: I have been dating ...Read more

Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Port of Long Beach buys downtown office tower as vacancies surge

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

LOS ANGELES -- The Port of Long Beach has continued to plant roots downtown with the acquisition of an office tower.

The port spent $36 million to buy the property at 100 Oceangate, a 13-story building across the street from the port's headquarters and less than a 10-minute drive from the port.

The purchase comes as the office vacancy rate in ...Read more

 

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