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The COVID-19 pandemic turned life upside down for millions of Americans, including parents who rely on child care. In many cases, day care centers temporarily closed — or parents didn’t feel comfortable sending their children — while employers shut offices down and had employees work from home. By Jennifer Taylor Read: Having Trouble Accessing the Child Tax Credit Portal? Here’s How To Sign Into ID.meCheck Out: How Can I Check the Status of My Child Tax Credit?...

If you need to make a large Big Lots purchase, you may use your Big Lots credit card to take advantage of a promotional financing offer. An easy way to stay on top of managing your Big Lots card, including monitoring any promotional financing terms and making payments, is to register for online access to your Big Lots credit card account. By Andrea Norris Creating a Login Logging In Recovering Lost Credentials Using Your Login Customer Service Benefits You can access the Big Lots Credit Card Account Center through the online banking portal of Comenity Bank, the issuer of Big Lots credit cards....

The supply chain issues that stoked so much of last year’s historic inflation hit the auto industry especially hard. No category was spared as record-high prices, long waits and scant selection were par for the course in the new, used, and lease markets. Just as it was in the housing industry, legions of frustrated car buyers waited in hopes that 2022 would bring relief. By Andrew Lisa Learn: The 29 Biggest Car Mistakes That Will Cost YouFind: The 6 Most Affordable Electric Vehicles...

Democrats in the Illinois state Senate and House of Representatives are simultaneously proposing legislation that would expand the state’s earned income tax credit and also create an Illinois Child Tax Credit. These funds, which would equate to a tax cut for many residents, would help alleviate child poverty and take some of the sting out of recent high prices due to inflation, proponents of the bills say. By Dawn Allcot Compare: The Best and Worst Things To Buy Generic Discover: 16 Budgeting Tips Every Single Woman Needs To Know...

Last week’s better-than-expected June jobs report increases the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will issue another 75-point interest rate hike at its July meeting, according to various media reports. It would be the second such increase in two months — something hasn’t happened since at least the 1980s. By Vance Cariaga See: 9 Bills You Should Never Put on AutopayFind: 6 Signs You Can’t Afford To Retire It’s no coincidence that the 1980s was also the last time the U....

Rachel Cruze is a personal finance expert and the author of “Know Yourself, Know Your Money.” She also hosts “The Rachel Cruze Show,” focused on helping people save, become debt-free and hit their financial goals. By Gabrielle Olya What is a common bad financial habit that you think everyone should try to break? Impulse buying! It’s fun in the moment and even gives you a rush of dopamine, but it’s temporary and can totally wreck your budget....

How much money do you need to make to be happy? According to a recent study, the ideal income for life satisfaction in North America is $105,000. However, many Americans say they would be happy making much less. By Gabrielle Olya Breeze asked 1,500 Americans the salary they would be content with, and the response is lower than you might think. See: 22 Side Gigs That Can Make You Richer Than a Full-Time JobMore Options: 8 Remote Jobs That Pay at Least $20 Per Hour...

Although most investors can benefit from a diversified portfolio, investors often tend to favor either stocks or real estate. Although both types of investments can offer capital appreciation, income or both, they are quite different in terms of their overall characteristics. By John Csiszar If you’re resigned to choosing only one option — either stocks or real estate — you should understand the risks and rewards that each type of investment provides....

With inflation at a four-decade high, cost of living is on the mind of many Americans. And a new survey finds that there are major disparities in terms of household bill costs across the 50 largest cities in the U.S. By Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy See: 9 Bills You Should Never Put on AutopayFind:Should You Still Buy a Home in Today’s Market? The United States of Bill Pay: 50 Largest U.S. Cities Household Spend Report 2022, released by doxo, looked at the 10 most common household bills, including mortgage; rent; auto loan; utilities (electric, gas, water and sewer, and waste and recycling); auto insurance; cable, internet and phone; health insurance; mobile phone; alarm and security; and life insurance....

