Your Patio Furniture Bill Just Got Real: Outdoor Spending Is Exploding Nationwide

brown wicker chairs and table

Outdoor Furniture Is Now One of the Fastest-Growing Categories in Home Spending Global spending on outdoor furniture is on track to climb from roughly $53 billion in 2025 to nearly $87 billion by 2033, according to Grand View Research, a compound annual growth rate north of 6%. A separate analysis from Straits Research pegs the … Read more

Half of Halloween Shoppers Have Already Started Buying — in September

a display of scarecrows and pumpkins in a store

Half of Halloween Shoppers Have Already Started Buying — in September By the time your kids start floating costume ideas at the dinner table, nearly half the country has already checked Halloween off their shopping list. The National Retail Federation’s annual Halloween Consumer Survey found that 49% of shoppers had started buying decorations, costumes, or … Read more

Decorating Your House for Halloween Is Now Just as Popular as Wearing a Costume

Halloween decorations displayed in front of a house yard

Decorating Your House for Halloween Is Now Just as Popular as Wearing a Costume Here’s a number that stopped us mid-scroll: according to the National Retail Federation’s most recent annual Halloween Consumer Survey, conducted with Prosper Insights & Analytics, 51% of Americans planned to decorate their home or yard for Halloween, and 51% planned to … Read more

Downsizing Could Save You Thousands — But Only If You Live in the Right City

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Where Downsizing Actually Makes Financial Sense Right Now, by the Numbers In Memphis, baby boomers whose kids have moved out own 31.2% of the metro’s three-bedroom-plus homes, the highest concentration in any major U.S. market. Cleveland comes in right behind at 30.9%, with Pittsburgh close after at 30.6%. Nationally, that same group, empty nesters, holds … Read more

Want More Birds in Your Backyard This Fall? Here’s What the National Data Shows

A vibrant red northern cardinal perched at a backyard bird feeder

Something quietly remarkable happens in backyards across the country every winter: more than a million people, by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s own tally, pause what they’re doing to count the birds outside their window. In the most recent Great Backyard Bird Count, participants logged 8,257 species and filed 467,696 checklists from 216 countries and … Read more

The Back-to-School Home Systems That Actually Stick, According to the Data

Woman organizing clothes in a closet with thoughtful expression in a modern bedroom.

American families are on track to spend a record $43.3 billion on K-12 back-to-school shopping this year, with the average household laying out $863.86 per student on everything from backpacks to laptops, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey. That number is climbing even as budgets tighten: Deloitte’s 2026 Back-to-School Survey found that 57% … Read more