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Everyday Cheapskate: Simple Organization and Storage Tips
"Sorry my place is such a mess!" If you have to pull out that one every time you welcome friends or family into your house, it might be time to get organized. Marla Cilley, also known as the FlyLady, calls that CHAOS: Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome!
Organization is an important aspect of any home. And we're quite familiar with the rule: a ...Read more

Warren Buffett to step down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO: 5 takeaways from the annual meeting
Warren Buffett told Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that he plans to step down as CEO at the end of 2025 and recommended to the company’s board that his previously identified successor, Greg Abel, take over at that time, ending a 60-year career that created one of the greatest investment records of all time.
Buffett made the dramatic ...Read more

May Fed meeting preview: Trump wants lower interest rates, but for now, his tariffs are keeping the Fed on hold
When the Federal Reserve decides what to do with interest rates to manage the economy, the data usually speaks for itself. Policymakers, for instance, knew they needed to rush to cut interest rates in 2020 as the gears of commerce came to a screeching halt at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Two years later, when inflation surged to a 40-...Read more

Should you handle debt or build an emergency fund first?
There’s a reason financial advisers keep recommending you save money for emergencies. More than one in three Americans needed to tap their emergency savings in the past year, according to Bankrate’s 2025 Annual Emergency Savings Report. But when you’re juggling debt, putting money toward savings can feel overwhelming. Many feel paying down...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: Six Ways to Cut Health Care Costs
I'll be honest -- I'm just as surprised as you are to be wading into the murky waters of U.S. health care. Specifically? Health insurance. It's a tangled mess. Even if your coverage comes neatly wrapped in your job's benefits package, it's still messy. Premiums keep climbing, deductibles are sky-high, and somehow we're paying more for less.
And...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: River Cruise Provides a Bounty of History, Nature and Fun
By Victor Block
In the winter of 1805, a group of men constructed a rustic fort near the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon. They stayed there until the following spring, then returned to their homes.
These men were members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Their exploration of uncharted areas of the country had been commissioned by ...Read more

Amid tariff turmoil, these warehouses are in big demand in LA
As steep tariffs on imports throw Los Angeles-area ports into turmoil and chill industrial property leasing, one rare type of building is suddenly in hot demand — bonded warehouses where goods can be stored without paying tariffs until they are removed.
Key personnel at bonded warehouses have to undergo background checks and the operator must...Read more

Salary to afford a typical Bay Area home has increased 54% since 2019
The salary needed to afford a typical home in the Bay Area just keeps climbing higher.
A homebuyer hoping to afford a median-priced home in the San Jose metro region must earn 54% more than was needed six years ago — an income of $370,000, versus $240,000 in 2019, according to a new study by Realtor.com.
That means that a buyer hoping to ...Read more

Jonathan Lansner: California home sales tumble below Great Recession low for 21 months
Call it what you want, but California’s homebuying pace remains below the Great Recession’s bottom.
My trusty spreadsheet reviewed a new set of home sales figures created for the Southern California News Group by real estate tracker Attom. These broad-based statistics track closed transactions by month and include existing and newly built ...Read more
Real estate Q&A: Can I install an EV charger at my condo's assigned parking spot?
Q: My wife and I bought a condo a few years ago. Last year, we bought an electric car, only to learn that the building limits personal chargers to 14, along with the three shared chargers, for the nearly 200 parking spaces. The board informed me that the limit is due to the electrical service to the building, and upgrading the service would ...Read more

Commentary: Where is the 'real America'?
Is there such a thing as a “real America”? A battle now rages over this simple question. Some Democratic party operatives claim the real America are so-called “Trump voters,” who they say they need to better “study” in order to win future elections.
Many Republican voices argue the real America are just those who support the new ...Read more

Cupertino housing project is part of a growing trend as expensive Bay Area cities want teachers to live near their schools
CUPTERTINO, California — When the time came for Gabriela Flores to apply for a new teaching job in the Bay Area, the Scotts Valley resident had her heart set on one place: Cupertino.
The city is not only home to Apple headquarters, but also boasts some of the best schools and students in the state. Flores said she felt drawn to the ...Read more

Millions of New Yorkers poised for rent hikes in range of 1.75 to 7.75 percent
New York City’s 2 million rent-stabilized tenants will almost certainly see their rents rise for the fifth year in a row after the panel charged with deciding rates approved hikes during a raucous preliminary vote Wednesday evening.
The Rent Guidelines Board agreed to a range of 1.75% to 4.75% increases for one-year leases and 4.75% to 7.75% ...Read more

Colorado and Denver told owners to cut their buildings' carbon emissions. Did the rules go too far?
It’s not that Intermountain Health refuses to upgrade its Denver hospital and medical clinics so they produce less pollution.
It’s the fact that the health system’s buildings are of different ages and sizes, and one of them — Saint Joseph Hospital — is open 24 hours a day. It’s a facility where lights and room temperature can be a ...Read more

Black South Floridians struggle to buy and keep homes in Miami's gentrifying communities
Sabrina Guillaume’s parents always urged her to invest in a home in Liberty City.
But when she started the homebuying process in early 2020 at age 24, she hit a lot of obstacles: After getting preapproved for a loan, the pandemic came, and the homes she’d been eyeing rose from the mid-$300,000s to $500,000 in a matter of months. Then there ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: A Gracious Guide for How to Be a Good House Guest
It was shocking, if not surreal. The email message was from a woman I'd never met and whose name I recognized only because, a few months earlier, she mailed me a book she'd written.
The message announced that she and her family were planning a road trip to Disneyland and would just love to stay with us since (at the time) we lived nearby and oh...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: How to Rise Above Your Circumstances
Shortly after takeoff, the pilot circled over the Great Salt Lake, tipping the wings ever so slightly so we could witness the unusual reddish-purple color of the water -- a phenomenon, he explained, that occurs when a particular species of algae meets up with a certain bacteria. It was quite fascinating.
Just as he was bringing the plane level ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: You Need a Freedom Account
If I asked you to deduct your monthly expenses from your monthly income, I have a feeling you'd look pretty good on paper. The mystery for many people is why they can't get through a month without using a credit card to cover unexpected expenses, such as a prescription for a sick child, a quarterly insurance premium or a wedding shower gift.
...Read more

Treasury market's 'new world order' brings fear of long bond
The “Sell America” trade that gripped markets this month has left a potentially lasting dent in investors’ willingness to hold the U.S. government’s longest-maturity debt, a mainstay of its deficit-financing toolkit.
For bond managers at BlackRock Inc., Brandywine Global Investment Management and Vanguard Group Inc., the problem is that...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: Confused About Seed Oils? Oh, Yes We Are!
If you've ever stared at a grocery aisle full of cooking oils, wondering if you're picking a kitchen staple or a chemistry experiment, you're not alone. The world of cooking oils is a confusing place, and the debate over seed oils is heating up. Are they really as bad as some say? And if so, what should we use instead? Let's clear this up.
WHAT...Read more
Inside Consumer
Popular Stories
- Should you handle debt or build an emergency fund first?
- May Fed meeting preview: Trump wants lower interest rates, but for now, his tariffs are keeping the Fed on hold
- Warren Buffett to step down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO: 5 takeaways from the annual meeting
- Salary to afford a typical Bay Area home has increased 54% since 2019
- LA's office market takes a hit amid trade wars, fires and economic uncertainty