Funeral costs are only the beginning of the financial transition after a spouse dies. Social Security income may fall while housing, taxes, insurance, and other major expenses continue. ESB Professional/Shutterstock Many retired couples have at least discussed how they would pay for a funeral, whether through savings, life insurance, prepaid arrangements, or money set aside specifically for final expenses. What gets far less attention is the surviving spouse finances that begin changing almost immediately after […]

A red Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers sign stands near a brick-and-mortar restaurant location. Examining how fast-food pricing has evolved shows why a $15 lunch is becoming the new normal and what that exact budget buys across popular chains. Shutterstock. Fast food isn’t necessarily the cheap lunch it once was. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows prices for limited-service meals were 3.2% higher in August 2026 than a year earlier. Grocery prices increased 2.2% […]

Two people wear classic sheet ghost costumes outdoors surrounded by pumpkins and autumn gourds against a brick background. Spotting Halloween candy on store shelves early raises the perennial question of whether September is truly too soon to stock up. Pexels. Navigating the local supermarket at the end of summer reveals a surprising retail shift that catches many shoppers completely off guard. Long before Labor Day weekend concludes, vibrant displays of miniature chocolate bars and oversized […]

Remember clipping coupons out of the Sunday paper? These days, your savings live on your phone instead of in a kitchen drawer full of scissors and expired flyers. If you haven’t switched over yet, 2026 is a great year to start, because the apps have gotten a lot smarter. Here are five free coupon apps worth downloading, plus a few ways to squeeze even more savings out of them. 1. P&G Brand Saver If you regularly buy household staples like Tide, Bounty, Crest, or Pampers, then the P&G BrandSaver coupon app is worth knowing about. It has coupons for Procter & Gamble products, and they make a lot of them. You get coupons, which you can then link to your Coupon24 app. They also have cashback and rebate offers to earn extra points. Download Now A word about the Coupon24 App: Coupon24 is a coupon wallet where you can store a lot of your coupons for easy scanning. It turns multi-coupon stacking into one scannable code. You can store and manage all (most) coupons in one app. It’s a single wallet instead of clipping across dozens of retailer/brand sites. If you coupon regularly, you should consider downloading it. 2. Flipp Flipp pulls in weekly store flyers based on your ZIP code, so you can browse local grocery, pet store, and home improvement deals without ever touching a paper circular. Add something to your shopping list inside the app, and Flipp will point you toward the store that has it on sale, right down to the specific flyer page. Best for: Planning your grocery run around what’s actually on sale this week. Download Now 3. CouponCabin Think of CouponCabin as one big hub of verified codes and printable in-store coupons from thousands of retailers. There’s also an editor’s pick section if you’d rather browse curated deals than search brand by brand. Best for: Mixing online shopping with the occasional in-store coupon for clothes or food. Download Now 4. Krazy Coupon Lady If you’ve read the Krazy Coupon Lady website before, the app brings that same world of verified coupons and manufacturer deals straight to your phone. A built-in calendar shows upcoming sale events, including odd little freebie days you’d otherwise miss, plus articles if you want to actually learn the strategy behind couponing, not just collect codes. Best for: People who want to get a little more serious about couponing as a skill, not just a one-off habit. Download Now 5. Koupon Koupon leans on a mix of automated checks and human review to keep expired or fake codes off the app, testing promo codes on an ongoing basis. You can browse by category (like patio furniture or baby gear) or by favorite brands, and codes exclusive to Koupon users get an “Exclusive” tag. There’s also a dedicated section for Amazon promo codes if that’s where you spend most of your money. Best for: Online shoppers who want codes that are actually still valid when they try to use

You don’t need a complicated system or a total lifestyle overhaul to start saving money. Most of the time, it’s the small, consistent habits that quietly add up to the biggest results. These habits add up in a way that’s easy to underestimate until you look back at what they’ve saved you. Start with whatever feels manageable right now, and build from there as it becomes second nature. Create a Detailed Budget A basic budget is the foundation of successful money management. Once you can see exactly where your money is going each month, it becomes much easier to make intentional choices instead of just hoping things work out. Ready to feel less stressed about money? Grab the free Freedom Budget planner and get a simple, guilt-free way to plan your month. Get it here → Freedom Budget Planner Track Your Expenses Monitoring your spending habits is crucial for identifying where you can cut back. Even a simple habit of jotting down purchases for a couple of weeks can reveal patterns you never noticed before. Cut Unnecessary Spending Trim your budget by eliminating non-essential expenses. Go through your last few statements and ask honestly whether each purchase added real value to your life. Use Cash Instead of Cards Paying with cash can help you stick to your budget and avoid impulse purchases. Watching physical bills leave your wallet tends to make spending feel more real than tapping a card ever does. Cancel Unused Subscriptions Review what you’re paying for each month and cut what you no longer use. It’s easy for a handful of forgotten $10 charges to quietly add up to real money. Set up Automatic Bill Payments Avoid late fees by automating regular expenses like utilities. It also takes one more thing off your mental to-do list, which is its own kind of relief. Negotiate Bills and Fees Don’t be afraid to ask service providers for a lower rate. Companies would often rather offer a discount than lose you as a customer, so a quick phone call can pay off more than you’d expect. Avoid ATM Fees Plan your cash withdrawals so you’re not paying to access your own money. Sticking to your bank’s network or withdrawing larger amounts less often can save you a surprising amount over a year. Cancel Unused Gym Memberships If you’re not going regularly, that membership is just a recurring expense working against you. Consider a cheaper alternative like home workouts or your local park instead. Cook Meals at Home Eating out can quickly drain your wallet, so cooking more meals at home is one of the fastest ways to save. Even swapping a few takeout nights for home-cooked meals each month can make a noticeable difference. Meal Prep for the Week Planning and preparing meals in advance cuts down on the temptation to order takeout. It also saves time during busy weeknights when cooking from scratch feels like too much. Buy Generic Brands Generic products are often significantly cheaper and

