budgets

Use it or lose it -- that's the mantra of flexible spending accounts (FSAs). It sounds scary, but these accounts, funded by your pre-tax wages, are great ways to save on child care or medical expenses. So whether you're trying to use all the money you set aside this year or are planning for 2011,...

Let's face it, a big part of the appeal of credit cards is the convenience. They're easy to use, let you pay quickly, earn rewards and defer payments for a month or so. But in the name of even more convenience, credit card companies offer all sorts of other services. Some, while they're pitched as...

Hard times make for hard choices -- especially when it comes to prioritizing which bills get paid, when what you have is not enough to cover all your expenses. But there are some bills it behooves you to keep high on the priority list. A Tennessee homeowner found out the hard way this month when...

In his latest book, The Cheapskate Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of Americans Living Happily Below Their Means (Broadway, 2010), the "Ultimate Cheapskate" Jeff Yeager (right) shares insights he gleaned from hundreds of self-described cheapskates. We sat down recently with Jeff and asked him to...

Mint.com is arguably one of the most popular personal finance management tools out there. For all that it has done well, up until this week, it hasn't been the best place to track financial goals. Now, with the introduction of Mint Goals you can link all of your financial goals with the accounts...

What's black and white and read all over? Yep, the answer is still the same as it was when you were 6. A newspaper. Despite declining circulation, 80 million Americans still read a newspaper in print or online every day, according to research for Parade magazine, which is about to launch a...

When 42-year old Claire Kahn got married 15 years ago and opened up a hair salon with her husband, all was good. Business was booming. Cash flowed freely. With her husband paying all the bills and managing the household finances, Kahn, of West Bloomfield, Mich., says anything she earned was...

This story was updated on June 8, 2010. Reality stars tend to live larger than life when it comes to their houses, their indulgences and their dramas. As it turns out, some of their debts are larger than life, too. The New York Post recently reported that Teresa Giudice, better known to fans of...

Ever wish you could find one place to go for basic financial information about anything? If that's your wish, you'll find all that you need at the government's newly launched MyMoney.gov website, which was developed with financial information from 12 Federal agencies, departments and bureaus that...

Cash-strapped Americans trying to create or stick to a budget need look no further than CEOs from Corporate America. After all, corporate execs have mastered the art of cost-cutting and reining in expenses. Check out these five strategies Corporate America uses to stick to a budget -- and learn...