Raising One Child Now Costs More Than $43,000 a Year in This One U.S. Metro Alone, and Child Care Is Eating the Single Biggest Piece of It

by
A teacher gesturing to a student pointing at a colorful workbook in a classroom

Raising a single child costs more than $43,000 a year in San Francisco, the most expensive of 48 major U.S. metros analyzed, while the same basic needs run as low as $19,922 a year in Memphis, according to SmartAsset’s 2026 study built on MIT’s Living Wage Calculator data. Across nearly every metro in the analysis, … Read more

149,400 Portable Generators Are Being Recalled for a Fuel Leak That Can Catch Fire the First Time You Ever Turn It On, Federal Regulators Are Now Warning

by
a table with a cooler and a laptop on it

Generac Power Systems is recalling about 149,400 portable generators after the company received 114 reports of fuel leaking from the carburetor — often the very first time a new unit is filled with gasoline — creating a fire and burn risk, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall notice. About 260 additional units were … Read more

1 in 9 American Households Now Pays Rent on a Second Address Just to Store Stuff They Barely Use, and the Bill Keeps Climbing Every Single Month

by
A long hallway lined with green metal storage unit doors and padlocks

The share of U.S. households paying a monthly bill for a self-storage unit hit 11.1% in 2022 and has since climbed to 12.6% as of 2024, according to the Self Storage Association’s 2025 Demand Study. Roughly translated, that’s 1 in 9 American households, at minimum, renting what amounts to a second address purely to hold … Read more

174,800 Gas Ranges Sold at Lowe’s and Home Depot Can Delay-Ignite and Burn Users, and Dozens of People Have Already Been Hurt Just Turning On a Burner

by
Contemporary kitchen featuring a stainless steel stove and kettle with sleek cabinetry.

Electrolux Group is recalling approximately 174,800 Frigidaire gas ranges sold at Lowe’s, The Home Depot, and other retailers nationwide after the ovens’ bake burners were found to ignite with a delay, posing a burn risk to anyone standing nearby when they finally light, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall notice. An additional 5,300 … Read more

14,000 House Fires a Year Start With a Single Candle, and Fire Officials Say Halloween Is Quietly One of the Worst Nights of the Year for It

by
white candle in a room

More than 14,000 residential fires in the United States start with a candle every year, killing an estimated 170 people and causing roughly $350 million in property damage annually, according to Consumer Product Safety Commission data compiled ahead of this year’s holiday decorating season. Halloween ranks among the top five days of the year for … Read more

Backyard Pools Still Kill an Average of 376 Children a Year, and Nearly 80% of the Victims Never Even Made It Past Their Fifth Birthday

by
A modern house with a swimming pool and palm trees

An average of 376 children under 15 drowned in pools and spas each year between 2021 and 2023, and nearly 80% of those victims never reached their fifth birthday, according to a Consumer Product Safety Commission report released June 24, 2026. In 2023 alone, the most recent year with final data, 379 children died — … Read more

Giant Hand-Sized Spiders Are Spreading Into New States This Month, and Scientists Say There’s Almost Nothing Left to Stop Them From Reaching Your Backyard

by
brown tarantula

Joro spiders — an invasive species that can span up to four inches across, leg to leg — are turning up in new backyards across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic again this month, and researchers say there’s essentially no way to contain how far they spread from here, according to CBS News. Key Points Sightings have … Read more

Seven ’90s TV Stars Are Ripping Out Honey-Oak Cabinets and Sponge-Painted Walls on HGTV’s Newest Renovation Show, and the Before Photos Are Brutal

by
Bright kitchen interior with wooden cabinets and granite countertops.

HGTV’s newest renovation competition, “Totally ’90s House,” premiered August 26, 2026, sending two teams of celebrities who built their careers on 1990s television into homes that look like they’ve been sealed in a time capsule since the decade ended — and the before photos of honey-oak cabinetry, mirrored closet doors, and sponge-painted walls are exactly … Read more

12-Foot Skeleton Gets a Bluetooth Voice Upgrade in Home Depot’s New Halloween Lineup, and It’s Not Even the Creepiest Thing on the Shelf This Year

by
A house decorated for halloween with tombstones and decorations

The Home Depot’s 2026 Halloween lineup landed online on July 16, with the biggest names in its yard-haunting collection now controllable from a phone, and the retailer is rolling the collection into physical stores starting late August, according to The Home Depot’s own newsroom release. The headliner is a refreshed 12-foot Giant-Sized Skelly, priced at … Read more

Families Are About to Drop $864 Getting Kids Back to School This Year, and Most of What They’re Buying Is Probably Already Sitting in the House

by
A couple of kids walking down a street holding hands

American families with kids in K-12 are on track to spend $863.86 apiece this back-to-school season, pushing total spending to a record $43.3 billion nationwide, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2026 back-to-school survey, conducted with Prosper Insights & Analytics. That’s up from $858.07 per family and $39.4 billion in total spending last year, the … Read more