Personal Finance

  • A group of children wearing party hats celebrate at an outdoor birthday party. They're gathered around a decorated cake with lit candles. Colorful balloons and bunting adorn the background. One adult laughs and claps nearby.
    ,

    10 Photos That Show Why Birthday Parties Are Way More Expensive Now

    From homemade cakes to over-the-top extravaganzas, these photos show just how much pricier kids' birthday parties have become.

    Birthdays used to be simple: a homemade cake, a few balloons, and maybe a game of pin the tail on the donkey. Now it’s a full-scale production with party planners, towering cakes that no one actually enjoys, and balloon displays…

  • Woman reading a magazine with coffee demonstrating one of the money lies that ordering coffee is why people can't save money.
    ,

    10 Money Lies You Might Still Believe

    From putting off retirement savings to carrying a balance on your credit card, here are 10 common money lies that you might still believe in.

    When it comes to managing money, we’ve all fallen prey to money myths that sound logical but actually end up biting us in the wallet. From the idea that skipping coffee will make you rich to the belief that carrying…

  • The image shows two stacks of embroidered toilet paper with humorous phrases on the left, and a hand using a white squeeze tool on a toothpaste tube, with three colorful squeeze tools nearby on the right.
    , ,

    10 Useless Products That People Are Still Buying

    From bottled air to gold-plated staples, these are some of the most useless products that people keep on purchasing.

    Some things exist just to make us question reality. You’d think with all the tech and innovation in the world, we’d be spending money on, you know, useful stuff. But nope — people are out here practically setting their wallets…

  • Left image: A person in a pink sweater selects vegetables at a vibrant market stall. Right image: A bustling supermarket with many checkout lanes and customers shopping.
    ,

    Photos: This Is What Grocery Shopping Looked Like in the ’70s

    From low prices and clean aisles to fancy outfits and the freshest-looking produce, here's what grocery shopping looked like during the 1970s.

    From curbside pickup lanes in the parking lot to “Scan and Go” sections at check out, today’s grocery stores look a whole lot different than grocery stores in the 1970s did. And don’t even get us started on the prices!…

  • Aerial view of a luxurious residential neighborhood with large houses, lush green lawns, and a golf course. The area is surrounded by trees and vegetation, under a hazy sky. Roads interconnect the properties.

    15 U.S. Cities Where a $100,000 Salary Feels Like Much Less

    Discover 15 U.S. cities where a $100,000 salary might not stretch as far as you think, including how much $100k is actually worth in 2024.

    A $100,000 salary used to mean absolute security, regardless of where you lived. Now? That’s chump change in some cities. SmartAsset recently crunched the numbers to create a list of exactly how far $100,000 will go in 69 of the…

  • An older woman in a striped shirt stands at a grocery store checkout, holding a receipt and looking at her smartphone. She has a shopping cart in front of her, and shelves with products in the background.
    ,

    11 Psychological Tricks That Make You Spend More Money Without Realizing It

    From charm pricing to “free” trials, learn 11 psychological tricks that push you to overspend and how to stop falling for them.

    Ever head to the store for one thing and leave with a cartful? That’s no accident. From carefully placed “sale” signs to free-trial traps, companies use proven psychological tricks to loosen your grip on cash. Here are 11 of the…