Tracy Davidson

Sorry to break it to you, but unless you bought your Halloween costume last November, you might be paying more than you have to. “The best time to buy cheap Halloween merchandise is right after the holiday when specialty stores and retailers deeply discount goods anywhere from 50% to 80% off,” says Andrea Woroch, consumer savings expert [...]

The world’s largest retailer, which ditched the pay-as-you-go plans in 2006, is rolling out a holiday layaway plan from Oct. 17 through Dec. 16. Wal-Mart’s layaway option comes as its mostly lower-income shoppers are being squeezed by high unemployment and rising costs. It also comes as Wal-Mart tries to reverse nine quarters of revenue declines [...]

Communication is increasingly moving off the grid and into the cloud. For cellphone users — especially ones with smartphones — there are a host of online tools and apps that can help reduce usage on carrier plans and save money. One way to shave down costs is to drop extra SMS packages and use the [...]

If you’re among the 39 million Americans on the road for the Fourth of July weekend, you’re burning up hard-earned money with every mile. Pump prices were averaging a hefty $3.55 a gallon across the nation for regular on July 1, so it’s time to fuel up on these gas-saving tips from fueleconomy.gov, swapalease.com and [...]

If you’re considering declaring yourself independent of municipal fireworks displays this weekend and sending up a few red, glaring rockets of your own, question number two on your mind should be “How can I get the most bang for my buck?” To aid you in that quest, we’ve consulted with the fireworks pros for advice. [...]

Call it the $5 store. For the price of a fast-food combo meal, you can pay someone to proofread your business plan or record a professional voice over in the Queen’s English. Fiverr.com is year-old international online marketplace for people to buy and sell everyday services. And yes, nothing costs more than five bucks. Browse [...]

If you’ve been racking up credit card rewards, summer is the perfect time to use them. And a new survey suggests that more Americans plan to do just that — cashing in their credit card rewards as a money-savvy way to enjoy everything from quick weekend getaways to extended overseas vacations — during these summer [...]

Gas prices fell 11 cents over the past two weeks, part of a downward slide likely to continue in the coming weeks, the publisher of a new survey said Sunday. The Lundberg Survey found the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline is $3.63. That’s down 37 cents since prices peaked on May [...]

A Pennsylvania woman has forged an internet sensation with a blog post about making freeze-ahead meals for her family — 46 of them, to be exact, for about $95. Snapping up closeout deals on meat, carrots and peppers, and buy-one-get-one-free deals on potatoes and onions, Natalie assembled a mountain of raw meat and vegetables, “sucking [...]

No matter what style you’re shopping for, shoes are that reliable, pick-me-up purchase. Shopping for footwear can give you an instant lift — which is not always true when it comes to buying clothes. (Trying on that cute little black dress after you’ve put on a few pounds is more torture than fun.) But with [...]