What You Should Do Now to Prepare for a Recession

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Not to be too alarmist, but the economy isn’t looking super great at the moment. For starters, don’t look at your 401(k) right now. From crashing stock markets to spiking consumer prices, a recession seems to be looming. Although the news is troubling, there are steps you can take to stave off panic and protect yourself as best as possible during a downturn.

I spoke with personal finance expert Jen Smith, co-host of @frugalfriendspodcast and modernfrugality on Instagram, who shared her top tips for what you can do now to prepare yourself for whatever economic conditions are around the corner.

Start by looking at your spending habits

Smith says to examine at least the last 90 days of your spending to see where exactly your money is going. When it comes to the idea of “cutting back,” many people panic and assume their way of life will have to radically change. Smith says this is a fear response and often isn’t the case. “The first thing you think you need to cut,” like your daily coffee or your weekly happy hour, “can usually be the last thing to go.” Smith shares that after looking over their spending habits, most people discover they can first cut back on areas they don’t even realize they’re wasting their money (overlooked subscriptions come to mind).

During a recession, your means of increasing your income—raises, promotions, and side hustles—will be limited. So while it feels more ideal to start bringing in more money, Smith says that to get through temporary hard times, “focusing on cutting back is more important than increasing your income.”

Tackle high-interest debt first

Smith lays out two main approaches to tackling debt: the debt snowball, and the debt avalanche. The snowball method targets your smallest debt first, no matter the interest rate, while the avalanche prioritizes debts with the highest interest rates. Smith advises you to prepare for a looming recession via a debt avalanche.

As mentioned above, your income is not as secure during a recession. Compared to the gradual debt snowball, the avalanche method is your go-to during recession-induced survival mode.

To use the debt avalanche strategy, Nerd Wallet recommends adding up all the minimums you must pay on your debt (excluding your mortgage). Order them from highest interest rates to lowest; Smith says that any interest rates over 5-7% should be your priority. Then, make a budget to determine the maximum amount you can afford to put toward paying off your debt each month.

Start building a rainy day fund

It’s never too early to start contributing to a “rainy day,” which during a recession might be more accurately rebranded as an “emergency fund.”

You want to establish a “starter” emergency fund, but as those reserves grow, Smith says that it’s likely a higher priority to tackle your high interest debt first. A potential guideline for what counts as a “starter” rainy day fund is around one month of rent plus your insurance deductible. After you hit that amount, refocus on paying off high interest debt. Then you can resume building an emergency fund that can cover you for six months or longer.

Listen to your fears, but don’t live in them

Recessions make everything uncertain. Still, it’s in your best interest to keep a cool head. “When we live in fear, we make worse financial decisions,” Smith says. While it’s important to take the above precautions, it’s unwise to let fear control your life.

You can find Jen Smith on Instagram and listen to The Frugal Friends Podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts.

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Don’t React to a Bison the Way You Would a Bear

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The U.S. National Park Service is anticipating so many visitors this summer that you actually need a reservation just to enter some of them. And with a record number of people becoming one with nature, you’re going to have some unintended, but not completely unexpected, consequences. I am, of course, referring to the litany of people who’ve visited a national park and wound up on the wrong side of a bison attack.

The National Park Service of Yellowstone Park says more people have been injured by bison than any other animal—not bears, which is the animal many of us are most concerned with preparing a defense against. Is the guidance transferable from bear to bison, though? The answer is sometimes yes, and sometimes no. Here’s what you need to know if you’re visiting a national park this summer and don’t want to become the latest victim of a bison attack.

The official guidance for dealing with bison

When you encounter a bison in the wild, the National Park Service recommends you stay at least 25 yards away from the animal because bison are unpredictable and can run three times faster than humans. Additionally, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources echoes this guidance, with Antelope Island Park Manager Jeremy Shaw explaining that attacks happen when people get too close: “They always want to get closer and closer for photos. But ultimately, any time there is a dangerous interaction with wildlife, it’s because the person got too close.”

Nevertheless, it’s possible to encounter an aggressive bison in the wild through no fault of your own. In that case, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources recommends the following: “If you see a bison and it stops what it is doing and starts paying attention to you, you are too close and should slowly back away.” Lastly, NPS instructs to never feed any animals you encounter, including bison. They explain animals that become dependent on human food, sometimes become aggressive toward people, and then ultimately have to be killed.

How bison guidance differs from bear guidance

One difference between bear encounters and bison encounters is if you’re anticipating encountering a bear, you’re better off traveling in a larger group, whereas if you anticipate encountering bison, you’re going to want to be in a smaller group. An NPS study regarding human injuries resulting from bison encounters at Yellowstone National Park concluded, “the number of persons near bison not only influences human behavior, it likely causes bison to feel threatened, and bison react with physical force.” This differs from the NPS guidance for bear safety, which encourages hikers to travel in larger groups, as bears will find this intimidating.

Another key difference between a bison encounter and a bear encounter is the advice of “making yourself large.” When you encounter a bear, you’re encouraged to make yourself look as large as possible—there is no such reason to do so with a bison. According to the National Parks Experience, “Unlike other wild animals like black bears, grizzly bears and especially mountain lions, making yourself large and making noise will not scare off a bison. This will not deter an angry bison.” T

The NPS also advises against climbing or running away when encountering a bear, whereas it’s not as black-and-white with bison. The NPS says to “always have an escape plan by identifying nearby protective cover like trees and cars. If there’s no cover, turn around or wait for the bison to leave the area.”

Lastly, a fundamental difference between bison encounters and bear encounters is that bison are herbivores, whereas bears are not. Bison don’t attack with the intent of making you their next meal; the only reason they’ll get aggressive is if you’ve invaded either their personal space, or their calves’ personal space.

   

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Is Owner Financing Ever a Good Idea?

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If you’ve been planning to buy a house, you may have noticed that it recently got a little more challenging. With inflation spooking politicians and economists alike, the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates 0.75% this month, and while that might not seem like much, it’s had a huge impact on the mortgage market. Interest rates on home mortgages have jumped to their highest levels in more than a decade.

And affording the loan is one thing. Qualifying for it is another. If your credit score is in shambles after three exciting pandemic years, you’re current on all your debt but have too much of it, or you don’t have enough cash in the bank, you’re going to have trouble qualifying for a mortgage. Simply put, buying your dream house just got a lot harder. Fortunately, even if you’ve had trouble qualifying for a mortgage or the current rates make you dizzy, you don’t have to commit to renting or living in your current home for the foreseeable future just yet. Owner financing might be a way forward without a mortgage—but only if the circumstances are right.

Land contracts FTW

Owner financing (sometimes called seller financing) is a simple concept at its core: You enter into what’s known as a “land contract” or a “contract for deed.” The owner of the house you want to buy agrees to let you pay them over time for the home. You give them your down payment, you both enter into a contract granting you an “equitable title” of the property (meaning you have a share of ownership), and you make monthly payments for a few years. Typically these arrangements are short-term: After five or, at most, ten years you’ll be required to make one last (huge) payment finalizing the sale.

The idea is that every month you gain a little more equity in the property, so after five years or so you can go back to the banks and get that mortgage, at which point you pay the balance owed and the house is yours. Often the seller will hold onto the title to the home until you make that final payment, so they (usually) technically remain the property owner while you’re living there.

Benefits of owner financing

The benefits of owner financing for a buyer are pretty clear:

• Speed. Because this is a contract between two private individuals, it won’t take months of fruitlessly faxing documents to different numbers to get the sale done.
• Lower closing costs. There are no bank fees or other costs associated with a mortgage-backed sale.
• Flexibility. The owner may not care how much you can put down and can be flexible about how much you’re expected to pay each month. In fact, every aspect of the deal is flexible, so it can be customized to meet the needs of both parties pretty easily.

For the seller, the benefits also include selling the home as-is. The buyer can always ask for an inspection or appraisal, of course, but the seller’s motivation to agree to those conditions may be low. The seller’s benefits also include the ability to sell the debt for a lump-sum cashout, and safety—if the buyer fails to make the payments, they get to keep the house and the down payment, and then sell the house again.

