How to Get Prescription Drugs on the Cheap

Too bad sickness doesn’t notice when your health coverage runs out. When you’ve got a stubborn cough or an illness that just won’t go away, it doesn’t matter if you’re having financial trouble or if you’ve been out of work for the past year. You’ll still need medication if you hope to get better, and that medication doesn’t come cheap.

The average cost to fill a single prescription was $69.91 in 2007, according to a report by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, an amount that adds up quickly for families with multiple children getting sick at multiple times throughout the year. And in 2008 alone, the average increase in manufacturer price for brand name prescription medications went up 8.7 percent.

Since the recession began, however, a number of programs have begun to fill the void for cash-strapped families and individuals—offering free or reduced prescription medications to those in need. With so many programs available, it’s not so much a matter of finding a program as it is finding the program that is right for you…

Your Be-Happy-about-Your-Friend’s-New-Job Guide

The good news: the unemployment rate finally appears to be falling and people you know are getting jobs. The less great news: you aren’t one of them, and even if you’re enjoying your funemployment, this shift is creating a bit of a rift.

Whereas it was easy to find camaraderie amongst recently laid off friends and colleagues at the beginning of the recession, that unity is becoming strained for some now that more people are finding jobs and leaving their unemployed buddies behind. Without anyone to commiserate with or take part in events like the Unemployment Olympics, the prospect of funemployment becomes a lot less, well, fun…

5 Ways the Recession is Good for Your Marriage

Forget the notion that economic worries and stress cause strife within a marriage. Despite what you might think, there are a lot of ways that going through a recession together—and all the anxiety that comes with it—can actually be good for couples.

And no, we’re not just saying this because divorce rates are down—even though they are. The reasons a recession can be good for marriages are a lot more fun than that. After the jump, we’ve put together five of our favorite ways the recession is turning about to be pretty good news for a lot of married couples…

Tips for Holiday Tipping

recession is a great excuse for cutting back on your spending—be it the amount you pay for a pair of shoes or the number of nights you’ll go out to expensive dinners each week. But try blaming the recession for your slimmer-than-usual tips. People are generally okay when others spend less on themselves, but they’re less forgiving when it comes to penny-pinching on gratuities—especially during the holiday season.

Not that they’re not cutting back on tipping themselves. A recent report released by PayScale found that hourly gratuities dropped an average of 5 percent in 2009 from the year before. Meanwhile, other surveys have shown that up to 26 percent of Americans plan on spending less on holiday tips this year. Only 6 percent plan on spending more…

All They Want for Christmas

The Black Friday shopping rush may be over, but if you’re like millions of people you’re probably still struggling with what to get the most difficult friends and family members in your life—your hippie aunt, your banker brother, your unemployed best friend. Choosing the right gift can be tricky business. Spend too much, and you’re flaunting your wealth. Spend too little, and you’re seen as cheap.

As you enter the home stretch of holiday shopping, let the recession be your guide: Recession-themed gifts are cheap (we’re still in an economic downturn, after all), they’re timely (what better exemplifies 2009 than the recession?), and they’re usually good for at least a chuckle—just so long as you have a little fun with it. After the jump, we’ve put together a roundup of our favorite cheap, chic, gift-giving strategies perfect for this holiday season…

A Slimmed-Down Christmas — But Will It Last?

The chestnuts will still roast; Santa Claus will be just as jolly as ever—but there’s little doubt that the holiday season is different this year. From smaller Christmas trees and fewer extravagant gifts, to an increase emphasis on homemade foods and decorations, millions of families across the country are cutting back on expenses without sacrificing the holiday spirit this year.

It’s too soon to tell whether these back-to-basics holiday rituals will turn into lasting traditions or whether they’re just passing trends that’ll be gone as soon as the economy heats up again. In the meantime, we’ve put together a roundup of what’s different this holiday season.
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The Newest Ways to Share and Save

We understand why you might not want to share everything (spouses and swimsuits spring to mind). But saving a few bucks by sharing other things is turning out to be one of the year’s big trends.

Sharing-based businesses are hardly a new phenomenon–though the old fashioned term for it is “renting.” Back in July we put together a roundup of our favorites, including textbooks and movies, back in July. But more companies are jumping on the sharing-is-caring bandwagon, letting customers take temporary ownership of party dresses and eco-friendly cars. After the jump, a roundup of the newcomers…

Preparing for the Next Downturn

If there’s one thing we learned from this recession, it’s that economies tend to be cyclical. Stock markets crash and rebound, unemployment rates go up and down, and real estate prices can decrease just as quickly as they increased during the boom years. Unfortunately, there’s very little we can do about it, and an economic downturn is likely to happen again.

With an ounce of prevention, though, there are some things we can all do to put ourselves in a better position the next time around. After all, sudden job losses might not have been so crushing had we all had enough money in savings to carry us through the downturn. And spiking credit card rates might not be quite as big of a deal right now if we hadn’t been carrying such a large debt load prior to the recession’s beginning last fall. If only.

No matter what mistakes we made this time around, it’s never too early to start planning for the next economic crunch. Consider this your emergency survival guide to a solid financial future, no matter what’s happening on Wall Street…

Looking for Holiday Savings? Try Pop-Ups

Throughout 2009, malls across the country have been battered by the downturn, struggling to stay afloat amidst a record number of store closures and a high rate of retail vacancies. Now that the holiday season is nearing, though, those same vacancies are turning out to be a benefit for some retail companies. Loosened lease terms and lowered rental rates on retail spaces have created a perfect storm for a myriad of companies planning to open temporary “pop up” stores this holiday season…

Cost-Cutting at College—Separating the Good from the Bad

Tuition costs are rising and financial aid funds are scarce, but that doesn’t mean you should sit back and watch your college dreams go up in smoke.

Since the recession began last year, thousands of tips and tricks have been published listing ways to make college more affordable. From small shifts (like buying used textbooks rather than new) to big changes (like moving off campus to save on housing), there’s no doubt that the thousands of published ideas could save students money. But whether many—or any—of these ideas are actually feasible for the average student is another story entirely…