Consumer

/

Home & Leisure

/

ArcaMax

Everyday Cheapskate: How to Clean Gunk and Grime From Kitchen Cabinets

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Kitchen cabinets are for storing dishes, not grease. Unfortunately, wood cabinets, whether painted or natural with a clear finish, are prone to all sorts of grease, grime and gunk from simply being in the kitchen.

Depending on just how much grease and grime you're looking at and the supplies you have available, here are several options for your...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

How 'unretiring' to go back to work can affect your Social Security benefits

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Retirement is a goal that most Americans strive for, but sometimes the reality doesn’t match what you’d imagined. You may find that you miss work and the sense of purpose it gave you, or your financial situation may change and you need to earn additional money to support your lifestyle. Returning to the workforce after retiring may make ...Read more

Christina House/Los Angeles Times/TNS

When you lose your home to fire, you wonder: Who am I now?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

You might think a house is just a house, and the stuff inside is just stuff — but you’d think differently if it were yours and it vanished in an instant, as happened to so many in Pacific Palisades and Altadena in the January wildfires. All of those material possessions are a part of who you are; you shape your home and your home shapes you....Read more

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Despite political promises, Californians are stressed about their finances

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

After voters in November sent a clear message that the rising cost of living remained a top concern, California lawmakers came to the state Capitol vowing to take decisive action.

"Our task this session is urgent and clear," Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) told lawmakers at the start of the 2024-2025 legislative session in early ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Are the renters next door breaking the rules to control their dogs?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: A family recently rented the house next to ours in our community association. They have several dogs and attached a temporary fence to our permitted wooden fence to form a corral for their dogs to stay outside all day and bark. Are they allowed to attach to our fence without permission? Is there anything we can do about the noise? —Caroline...Read more

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Zillow forecasts San Diego home values to drop for the first time in years

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Zillow has broken from the pack to say San Diego County home values could decrease over the next year.

Home values in San Diego County will drop 1.1% by March 2026, Zillow said in its latest Home Value Index. While the decrease is small, it’s notable because no other major forecasters have said home prices, or values, would drop, and it’s ...Read more

Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Is Las Vegas becoming Los Angeles 2.0?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

By 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, Las Vegas-based luxury real estate broker Ivan Sher started noticing a distinct migration pattern from California’s affluent neighborhoods to Las Vegas.

“What I think pushed people over the edge” in California was government mandates that impacted them and their children in school,...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: Haggling for Dollars

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

By a show of hands, let me see how many of you have a credit card in your name. Uh-huh, I see those hands. It appears that my audience falls right in line with national averages: About 70% of you have at least one credit card. And how would you categorize your relationship with your card issuer?

If you are carrying credit card debt, it really ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: More Kitchen Hacks You'll Wish You'd Known Sooner

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Here is a wonderfully creative collection of tips that spotlight my readers' resourcefulness and intelligence in the kitchen and pantry. From clever tricks involving coffee filters, kitchen mallets and shower caps (yes, shower caps!) to simple storage solutions for sugars and spices -- get ready to take conventional wisdom to an unconventional ...Read more

Daniel Mears/The Detroit News/TNS

United Wholesale Mortgage reports loss for first quarter, increase in loan volume

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

United Wholesale Mortgage reported a first-quarter net loss of $247 million on total revenue of $613.5 million, down from a profit of $180.5 million during the same period last year. A $388 million reduction in the fair value of its mortgage servicing rights portfolio impacted the results, the Pontiac, Michigan-based lender said Tuesday.

The ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: Simple Organization and Storage Tips

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

"Sorry my place is such a mess!" If you have to pull out that one every time you welcome friends or family into your house, it might be time to get organized. Marla Cilley, also known as the FlyLady, calls that CHAOS: Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome!

Organization is an important aspect of any home. And we're quite familiar with the rule: a ...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Getty Images North America/TNS

Warren Buffett to step down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO: 5 takeaways from the annual meeting

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Warren Buffett told Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that he plans to step down as CEO at the end of 2025 and recommended to the company’s board that his previously identified successor, Greg Abel, take over at that time, ending a 60-year career that created one of the greatest investment records of all time.

