This week's top 10 money tips
1. Consider these nontraditional Mother’s Day gifts that will please your mom.
2. Contact a travel agent to request a refund if you booked through an agent for a ticket from Spirit Airlines, which has gone out of business. Refunds were given automatically for flights purchased through Spirit with a credit or debit card.
3. Check out these ways to keep wedding costs down so the big day doesn’t lead to years of debt including set expectations early, scale back plans if you can’t pay in cash, and set a real budget.
4. Be aware an investigation by the California Department of Insurance found that State Farm significantly mishandled claims filed by survivors of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.
5. Don’t get behind in your spring yard work because it could end up costing you more for routine maintenance and items such as fence repair.
6. Look for a possible refund from Apple if you bought an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or iPhone 16 between June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025.
7. Check out this list of the five best job search sites for May 2026.
8. Take a look at these tips for shopping locally so you don’t overspend.
9. Check out this list of states where excessive gambling is the most common and the signs of addiction to look for.
10. Review your hospital bill carefully so you don’t overpay.
Please tell your friends and co-workers about my newsletter so they can make savvy money choices, too. Here’s the sign up: https://tinyurl.com/makeyourmoneywork. And, for a big bonus, they’ll also get my free e-book on how to optimize their personal finance decisions.
May 7, 2026