Risks to owner financing

Keep in mind that the owner of the property may still run a credit check—and may decide against selling to you for any reason. And that’s assuming they’re into the idea in the first place.

There are risks for the buyer, too:

• Higher rates. You often have to pay a higher interest rate on these deals. On the other hand, because these arrangements are short-term, you’ll probably pay less in interest overall.
• Possible foreclosure. If the seller is carrying a mortgage on the property, the bank may have the ability—and the desire—to foreclose if the property is sold. You shouldn’t attempt an owner financing arrangement unless the seller owns the property free and clear.
• That balloon payment. Most mortgages are 15- or 30-year terms, which means the payments are steady. The only adjustments that will be made will involve escrow costs for your property taxes and insurance payments—the actual mortgage payment is going to be the same month in and month out. But with seller financing, there’s almost always a balloon payment after just a few years, so you have to be prepared to cover that. If you’re counting on getting a mortgage 10 years from now and that falls through, you could wind up with nothing.
• Legalese. An owner financing arrangement is a legal contract, so always, always hire a lawyer when entering into one. No matter how straightforward it might seem, you need expert legal advice before signing.

For the seller, the main risk is that the buyer stops making payments and then refuses to leave the property—or leaves it damaged and in need of expensive repairs.

Finding owner financing

All of that being said, owner financing is not exactly a common arrangement. There are a few ways you can try to identify owner financing opportunities:

• Ask. If there’s a specific house you’re interested in buying, it’s always worth it to simply contact the seller and ask if they’d be open to exploring such an arrangement. Alternatively, if you’re renting a house or see houses for rent that fit your criteria, asking about an owner-financed purchase might find the landlord receptive.
• Real estate apps. Real estate apps and search engines like Trulia or Redfin usually let you add owner financing as a variable in your searches.
• Realtors. Local real estate professionals may know of property owners who are seeking or open to these sorts of sales. Making a few phone calls might do the trick.
• FSBOs. People listing their homes as “for sale by owner” might be more open to owner financing, because they’re already looking to duck Realtor fees and handle things on their own.

One final note: Because owner financing deals are contracts, just about every aspect of the sale can be negotiated. Don’t make any assumptions and do make certain your attorney knows your needs and wants when they review any agreement. Finally, be certain you understand every detail before you sign.

Owner financing isn’t a typical way to buy a home, but it’s one more option. If you’ve explored traditional mortgages and come up short, this might be your way forward.

 

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How to Stop Forgetting to Take Your Medication, Once and for All

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Americans, on average, juggle about 12 prescription medicines. While this number is certainly skewed by older folks who have racked up a lot of pills, many of us have been prescribed a prescription medicine we need to take every single day. But on the whole, we’re not very good at doing that—one study showed an incredible 50 percent of Americans fail to adhere to their medication schedules, meaning they regularly skip doses or simply forget about a medication altogether.

Ironically, one reason for our forgetting may lie in the ways we try to help ourselves remember: Many of us turn to gadgets, apps, and other tools to assist our pathetic memories, but these methods don’t work very well. The most effective way to remember to take your pills involves exactly zero technology.

Reminder apps don’t work

There are a lot of tech tools out there designed to help you remember to take your medications. There are apps for your smartphone that will send you alerts, elaborate pill box systems that will speak to you, even smart pill dispensers that not only remind you to take your pills but also manage dispensing your dose. It’s terrific living in the future, isn’t it?

Except these tools don’t work. Studies have shown that use of medication reminder devices has exactly zero effect on adherence—that’s right, zero. One reason might be that these reminders actually just remind us that we’re sick, or not as young as we once were, and that negative connotation actually decreases the likelihood that we’ll take our meds as instructed. Or it’s possible that reminders become ineffective once we get used to them, the same way you can manage to sleep through your alarm several times a week.

Habit stacking is the key

So if technology can’t get us to take out life-saving medications, what can? The answer is pretty simple, actually: Habit stacking.

You have almost certainly already established a host of healthy, positive behaviors. You brush your teeth twice a day, take a shower, prepare meals, and maybe set aside a scheduled time for exercise. These habits are already ingrained in your routine to the point that when you travel somewhere, you’re unsettled until you figure out how to get your workout in. You don’t have to be reminded to do these things because they’re a part of your daily routine.

The trick is to “piggyback” a new prescription onto an existing. Taking your pill before you brush your teeth links the two actions, and soon you won’t need to think consciously about that pill—you’ll just pop it every morning when you step up to your bathroom sink. You can piggyback a pill onto any daily habit. If you’re supposed to take your meds with lunch, putting your pill bottle in the kitchen or in your lunch bag might be all you need to do.

It can take a while for the new habit to become permanent (there’s actually no set amount of time for a habit to bake in—you’ve just got to stick with it until it does), but attaching it to one you’ve already successfully established will make it a lot easier. The key to success is to choose existing habits that line up with the timing and other necessities of your prescriptions—the right times of day, whether the meds need to be taken with food, or other considerations.

One thing is for sure: You’ll have more and more pills to take the longer you live. Figuring out how to remind yourself to take them now will save you a lot of chaos later, when your breakfast has become more pills than food.

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Fuel Your Anger With a Free Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Every Friday This Summer

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The year was 2019. It was a simpler time, a time when, instead of monitoring the latest pandemic headlines, worrying about how to afford an entire tank of gas, and mourning the end of bodily autonomy, people were standing in long lines and arguing with strangers about Popeyes chicken sandwiches.

Three years later, a lot has changed, most of it for the worse, but at least Popeyes is now giving away those (in)famous chicken sandwiches for free (or free-ish), providing an ample source of fuel for your entirely justified anger at the state of things. And not just once, but every Friday for (most of) the rest of the summer. Here’s what you need to know in order to snag the free chicken (fine print included).

How to get free Popeyes chicken sandwiches every Friday through August

The promotion comes courtesy of Popeyes and Grubhub, so to take advantage of it, you have to order your chicken through the food-delivery app, and order a minimum of $20's worth of food (before tax, tip, and fees) from the chicken chain. So order dinner for the family, and gobble down the sandwich yourself the minute it arrives, as a treat. You deserve a treat, don’t you?

Once you’ve do that, add a chicken sandwich to your order and you won’t be charged. But don’t worry if it doesn’t look like it’s free right away—the discount will appear automatically when you check out. No code is required.

You can pick from Popeye’s original chicken sandwich and their spicy version, but not the buffalo chicken sandwich, which isn’t included in the offer. On the plus side, free delivery is part of the promotion.

And while the offer is redeemable only once per customer per day, it’s worth noting that you can take advantage of it every Friday until September. That means that between tomorrow and Aug. 26, you can get your hands on nine free chicken sandwiches (albeit after spending a minimum of $180 on Popeyes food). That’s not necessarily something we recommend, but at least now you know it’s an option.

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Ditch Ads, and Other Reasons to Use These Hidden Chrome ‘Flags’ on Your Android

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Chrome on Android is a very capable browser. It’s the default browser for most Android smartphones out there. And because it’s so popular, it hasn’t really changed over the last couple of years.

It’s still good at browsing the web, but other than tab groups, we haven’t seen any major new features as of late. That doesn’t mean Google isn’t innovating or trying new things, however. The company has actually been testing dozens of new Chrome features for months or years that just haven’t made it to the stable release of the browser yet. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use them.

If you don’t mind being adventurous, you can enable these experimental features using the Flags option. As they are experimental, they might affect the browsing experience, but you can always turn them off again.

How to enable experimental flags on Chrome for Android

Screenshot: Khamosh Pathak

First, let’s talk about enabling a flag. Open the Chrome browser and enter “chrome://flags” in the URL bar. You will now see a long list of all available experimental features. Use the search bar to search for the flag you want.

Tap the drop-down next to the flag, and choose the “Enabled” option (or one of the other customizable options). Tap the “Relaunch” button. When Chrome reboots, the feature will be enabled.

