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.
More than 1.1 million New York households that already get SNAP or Public Assistance will receive heating payments this winter without filing a thing. The state’s Home Energy Assistance Program, known as HEAP, opens to everyone else on November 2. Emergency aid for households about to run out of fuel opens January 4, 2027. The…
Temu has agreed to keep Texans’ personal data on servers in the United States and to give full refunds to affected Texas customers for any product confirmed to contain harmful substances, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on October 16. The shopping platform will also pay $3 million to the State of Texas. The refunds…
Emily Roberts admitted in federal court that she deposited 636 checks worth $1,893,750 that were not hers. Roberts, 55, of Monessen, Pennsylvania, worked as a house cleaner in the home of the people she stole from. She pleaded guilty on October 2 to one count of bank fraud, and sentencing is set for February 10,…
Handwriting a FedEx shipping form will cost an extra $5 a shipment starting January 18, 2027. FedEx lists a $5 Paper Air Waybill Fee for U.S. domestic and export shipments created with manual paper airbills. The charge arrives two weeks after FedEx raises its standard rates. That rate increase takes effect January 4 and averages…
Toyota is recalling 30,978 plug-in hybrid RAV4s because a software fault can cut power or shut the hybrid system down at higher speeds. Dealers will fix it at no charge by updating the software. Toyota announced the recall October 7, and owners are due letters in the weeks ahead. Only the 2026 model year is…
UnitedHealth Group says it will rebate this year’s profits from its individual Affordable Care Act plans to about 1 million members. The company repeated the pledge in its third-quarter earnings report on October 13. What it has not said is how much each member would get, when, or whether anyone has to do anything to…
SNAP shoppers in Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia can still buy soda and candy with their benefits, and a federal court order is the reason. USDA’s updated list of food restriction waivers shows no start date for any of the four states. The order came June 22, and the list still carries it as…
Starting November 1, Virginia’s SNAP benefits will no longer pay for soda, energy drinks or other carbonated drinks with added sweeteners, the state says. The rule covers diet and zero-sugar sodas as well as the regular kind. It applies at every store in Virginia that takes SNAP, including online orders. No new forms are involved…
South Carolina’s food assistance card will stop paying for candy, energy drinks and soft drinks on November 1. The change reaches about 495,000 people who get SNAP in the state, and it comes through a waiver the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved for a program called Healthy Food SC. Households cannot opt out. The date…
Eight states have reached the date they set for keeping soda and candy off SNAP, the federal food program once called food stamps. Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah are all past the start dates listed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Shoppers in four more states, Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina…