The latest consumer-price index report from the U.S. Labor Department shows while inflation continued to go down in January, more progress was held back by stubbornly high food prices burdening everyday families. Price hikes on food have been a greed-motivated choice by the food industry for wealthy investors.
Winter is far from over with heavy rains causing extensive damage in California and Nevada this week. At least three people died from fallen tree incidents in northern California on Sunday and more than 200,000 households remained without power Monday night. Dealing with the aftermath of flooding, wind damage, or other storm destruction isn’t easy.
Citibank was charged Tuesday for failing to protect customers from fraud and for refusing to reimburse them. A lawsuit by the New York Attorney General’s Office alleges that Citi doesn’t have online protections to stop account takeovers, misleads customers about their rights after their funds are stolen, and illegally denies reimbursement to victims of fraud.
For two years, I’ve been shopping for a new red coat. Challenging and time consuming, including returning one I ordered online that didn’t fit, I finally bought an O.K. purple one. Then, I saw a brown plaid Pendleton coat advertised on Facebook for $50. Wow, I thought, that’s a great price. So, I ordered it although it isn’t a color that I like at all.
It’s a topic I’ve written about many times. Get familiar with funeral costs before you expect you may need to arrange a funeral. Funeral directors can take advantage of consumers who aren’t informed. And it can cost you a lot of money. A first-time, undercover investigation by the FTC showed that some funeral homes didn’t give accurate price information over the phone.
Be sure to check out any free offer to make sure it actually don’t cost anything. In an order issued Monday, the Federal Trade Commission said Intuit, maker of TurboTax, the popular tax filing software, engaged in deceptive advertising when it ran ads for “free” tax products and services that many consumers were ineligible for.
After a pause for more than three years due to the covid-19 emergency, student loan borrowers are resuming payments. However, they’re things aren’t going smoothly. They’re experiencing long hold times, significant delays in application processing times for income-driven repayment plans, and inaccurate billing statements and disclosures,
Be sure research any company carefully if you’re considering a land deal. A Texas-based developer and lender operated an illegal land sales scheme and targeted tens of thousands of Hispanic borrowers with lies and predatory loans, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Justice Department.
The holidays are a big time for spending and gift giving. Americans are expected to spend between 3 percent and 4 percent more in 2023 than last year, about $957.3 billion and $966.6 billion, according to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation. That’s about $875 per person on gifts, decorations, food, and other holiday-related purchases.