The best Chrome flags to try on Android

As noted, there are dozens of experimental features on the flags page, many of which are designed for developer use. Still, there are quite a few gems that will add new functionality to Chrome for any user.

• Reading List: It feels like Chrome’s reading list feature has been in development for years. As of now, the only way to enable it is by using this flag. Once you do, you’ll be able to add articles to the new Reading List feature (the Reading List itself lives in the Bookmarks tab).
• Web Feed: Google Reader is long dead, but Chrome is bringing a similar feature called Web Feed to Google Chrome. Once you enable the flag, you’ll be able to follow any site that offers an RSS feed. You’ll then see new posts from the site in the “Following” section on the new tab page.
• Auto Dark Mode for Web Contents: This is a really cool flag that smartly inverts the colors of most web pages, turning them to dark mode even if the website doesn’t support it.
• Incognito Screenshot: Once you enable this feature, you’ll be able to surpass Chrome’s security feature that blocks screenshots in Incognito tabs.
• Show Query Tiles: Google’s homepage is increasingly crowded with content recommendations and ads. This flag removes all of that. Just disable the “Show Query Tiles” flag and you’re good to go.
• Google Lens: Google Lens feature has arrived in Chrome for desktop, but it’s still hidden behind a flag on Android. Once you enable it (the flag is called “Google Lens powered image search in the context menu”), you’ll be able to search for related images from the long-press menu.
• Smooth Scrolling: Not all websites work well in Chrome. Some overloaded websites stutter and lag. This flag will help you ease the scrolling burden by introducing some much-needed smoothness.
• Parallel Downloading: If you regularly download large files, enable this smart flag. It will split large files into smaller chunks, and then it will download multiple files in parallel, vastly improving download times.
• Password Import: This flag makes it easy to import passwords from different platforms or services using a CSV file.
• Omnibox Assistant Voice Search: When you press the Microphone icon in the top toolbar, it will now trigger Google Assistant.

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Vinegar, Ketchup, and Other Household Items That Can Remove Rust From Tools

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While we might try our hardest to always keep our tools clean and dry, they may still battle rust. When your prevention methods fail, common wisdom might be to toss out the damaged tools—and sometimes that’s inevitable. But before you junk your metal implements, there are a few things you can try to salvage them and save yourself the replacement cost.

What causes tools to rust?

Rust is caused by oxidation, or the process that ferrous metal goes through when it reacts with oxygen. This process can be caused by moisture, especially salt water, and is often accelerated when moisture is allowed to come in long-term contact with steel objects. Luckily, this process can be arrested, protecting the structure of the tool. While you can’t turn rust back into iron without a very fancy physics lab and an electrolysis machine, you can remove it and prevent it from damaging your tools further.

How to remove rust from your tools

There are several methods you can try to remove that pesky rust. Let’s walk through them.

The vinegar method

Soaking your affected tools in a vinegar bath is one way to loosen up rust deposits and make it easier to scrub away. All you need is a container large enough to fit your tool and enough white vinegar to submerge it. The acetic acid in vinegar chemically reacts with the rust to produce salt and water, making the vinegar method both simple and safe. And, because the acid involved is innocuous to humans, you don’t need to worry about dangerous byproducts, and the liquid left over is safe to pour down the drain.

For tougher rust deposits, you can soak your tools overnight to allow it to penetrate more deeply. After a good soak, you should be able to brush rust off with a good stiff-bristled brush.

The ketchup method

To get at small spots of rust, ketchup will, surprisingly, do the trick. Add a liberal layer of ketchup to a rusted surface, allow it to sit for a few hours, and then scrub the ketchup off with a wire brush to remove the rust spots. This works similarly to the vinegar method because ketchup contains similar acid to vinegar. The consistency of ketchup also makes it good for objects it would be difficult (or impossible) to dunk in a vinegar bath.

A word of warning, though—while ketchup isn’t dangerous for wildlife, it might attract insects and animals because of the sugar ketchup contains. If you’re doing this outside, you might want to cover the area so you don’t end up with a bigger problem than rust spots.

The baking soda method

Baking soda can also be used to remove rust: Make a thick paste with baking soda and water and leave it on the rusted surface for about an hour, then brush off rust stains. This method works by dissolving the rust into an alkaline solution, making the rust pliable. This can work especially well for thinner kinds of metal that is stained, but it will also help with tools that have awkward surfaces if you can get the paste into the nooks and crannies. This might be a better method than ketchup for outdoor use because the resulting mixture won’t cause increased wildlife activity.

The salt and lemon juice method

The lemon juice and salt method for rust removal is a good option if you’ve got a smaller amount of rust or a flat surface with rust. It’s harder to get into tight spaces than pastes or baths, and it can’t be left on the surface for too long, though, so you should use it with care. Squeeze a little bit of lemon juice onto the affected surface, then sprinkle on some salt before adding more lemon juice. The citric acid in the lemon juice will react with the rust, allowing you to wipe it off with a scouring pad or a brush. Make sure to remove all of the mixture, because it can also react with the unaffected metal, causing damage.

   

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You Should Flambé Your American Flag Cake

Every year around mid-June my inbox is flooded with press releases for flag cake recipes, all of which boast new and exciting takes on the patriotic dessert. Usually I ignore them, because flag cakes have been done to death, but America has really outdone herself this year, and she deserves a cake—an unprecedented cake, a flag cake flambé.

Why flambé an American flag cake?

Flambé is a classic French method that involves soaking a food with high-proof alcohol and setting it on fire. The ethanol burns brightly, leaving behind a caramelized dessert and rich boozy syrup. (It is a fallacy that all “of the alcohol burns off,” as it takes an ABV of at least 40% to catch fire; once it drops under that, the flame will die out, but the remaining liquor could still have an ABV somewhere in the 40s.)

Most flag cakes are cloying and one-note, all show and no substance, but the char from the fire and bite of the rum tempers all that sugary sweetness and adds depth, turning a cutesy tone-deaf dessert into something with flavor, character, and pizzaz (and lightly roasted strawberries). Plus it looks impressive!

What kind of booze should I use?

A lot of flambé recipes call for a “normal” rum with an ABV of 45% or so. That works if you’re going to be heating the rum before hitting it with a flame, but we’re working with cake, and hot rum will melt the buttercream and sink far into the cake before you have a chance to light it ablaze. An overproof rum—like 151—is what you want, as it lights almost instantly, even on a chilled cake (which we will get to in a moment).

It’s true that 151 is a little “more dangerous” to work with, but on a scale from one-to-illegal abortion, it’s like a three. As long as you pour the rum on the cake before you introduce the flame, you should be fine. (And if you want to add more rum, so that your flames may burn even brighter and bigger, just do so from a smaller secondary container, otherwise you risk the flames traveling up the stream of booze and to the bottle, which could explode in your hand.)

How to make a flag cake

To make a flag cake, you’ll need a plain white sheet cake, with a border of buttercream (to keep the rum on the cake). You can either make your own cake from scratch, or buy a pre-made sheet cake from the grocery store (which is what I did).

If you make the cake from scratch, you can borrow from the king cake and bake a little plastic baby inside one of the layers for a fun twist. Whoever finds the baby in their piece of cake has to keep it forever, even if they do not want it, even if they did not want any cake to begin with, even if the cake was forced on them against their wishes. (Hit the baby with the knife while carving the cake, however, and you go straight to jail.)

Once you have a layer cake, all you have to do is get some blueberries and strawberries and arrange them on top of the cake so it vaguely resembles an American flag. (I say “vaguely” because you will not be able to fit 13 strawberry stripes onto your cake.) Leave the blueberries whole and cluster them into a square in the upper left corner. Slice the strawberries, then cut those slices in half before laying them down in as many horizontal lines as you can fit on the cake.

How to flambé a flag cake

Once your flag cake is decorated, go ahead and pop it in the freezer for a bit to chill, to prevent the frosting from melting the moment you flambé. Half an hour to an hour should suffice. Grab a bottle of overproof rum (such as 151) and pour some into a squeeze bottle or other, similar vessel, so you can aim the booze in between the strawberries—into the “rum gutters,” if you will. You’ll also need a candle or utility lighter, something long to keep your hand away from the flames. Add the rum to the rum gutters, then light the rum on fire.