Buffett made the dramatic ...Read more

Gripas Yuri/Abaca via ZUMA Press/TNS

May Fed meeting preview: Trump wants lower interest rates, but for now, his tariffs are keeping the Fed on hold

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

When the Federal Reserve decides what to do with interest rates to manage the economy, the data usually speaks for itself. Policymakers, for instance, knew they needed to rush to cut interest rates in 2020 as the gears of commerce came to a screeching halt at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Two years later, when inflation surged to a 40-...Read more

Fizkes/Dreamstime/TNS

Should you handle debt or build an emergency fund first?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

There’s a reason financial advisers keep recommending you save money for emergencies. More than one in three Americans needed to tap their emergency savings in the past year, according to Bankrate’s 2025 Annual Emergency Savings Report. But when you’re juggling debt, putting money toward savings can feel overwhelming. Many feel paying down...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: Six Ways to Cut Health Care Costs

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

I'll be honest -- I'm just as surprised as you are to be wading into the murky waters of U.S. health care. Specifically? Health insurance. It's a tangled mess. Even if your coverage comes neatly wrapped in your job's benefits package, it's still messy. Premiums keep climbing, deductibles are sky-high, and somehow we're paying more for less.

And...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: River Cruise Provides a Bounty of History, Nature and Fun

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

By Victor Block

In the winter of 1805, a group of men constructed a rustic fort near the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon. They stayed there until the following spring, then returned to their homes.

These men were members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Their exploration of uncharted areas of the country had been commissioned by ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Amid tariff turmoil, these warehouses are in big demand in LA

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

As steep tariffs on imports throw Los Angeles-area ports into turmoil and chill industrial property leasing, one rare type of building is suddenly in hot demand — bonded warehouses where goods can be stored without paying tariffs until they are removed.

Key personnel at bonded warehouses have to undergo background checks and the operator must...Read more

Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Salary to afford a typical Bay Area home has increased 54% since 2019

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The salary needed to afford a typical home in the Bay Area just keeps climbing higher.

A homebuyer hoping to afford a median-priced home in the San Jose metro region must earn 54% more than was needed six years ago — an income of $370,000, versus $240,000 in 2019, according to a new study by Realtor.com.

That means that a buyer hoping to ...Read more

Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register/TNS

Jonathan Lansner: California home sales tumble below Great Recession low for 21 months

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Call it what you want, but California’s homebuying pace remains below the Great Recession’s bottom.

My trusty spreadsheet reviewed a new set of home sales figures created for the Southern California News Group by real estate tracker Attom. These broad-based statistics track closed transactions by month and include existing and newly built ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Can I install an EV charger at my condo's assigned parking spot?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: My wife and I bought a condo a few years ago. Last year, we bought an electric car, only to learn that the building limits personal chargers to 14, along with the three shared chargers, for the nearly 200 parking spaces. The board informed me that the limit is due to the electrical service to the building, and upgrading the service would ...Read more

 

Related Channels

America's Test Kitchen

America's Test Kitchen

By America's Test Kitchen
ArcaMax Chef

ArcaMax Chef

By ArcaMax Chef
Ask The Builder

Ask The Builder

By Tim Carter
Ask The Vet

Ask The Vet

By Dr. Lee Pickett
Celebrity Travel

Celebrity Travel

By Jae-Ha Kim
Dear Monty

Dear Monty

By Richard Montgomery
Do It Yourself Or Not

Do It Yourself Or Not

By Gene and Katie Hamilton
Eric's Autos

Eric's Autos

By Eric Peters
Everyday Cheapskate

Everyday Cheapskate

By Mary Hunt
Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family

By Jim Daly
Georgia Garvey

Georgia Garvey

By Georgia Garvey
Jeff Rugg

Jeff Rugg

By Jeff Rugg
Lenore Skenazy

Lenore Skenazy

By Lenore Skenazy
Living Space

Living Space

By Kathryn Weber
My Pet World

My Pet World

By Cathy M. Rosenthal
Problem Solved

Problem Solved

By Christopher Elliott
Real Estate Matters

Real Estate Matters

By Ilyce R. Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin
Recipes by Zola

Recipes by Zola

By Zola Gorgon
Rick Steves' Europe

Rick Steves' Europe

By Rick Steves' Europe
Taking The Kids

Taking The Kids

By Eileen Ogintz
Travel & Adventure

Travel & Adventure

By Various authors
Travel Troubleshooter

Travel Troubleshooter

By Christopher Elliott

Comics

Cul de Sac Shoe Get Fuzzy Dick Wright Darrin Bell Pedro X. Molina