Smart Money 101 Today

Weekend Market Update — Sunday, October 25, 2026 (Latest available data: Friday's market close — markets are closed on Sunday.) GOLD SLIPS BELOW $4,000 Gold closed the week at $3,995.81 per troy ounce, down 0.71% on Friday and about 4.1% for the week, as it slipped below the $4,000 level. Silver fell 1.27% to $53.90 per ounce. Sellers stayed in control even with global tensions high — a reminder that gold does not only go up. US STOCKS END THE WEEK LOWER Wall Street closed Friday in the red: Dow Jones: 52,215.16 — down 1.23% S&P 500: 7,623.86 — down 0.52% Nasdaq: 25,955.34 — down 0.21% For the week, the S&P 500 lost about 0.5% and the Nasdaq 0.7%, while the Dow still managed a small 0.4% gain. Tech and AI shares stayed under pressure. All eyes are now on the Federal Reserve meeting on October 27–28. OIL JUMPS Oil moved the other way: WTI crude rose 3.8% to $103.27 a barrel and Brent climbed 3.1% to $116.72, the highest closes since April, on escalating Middle East tensions....

You're not broke because of rent. You're broke because of tiny habits that feel harmless — but run every single day. Here are five of them, with the real yearly cost. 1. The daily $5 coffee — $5 a day × 365 days = $1,825 a year. That's a holiday, gone — one coffee at a time. Fix: Make it at home on weekdays; keep the café coffee as a weekend treat. 2. Forgotten subscriptions — Free trials and apps you stopped using still charge you every month. Most people carry at least one they forgot. Fix: Check your last bank statement today and cancel everything you don't use. 3. Delivery fees — A $5 delivery fee, three times a week = $780 a year — before tips. Fix: Pick up your food, or cook one extra meal a week. 4. The free-shipping trap — Adding about $8 of things you don't need just to unlock "free" shipping isn't saving — it's spending. Fix: Wait 24 hours before checkout. Half the cart deletes itself. 5. Bank account fees — $5 a month = $60 a year for th...

Your 20s are the most powerful years for your money — and also the easiest to waste. Not because you earn too little, but because of five mistakes almost everyone makes. Avoid these, and your future self will thank you. Mistake 1: Not tracking where your money goes "I don't know where my money goes" — that's the problem. If you don't track it, you can't control it. Fix: For just 30 days, write down every expense. Use a free app or a simple spreadsheet. You'll be shocked how much leaks out through subscriptions, food delivery and small daily purchases. Mistake 2: Having no emergency fund One car repair or medical bill, and suddenly it's a crisis. Without savings, people turn to credit cards or loans. Fix: Start small. Aim for your first $1,000, then build toward three to six months of essential expenses. Keep it in a separate savings account so you don't touch it. Mistake 3: Lifestyle inflation You get a raise — and your spending rises right along w...