The rum will burn brightly, gently roasting the berries while melting the sugar in the buttercream to make a sticky, almost brûléed, candied crust. The rum will also soak into the top layer of the cake, creating a decidedly adult dessert with lots of deep, caramelized, rummy flavor.

Serve and enjoy your cake immediately, while you still can. (Who knows! If SCOTUS keeps tearing along down their current path, this cake may one day be illegal.)

   

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The Most Common Relationship Money Conflicts (and How to Avoid Them)

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Plenty of things can cause fights in a relationship, from infidelity to a misalignment of values, but many issues boil down to a lack of trust, a lack of communication, or a blending of the two. And then, you have your finances. Money causes major stress to many of us all individually, so it makes sense that it would create strife between two people who might be splitting meals, rent, a mortgage, or the costs of a wedding or child-rearing. A new survey is shedding some light on the most common financial fights—so hopefully you can avoid them in your own relationship.

Not talking about money in a relationship is the main problem

Legal Templates surveyed 1,200 Americans, either married or divorced, to figure out how finances played into their relationships. A major problem soon revealed itself: The couples themselves frequently entered into their own unions without figuring out how finances would play in.

Nearly one in four of those surveyed didn’t discuss their salaries or their savings before getting married. Overall, 76% did discuss their salaries prior to marriage, 74% discussed savings, 58% discussed debt, 47% discussed spending habits, and only 37% discussed crypto earning or spending. Just over half discussing debt is not good—that’s bound to come up when combining finances, working out the legalities of who inherits what upon the other person’s death, or getting a mortgage.

Even though it might feel awkward, you do have to talk about money with a prospective partner. It doesn’t have to be on the first date, but eventually, you will need to share what you make, how you spend that, and how much you owe. Legal Templates found that married Americans were more likely than divorced or separated couples to have discussed all of the financial aspects listed before getting married.

To get started, here are our tips for fostering financial intimacy in a new relationship.

The other most common money fights between partners

A lack of communication is one thing, but negative interactions stemming from money are another. Among the divorced or separated Americans surveyed, 83% pointed to financial issues as a cause of the breakup. Overall, 39% of those surveyed cited overspending, while 36% focused on poor budgeting, 32% on not saving enough, 30% on secret purchases, and 29% on missed payments or bills. Poor investing led to conflict for 26%, income differences led to conflict for 25%, 24% pointed to student loans, and 23% zeroed in on dishonesty about debt.

Much of this, too, boils down to communication. You might not be able to change whether one partner makes significantly more or less than the other, but you can be open about your spending, actively avoid making secret purchases, and be honest about your debt. Other issues, like differences in spending philosophy, are more about overall compatibility—but again, you won’t know there’s even an incompatibility hiding there if you don’t talk about it.

One key takeaway here is that secret purchases were a much bigger problem for divorced or separated couples than married couples: 28% and 37%, respectively. The types of things purchased by one partner matter, too. Luxury goods caused the most conflict of anything, being cited by 33% of respondents. Clothes, eating out, travel, hobbies, alcohol, home decor, stock investments, and video games followed. Talk about your spending habits and set savings goals to work toward together.

Solutions to consider with your partner

There are fixes to these problems. Setting up a budget worked for 52% of the married people surveyed, while consulting a financial professional worked for 37%. Sharing expenses proportional to individual salaries was helpful for 34%; assigning issues to one person in the relationship worked for 33%; couples therapy worked for 33%; defining monthly spending money worked for 32%; and opening a joint account worked for 24%.

Sit down with a financial planner or couples’ counselor if you and your partner are struggling to figure out which of these strategies might work for your relationship.

 

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How to Get a Slew of Free Moving Boxes

Photo: Africa Studio (Shutterstock)

Anyone who has ever moved as an adult knows how expensive it can be. Between hiring movers, renting transportation, replacing lost or broken items, the bill that comes along with settling into a new home can be pretty steep. If you’re looking to save money on your next move, know that the little things add up. To start with, an average moving box will run you anywhere from $1 to $3.75—and while that may seem like a small budget line item at first glance, it quickly adds up as you move from room to room. If you know where to look, though, there are free boxes to be had in quite a few places.

U-Haul Box Exchange. Take it from the moving kings themselves; in an effort to reduce waste, U-Haul actually created a platform for their users to give away boxes they no longer need after moving. The tool is simple to use—all you have to do is enter your zip code, and it will show you the listings of people in your area who have boxes they’re willing to give away for free. You don’t need a username or login to use this tool, and you can respond to any posts using a messaging form on the tool’s website. Yes, you’ll have to pick the boxes up yourself, but that’s a small inconvenience considering the money you’ll save.

Facebook Marketplace. Simply type in “free boxes” to the Marketplace search tab, and you’ll be able to see who in your area has some precious moving cargo they’re looking to have taken off of their hands. If you don’t have a Facebook account (and don’t want to make one solely for access to free boxes), you can effectively do the same thing by searching “free boxes” on Craigslist. 

Freecycle. Freecycle is a nonprofit organization made up of over 5,000 local town groups for people who are looking to give away (as well as to get) stuff for free in an effort to keep it out of landfills. To access posts, you’ll need to sign up for a free account on their website. Once you’re signed up, all you’ll need to do is search for the item you seek in their search tab—in this case “free boxes”—and you’ll get a list of everyone in your area looking to offload their cardboard. Once you find a match, simply reply to their posting to set up a time to collect the boxes, and you’ll be well on your way.

Nextdoor. Nextdoor is a global neighborhood network for people within communities to share information, as well as to give and get help. But for our purposes, it’s just another vessel for you getting some moving boxes without paying a cent. To use this service, you’ll need to download the Nextdoor app to your phone, as they do not operate on a browser-based website. Once you’ve downloaded the app and created an account, you’ll have access to listings in your area, some of which will inevitably be those trying to offload their moving boxes.

OfferUp. OfferUp is another app that allows users across the country to connect with people in their community to buy and sell used goods. All you have to do is make an account and you can connect with any of the people in your area who’ve posted listings looking to give away their moving boxes. OfferUp allows you to message the “seller” through the app to coordinate a time to pick up the goods. What’s also nice about this service is you can check out the user’s rating, to see if previous people have had positive or negative experiences coordinating with them in the past.

Your local liquor store. As a former liquor store employee, I can anecdotally confirm two things. First, we always had a ton of boxes. Second, we absolutely did not mind giving them away. The liquor store was constantly getting orders delivered to the premises, which left us with a endless stream of empty boxes. If you give your local liquor store a call and ask them if you could pick up some boxes (because you’re trying to save money on a move), the overwhelming likelihood is they’ll be happy to help. Just make sure you 1) arrive at the time you say you will, 2) be accommodating to their schedule, and 3) say “thank you.”

Your workplace. Hey, you’re giving your workplace a large chunk of your life, the least they can do is give you some free boxes. If you speak with an office manager or custodial staff, there is a decent chance they’ll know of a reserve of empty supply boxes somewhere that are just gathering dust. But as the old saying goes, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Just make sure you go through all the correct channels before taking any boxes home.

   

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Buy These Adapters Instead of Apple's $59 USB-C Dual Charger

When you’re traveling or out and about, a single USB-C adapter is never enough. You probably need at least two USB-C ports—one for your iPhone and the other to charge your MacBook, iPad, or other peripherals. While you can get a plethora of third-party multi-port chargers, Apple has never made one—until now.

Apple currently offers two dual-port USB-C chargers that support charging up to 35W (on both ports). They come in two sizes (standard, and compact) and they both costs $59. That’s too much. Buy something else instead.

What do you get with Apple’s dual USB-C adapter?

What you get, for your $59, is a solidify made, nicely designed adapter that will work reliably with all your Apple devices. The best part about this charger is that it doesn’t discriminate between two ports. You’ll get full 35W output in both (something not all third-party chargers can pull off).

