Now is the time to switch your cell phone service, Fixing 5 common budget leaks

With big players AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon raising prices often, now is the time to switch your cell phone service to a much cheaper option.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

July 16, 2026   |   Read online Advertisement 💵 Today’s Top Stories Why Now Is the Time To Switch Your Cell Phone Service With big players AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon raising prices often, now is the time to switch your cell phone service to a much cheaper option. Here are the Clark-approved plans to consider. Read more. 5 Common Budget Leaks and How To Fix Them Take a look at these common leaks to see which one may be sinking your financial ship (then find out what to do about it). Read more. Are AutoSlash and HotelSlash Legit? These sites “dynamically and continuously re-shop your travel bookings for you,” Clark says. Clark likes the tools. But here’s why you should still manually re-shop hotel and rental car bookings. Read more. Target Drive Up Review: How Target Grocery Pickup Works Ordering groceries online can save you time, keep you from spending money on impulse buys and help you comparison shop more efficiently. Here’s how it works at Target. Read more. 💵 Today’s Top Savings Rates Check out our updated list of Clark.com-approved high-yield savings accounts with the highest rates. Here are the top five APYs on our list as of July 15, 2026. See All Rates | High Yield Savings Accounts Calculator ✈️ Open Middle Seat on Your Flight? Yes, For a Price Want to fly with no one in the middle seat? If you’re willing to pay for the privilege, United Airlines is about to start accommodating. The airline announced Tuesday that one of the rows on its Airbus A321XLRs will begin leaving a middle seat empty with a tray table for the aisle- and window-seat passengers to share. The seats are already in a section with extra legroom. It’s not clear how much more United will charge for the open middle seat. United said it may add this option to other aircraft later. The Airbus A321XLR is a new, long-range, narrow-body plane. This type of seating plan – no one occupying the middle seat – is more common in Europe. It’s typically sold as a “business class” option on short flights. This follows United’s announcement in March that it will launch a set of three economy seats that can be converted into beds, dubbing it “Relax Row.” These types of upsells make sure that airlines, typically operating on small margins, can position themselves to make money. Keep in mind that, although it’s not “bad” to buy these upsells if you can afford it, all the seats on the plane are going to arrive at the same place, at the same time. So spending as little as possible is always best for your wallet. But we understand if, depending on the cost, you want to occasionally avoid rubbing elbows with a complete stranger for hours in your plane seat! 📊 Stat of the Day 🚘️ 80.4%: Percentage of vehicles that are “grayscale,” or white, black, silver and gray. That’s nearly double the figure from 1996 (47.3%). White (more than 25%) and black (more than 23%) lead the way. Blue (9%) is the only non-grayscale color above 7%. However, you may be surprised by the colorful cars that are best at retaining value. 💰️ Deal Alert: Today’s Top Deals Going: Take 51% off your first year of membership Get this deal. The best Walmart deals happening now Get this deal. See All of the Best Deals Today 🎙️ Podcast #1 Credit Myth Costing You Serious Money & New Scams Sweeping the Country The big banks are absolutely thrilled when you fall for the "cockroach" of personal finance myths: the completely false idea that you need to carry a balance and pay interest on your credit cards to build an excellent credit score. This misinformation has been circulating for decades, and it is flat-out wrong, as Clark explains. Also, beyond credit card misinformation, we are facing an unprecedented wave of sophisticated fraud, with online crime complaints officially surpassing one million for the first time. Driven by advanced AI, scammers are now launching highly realistic "spear-phishing" attacks using actual data breaches from hotels and cruise lines. If you get an urgent message claiming your upcoming hotel reservation can't be validated or that you owe more money on a cruise, do not take the bait. Stay vigilant, question unexpected requests for money, and always independently verify any urgent alerts regarding your travel plans or financial accounts. Watch the Full Episode ☎️ Need Money Help? The Team Clark Consumer Action Center is a free helpline that can help you navigate your money questions. Call 636-492-5275. Visit clark.com/cac for more information. Advertisement Did You Enjoy Today’s Newsletter? Let us know what you think so we can better serve you! It was great! It was OK. It wasn't very good. Team Clark uses beehiiv to create and send our newsletters.   Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 Clark Howard, Inc. 1601 West Peachtree Street Atlanta, GA 30309, United States Terms of Service