Are you ready for Halloween? Today Americans will don $2.5 billion worth of costumes. Adult costumes account for about half of that amount at $1.2 billion. Another $4 billion will be spent on Halloween decorations and candy. If you’re looking for ways to get rid of too much Halloween candy,... Read more →

More than 157 million Americans plan to celebrate Halloween this year. The average person celebrating will spend $74.34, compared with $77.52 last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s Halloween Consumer Spending Survey. Total spending on Halloween is expected to reach $6.9 billion. Consumers celebrating Halloween plan to spend an... Read more →

Funny costumes are the most popular costumes this year, edging out iconic/classic and minimalist costumes, according to Goodwill's National Halloween Poll. Goodwill polled thousands of Americans by phone and in person to find out what's hot and what's not. The survey results: Survey respondents preferred do-it-yourself costumes, 51 percent, over... Read more →

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I agree with the Breast Cancer Fund that it’s time to move beyond breast cancer “awareness” to prevention. The BCF has breast cancer prevention campaign that urges women to: Chose safe cosmetics. Eat and live better by eating fresh organic food, hormone-free meat and... Read more →

Linda Myers of Thoughts From a Bag Lady in Waiting is the host for this week’s Best of Boomer Blogs #423. Myers is a new member of our blogging group. In June 2010, she left the workplace after 20 years. Now she’s a freelance writer, which she says is an... Read more →

The U.S. Department of Education significantly lowered costs Tuesday for college students by banning some of the worst fees from bank accounts on campus. A growing number of colleges and universities have entered into agreements with financial firms to provide debit and prepaid card services for students in exchange for... Read more →

In the 1970s, I remember writing about new labels that were being proposed which would tell consumers how much energy an appliance would use in a year and what the cost would be. It was a revolutionary step for consumer information. Now, energy labeling efforts have expanded to include many... Read more →

In the 1970s when I began writing consumer articles, I wrote a story about a researcher who said sodium nitrate in processed meats is a carcinogen. I asked him if, after his research, he stopped eating processed meat. He said, “Yes.” Since then, I’ve drastically reduced my consumption of processed... Read more →

Photo: OSX Mazda North American Operations is recalling 1.3 million vehicles in the United States because ignition switches could overheat, increasing the risk of a fire. Worldwide, 4.9 million vehicles are being recalled. Vehicle models include: 1989-1998 MPV, 1990-1995 323, 1990-1998 Protege, 1992-1993 MX-3, 1993-1995 929, 1993-1997 MX-6, and 1993-1998... Read more →

Sprint will pay $2.95 million in penalties to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it didn’t give a notice to consumers who were charged an extra monthly fee because they had lower credit scores. In its lawsuit, the FTC alleges that Sprint placed consumers with lower credit scores in an... Read more →