If you connect two devices, the power is split between two devices in a rather elegant manner. Apple’s support page provides the following examples:

• If you connect a Mac notebook and an iPhone or iPad, each device receives up to 17.5W.
• If you connect an iPhone and an iPad, each device receives up to 17.5W.
• If you connect a Mac notebook or iPhone and an Apple Watch or AirPods, the Mac notebook or iPhone receives up to 27.5W and the Apple Watch or AirPods receive up to 7.5W.

And that’s it, really. This is not a super fast nor versatile Gallium Nitride (GaN) power adapter, nor is it cheap. If it’s paramount that your power adapters are made by Apple themselves, you now have an option to carry one brick instead of two. But you can get more bang for less buck by choosing a third-party alternative.

Cheaper and better alternatives to Apple’s dual-port adapter

If you don’t want to spend so much money, or if you want a higher capacity adapter, or if you just don’t like rewarding Apple for its overpriced accessories, there are a couple of options for you.

This is a three-port charger with two USB-C ports and one USB-A port. This is a GaN charger which means it’s a high capacity, yet still compact (it weighs only 110 grams). It will easily fast charge your iPhone, with enough power left to charge an iPad Pro or a MacBook. The USB-C ports can output up to 65W on a single charging mode, while the USB-A port supports 30W charging.

RAVpower is a popular maker of power adapters and it has a huge line of GaN chargers you should look into. It has various dual, triple, and quadruple port chargers, with power outputs ranging between 30W and 120W. Our favorite is the $40 two-port 65W USB-C charger with a 45W and 20W split (perfect for charing a MacBook and iPhone together at high speed).

It’s a similar story with Anker, arguably the best third-party manufacturer when it comes to iPhone accessories. Their 40W dual USB-C charger costs just $28. And if you don’t mind spending around $50, you get a 65W GaN dual-port charger with a 45W and 20W split.

  

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Firefox 102 fixes address bar spoofing security hole (and helps with Follina!)

Firefox squashes a bug that helped phishers, and brings its own helping hand to Microsoft's "Follina" saga.
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12 of the Worst Parenting Trends of the Last Century

Photo: Guas (Shutterstock)

Viewed through modern eyes, long-discredited parenting techniques seem laughable—what kind of idiot would feed a six month old child eggs, bacon, and coffee? But remember, raising your kid in weird ways wasn’t that weird when tons of people were doing it.

Even the most asinine parenting trends of yore were once considered perfectly normal, or even encouraged, and often backed by science (or “science” anyway). A bunch of the most egregious once aren’t even from that long ago. Your parents probably raised you with at least one of them in mind.

Rest assured, you’re almost definitely making some huge mistake in the way you’re raising your children, and you’ll probably live long enough to learn what it was, so maybe taking a long view of 12 of the worst trends in baby raising from over the last 100 years or so will help you see it. Probably not, but at least you;ll know you’re in company when your kids turn out to be all screwed up.

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Use a Subscription Manager to Stop Paying for Services You Don't Use

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From Netflix, to iCloud or Google Cloud, to Amazon Prime, to Blue Apron, you probably subscribe to more subscription-based services than you can easily remember— which can be a problem when it comes to canceling services that you aren’t actually using anymore.

This is where a subscription manager will come in handy.

What is a subscription manager?

In simple terms, a subscription manager is a platform that will log all of your subscription services, allowing you to peruse them at a glance and monitor what fees you’re paying weekly, monthly or annually.

After signing up for one of the many subscription services available (many of which lure you in with a free trial or a significant discount), it’s easy to forget and let those monthly charges accumulate.

Whether you sign up for a streaming service or a subscription for new clothing, it’s important to track the services you’re paying for and periodically audit the list to dump the ones you don’t use.

A number of worthy subscription managers can be found on the iOS App Store or Google Play app store; there are also web-based options if you prefer to manage your accounts on a desktop or laptop. Below, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorites.

Native subscription managers (Android or iOS)

Both Android and iOS operating systems allow users to manage their subscriptions natively. These subscription managers are built-in, so you can access them without downloading any additional apps. Recently, Apple updated its subscription management page for users, making it an easy-to-use interface and showing which subscriptions are active or inactive.

Android

To find your subscriptions on an Android phone:

• Open the Google Play Store.
• Tap your profile icon in the top right corner of the screen.
• Tap on Payments & subscriptions.
• Tap on Subscriptions.

From there, you’ll be able to check out what you’ve subscribed to and what you’re currently paying for via the Google Play Store. You can also select any subscriptions you want to cancel on this screen. Some subscriptions may allow you to pause your subscription and resume paying once you need to use that service again.

Apple

If you use an Apple iPhone or iPad, there are two methods to find your subscriptions using the Settings app or the App Store app.

First, open the Settings app. Tap on your name on the top of the screen and tap Subscriptions to see which Apple services you’re subscribed to.

Or, in the App Store, tap on your profile icon on the top right of the screen and tap Subscriptions on the following screen. This will allow you to view your current subscriptions and make changes.

App-based subscription managers

For subscriptions that go beyond those paid for via Google Play or the App Store, consider one of these app-based managers:

TechCrunch, Apple, Forbes, Money and The Wall Street Journal have all reported on Truebill, a subscription manager with over 3.4 million active users. Aside from managing subscriptions, Truebill features include:

• Spending Insights
• Bill Negotiation
• Autopilot Savings
• Credit Scores
• Budgeting

According to its website, the goal of Truebill is to help you manage your money, save more and spend less. The downside: Though a free version is available, to unlock all the premium features you’ll have to pay for, yes, a monthly subscription, starting at $3.

Mint markets itself as a budget tracker and planner, but it also has a subscription management feature. You can easily see and prevent unwanted subscriptions from charging you, and you can renew subscriptions you want to continue paying for.

Mint aims to enable you to easily audit your subscriptions, dump the ones you don’t need, and redirect it to other, more essential spending.

Billbot helps you keep track of recurring expenses, create expense profiles and get insights into your fixed costs.

The app is a little more fun than some others, allowing you to customize your experience with emojis. It also supports multiple languages and currencies.  

Other subscription managers to consider

Aside from the options above, here are some other popular subscription managers you can consider.

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How to See Rare 'Night-Shining' Clouds, Thanks to Climate Change

Photo: Anna Anikina (Shutterstock)

The age of the noctilucent cloud is upon us. Night-shining clouds are historically rare, beautiful formations of shimmering ice crystals hanging in the upper atmosphere that were only visible in the northern parts of the world in years past. They’ve been steadily creeping south for four decades though, so this could be the year you peep this unique phenomenon from your backyard.

While noctilucent clouds are often present in the upper atmosphere, they aren’t typically visible unless atmospheric conditions are exactly right. Traditionally, peak season for seeing these swirling night clouds is late June through the end of July, and while they used to only be visible in the United States in Alaska and the very northernmost parts of the lower 48, global warming is making “visible NLCs” more common in more places. Yay?

What are noctilucent clouds?

First observed in 1885, noctilucent clouds, or NLCs, are clouds of ice that form at the edge of space, between 47 and 53 miles above ground. They usually appear as blue or white swirls only visible at the darkest hours in summer. NLCs are most visible between 50 and 60 degrees latitude, but recently, they have been becoming steadily brighter and moving as far south as Los Angeles, where people reported seeing them in 2019.

Why are noctilucent clouds more visible now?

Noctilucent clouds are invisible most of the time—the sky is too bright to see light reflecting off them during the day. But in the middle of the night, the lower part of the atmosphere is in earth’s shadow, while the upper atmosphere has light shining on it.

Small changes in the atmosphere can change these clouds significantly. Global warming has resulted in more water vapor in the atmosphere, and that has led to bigger noctilucent clouds that are visible over a wider area of the planet. As the world warms up more, we should see even more noctilucent clouds. (Again, yay?)

How you can see noctilucent clouds this summer

Night-shining clouds are only visible when the sky is clear of lower clouds, and at the darkest hours of the night. To see them, go outside at around midnight and look north. The best view requires an unobstructed, horizon-wide northern vista. The view is spectacular with the naked eye, but you might want a pair of binoculars to get a close-up view of the complexity of these clouds’ structures.

