NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It's almost that time of the year when ghosts, ghouls and zombies come calling, but the scariest part of this holiday might be what you will spend on costumes, candy, decorations and parties.

In 2011, the National Retail Federation predicted that spending on Halloween related items would increase by $1 billion, making the holiday second in spending only to Christmas in the United States.

But you don't have to spend a lot of money to have a devilish good time on Halloween. ...

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It's almost that time of the year when ghosts, ghouls and zombies come calling, but the scariest part of this holiday might be what you will spend on costumes, candy, decorations and parties.

In 2011, the National Retail Federation predicted that spending on Halloween related items would increase by $1 billion, making the holiday second in spending only to Christmas in the United States.

But you don't have to spend a lot of money to have a devilish good time on Halloween. ...

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NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- Retirement in the United States is nice and all, until they ask you to actually pay for stuff.

When retirees' nest eggs are a finite and dwindling resource, rising local and federal taxes can put even the staunchest, flag-draped patriotism to the test. If retirees are willing to leave the states behind, the savings can be substantial.

The folks at International Living crunched the numbers and looked at the price of simple staples, assimilation and staying in touch with family left behind. The following countries scored high marks not only for their inexpensive living, but for overall friendliness toward American retirees: ...

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- Summer movie season doesn't care that summer's still more than a month away and Memorial Day still a few days away: Theaters want your money and want it now.

Moviegoers already decided it's summer blockbuster season and have parted with more than $1 billion to see men (and Scarlett Johanssen) in costume fight each other and computer-generated bad guys. The Avengers was just the beginning, considering we're not even close to the release dates for new Batman and Spider-Man films. There are still a few ways to cut movie costs and keep some of your hard-earned dollars out of the box office till.

Comic book heroes, Pixar characters and a slew of sequels all want what's in your wallet this summer, but there's no need to hand over everything you have. This is a business, not a mugging, and the customer still has a choice regardless of what the faceless drones at the studios believe. If they want you to shell out for their big-money content after months of 3-D retreads and busts such as John Carter, they'll have to do it on your terms. Here are a few ways to cut costs and keep some of your hard-earned dollars out of the box office till: ...

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NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- Travel, don't work for money, make the most of a bad job.

These are some of the life recommendations older Americans have for young Americans. What's the most important piece of advice? Get excited, because life goes by fast.

This month, college graduates will don their sheepskins and accept their diplomas in something of an anxious state. ...

NEW YORK -- (MainStreet) -- When you've already had a warm winter and are getting temperatures into the 70s and 80s in March, what's to anticipate about spring?

The start of the Major League Baseball season aside, this year's transition from winter to spring for the Northeast and much of the Midwest will be among the mildest in history. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, December through February was the fourth-warmest winter on record for the lower 48 states. The average temperature was 3.9 degrees above the average from 1901 to 2000 and the warmest since 2000. Unusually mild winters that hurt ski slopes and may crush crops could boost sales and travel.

In Albany, N.Y., for example, the average high in January was 37 degrees, when it's usually below freezing, according to the National Weather Service. In Tulsa, Okla., the average high last month was about 57 degrees, 9 degrees higher than normal. The Upper Midwest, Great Plains and a few other areas were "much above normal" in temperature, NOAA said. None of that news amounts to anything good and could end up being really harmful to trees, shrubs and perennials, says Dr. Bert Cregg, an associate professor in the horticulture department at Michigan State University specializing in tree physiology and nursing landscape. ...

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NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- You didn't make it through a long, gray winter just to spend your spring break avoiding a can-strewn hotel pool and cleaning a co-ed's vomit off your rental car.

Much like hurricanes, brush fires, blizzards and various other seasonal anomalies, spring break is best accepted as an unfortunate reality at this time of year for travelers whose best beer-bong building days are behind them. As with any destructive force of nature, the best way to approach spring break as a traveler is to avoid it as best as possible. ...

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NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- You didn't make it through a long, gray winter just to spend your spring break avoiding a can-strewn hotel pool and cleaning a co-ed's vomit off your rental car.

Much like hurricanes, brush fires, blizzards and various other seasonal anomalies, spring break is best accepted as an unfortunate reality at this time of year for travelers whose best beer-bong building days are behind them. As with any destructive force of nature, the best way to approach spring break as a traveler is to avoid it as best as possible. ...

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LOS ANGELES (MainStreet) -- In a few weeks, the Oscars will celebrate the best movie night America had to offer in 2011. Just what "movie night" means to average Americans is still up for debate.

In the past decade, where consumers spend their movie nights has become just as important to the film industry as what they're watching. According to BoxOfficeMojo and Rentrak data, movie ticket purchases slipped 4.2%, from 1.34 billion in 2010 to 1.283 billion last year. That's well off the record 1.575 billion tickets sold in 2002 and marks the seventh year-over-year decline in tickets sales in the past 10 years. Though box office receipts topped $10 billion for the third consecutive year in 2011, they declined for the second straight year from 2009's Avatar-driven record of $10.595 billion. This despite big-budget successes such as Toy Story 3, the final installments of the Harry Potter series, the Twilight saga and scores of superhero films. As the Oscars approach, fewer Americans see theaters as a necessary part of the movie experience.

"It's been something that's been happening for quite a few years, and you see it in the greater percentage of mainstream Hollywood output that is for younger people," says John Farr, film critic for Huffington Post and founder of home media review site Best Movies By Farr. "We don't see as many human-scale dramas aimed at adults, and for very good reason: Adults don't go to the movies as much." ...

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