Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – the three national credit reporting agencies – are permanently extending a program that lets you check your credit report at the agencies once a week for no cost. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to request free copies of your credit reports, the Federal Trade Commission advises. Other sites may charge you or be fraudulent. Read more →

Students can get into trouble when entering into agreements with colleges to spread the cost of tuition into several, interest-free loan payments. Many plans have conflicting disclosures and confusing repayment terms, which put students at risk of missing payments, getting late fees, and piling up debt, a report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found. Read more →

Inflation in the United States reached a 40-year high last year, but it’s slowing down due to factors such as the Federal Reserve rate hikes. The yearly inflation rate was 3.7 percent in August 2023. This relatively high inflation is driven by a variety of factors, such as the war in Ukraine and labor shortages. The government may continue its interest rate hikes. Read more →

Whether you’re celebrating at a picnic, barbecue, rally, football game, or work, happy Labor Day. Sunday I went to our local Olympia Harbor Days celebration that’s always scheduled for Labor Day weekend. It was cloudy, so my photos aren’t as good as the years where there’s nice blue sky. Thankfully, we had only a sprinkle of rain. Read more →

Labor Day these days is all about beaches, barbecues, games such as baseball, football, and volleyball, and shopping. It’s also a great weekend for travel. This year, 57 percent of Americans plan to travel for Labor Day weekend, more than 150 million will enjoy a barbecue or picnic, and thousands will attend a college football game. Read more →

I love the beautiful summer days here in the Seattle area. People are streaming into Western Washington due to the mild weather, attractive as climate change worsens, and the job opportunities. It’s so nice to be enjoying 70 degree weather as many areas of the country swelter. I’m also appreciating my wonderful garden.   Read more →

Financial institutions are increasingly using chatbots, which put out human-like responses using computer programming, to communicate with customers to save money. Chatbots sometimes have human names and use popup features to encourage interaction. Some chatbots use more complex technologies such as “artificial intelligence” to respond to customers. Read more →

Memorial Day is a day to honor Americans who have died in service to their country. Many people attend a memorial day event, visit a cemetery where a loved one is buried, or spend time remembering a service member. In addition, for others, it’s the unofficial beginning of summer. So, it brings barbecues, picnics, swimming, and other outdoor activities. Read more →

On Saturday, I received a strange email. It said it was from Gastro Health and a new lab result had been entered into my patient portal from my Gastro Health provider. To access my lab results, I was to go to my patient portal. I thought it was a scam. I haven’t had a test done recently related to my digestive system. Read more →

Although Mother’s Day is highly commercialized, I like remembering my mom on this special day and I enjoy visiting with my daughters over WhatsApp. Maybe next year, I’ll be able to travel to Spain again in May. Since my birthday is May 4 and my daughter’s is May 23, we have so much fun celebrating our birthdays plus Mother’s Day in May in Spain. Read more →