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Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Countertop maker Cambria wants big tariffs on cheap quartz imports. Homebuilders are fighting the effort

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Countertop maker Cambria and seven other U.S. manufacturers won a resounding victory from the International Trade Commission, which ruled that a significant increase of cheaper quartz imports from Pacific Rim countries seriously undercut their ability to be profitable.

This is the second big trade win for Cambria, the giant in the U.S. quartz ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Should HOA pay to move fences that town says are too close lake?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: I live in a homeowners’ association, and our yard is enclosed by a fence that sits a few feet from the lake that my house and several others border. Our association is now telling us that the town said the fences were mistakenly allowed to be put too close to the lake. They are telling us we have to pay to move our fences farther back. We ...Read more

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

'You have to make sacrifices': Central Floridians struggle with high costs

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

ORLANDO, Florida — At a west Orlando Walmart, Natilee Hamilton carefully considers the cost of each item she places in her cart as she struggles to adhere to a budget outpaced by inflation.

It is a balancing act that extends beyond the grocery store. In the past few years, she’s had to defer dental work, eye exams and home repairs because ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: Physical and Emotional Clutter

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Not long ago, a Realtor dropped off the flier announcing plans for the annual neighborhood garage sale. "Join us to make this the biggest sale ever!" the flyer read.

Since making our move to Colorado, we have never participated in this annual ritual. This year would be no exception. I've learned the hard way that for a compulsive shopper it ...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LA's trailblazing home builder is the latest to leave California

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

One of Los Angeles’ most influential home builders, KB Home, is relocating its headquarters out of state, becoming the latest high-profile firm to do so.

The company, which has been based in Los Angeles since 1963 and helped build its sprawling suburbs, is moving its main office to the Phoenix metropolitan area by spring 2027, in part to ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: The 10-Year Bar of Soap, Plus More Great Reader Tips

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

In the cupboard right above my washing machine, there's a bar of Fels-Naptha laundry soap standing in a coffee mug. I'm sure it's five years old, and it appears that it will be good for at least another five. When I come across a stain, I grab the soap, dip the end into water and use it to scrub the stain -- almost as if it were a big eraser -- ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Gov. JB Pritzker's ambitious housing plan for Illinois: More four-flats, looser rules

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Above the bay windows that run up the center of a two-story apartment building in Uptown, Nick Serra stands on what had been the roof but will soon be the balcony for a new third-floor unit he’s adding.

In many circumstances, the construction work would be a sure sign that another traditional Chicago apartment building was being gutted and ...Read more

Video

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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Home Robotics in the Modern World

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Home robotics, once the domain of science fiction and speculative design, has steadily moved into the mainstream, reshaping how people clean, cook, monitor and even interact within their homes. What began with simple, single-purpose machines has evolved into a growing ecosystem of connected devices that promise convenience, efficiency and, ...Read more

The Lived-In House

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The house was not finished when it was built. It was only prepared.

Walls were painted, floors laid, fixtures installed. It was, by every conventional measure, complete. And yet, in the days and months that followed, something else began—something quieter, slower, and far more defining than construction.

A lived-in house is not arranged. It ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: The Value of Trivial Pursuits

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

For decades, I've been collecting and disseminating timesaving and money-saving tips. Readers email them to me, comment with them on my website at EverydayCheapskate.com, hand them to me on little scraps of paper and even send them in the mail. Some are hilarious, others downright weird. And the very best ones show up in this column. Thousands ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: DIY Laundry Helpers That Beat Store-Bought Add-Ins

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Walk down the laundry aisle at any grocery store or supermarket and you might think washing clothes requires an entire chemistry lab.

There are scent boosters, fabric softeners, color catchers, wrinkle releasers, stain fighters, brighteners, whiteners, odor removers and at least six products claiming to make towels "fluffier than ever." It's ...Read more

Chicago lands nation's first Candy Hall of Fame as retail district continues recovery

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

CHICAGO — The Magnificent Mile got some good news Thursday when the National Confectionery Sales Association said it will open the first Candy Hall of Fame Experience next year at 830 N. Michigan Ave.

The attraction will occupy 60,000 square feet on three floors just across the street from Water Tower Place. It’s one of the biggest leases ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Rebuilding permits in Altadena have picked up, but construction lags and financial woes loom

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

A few weeks after the first anniversary of the Eaton fire, the number of homeowners who neither put up their home for sale nor moved toward rebuilding has dropped to fewer than half, as more have taken some action toward recovery, according to data released Thursday by UCLA's Latino Policy & Politics Institute.

That total is a significant drop ...Read more

Dean Musgrove/Los Angeles Daily News/TNS

Does a new report offer a way out of California's home insurance crisis?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

As insurers hike rates and cancel policies for thousands of homeowners across California, a new state report has proposed a series of reforms to prevent the property insurance market from cratering amid increasingly catastrophic wildfires — but some consumer advocates say it doesn’t go far enough.

The report, released this week, is the ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Can HOA suddenly fine me for parking my work pickup truck in my driveway?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: I drive a pickup truck for work. It has my company’s logo on the side, and I’ve always parked it in my driveway. Last week, I got a letter from my HOA saying I’m violating the rules by parking a “commercial vehicle” in my driveway and threatening to fine me if I don’t move it. This is the only vehicle I own. Where am I supposed to...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

AI boom catapults San Francisco median home price above $2 million

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The artificial intelligence boom has driven up San Francisco's median home sales price to a record $2.15 million.

Real estate brokerage firm Compass said that recent transactions showed that some parts of the tech capital have emerged from its doom loop on the back of the surge in AI investment and hiring.

"The economic changes created by the ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: Ask Me Anything: Secured Cards, Nail Polish Stains and More

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Every day, it seems, my virtual mailbag fills up with mail from my dear readers. Many messages include questions about everything you can imagine and some that are beyond imagination! Today, I've chosen to answer a small sampling of them.

Dear Mary: I ruined my credit starting about 10 years ago, in the usual foolish way people do with ...Read more

 

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