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.
Beef is on track for a 9.4% price jump in 2026, but chicken and pork are barely moving. The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts poultry prices to rise 1.0% this year and pork prices 1.2%, according to the September Food Price Outlook that its Economic Research Service released Sept. 25. Dairy is forecast up just…
Restaurant meal prices are forecast to rise 2.6% in 2027, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its first outlook that covers next year. The forecast comes from the Economic Research Service’s Food Price Outlook, released Sept. 25, where restaurant and other away-from-home food is one of three headline categories. It is a slowdown from…
Toyota is recalling certain 2026 Lexus RX, Lexus TX and Toyota Grand Highlander vehicles, hybrids included, because front steering knuckles can crack and break. Dealers will inspect the parts and replace them as necessary at no charge to the owner, and owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Nov. 2, according to the federal…
California residents who visited a Forbes website between Dec. 20, 2023 and June 11, 2026 can file a claim in a $10,000,000 privacy settlement until Nov. 9, according to the settlement administrator. The Forbes Media tracking case, Berman et al. v. Forbes Media, LLC, pays no fixed amount: each valid claimant receives a proportional share…
October’s calendar carries rule changes in five jurisdictions that reach household budgets in different ways. Maryland bars personalized pricing on tax-exempt groceries starting Oct. 1, Connecticut requires pay ranges and benefits descriptions in job advertisements the same day, and the District of Columbia cuts paid family leave from 12 weeks to six on Oct. 1….
Washington, D.C., workers who take paid time off to care for a seriously ill relative will have half as many weeks of coverage starting Oct. 1. Family leave under the District’s Universal Paid Leave program falls to six weeks from 12, and the maximum weekly benefit for every claim type drops to $1,100 from $1,190….
During the five weeks from Nov. 22 through Dec. 26, each home-delivered UPS Ground package carries a 75-cent surcharge and each air package $2.50, a step up from the 50 cents and $1.35 that apply from Oct. 25 through Nov. 21. Those per-package add-ons are billed to the businesses that ship, and they arrive on…
A package that UPS classifies as large has carried a $96.25 demand surcharge since Sept. 27, and the charge steps up to $117.50 for packages shipped from Nov. 22 through Dec. 26. The figures come from UPS’s own peak-season schedule, which also raises the Additional Handling charge for awkward boxes and the Over Maximum Limits…
Maryland’s Insurance Administration approved a 10.2% average premium increase for 2027 small-group health plans, the coverage roughly 199,000 people get through a small business, after insurers had requested 13.1%. The same Sept. 25 release approved a separate 14.6% average increase for the state’s individual market, covering about 274,000 Marylanders who buy coverage on their own…
California’s insurance commissioner is moving to strike marital status from the list of factors insurers can use to set auto insurance prices, a rating practice regulators in the state have permitted for three decades. Commissioner Ricardo Lara proposed the change Sept. 16, arguing it penalizes single, divorced and widowed drivers for a life circumstance that…