Morning Call

Investing in mutual funds can be complicated, but it doesn't need to be. If you want to spend your investment dollars wisely, buy low-cost index funds. In any purchase, whether...

It's no secret that prescription drugs can be very expensive. But you're not necessarily stuck paying the high prices. That's important to know, given that more people are paying for...

Americans love television, with American Idols, ballgames and talking-head news shows becoming integral parts of our lives. And television is relatively cheap entertainment, compared, for example, with attending many live...

Knowledge is ammunition when spending your money smarter, but many furniture shoppers are unarmed on the showroom floor. Today, furniture can carry misleading labels, suggesting, for example, that a piece...

Spending money smarter in all aspects of your life can be overwhelming. So it helps to break down tasks and complete them systematically over time. Normally, that's called goal-setting, but...

Money has only a few uses--spending, saving and giving. And this is the time of year, full of holiday cheer and New Year's resolutions, when many people think about the...

If you'll be holiday shopping online this year--and there are many good reasons to--make sure you enter online stores through the right door. And the right door is not the...

In American society few spending events give consumers greater angst than when a service is performed and the question arises, "Do I tip this person?" and "If so, how much?"...

Imagine standing at a store checkout counter this holiday season. To get 20 percent off your order, all you would have to do is step away from the cashier for...

Attitude can go a long way toward spending money smarter. And a defeatist attitude will almost certainly mean you end up underachieving with money. Advertisers reinforce easy-but-insidious ideas to get...