If you get lucky, you’ll see a few wisps of glowing white or gold relatively low in the horizon. If you get really lucky, the wispy clouds will grow and change color until electric blue, gold, and silver swirls, curls, and billows stretch across the entire sky.

We are in peak NLC season right now—that’s mid-June through July—but which nights might feature the formations can’t be predicted more than a few hours in advance. In the past you had to go out every night and hope, but sky-watching fans across the world are using technology to share NLC information and alert one another about the appearance of these elusive cloud formations.

Subscribe to these social media groups for advance news of noctilucent clouds

Anyone to the east of you is going to see the NLCs first, and fans of the phenomenon are only too happy to alert you that it’s coming. You can subscribe to the Noctilucent Clouds Alerts twitter feed, where users upload pictures of occurrences and send out the word; join a similar group on Facebook; or follow #noctilucent on twitter or instagram. I assume all of these feeds go absolutely bat-crap crazy when the night clouds appear. Here’s hoping we all get the chance to check out this strange, wondrous phenomenon this summer.

 

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How to Create a Spotify ‘Iceberg’

Photo: Alones (Shutterstock)

Let’s be honest: One reason we love sharing our Spotify listening data is for the competition. There are apps that help flaunt off your eclectic library or prove you’re among a band’s highest listener percentage, but now you can display the depths of your obscure music tastes by creating a Spotify Iceberg thanks to the Icebergify web app.

The Spotify Iceberg borrows the “Iceberg Theory” meme format, which is often used on social media, Reddit, and YouTube videos to show how deep a particular topic goes, with the lesser-known or hyper-specific information showing up further down the image. The Icebergify webapp does the same thing to your Spotify listening history, ranking the bands you listen to by their popularity; the deeper down the iceberg’s strata you go, the more obscure the band or artist is.

And as we all know, there’s nothing music nerds love more than proving they listen to the most hidden gems no one else knows about.

How to make and share your own Spotify Iceberg

1. Open the Icebergify website on your phone or desktop browser.
2. Click “create yours,” then sign in with your Spotify account.
3. Give the app permission to read your listening history when prompted. Note that Icebergify is a third-party app created by independent web developer Akshay Raj, meaning it’s not officially affiliated with Spotify. The app only scrapes your listening data (which Spotify normally collects and shares with its advertising partners anyway, unless you turn it off), but you should skip Spotify Iceberg if you don’t want to share your listening history with anyone.
4. After you give the app permission to see your listening history, wait a moment while the data is collected and turned into an iceberg. We noticed the app sometimes returns a “500 Internal Error” page, but if that happens just refresh and try again (it may take a few attempts before it works). Also note that a blank section means you don’t listen to bands at that popularity range.

Once your Spotify Iceberg is done, you can copy and save the image, take a screenshot, and share it with your friends and followers.

[Mashable]

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What to Do If You Find an Injured Bird

Photo: Leonard Jerry Horsford (Shutterstock)

You don’t need to intervene if you find a baby bird. Truly, fledglings don’t need your help. But an injured bird is another matter. If one flies into your streak-free window, for instance, and is now lying on your deck, it only makes sense that you’d want to help out your tiny, feathered friend. You can do that, but you have to be careful. Here’s the best approach to helping a hurt bird.

Watch the bird for a while

Mother Nature has persisted with the cycle of life for millions of years without human intervention. In fact, when we do get involved, things can go badly, to say the least. Don’t rush to scoop up a bird just because you see it on the ground. Instead, as advised by Mass Audubon, observe the bird for a few hours to be sure it really is hurt and not just an uncoordinated fledgling that hasn’t gotten the hang of flying yet.

“If it can walk, hop, and flap its wings, or if adult birds are nearby, leave the bird alone. The parents will continue to care for it,” notes the organization.

Other birds, like hawks, may perch for hours at a time looking for prey. This is not a sign they are injured either, so don’t assume every bird you see hanging out in a tree for a while is hurt. If you see one on the ground and it appears unable to fly, though, that’s a good sign the bird is unwell. Slowly approach it, and if it doesn’t fly away when you’re within 10 or so feet (or less if it’s an NYC pigeon), feel free to assume there is an issue.

What to do if the bird is hurt

Once you’ve determined a bird is hurt and not just hanging out, start by reaching out to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. These organizations tend to be staffed by volunteers, so it might take some time to reach one, but it’s worth the effort. They will be able to make an informed judgment about whether further care is possible and give you advice on what to do.

If there are possible predators around, gently pick up the bird while wearing thick gloves and place it in a ventilated box, then put that box somewhere dark and quiet. Feel free to put a water dish and a bit of seed in there, too, but don’t force-feed the animal. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling the bird.

Mass Audubon advises that if you can’t reach a rehabilitator, put the bird out of sight “and let nature take its course.” If there is a vet nearby and you can’t reach a wildlife rehabilitator, consider bringing the bird in. (I once brought an injured pigeon into a vet in New York City. It is with some embarrassment I admit I was crying at the time, and only in retrospect did it occur to me what the veterinarian’s promise to “take care of it” meant.) In a best-case scenario, the bird will shape up and be freed. In a best-worst case scenario, it will die someplace comfortable.

If the bird you’re worried about dies (or you find a bird that is already dead), take a moment to research whether any disease outbreaks have been reported in your local bird population. Reach out to your local or county health department or the National Wildlife Health Center for guidance on what to do, but be prepared to collect and/or dispose of the body if they advise you to do so. In some cases, you could be asked to bring the body in, so be sure to wear gloves and wash your hands thoroughly afterward—again, just as you should if you handle a live, injured bird. According to the Cornell Lab’s All About Birds, health departments usually can’t analyze a bird that has started to decay, so you might be asked to double-bag the body and put it in the freezer if you can’t bring it in right away.

What to do when a bird hits your window

When a bird hits your window, per Mass Audubon, brain swelling may incapacitate it temporarily, but there are instances when the bird will recover fine on its own after a little downtime. Your job in this situation is to be alert for cats or other predators while it’s incapacitated. Carefully place the bird in an enclosed box or under a colander to keep it safe, but try to avoid handling the animal much, if at all. Do not try to give it any food or water.

The swelling should subside and you’ll see it become more active, at which time you can release the bird. If that doesn’t happen, contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, or follow the other steps outlined above.

   

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These Credit Cards Come With Sweet Airport Perks

Photo: Noppy2016 (Shutterstock)

Hanging out at the airport is no one’s idea of a good time, but as the Transportation Security Administration warns of longer-than-usual wait times during this busy summer travel season, it (unfortunately) seems the prudent choice is to get to the airport early.

When flying somewhere, I’ve always stared longingly at my fellow travelers who have gained access to those exclusive airport lounges, daydreaming about what it’s like to enjoy such luxury, always assuming it was far out of my reach. But it turns out airport lounge access is just one of the many perks offered by some airline rewards cards.

Here are seven credit cards offering the best perks for frequent flyers, from access to exclusive amenities to discounts on TSA PreCheck.

Annual fee: $395

The Capital One Venture X card not only includes unlimited complimentary visits to airports with Capital One Lounges, but also to 1,400 airport lounges around the world. As an added perk, you’re allowed two complementary guests per visit, so you don’t need to drink your free beer and eat your free pretzels alone. Other airport perks include a $100 credit when you apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck when you use your card to pay for the application, plus a yearly $300 travel credit applied to bookings made on Capital One Travel.

Annual fee: $695

The American Express Platinum card comes equipped with access to over 1,400 airport lounges, a $100 credit when you apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, as well as a yearly $200 airline fee credit which can be used on incidental costs such as checking a bag or in-flight refreshments. You can also get up to $200 in Uber Cash to use on transportation to/from the airport.

Annual fee: $550

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers access to over 1,300 airport lounges around the world for the cardholder, plus two complimentary guests (subsequent guests can enter at a fee of $27 per person). Other benefits: a $100 credit to those applying for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck and a $300 annual travel credit. Perhaps the most interesting perk this card offers is the option to transfer your credit card points at a 1:1 rate to an airline loyalty program of your choice.

