RentingVs.Owning

Becoming a homeowner is a rite of passage in America, while renting gets no respect. But when you look at how we really live, it turns out that, even ignoring the recent crash, home ownership isn't the great deal for our finances that we've been led to believe.

When traditional financial advice doesn't fit your situation, get creative and save money by ignoring conventional wisdom. Here are five savings strategies that may seem counterintuitive -- until you add up the dramatic results.

In an op-ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal, Rutgers economist Eugene N. White argues that "the poor are better off renting." While he's certainly right that homeownership is not always the best option for everyone at every stage of life, some of his arguments are misguided: While suffering...

In my Detroit-area neighborhood, there are almost no homes for sale. Out of more than 1,000 homes in a two-mile area there are probably only a half-dozen on the market. Yes, you read that right. Downtrodden Detroit, Michigan, where real estate set new records for declines has neighborhoods where...