It used to be that you were locked into airfare when buying a plane ticket — and there would be hefty fees for any changes to your itinerary (up to $200 and the difference in fare, according to Thrifty Traveler). But then COVID changed all that. Airlines were forced to waive change fees and rebooking policies to allow flexibility for passengers who might have fallen ill or were not allowed to travel due to CDC guidelines....

The U.S. Senate reached a bipartisan deal on Monday to provide $10 billion in additional COVID-19 funding that will be used to purchase therapeutics and vaccines and also prop up the country’s testing capacity in the event of another surge in cases. By Vance Cariaga See: How Rich Is Former President Donald Trump? Find: How Much Is President Joe Biden Worth? The money essentially repurposes unspent COVID funds, Reuters reported. And although it was applauded by lawmakers across the political aisle — including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N....

As the eyes of the golf world turn to the PGA Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma today, what is considered the strongest field in men’s golf lines up to compete for the big money. By George Malone Golf’s majors (four for the men, five for the women) are considered the top tournaments in the sport for the prestige and history, but the prize money they pay out certainly doesn’t hurt either...

President Joe Biden’s massive infrastructure bill was one of the most talked about parts of his presidency this year, but it won’t have much of an immediate impact on the lives and wallets of regular Americans. Many other Biden administration programs, however, already have. With the year coming to a close, it’s time to look at what the president and Congress did that changed your financial situation — and a few things they didn’t do, but that happened on their watch just the same....

Longtime Bruins captain Ray Borque remains history’s greatest offensive defenseman — he owns the records for career scoring, assists and points by a defenseman to this day. By Andrew Lisa Ray Bourque: $20 Million Bourque repped his native Canada in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. Although he was inducted into the Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility and remains one of the only players to have his number retired by two different teams, he didn’t appear to land major endorsement deals....

When April turned into May, optimism was in the air. Stimulus checks were in bank accounts, coronavirus cases were plummeting, millions of Americans were getting vaccinated, the economy was reopening and the formerly unemployed were returning to work in droves. By Andrew Lisa That last part, as it turned out, not so much. May Was Littered With Economic Potholes When the April jobs report was released in early May, all of that optimism simmered down quickly....

As with any investment, investing in cryptocurrency comes with its own set of risks and rewards. The ratio between those two variables depends on some technical analysis of the current market, price forecast predictions and both your short-term and long-term goals. By Caitlyn Moorhead About XEN Current Worth Price Predictions Learn: 3 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000 With so many options available, it helps to learn about the specific coins or tokens you wish to buy....

Many stores and retailers accept buy now pay later applications to make it more convenient for their customers to shop in-store or online. Options can vary from layaway to buy now pay later when trying to finance a purchase. For the buy now pay later option, these stores also partner with apps that let you acquire an item and spread the payment across an agreed-upon number of installments. By Caitlyn Moorhead What It Is Stores Offering BNPL Apps Credit Cards In-Store Financing See: 3 Easy Tips To Turn Your Credit Woes Into Wows...

If you have been waiting for prices to drop to buy a house, 2023 could be your year. However, the fall in housing prices doesn’t bode as well for current homeowners — or the overall U.S. economy. By Dawn Allcot Housing prices in October 2022 were 38.1% higher than they were at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, based on Fortune’s figures. However, they started to fall in November 2022, with prices down 2....

With the right credit card, you can rack up Marriott points and perks to splurge on your next vacation. Although there are several Marriott Bonvoy credit card opportunities, picking out the right one comes down to taking a closer look at the details. By Sarah Sharkey Quick Look Boundless Bold Bevy Brilliant Business How To Choose If you are ready to make the most of your spending through a Marriott Bonvoy credit card, then you are in the right place....

Once you retire, you may find that you want to do something to pull in a few extra dollars each month. Whether your retirement nest egg is coming up a bit short or you’re looking to do something more productive with your time, there are plenty of options for retirees to earn more cash without a significant amount of effort. Here are just five ideas to get you started. By John Csiszar See: The Downsides of Retirement That Nobody Talks AboutImportant: All You Need To Know About Collecting Social Security While Still Working...