Top Stories

Amazon Extends Free Shipping Offer Until January 31

Since November, Amazon has offered free shipping with no minimum purchase and no Prime membership needed. It was supposed to end now, but Amazon decided to extend the free shipping offer until the end of January. Of course, it is not as fast as Prime, but who cares!

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Things Likely to Be More Expensive and Less Expensive in 2019

Because of new tariffs and other factors, here are things likely to be more expensive in 2019. But all is not bad news. Here are eight things that could be moneysavers for you in the new year.

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How Emergency Rooms Are Squeezing Patients' Pocketbooks

An enterprising reporter at Vox asked readers to submit their emergency room bills and she reviewed nearly 1,200 of them. She found outrageous charges like over $5,000 for an ice pack when no other service was provided.

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Consumer World Original

Mouse Print* -- Here We Downsize Again

[A new Mouse Print* story will be published on January 7.] We end the year with a new round of products where the manufacturer has sneakily removed some of the product's contents hoping you would not notice. Our readers noticed, and so did we. That is our Mouse Print* story this week.

Consumer World

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Bargain of the Week

TurboTax Deluxe with State -- $25.88

This will likely be the lowest price (about $25.88) in 2019 for TurboTax Deluxe with State. But you have to work for it and keep your fingers crossed. You need to have a Google Express account and a Target REDcard (debit or credit). And you have to link your Target REDcard to your Google Express account. Once you do that, and wait a day, the coupon/promo code TARGET30 will become active. Target is currently selling TT Deluxe with State for $39.99 (to match offers from Costco and Amazon this week). But with the 5% REDcard discount and the 30% Google Express/Target code, the net price is around $25.88 plus tax and free shipping. This deal is dependent on Target keeping their sale price at $39.99. Hurry. (And as of Monday, it does not appear that you will get a $5 Target gift card that is available in-store and at Target.com.)

See also: Hot Deals

Consumer Reports

Top Picks: Winter/Snow Tires

Consumer Reports named three tires as its top picks for snow and winter driving. Keep in mind, however, that since they have less grip on wet and dry roads compared to all season tires, they should be removed in the spring.

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