spouses bring at least one child from a previous relationship to their new marriage and as sharon epperson reports, for many step parents, combining families and finances can be particularly challenging special blend is this week's cover story. >> at first glance, ronnie and lamar are a typical family they own a media company and live outside of atlanta with their four children. the two got married 14 years ago. >> it was basically love at first sight for lamar. >> for ronnie. >> they are blended. a couple that joins together with the children from one or both of their previous relationships. ronnie already had two children before meeting lamar the couple had the youngest two after they married >> it kind of blindsided me. i wasn't intentional about what does this mean for me, my husband, for my kids >> navigating the complexities of a blended family can be difficult enough so couples often put off having the much talk, a critical piece of the blended family puzzle >> the first thing we said we had to do was go out and get someone more educated that can advise us on, you know, what are the

of us fall into this time of year joining us with how to stay out of it and on budget is sharon epperson what exactly are consumers expected to spend on gifts how common is it for people to go into debt >> reporter: it's pretty common for people to go into debt and last year according to last year according to experian, consumers racked up over $1,000 in debt. this year they're expected to spend $1600 on their holiday gifts. >> what? >> that's a lot. >> the good news is, they have great intentions they plan to pay in cash another strong majority say they're also going to pay down their debt as they go along. >> that's good >> the thing is, they also admit the reality is they're probably going to spend too much. >> all right give us some tips. how can we actually try to avoid going into debt, falling into that trap? >> the first thing you need to do is make sure you create a shopping fund. you should have money set aside that you saved throughout the year to go to holiday shopping if you don't have one, create one now. you can start to save a little bit one now, as much as you can. don't

senior personal finance correspondent sharon epperson reports from the company's finance impact conferenceiss and other attendees at the impact conference are buzzing with aut the impact of zero commission trading on the industry on investor. >> announcer: what ioing to do is not only provide more to purely focus on investment decision making without being concernederbout the cost. >> charles schwab kicked off a flurry of other brokers, including td amerd trade and e-trad in eliminating commissions on buying and selling stocks and exchange f tradedds. it's a game changer reporter for money manags and those developing products. >> now what's amaze something we're all the same. all right. every etf can be bought just on the merit how is s,beha what the investment philosophy not whether it's commission free or not or whether it trades a lot orot but realistically what is the adviser looking for and the end inve'sor. >> schw president and ceo said the investor was the focus in making the move thatn had b long considered. >> there is a history here of dhwab consistentlyrupting the marketplace o

help curb those costs joining us now to explain is senior personal finance correspondent, sharon eppersonpen enrollment, you kind of know it's coming every year. why is it so important >> it comes every year and a lot of people don't realize when it's coming, don't know the dates. the first thing that's important is to know the date so you don't miss that deadline to make the change often this is only time for a full year that you're going to get to change your health insurance benefits you want to make sure you understand what's being offered. this is the scary part, according to a new report from policy genius, a lot of people are avoiding care, one in four people surveyed avoided care or treatment because they didn't know if their health insurance would cover what they needed to have done. >> seriously >> exactly and only 29% knew some key terms meant. premium, how much is coming out of your check every time you get paid deductible, the amount that you're going to have to pay overall before they even pick up a dime and the co-pay, which many people probably know is your office visit, b

. >> reporter: neighbors have strong suspicions a homeless camp is pushing back after->> epperson set>> reporter: residence in the watching of the communities where fire could do if it took hold in this neighborhood. for now those closest to the park sacrifice sleep, poised to call 911 again anytime. >> whoever is doing it, it's not in it for income is definitely intentional and serial. >> reporter: this is been happening on the west side of newhall park near bel air and melody drive and wharton way, which is where we are now. no suspect information yet, other than the suspect is on foot and he has lit two fires in one night on one of those occasions. >>> back to tonight's election results, which continue to come in. let's take another look at the numbers in the race for mayor. >> incumbent london brate has a commanding lead with 60% of the vote. tonight she thanked voters for electing her to remain in office. tran was christian captain was there as the mayor made the announcement. results are still coming in. >> reporter: yeah, the results are coming in, the count is going on here in