How to take a break from work and travel in Europe on a budget

In 2023, Rowena Hennigan came to a difficult but necessary conclusion — she needed an extended break from work. Hennigan was dealing with disrupted sleep, anxiety, brain fog — all normal symptoms of menopause – but it was wreaking havoc on her work and her mental health. She said she tried exercise, a new diet, … Read more

Retailers move toward ‘check zero’

Nadya Lukic | E+ | Getty Images Most Americans may not even remember the last time they wrote a check. Only 15% of adults said they wrote a few checks a month in 2023, according to a recent report by GoBankingRates. At the time of the late November survey, 46% of the more than 1,000 … Read more

How to have a glamorous Ambani-like wedding without spending millions

MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA – 2024/07/05: Anant Ambani (son of Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani) and his fiancée Radhika Merchant seen on the red carpet during the sangeet ceremony at Jio World Centre in Mumbai. (Photo by Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images The lavish wedding of Anant Ambani and … Read more

Best advice on buying a $1 home in Italy from people who did it

For years now, people around the world have been captivated by Sicilian towns selling off abandoned homes starting at 1 euro, or roughly $1.08. Several hundred homes have been sold to curious and ambitious renovators, including Meredith Tabbone, 44, of Chicago. She learned in 2019 that a town called Sambuca di Sicilia was auctioning off … Read more

Former 6-figure tech worker earns $22K baking pastries in France

Valerie Valcourt has lived all around the U.S. in Seattle, New York City and Washington, D.C. But she made her biggest move yet last year when she quit her six-figure Big Tech job to go to pastry school in France. Valcourt, 34, tells CNBC Make It she started the process in 2020 when, while earning … Read more

The Budgetnista Tiffany Aliche: How to start budgeting

A young woman in her early 20s riding a chopper cycle. Karan Kapoor | The Image Bank | Getty Images Having a strong budget can help you build financial wellness. “A budget is a picture of what your money is doing,” Tiffany Aliche, also known as The Budgetnista, told CNBC during a Women & Wealth … Read more

Employers now offer student loan 401(k) match: What it’s like

When Amber Steeves started working at Verizon almost 15 years ago, she did one of the best things you can do when you start a new job. She enrolled in the company’s 401(k) program to begin saving for retirement. “I was never financially stable, and that was a goal,” she tells CNBC Make It. “OK, … Read more

How to make the most of it

Just months ago, we were coveting Loro Piana cashmere baseball hats and $300 Smythson notebooks in the name of “quiet luxury” and justifying such expensive purchases using “girl math.” But in 2024, there’s a new idea taking hold that overtly rejects the urge to overspend and promotes speaking up about saving money — welcome to … Read more

Young Americans in these U.S. cities wish to live a better life abroad

Young Americans say they’d move abroad for a better life with social welfare programs, new cultural experiences and less gun violence. But Gen Zers in some parts of the U.S. are more serious about becoming expats than others. That’s according to Preply, a language tutoring platform, which surveyed 3,000 Americans age 18 to 26 in … Read more