Don’t miss an episode of our podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors. Available on all podcast players. Here’s the latest episode: Small change, giant impact. One challenge in financial planning is when a “small” decision creates much bigger than we assumed. “End of Plan” is one such decision. Some planning software might call it “planning horizon” or “life expectancy” or any number of other euphemisms for “when might you die?” Yes, death is scary to consider. And it’s obvious how our lifespan affects our finances. The longer we live, the more money we need to live a successful retirement. But there’s so much more! If you’ve ever dabbled with financial planning software (Boldin, Pralana, eMoney, RightCapital, Empower, etc.), you might be unaware of the unintended side effects that “age at death” is creating in your plan. Defining the “Problem”… The (frequent) “problem” I witness follows this logic: Running out of money is a scary idea. I don’t want to underestimate when we’ll die. I’ll overestimate instead…I’ll live until 90. My wife, 95. Boom. I’ve “solved” the problem of running out of money. [Narrator: But they were completely unaware of the unintended side effects…] I agree that it’s important to “stress test” whether you’ll run out of money. Changing your assumed age of death is a good idea. But what else are people missing? Let’s dive into what people often miss. Side Effect 1: Social Security Claiming Extending your End of Plan to age ~85+ almost assuredly pushes your Social Security claiming strategy out to age 70. If you live a long time, you wouldn’t want to claim Social Security early. This one is straightforward. In fact, it might be less of an “unintended side effect” and more of a “known headliner.” Plenty of couples should be claiming Social Security before 70 — at least for one of the two spouses. But if you model your End of Plans out at 85, 90, etc., then the planning software might encourage you both to delay until age 70. Side Effect 2: Roth Conversions Roth conversions are tricky. Decades of unknowns lie ahead, and you need to account for them in today’s Roth conversion math. It’s a gray area. Nevertheless, what’s the effect of assuming someone lives until age 95? The main effect is that said person would have 20+ years of required minimum distributions, the last of which would be more than 10% of their account value. These RMDs would push this person into higher and higher tax brackets, likely making present-day Roth conversions more and more attractive. Said succinctly: later death = more Roth conversions today. But if that same person dies at 75? Roth conversions might be outright bad. If they die at 80? Perhaps much smaller Roth conversions would be appropriate. The choice of modeling death at age 85, 90, or 95 can encourage

This composite case is built from patterns I see repeatedly in practice. Names and numbers are fictional. I show every calculation so you can check it and reuse the method. This is Part 1 of a four-part case study. About the author: Ajay Pruthi is a fee-only SEBI-registered investment advisor. He can be contacted via his… The post 2 Crores in FDs, Single, 42, Wants to Retire at 50 – Retirement Planning Case Study Part 1 […]

You’ve decided to buy a house. Congratulations! Now comes the hard part. Buying a home in Jamaica can be exciting, but if this is your first time doing it, the process can also feel overwhelming. Between finding the property, getting a mortgage, paying closing costs, dealing with lawyers, valuations, surveys and trying to figure out exactly how much house you can actually afford, there is a lot to think about. I bought my first home […]

12 Ways to Reduce the Cost of Moving Interstate Moving interstate is one of those costs that sneaks up on people. A quote arrives, it says three and a half thousand dollars, and suddenly the fresh start feels expensive before it has begun. Here is the part worth knowing: most of that number is negotiable, […] The post How to Move Interstate Without Blowing the Budget: 12 Ways to Cut Costs appeared first on The […]

Homeownership has felt out of reach for many but with recent changes and some knowledge, it might be easier than you think. Anish Puri from Perth founded NestPath which is free and can help you with everything you need to get into the property market. What is your side hustle? NestPath is a free education […] The post Tips For First Home Buyers from NestPath appeared first on The Thrifty Issue.

WiseStacker Where to Buy Non VBV Data in 2026: What Non VBV Bin Security Means Where to Buy Non VBV Data & What Non VBV Bin Security Means The phrase “non VBV” gets used like it describes something permanent about a card. It does not. In 2026 the meaning has drifted, and the places people source these ranges are not the same as they were even a year ago. This guide breaks down what non […]

Earlier this month, news broke that somebody was selling scans of more than 153 million drivers licenses. It appears that it’s the result of a breach at a company (IDscan.net) that provides ID scanning services for other businesses, such as Hertz car rental, Target, and FedEx. This is up there with the 2017 Equifax breach in terms of total number of people affected (i.e., almost half the U.S. population). It’s depressing/infuriating that we have so […]