Annual fee: $400

The U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite card includes twelve months of complementary access to over 1,300 airport lounges around the world, as well as a handful of other perks, including the industry-standard $100 credit to those who apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, as well as up to $325 annual credits on airline purchases. Not for nothing, this card also waives any foreign transaction fees when used abroad.

Annual fee: $450

The American Express Hilton Honors card not only offers access to over 1,200 airport lounges around the world, but includes some cool travel perks, including 7x points on any airline purchases (not to mention 14x points on Hilton hotel arrangements), plus a $250 airline fee credit that can be used for checked bags or in-flight refreshments. This card also includes a baggage insurance plan, with coverage for up to $3,000 worth of property should your checked suitcase or its contents gets lost, damaged, or stolen.

Annual fee: $95

With a considerably cheaper annual fee than the other options, the Citi PremierMiles card is definitely more bare bones than its competitors. While there is no included airline fee credit nor a reimbursement for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, the Citi PremierMiles card does grant access to over 1,300 airport lounges across the world. Additionally, the card waives foreign transaction fees and offers 3x points on all air travel purchases.

Annual fee: $450

The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card includes free access to over 1,200 airport lounges across 130 countries. Additionally cardmembers get a $100 credit when they apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, as well as a baggage insurance plan covering up to $3,000 worth of personal property. This card also offers trip cancellation and disruption insurance, which can reimburse non-refundable expenses purchased using the eligible card.

  

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How to Make Tomato Ranch, the Ranch of the Summer

My refrigerator is broken. Not broken in a way that cannot be fixed, but broken in a way that requires a specialist of some kind. It has taken over a week to schedule that specialist, so I’ve been working with a mini fridge for eight (8) days. This has obviously limited the amount of perishables I can keep around, so every night is a weird game of Chopped.

But, just like on Chopped, these limitations have resulted in some unique and interesting pairings. The last one popped into my head like an intrusive thought, after I had finished a salad of butter lettuce, tomatoes, bacon bits, and ranch dressing. After supper, I had to Tetris everything back into my tiny fridge. The only spot for the ranch dressing was next to the tomato paste. That’s when inspiration struck: “Tomato ranch,” I whispered to the dog. “I gotta make that tomorrow.” I made a note in my phone and went to bed.

This morning, I mixed the two together, and confirmed (once again) that I have very good ideas. The tomato paste made the ranch taste deeper, sweeter, and even more umami-heavy. It had warm and sticky flavor, like a hot summer night, almost like s sun dried tomato, but a touch brighter.

Tomato ranch is obviously easy to make, and the perfect dressing for your summer salads. Grab your favorite ranch dressing, either store-bought or homemade, then whisk in some tomato paste. I use a ratio of at least 1 teaspoon of paste for every 1/2 cup of dressing, but you could do 1 1/2 or 2 teaspoons if you want a more intense tomato flavor (and I do).

This summery ranch is good on everything that regular ranch is good on. Try it on a wedge salad (with blue cheese crumbles), dunk your chicken tenders and dip your fries in it. Fried pickles? The tiny bit of extra acidity makes it perfect for all sorts of deep-fried fare. You really can’t fuck this up.

   

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Can You Guess a Movie Based on a Single Frame?

I used to be someone who started every morning with Wordle and all its spin-offs. I mastered how to play four, even eight Wordles, but a few weeks ago I went about my morning routine—a run, coffee, and work—and simply didn’t feel the need. Not even the Gay Wordle. (Happy Pride.)

If you’re like me and in need of spicing up your morning puzzle routine, and you’re also something of a cinephile, then Framed might just hit the spot. It appeals to anyone who dabbled in Wordle-adjacent puzzles like the Box Office Game or Heardle.

How to play Framed

If you don’t know how Wordle’s gameplay works and you still clicked on this article, then I’m mystified by your relationship with the internet. Nevertheless, here’s the gist:

Framed starts you off with a single movie frame. You try to guess the movie based off that still. If you get it wrong, you’re given another frame, and these new images reveal more information until you use up your six guesses in total. For instance, your first frame may be a dimly lit landscape shot, but frame number five might include a character or two to help you figure out the right answer. Like Wordle and all its variants—including the thematically similar the Box Office Game—this browser-based game brings a new puzzle every day.

Unlike its predecessors, what draws me to Framed is that it seems to be fairly accessible—you don’t need to be a film geek to crack the case. Some of the answers from the past week include Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Dark Knight, and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Then again, I’ve always been a sucker for frame-based gameplay. When I was in middle school, I would try to get people to test my ability to identify different episodes of Friends based solely off of Rachel’s hair and outfit. I may not have had a lot of friends, but I sure felt close with Jennifer Aniston. With that confession out of the way, here’s the link to play Framed. Good luck.

 

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‘Fish Pedicures’ Should Go to Hell

Photo: Jupeter (Shutterstock)

You’ve likely seen videos of fish pedicures or seen signs advertising them the last time you were abroad. Kim Kardashian famously got one in Greece, screeching on camera while tiny fish nibbled the dead skin off her feet. The idea is familiar to American audiences, but not as commonplace in our daily lives—fish pedicures are actually illegal in a number of states, including Texas, New York, New Jersey, and California. It might seem gross-but-innocuous, but before you plop your feet into a little tank, there are some things you should know.

What exactly is a fish pedicure?

Per the CDC, little fish called Garra rufa snack on dead skin during the treatment. Garra rufa are native to the Middle East and have been used there in medical treatments for people with skin diseases like psoriasis.

Pedicures can be legally defined, and most beauty and care treatments are strictly regulated state-to-state. According to Law Insider, a pedicure is “the treatment or beautification of feet and toenails by the shaping and polishing of toenails, and the puncturing, removal, or exfoliation of skin or tissue from the feet.” The fish are only doing that last part, which typically comes included with other safer, legal pedicures.

Why are fish pedicures illegal in so many places?

Here are some of the reasons a state could ban the fish pedi:

• Tubs can’t be sufficiently cleaned between customers when the fish are in them.
• The fish themselves can’t be disinfected or sanitized.
• Because of the cost of fish, salons may use the same fish multiple times with different customers, which increases in the risk of spreading infection.
• The fish in question may not be Garra rufa, even if they’re labeled that way—in fact, they might be Chinchin, which have teeth and can draw blood.
• Fish pedicures don’t meet the legal definition of a pedicure.
• Some states have regulations specifying fish in salons must be in an aquarium.
• The fish have to be starved to get them to eat skin, which can be considered animal cruelty.

What does a fish pedicure feel like?

You may still be wondering what it feels like to get a fish pedicure, which is a fair question, though the enduring memory of Kim Kardashian’s squeals should be a clue that having fish swim around your feet and nibble on them feels kind of how you’d expect it to.

One blogger, La Jolla Mom, described her experience by saying “it tickles, but not more than a regular pedicure does.” She said after 10 minutes of having 50 or more fish circling each foot, her feet “did feel ever so slightly cleaner.” Bear in mind your feet also get “ever so slightly cleaner” when you have a normal pedicure, too.

Another writer detailed for Bustle how “the fish attacked” and she “freaked the F out” and started screaming and crying before pulling her feet out of the tub. She re-submerged them, but only lasted 15 minutes of her allotted 20.

It should go without saying, but if you’re worried about a fish pedicure being gross or stressful, it’s probably not worth doing it just for the thrill or social media content. And with the potential for infections, animal cruelty, and bleeding, and this seems like a pretty simple stunt to avoid.

 

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Edible Things You Should Never Actually Eat

Photo: Jim Barber (Shutterstock)

When I was very (very) young, I ate an entire box of crayons in the hope of having multi-colored poop. It did not work, but it did cause my mother a few hours of mild distress as she worried what might happen to me. The answer (disappointingly) was nothing. I didn’t extrude a rainbow, nor did I die horribly from periwinkle poisoning. As a direct result, I can personally confirm that your body can—and will—process a great many things you really shouldn’t be putting into it.

