Best Places to Buy Hearing Aids—and the Worst

Included in our newest ratings are 17 places to buy hearing aids: Amazon, Audibel, Beltone, Connect Hearing, Costco Wholesale, Eargo, ENT or otolaryngologist offices, Hear.com, HearingLife, HearUSA, hospitals or clinics, Jabra/Jabra Enhance, MD Hearing, Miracle-Ear, Sam’s Club, TruHearing, and the Veterans Administration.  Overall, 86 percent of members who bought a hearing aid said they were…

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Best Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids for You

Still, only a tiny fraction of adults over 40 with hearing difficulties have purchased an OTC hearing aid, according to a July 2023 survey from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. A major barrier is likely still cost, says Lindsay Creed, AuD, associate director of audiology practices at ASHA, though the introduction of a hearing aids feature…

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Buy Now, Pay Later Loans From Affirm, Afterpay, and Uplift Are a Risky Way to Pay for Flights, Hotels, and Cruises

The buy now, pay later industry is best known for its no-interest, no-fee “pay-in-four” loans, which consumers pay back in four installments over about two months. Because pay-in-fours don’t require the kind of “hard” credit check that can affect one’s credit score, these loans are often approved in seconds.  Buy now, pay later companies also…

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How to Prevent Your Pipes From Freezing

If you turn on a faucet and only a trickle comes out, you may well have a frozen pipe. “If you suspect the pipes are frozen, be careful when thawing them out because if the pipe has already burst, the water will come flowing out and flood your home,” says John Galeotafiore, who oversees Consumer…

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Ford and Lincoln Recall More Cars and SUVs to Fix Backup Cameras

Vehicles Recalled• Ford Flex SUVs manufactured between May 1, 2019, and Dec. 2, 2019.• Ford Fiesta hatchbacks and sedans manufactured between June 3, 2019, and Aug. 1, 2019.• Lincoln MKT SUVs manufactured between June 3, 2019, and Oct. 11, 2019. The problem: The backup cameras on these vehicles may stop displaying an image or they may show a…

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Best Top-Freezer Refrigerators of 2025

Why do top-freezer refrigerators tend to last so long? “Top-freezers are usually bare-bones models,” says Breann Chai, CR’s test engineer for refrigerators. “The more complicated refrigerators become, the more prone they are to breaking.” Many top-freezers, for example, lack the components that seem to break most frequently: an icemaker and dispenser.  Of course, there’s a…

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Best Fitness Trackers of 2025 for Peak Performance

Like every piece of gear you wear on your body day in and day out, fitness trackers are incredibly personal. The best fitness tracker should be comfortable, attractive, and fit your lifestyle, including when and how you like to work out. Do you bike, row, or do strength training? Do you run on trails for…

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It’s Official: Boring Cities Are Bad for Your Health

A significant proportion of people today live in towns and cities that grew up around trade, industry, and cars. Think of the docks of Liverpool, the factories of Osaka, the automobile obsession of New York’s Robert Moses, or the low-density sprawl of modern Riyadh. Few of these places were created with human health in mind….

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How to Start (and Keep) a Healthy Habit (2025)

This applies not just to things you have to do, but also things you think you want to do. Maybe you think you should learn Spanish, but you haven’t done anything to actually learn Spanish. Admitting that you aren’t actually committed to the idea enough to do the work of learning Spanish can help close…

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