usa today

Perfect Prom on a Budget: 13 Ways to Spend Less, Still Shine

Prom has gotten almost absurdly pricy: The average teen this year will spend $1,078 on the spring formal. Be smarter than average, and try these tips from consumer expert Andrea Woroch that could save you and your teen a ton, without making the night any less special.

Fast-Food Joints Stepping Up Menu Bargains in January

Fast-food companies face a two-headed monster after every New Year%u2019s Day: Diet resolutions and empty wallets. So purveyors of burgers, tacos, fried chicken and the like are getting aggressive, which means means a solid month of gooey, cheesy, melty deals.

Newspapers: Going...Going...Gone!

For anybody who has followed the news over the past few years (probably on a computer), the long-awaited demise of newspapers shouldn't come as much of a surprise. But on Wednesday, the bell tolled once again for the printed word when the University of Southern California's Annenberg Center for the Digital Future offered a prophecy: Within five years, only four major daily papers will continue in print form.

Midwest Cities Top U.S. Credit Score Rankings

There must be something in the cheese: Four of the top 10 American cities for credit scores are in Wisconsin, and four more are in nearby Midwest states, according to a new analysis by Experian. But all is not sunny in the South, where the cities with the worst scores are concentrated.

Starbucks CEO Invites Concerned Citizens to Chat

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has grand plans to cut through the partisan noise and remind our country's politicians of their problem-solving duties: On Tuesday, he's hosting a gigantic, public telephone town hall, and asking all "concerned Americans" to join his movement and participate.

Reagan Tops Presidential Popularity Poll

Ronald Reagan tops a USA Today/Gallup poll of Americans' favorite U.S. presidents. The results suggest that a nostalgia for better economic times may play a factor, along with politics, in the survey.

Growing Public Support for Tax Package

Gallup, Pew Center and Washington Post/ABC News surveys all showed that Americans, for the most part, support the tax package approved by the Senate on Wednesday.

Arianna Huffington's
Glass House

Arianna Huffington likes to blast "the media" for getting distracted by silliness like the Balloon Boy story. But no one's more distracted, or distracting, than her own Huffington Post.

USA Today Plans 130 Layoffs in Push Toward Mobile News

The nation's second-largest newspaper is planning to lay off 130 business and newsroom employees as part of an overhaul to de-emphasize the print edition and works to reach more readers and advertisers on mobile devices.