How a single parent with two children in the Triangle could survive -- or not -- on the bare minimum.
If you are like many people, you have a fixed-rate mortgage, which means that your principal and interest totals don't change from year to year. Then why did your mortgage payments seem to jump $300-$500 more in 2008? Blame our friend Mr. Escrow, and his pesky pals Mr. Rising Homeowners Insurance and Mrs. Out-of-Control Property Taxes.
If you bring a ton of No. 1 Steel to a scrap yard today, you'll get a check for $210; last year you might have taken home only $130 for the same weight. The booming market has even spun off its own cottage industry of thieves.
The $1.8 billion plan to build two new downtown venues and renovate a third that almost never gets used is rock-solid. Yes, it's based on rising property values, increasing tourism and people snapping up downtown condos, but it's rock-solid nonetheless. And that's all you need to know.
Our reporter asks an oil industry mogul on his way to the prestigious Masters Tournament whether high gas prices will affect his travel plans.