Thomas Barwick | Digitalvision | Getty Images Many families struggle to come up with the cash when faced with an unexpected $400 expense. That lack of emergency savings may force them to borrow money at high interest rates to pay for the surprise expense, putting their financial security at risk. …

Soon it will be easier to buy gadgets that work with your smart home. Hispanolistic | E+ | Getty Images Imagine asking Apple’s Siri to turn off your Amazon Fire TV. Thanks to a new standard called Matter, soon most smart home devices from different brands will work together. Matter, …

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320 takes off from Los Angeles international Airport on August 27, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. AaronP | Bauer-Griffin | GC Images | Getty Images Say goodbye to the airline call center −at least at Frontier Airlines. The budget carrier last weekend completed its transition to online, …

Customers shop at the Apple Fifth Avenue store for the release of the Apple iPhone 14 in New York City, September 16, 2022. Andrew Kelly | Reuters It’s Black Friday and the official start of the holiday shopping season, and there’s a new iPhone 14 for consumers in the market …

Pedestrians view the holiday windows at the Macy’s Inc. flagship department store in the Herald Square area of New York, U.S., on Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Americans are not planning major cuts in holiday spending this year, starting with Black Friday, despite inflation fears …

Charles Taylor | Getty Images 1. If your income is higher in 2022, defer your bonus into 2023 If you’ve had a strong year and expect lower earnings in 2023, you may try to defer a holiday bonus until the new year, experts say. “It’s always exciting to reap the …

D3sign | Moment | Getty Images After eating turkey and pie, lots of Americans also went on a shopping spree. Thanksgiving Day online spending hit a record of $5.29 billion, an increase of 2.9% year over year, according to Adobe, which tracks sales on retailers’ websites. Typically, shoppers spend about …

It is notoriously expensive to book a flight during the holiday season, and this year the national average cost of airfare hit $397 during the second quarter, a high not seen since 2014, according to recent data from SmartAsset.  The SmartAsset survey reported the average fare and percent change in …

Walmart is top of mind for holiday shoppers who are hunting for Black Friday deals, according to new research. The big box retailer is dominating online searches for Black Friday discounts as of Friday morning, according to advertising technology company Captify, which tracks more than 1 billion searches a day …

The holiday shopping season is always closely followed by a spike in gift returning. But this year, it may be harder to bring things back for free or at a low cost. Roughly 60% of retailers said they’re making changes to existing returns policies, with fewer promising free returns, according …