Make it, Save it, Spend it. Today's Moves

Skip the Security Line. Your Card Might Already Pay for It.

TSA PreCheck is $78. Dozens of credit cards refund it automatically — and most people never claim it.

You've seen them breeze through. The TSA PreCheck lane moves. Your lane does not. According to the TSA, 99% of PreCheck members wait under 10 minutes at security — no shoes off, no laptop out, no belt on the belt.

The membership costs $78 for five years. But dozens of travel cards — including mid-tier cards with annual fees well under $100 — cover the full application fee as a statement credit. Global Entry ($120) gets you PreCheck plus expedited customs on international returns. Most people have a card that covers one of these and never bother to file.

Check your card's benefits page before paying out of pocket. One card already in your wallet might cover the whole thing —

Your Savings Account Is Paying You 13 Times Too Little

The national average savings rate is 0.38%. The best accounts right now are paying 5.00% APY.

If your money is sitting in a traditional bank savings account, there's a good chance it's earning nearly nothing. The FDIC's reported national average is 0.38% APY. The top high-yield savings accounts available right now are paying up to 5.00% APY — more than 13 times higher.

On a $10,000 balance, that's the difference between earning $38 a year and $500. No investment risk, no lock-in period. Just a different account at a different bank — usually an online bank with no monthly fees and no minimum balance required.

The best options right now are ranked right here —

8 Things You're Probably Still Paying For By Accident

From annual fees on cards you forgot about to Subscribe & Save traps — this is where the quiet money leaks are.

There's a category of spending that's not a splurge. It's not a bad habit. It's just automatic — and most people don't notice it until they do the math. Kiplinger's Rachael Green put together eight of the most common culprits, and a few of them are sneaky.

One example: the Peacock streaming subscription. Full price is $110 a year. But the author combined a promotional sign-up rate with an Amex statement credit — and paid $17 for the whole year. The same logic applies to credit card annual fees that no longer pay their way, Subscribe & Save products you'd actually buy cheaper on sale, and optional insurance coverage on cars that have aged out of it.

Twenty minutes with your statements is all this takes —

The Cooling Trick That Cuts Your Electric Bill Without Sweating

One degree on your thermostat is worth 6–8% off your cooling costs — and a ceiling fan makes it feel four degrees cooler.

Cooling costs are climbing. But according to Fidelity's spring money guide, every extra degree of cooling your AC works against adds 6% to 8% more to your energy bill. The fix is simple: raise your thermostat one degree, run a ceiling fan. A ceiling fan doesn't actually cool the air — it creates a wind-chill effect that makes it feel about four degrees cooler. Which means you can run the AC less and not feel any different.

Fidelity's full spring savings checklist goes well beyond the thermostat — from signing up for email coupons (retailers often send discount codes at signup) to contributing just 1% more to your 401(k) every time you get a raise. Small moves, stacked up over a season, add up fast.

All 15 spring money tips are in one place —