dollars and sense

Facing huge budget shortfalls, the United States Postal Service has proposed solutions including closing hundreds of post offices and eliminating Saturday deliveries. Now it may be considering jacking up the price of stamps, too.

Freelancing allows you to make money on your own terms without permanent employment, but it also means you don’t have access to certain perks like group insurance, administrative support and job growth assistance. Though, since a reported 30 percent of the US workforce is now freelance, that has changed.

Unless you’ve been involved in a total media blackout, you’ve likely heard about Jeremy Lin — aka “Linsation” — the New York Knicks guard who’s such an on-court phenomenon that TV ratings of Knicks games have jumped 70 percent, causing the publicly traded stock of Madison Square Garden, where the team plays, to hit a 52-week high. But Wall Street isn’t the only one profiting from all the hype. Re

For years, the prevailing wisdom behind doling out allowances to kids has been that the practice helps children learn about budgets, which, in turn, leads to better spending habits when they grow up — assumptions that may not be true.

Are you single and ready to mingle? You may want to head to the Midwest.

Kelley Blue Book’s first-ever ‘Total Cost of Ownership Award Winners‘ considered factors like purchase price, fuel expenditures and expected maintenance and depreciation to come up with the cars it says have the lowest-projected overall cost of ownership. The big winner in the brand category? South Korean automaker Kia.

Just about everyone was hit hard by the bad economy and had to change their lifestyles in at least some small way. Now that we’re all attempting to regain our footing, there’s actually one group of people having a harder time doing so than everyone else.

If you’re so happy with your bank, wireless provider and pay TV service that you didn’t switch providers last year, a new study says you’re in the minority.

Remember the summer of 2008 when the highest gas prices on record occurred and the price for a gallon of fuel hit $4.11? Hate to break this to yah, but a warm winter and tensions in the Middle East have some analysts predicting current prices will top $4 by this spring — and could even climb as high as $6.50.

If you have a dozen Valentines — or just want 12 people to love you — Krispy Kreme is here to help. When you buy a dozen donuts at one of its franchises from now through February 14, you’ll get a dozen free Valentine’s cards, and each one is good for a free donut!

Tax day is right around the corner — but that doesn’t mean we’ll all pay our fair share. An IRS survey last year found the percentage of people who thought it was acceptable to cheat “as much as possible” on their returns doubled compared to 2010.

Economically, it’s been a rough few years. But things seem to be improving — a new survey says that for the first time since 2009, Americans aren’t pinching pennies quite the way we used to.