Here’s one lesson not enough students are getting in college: Debt is easy to rack up and hard to destroy. Half of 2013′s graduates were surprised by how much college-related debt they had acquired, according ...

Is green tea as healthy as its reputation suggests? That depends on who makes it and where it comes from, a new study says. Bottled green tea may be little more than green sugar water, while some green ...

The median weekly earnings for someone with a bachelor’s degree is $1,066, compared with $652 for those who have only a high school diploma, says the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. So college seems well ...

For many young adults, the military provides a tempting career alternative, especially when education funds are tight or jobs are hard to come by. The rewards can be significant: job training, the GI Bill, ...

Many know that bestseller “Fifty Shades of Grey” began as erotic “Twilight” fan fiction, but it never could’ve been successful unless author E.L. James rewrote it into a completely original work. Copyright ...

More than 400 consumers will soon get a check from the government, but it’s not a tax refund. It’s money from a government settlement with a company accused of marketing medical discount plans as health ...

U.S. corporations are increasingly stashing cash overseas. Nearly a dozen major companies are thought to be hoarding more than $40 billion each beyond the reach of Uncle Sam. But much of it might not be ...

Risotto is a crowd pleaser. It’s easy to make and a delight to eat. This week’s Frugal Family Feast recipe creates a hearty, satisfying meal of wild mushroom risotto. Chef David Rosov, owner and executive ...

Summer is around the corner, which means the kids will be home more and will inevitably be attacking their video game controllers. They’re probably already asking for the newest Skylander figure or a video ...

Insulting your customers seems like an obviously bad idea. So did the owner of an Arizona pizzeria lash out at critics on Facebook after the business was portrayed in a negative light on Fox reality TV ...

More than one in five people have held or attended a birthday celebration for a pet. That’s among the fascinating results of a new survey about spending by CouponCabin. One result is not surprising: Dog ...

Who says women aren’t good at math and money? People who can’t read, that’s who. A new study from one of the major credit reporting bureaus, Experian , says, “Overall, women are better at managing their ...

If you’re heading down the aisle, we have some scary statistics for you. Nearly 30 percent of married couples say money is the No. 1 source of stress in their relationship, according to a study by American ...

You’ve flown to your dream vacation spot. Now, how do you get from Point A to Point B without paying expensive taxi fares or outrageous rental car fees? Over the years, I’ve picked up some tricks for keeping ...

Many retailers offer some kind of guarantee to match their competitors’ prices — but those policies can be so riddled with exceptions that they’re rendered nearly useless. Cheapism examined eight major ...

You’ll find plenty of ways to offer help to the victims of Monday’s deadly Oklahoma City tornado, but some of them will be fake. It happens every time disaster strikes: Imposters and scammers will mislead ...

We’d rather be seen with a Subway bag than with one holding a Big Mac, according to a new study by the footlong folks. Subway asked 1,001 people which brand (among the following four) they were most embarrassed ...

We’ve all been there: either asking for a loan from family or friends, or being on the receiving end of a loan request. These days it wouldn’t be surprising to find the practice even more widespread. With ...

Frugality means shopping responsibly: not spending more than you can afford and NEVER paying retail prices. Discounts are everywhere, as long as you know where to look. With that, I give you the definitive ...

The world’s “oldest profession” is now banned from LinkedIn. Wasn’t it already? Well, no, not exactly. And in a funny way, it still isn’t. A recent update to the site’s privacy policy and user agreement ...

Nearly 16.4 million suburban residents in the U.S. live below the poverty line — almost 3 million more than the number of poor people who live in cities. That’s a 64 percent increase between 2000 and 2011, ...

It literally pays to understand how credit works, but many people just don’t get it. A good credit score can save you thousands of dollars on mortgages and other loans. Low scores can make it more difficult ...

Working is tough. And then there’s the chore of having to manage the money you make as you toil in the workplace. Leaves too little time to sit around in your underwear and catch pretzel bites in your ...

A friend once told me she didn’t budget because it was “just setting yourself up to fail.” At first I was adamant: “No way! Having a budget is the only way not to fail!” But then I started to think about ...

Remember Bernie Madoff? He was convicted of what’s considered to be the largest Ponzi scheme in history and sentenced to 150 years in prison. Lawyers and consultants have spent the past five years cleaning ...

