The financial news that actually matters
A general consumer finance category covering everyday money decisions, budgeting, saving, debt management, credit behavior, and personal financial improvement strategies.
Two TransUnion payments are on the table for consumers whose credit reports carried a bankruptcy notation with no bankruptcy behind it, and the larger one requires a claim filed by October 30, 2026. The Brooks v. Trans Union settlement totals $8,310,000. Without a filing, one group receives an automatic $100, while a valid claim is…
The federal government stopped issuing paper checks for most payments on September 30, 2025, and a year later the one stated way around that rule is a request made to Treasury by phone or on a printed form. No federal page read on October 2, 2026 says who qualifies for that exception, which leaves a…
Apple’s Siri and Apple Intelligence false-advertising settlement treats every eligible iPhone as its own claim, and the administrator’s website sets no ceiling on how many devices one person can file for. The claim period opened September 21, 2026 and closes December 21, 2026, with a posted payment of $25 per device that can rise to…
The standard utility allowances that states use in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program rise 3.5% on October 1, tracking the consumer-price increase the U.S. Department of Agriculture applied for fiscal year 2027. The figure is a formula, not a check: it moves a number inside the benefit calculation, and each state applies it to its…
The federal program that reimburses living organ donors for what a donation costs them now spells out a long list of covered expenses, from four weeks of lost wages to the care of a donor’s pets. A notice from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), published September 29 and applied to applications reviewed from…
The Health Resources and Services Administration may no longer weigh an organ recipient’s household income when deciding whether a living donor qualifies for travel and expense reimbursement. The change took effect Sept. 30, 2026, and applies to applications reviewed on or after that date. It follows a federal law enacted in February that ordered the…
The Department of Veterans Affairs has paid a higher burial allowance each October 1 for the past four years, and its benefit page now lists $1,002 as the amount for burials on or after Oct. 1, 2025. Today is Oct. 1, 2026, the date the next adjustment would ordinarily take effect, and the page lists…
Reservists and Guard members using the Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve benefit are paid $508.00 a month for full-time study starting today, Oct. 1, 2026. That is $15 more than the $493.00 the same full-time category paid under the table that expired on Sept. 30. The $15 is this publication’s subtraction of two published figures;…
The Department of Veterans Affairs now pays $1,621.00 for each full month of full-time study under Chapter 35, the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance program. The new table took effect today, Oct. 1, 2026. Spouses and children who qualify through a veteran’s death or total disability are the only people it covers. For a student…
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ monthly Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty rate for full-time study at an institution of higher learning is $2,601.00 for beneficiaries with three or more years of service, and the new figure takes effect today, Oct. 1, 2026. That is $83 more than the $2,518.00 the same category has received since…