At a certain point, most of us figure out that eating non-food things like crayons or glue is a poor use of our time, especially when you realize you live in a world where things like chicken wings and beer exist. That doesn’t mean everything that’s technically considered food should be eaten, though. In fact, there are several examples of edibles things you should never actually eat.

Garnishes

Cocktail garnishes serve a dual purpose: They can enhance the flavor and texture of a drink while also increasingly its visual appeal. Garnishes definitely pop in your Insta posts, and they can make an ordinary mixture of ingredients look like something really fancy. And yes, most (but not all) garnishes served with cocktails are one hundred percent edible, because they are food—typically fruits, veggies, or occasionally sprigs of spices (or, in the case of Bloody Marys, bacon).

So you can eat them, but you should not eat them. Never. Those garnishes were likely peeled, sliced, and dumped into a glass hours earlier, instantly becoming a welcoming host for all kinds of microbes.

Bar nuts

Similar to a garnish, those bowls of free snacks your local watering hole slaps on the bar are technically food, and thus technically edible. Bars love providing snacks because they’re super cheap, the salt encourages you to drink more, and patrons perceive them as a freebie so they’re popular.

They are also among the least sanitary places on the Earth. Even if you watch your bartender scoop a “fresh” pile of nuts or chips into a bowl just for you, there’s a good chance they’ve been sitting around for a long, long time, and a non-zero chance they were reclaimed from previous bowls. And if the bowl is already sitting there when you arrive, you obviously have no idea what kind of gross, horrible human had their filthy mitts in that bowl before you. Bottom line: Order something from the kitchen.

Raw dough

Raw dough—especially cookie dough—is hard to resist. First of all, if you’re baking up something delicious because you’re hungry, it’s very tempting to just scoop up some of that dough and slurp it down. And like many of nature’s perfect assassins, there’s no obvious sensory warning that the stuff can kill you. But the stuff can kill you.

Most of the flour used in baking is, in fact, raw. That doesn’t seem to make sense right off the bat because we think of “raw” mostly in terms of meat, but the “raw” in flour means it hasn’t been treated in any way—making it a great place for stuff like E. Coli to grow. The only way to ensure those contaminants get killed off before you eat them is to cook or bake them. Additionally, the eggs used in that dough can contain salmonella.

If raw dough is so dangerous, though, why can you buy a pint of cookie dough ice cream? Because that dough has been made using pasteurized eggs and heat-treated flour.

Raw meat

When I was a kid, my father regularly terrorized his family by wandering into the kitchen while dinner was being prepared, scooping up a handful of raw ground beef, and eating it with relish. He claimed it was an old tradition in his family. He also died pretty young, and I’m not entirely certain the two things are unrelated.

While it’s true that you can order and enjoy a variety of raw meat dishes in restaurants, including the famous steak tartare (which includes a raw egg for extra health gambling) or beef carpaccio, it’s actually never a good idea to eat raw meat. It’s an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, including E. Coli and salmonella, and every time you eat some raw meat you’re taking a risk of getting really sick.

So why is eating raw fish in sushi OK? Because sushi-grade fish is processed using freezing temperatures to kill off bacteria and parasites before being prepared for you—a step most raw meat dishes do not go through.

Pet food

It seems like an urban legend, but the fact is some folks have eaten pet food in order to survive desperate economic times. And pet food has been getting increasingly fancy in recent years, resulting in the bizarro situation wherein your cat’s dinner looks better than yours.

But no matter how curious (or desperate) you are, you shouldn’t start sharing your pet’s bowl. While eating pet food won’t cause you any immediate problems (it’s food, after all), pet food is formulated to deliver a different slate of nutrients and vitamins than what the human body needs or tolerates well. Regularly eating pet food will eventually cause negative health outcomes (some of the vitamins in dog food, for example, are perfectly safe for your dog but toxic for you), and over the long haul, you might even suffer malnutrition. Many pet foods don’t bother including vitamin C, for example, so you could actually wind up getting scurvy if you dine with your dog all the time.

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Kids Can Still Eat for Free at These Restaurants

Photo: Irina Wilhauk (Shutterstock)

If your eyebrows furrowed last time you got the check at a restaurant, you’re not alone. The price of going out for a meal has risen 9% compared to this time last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While taking the family out to dinner certainly isn’t your cheapest meal option, it doesn’t need to be overly expensive, either. Despite the ever-concerning direction of our economy, a handful of restaurants still offer some sort of “kids eat free” promotion. Here are several national and regional chain restaurants you can take the family out to for dinner without totally breaking the bank.

Denny’s. Denny’s runs a promotion where kids eat free on Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., with the purchase of a regular-priced adult entree. The details of the offer are honestly pretty good: Customers get two free kids’ entrees per adult meal purchased, and can be used for children up to the age of 10. Worth noting, the promotion is only valid on dine-in meals.

Moe’s Southwest Grill. No matter what day of the week you’re visiting, your child can eat for free at Moe’s Southwest Grill. Nationwide, Moe’s Southwest Grill offers a free children’s meal for any child under the age of 12 with the purchase of an adult entree. The children’s meal includes a burrito, quesadilla, or taco, as well as a drink and a cookie. The only stipulations are the adult entree has to cost more than $6, and the offer cannot be combined with any other promotions.

Ruby Tuesday. Who can hang a name on this deal? Ruby Tuesday offers a free children’s meal with the purchase of an adult entree on Tuesdays from 5 p.m. until close. The children’s menu includes some tried-and-true classics like pizza, chicken tenders, and cheeseburger sliders. If you’re hoping your child can get some nutritional value, too, side options include broccoli, grilled zucchini, and green beans. This offer is limited to children ages 10 and under.

IHOP. If free breakfast food is more your speed, look no further than the International House of Pancakes. IHOP offers one free kids’ entree with the purchase of a full-priced adult meal every day from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.. Children’s meal options include assorted pancakes with eggs and bacon, a cheeseburger, and chicken and waffles. The offer is only valid on dine-in meals, and cannot be combined with any other promotions.

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Chili’s. If you’re willing to sign up for Chili’s free rewards program, you can get access to frequent coupons for a free children’s meal with the purchase of one full-priced entree. Unlike the other promotions, there are no time-based restrictions to Chili’s free children’s meal, but that’s because you’re at the behest of the app allocating you a free children’s meal. While not as convenient as the other options, I wouldn’t discard this; Chili’s free loyalty program actually has some solid perks, like free chips and salsa anytime you spend more than $5 dining in, plus a free dessert for your birthday. If you’re willing to sacrifice yourself to the whims of the algorithm on this one, it’s ultimately worthwhile.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit. Kids can eat for free every Sunday at Dickey’s Barbecue Pit. This deal includes one free kids meal per check with a minimum of a $12 purchase. The deal is valid for carry-out, delivery, or dining in. A children’s meal is made up of one of either a meat, slider, or chicken nuggets, plus one side, a roll, and a children’s drink.

Tony Roma’s. Tony Roma’s offers a free meal for children ages 12 and under all day long on Sundays. The deal includes one free children’s meal per regular entree purchased, and only applies to dine-in orders; it cannot be combined with any other offers.

Firehouse Subs. Firehouse Subs offers a free children’s combo meal with the purchase of a regular combo meal, as long as you sign up for their “Birthday Treat” program. A children’s combo includes a six-inch sandwich, a 12-ounce drink, and a dessert. This offer can be redeemed at any time, but can only be done for each child once.

Famous Dave’s. Famous Dave’s offers a free children’s meal every Tuesday with the purchase of an adult entree. A children’s menu comes with your choice of a barbecue entree (ribs, barbecue chicken, pork sandwich), plus a choice of a side. This offer is valid all day.

Red Robin. Not quite free, Red Robin is still deserving of an honorable mention. If you visit one of their locations on a Wednesday, you can get 50% off of every children’s meal you order, up to four meals (per adult entree). A children’s meal comes with an entree, side, and drink. This deal is valid for dine-in order, delivery, and take-out and is valid for children ages 11 and under.

  

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