This is pretty clever as scams go: trying to steal financial information by making people think it has already been stolen. Walmart is warning customers of a new phishing email that appears to be an expensive ...

The golden arches may arch some eyebrows as McDonald’s tries to shrink its super-sized menu. Since 2007 the number of items offered at the chain has expanded 70 percent to 145, Bloomberg says. It’s slowing ...

Who hasn’t been there? You’re hosting a party and a careless guest sloshes some red wine on your light-colored carpet. You’re ready for this little emergency, and quickly empty a carton of salt on the ...

During his lifetime, author F. Scott Fitzgerald reportedly made $8,397 in royalties from “The Great Gatsby.” (That would be about $139,600 now, converting from 1940, the year Fitzgerald died.) Gatsby probably ...

A writer for Consumer Reports knocked $480 off his annual cable expenses during a phone call with customer service. He didn’t use his work affiliation to get the deal. He used a technique anybody can: ...

Three Ohio Ford owners have filed a lawsuit against Ford, alleging defects in 3.5-liter V6 EcoBoost engines. It was the second lawsuit in as many months, The Associated Press says. In April, car owners ...

Two years ago, Google promised a service that would let you pay for things with a wave of your phone. It’s called Google Wallet , and it hasn’t caught on in the way Google hoped. Only about a dozen phone ...

Chicken roulade is a pretty pinwheel presentation that turns an everyday chicken dinner into a special night. This week’s Frugal Family Feast recipe provides generous servings for a family of four, plus ...

In Texas, a state where heat and drought are as common as Tuesdays, my mother’s gardening efforts are a challenge. In Texas’ famous seven-month drought in 2011, The Huffington Post says, the average rainfall ...

Celebrities from Justin Bieber to Kim Kardashian and even popular cartoon characters have been used to promote prepaid debit cards. But here are some mascots you’re unlikely to see gracing prepaid plastic: ...

Online superstars can get discounts and freebies, thanks to an American Airlines partnership with social media service Klout. Visit AA’s Klout page and link up your Facebook or Twitter account to see your ...

A store-brand laundry detergent packet works better than the best name-brand competitor, Consumer Reports says. It’s also 30 percent cheaper than that name-brand alternative, Tide Pods. It costs 14 cents ...

It doesn’t take more than one incredible trip to start wondering how you can see as much of the world as possible. But even well-off travelers have financial limits. We all want to get the best deal we ...

First comes love, then comes marriage. Then comes the mountain of wedding debt you’ll now have to pay.

Last year, couples spent an average of $28,427 on weddings and nuptial-related ...

AT&T is now rolling out a no-contract plan, joining T-Mobile and Sprint. Could it save you money? Probably. “A monthly $70 contract-free plan from T-Mobile, compared with a two-year $100 contract from ...

Consumers want to be tricked. That’s what J.C. Penney seems to think after kicking CEO Ron Johnson to the curb last month after a year on the job — and bringing back the guy who was doing it before him, ...

Bayer can’t prove its One A Day multivitamins prevent disease and should stop pretending they do, a nonprofit says. The Center for Science in the Public Interest is suing Bayer again over the way it markets ...

This week’s question comes from the parents of an unemployed MBA. Our son graduated with a master’s degree in business. His undergrad degree was political science and history. He has not found a job after ...

The battle cry of all kids from June to August: “Mom! I’m boooorred .” No matter how excited your kids are on the last day of school, that joy will soon turn into boredom and they’ll be looking to you ...

This post comes from Logan Abbott, editor of the credit cards section of MyRatePlan.com. Barclaycard has been busy launching new cards with great offers to try to get a foothold in the U.S. credit card ...

A group that helps abused children has printed a special poster that provides a secret message to kids, PetaPixel says. Children up to a certain height can see the message as they walk by; adults walking ...

If you’re looking to buy a new window air-conditioner unit, Consumer Reports has tested and highlighted some of the best affordable options: To cool less than 300 square feet, the Frigidaire LRA067AT7, ...

Callers are once again trying to scam consumers with fake computer security threats, ExplorerNews.com says . The caller will say he’s working for Microsoft, which has detected a problem with your computer, ...