For the 2025 season, Direct File, the IRS’ free tax filing program, will be open to eligible taxpayers in 25 states. That’s up from 12 states for the 2024 season.

This year, participating states include Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Meanwhile, IRS Free File, which offers free guided tax prep through software partners, opened on Jan. 10. Eligible taxpayers can electronically file returns prepared via Free File partners starting on Jan. 27.

The start of a new year is the most popular time to make a resolution or two. For many, those include giving up alcohol for the first 31 days.

This year, 22% of adults are participating in Dry January, five percentage points higher than in previous years, according to a new report by Morning Consult.

“I don’t even want to call it a trend anymore because it has staying power,” said Lindsey Roeschke, author of the report.

Of those taking a break from beer, wine and mixed drinks, most were driven by the health benefits, the research found. Some adults may be particularly motivated by the U.S. Surgeon General’s recent warning that even small amounts of alcohol can cause cancer, Roeschke said. 

Forgoing alcohol entirely for a month has become a popular way to kick-start better habits. It’s credited for improved sleep, weight loss and overall wellbeing.

But the financial savings are also significant. 

“Your exact savings during Dry January will hinge on your typical drinking patterns and related expenses,” said Douglas Boneparth, a certified financial planner and president and founder of Bone Fide Wealth, a wealth management firm based in New York.

“For some, skipping that occasional glass of wine might free up $50, while for those who regularly go out, the total could climb to $300 or more,” he said.

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Fred Harrington, the CEO of Coupon Mister, a site with money-saving tips, estimates that going entirely alcohol free for the month could save between $300 and $1,000, depending on consumption.

“The savings associated with cutting out alcohol for Dry January can be substantial,” Harrington said. “Even if you’re an occasional drinker, you’ll see a noticeable difference in your spending by giving up alcohol for a month.”

In fact, saving money was the third most popular reason for cutting out alcohol for the month, according to Morning Consult. Money as a top motivator “ticked up in 2022 when inflation reached its peak,” Roeschke said.

Tracking your baseline spending on alcohol is the best way to figure out how much you’ll save by going dry, advised Boneparth, who is also a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ alcohol spending calculator can also show how much you are spending on alcohol every week, month or year.

A lot also depends on what you drink and where you live, Boneparth said. For example, a six-pack of beer from a grocery store might run $10 to $15, whereas a single cocktail at a bar could cost $12 to $18.

“Big-city bar prices are often higher than those in small towns and social habits — weekly happy hour, weekend outings — also play a huge role,” Boneparth said.

There could be an additional trickle-down effect from fewer rideshares or food orders and even less of a chance of drunk online shopping.

“It’s not just the money spent on the alcohol itself, it’s all of the ancillary things that come along with that,” said Morning Consult’s Roeschke.

Alternatively, that money could be well spent paying down post-holiday debt.

Most experts also recommend putting any extra cash in an emergency savings fund. Even a few hundred dollars can go a long way to providing a financial cushion when unexpected expenses arise. 

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List prices for the top 25 prescription drugs covered by Medicare Part D have nearly doubled, on average, since they were first brought to market, according to a new AARP report.

Moreover, that price growth has often exceeded the rate of inflation, according to the interest group representing Americans ages 50 and over.

The analysis comes as Medicare now has the ability to negotiate prescription drug costs after the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022.

Notably, only certain drugs are eligible for those price negotiations.

The Biden administration in August released a list of the first 10 drugs to be included, which may prompt an estimated $6 billion in net savings for Medicare in 2026.

Another list of 15 Part D drugs selected for negotiation for 2027 is set to be announced by Feb. 1 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

AARP studied the top 25 Part D drugs as of 2022 that are not currently subject to Medicare price negotiation. However, there is a “pretty strong likelihood” at least some of the drugs on that list may be selected in the second line of negotiation, according to Leigh Purvis, prescription drug policy principal at AARP.

Those 25 drugs have increased by an average of 98%, or nearly doubled, since they entered the market, the research found, with lifetime price increases ranging from 0% to 293%.

Price increases that took place after the drugs began selling on the market were responsible for a “substantial portion” of the current list prices, AARP found.

The top 25 treatments have been on the market for an average of 11 years, with timelines ranging from five to 28 years.

The findings highlight the importance of allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, as well as having a mechanism to discourage annual price increases, Purvis said. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, drug companies will also be penalized for price increases that exceed inflation.

Notably, a new $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket Part D prescription drug costs goes into effect this year. Beneficiaries will also have the option of spreading out those costs over the course of the year, rather than paying all at once. Insulin has also been capped at $35 per month for Medicare beneficiaries.

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Those caps help people who were previously spending upwards of $10,000 per year on their cost sharing of Part D prescription drugs, according to Purvis.

“The fact that there’s now a limit is incredibly important for them, but then also really important for everyone,” Purvis said. “Because everyone is just one very expensive prescription away from needing that out-of-pocket cap.”

The new law also expands an extra help program for Part D beneficiaries with low incomes.

“We do hear about people having to choose between splitting their pills to make them last longer, or between groceries and filling a prescription,” said Natalie Kean, director of federal health advocacy at Justice in Aging.

“The pressure of costs and prescription drugs is real, and especially for people with low incomes, who are trying to just meet their day-to-day needs,” Kean said.

As the new changes go into effect, retirees should notice tangible differences when they’re filling their prescriptions, she said.