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Millennials Say Dating is Too Expensive for Them

Written by adminAugust 7, 2019

Millennials have a lot of struggles in our post-recession world. Among them are crushing student debt, rising costs, and the fact that a large portion of them cannot afford to live on their own. They are forced to make a lot of difficult decisions as a result of being known as the broke generation.

Many studies have revealed that millennials are putting off a lot of major decisions. The reason is they simply can’t afford them. They’re waiting longer and longer to buy a house, get married, and have kids. Student loan debt is one of the main causes of this problem. When you’re paying out towards your debt equivalent to your rent payment each month, you’d have reasons to be concerned, too.

But another area millennials are struggling to afford is the dating life. Match.com recently did a survey that revealed 30% of millennials say dating is too expensive for them. Their financial instability makes dating that much more difficult, as it’s hard to explain to a prospective partner why they’re not as stable. Typically, not too many people would find financial instability appealing when choosing the right partner.

A Worthless Investment?

To be fair to millennials, dating is quite expensive. One millennial shared this thought with USA Today, claiming to spend hundreds of dollars each month to go out on dates. That’s a lot of change to spend, especially if such attempts don’t work out. Then you’re in a constant struggle of routinely dating to find someone who sticks.

Let’s face it. If you’re going to date, then you need to do it right. Men especially feel obligated to take dates out to a nice place, which can get fairly pricey. Add in other costs, like going to get a coffee, seeing a movie, or other dating venues prospective couples do. Even if the couple agrees to go Dutch, going on a date can cost a pretty penny.

Nearly half of all women find financial security to be a deal breaker. Of course, if you’re going to start a relationship with someone that can lead to marriage, you would want your spouse to have some financial security. Nearly 90% of women say finding a kind partner is really their main goal, but the financial aspect does matter to them somewhat.

Commitment Issues?

In reality, millennials might just be making excuses. A new survey found that this generation has a difficult time making a commitment. 39% of them found committed relationships boring. There is a lot of fear of settling down with the wrong person and in today’s modern culture, dating and sex aren’t mutually inclusive any longer. Dating on its own merits is just a fun evening and tomorrow they’ll go out with someone else.

More than ever millennials are breaking off dates for some fairly crazy reasons, like incompatible zodiac signs or minor disagreements, like not agreeing on what the best restaurant in town is. These show an eagerness not to commit, but to find weak excuses why it’s not working out.

Written by adminAugust 7, 2019

Business

Sometimes life can get a bit complicated and we could use a few extra bucks. Maybe an unexpected expense is coming up or you’re getting tired of your job and want to start looking for something else to do. A lot of stay-at-home moms also look for side jobs that allow them to stay home and take care of the kids while bringing in a few extra bucks.

In reality, most of us wish we can turn our passions and even hobbies into a side business. Research shows that there are millions of us out there who are learning how to make money with side hustles. A new study revealed that 27% of full-time employees have turned their hobby into a side business in some way, shape, or form.

55% of them said that they had a dream of one day starting a side hustle. There’s really no better way to make money than by doing it through something you love and enjoy doing. Let’s take a quick look at how you can turn your hobby into a side business and some of the complications you might run into while trying to get it off the ground.

Hobbies and Side Businesses

Vistaprint is one of the main companies out there that allow people to turn their hobbies into side businesses. They recently did a study and found that people who make money from side hustles bring in as much is $14,000 each year. That’s a post-tax number, she can start to see the kind of additional money you can add into your budget each year.

“America’s side business economy is booming, as employees increasingly look for financial, professional and personal fulfillment that may not be present in their main job,” Simon Braier, Vistaprint’s customer strategy and insights director, said.

We might see these types of businesses all over Facebook. Surely, we’ve all had friends who at one time or another started selling diet products, beauty supplies, smoothies, supplements, or any other thing out there that people sell. Maybe you have a family member who created a Facebook page for their artwork and start to sell their work.

Why We Love Side Hustles

the same Vistaprint survey found that 41% of people who had a side hustle did it so that they can spend more time doing what they enjoy. Yes, the extra money is great, but having that much extra money from a side business is only one incentive. Making that money allows us to spend more time on the things that we love doing.

This is really how fulfillment take shape. Unless you actually enjoy it, most people do next enjoy their jobs. It’s out of necessity that they wake up early every morning and go into work. It really is a dream for most of us. If you can make money doing what you love, you’ll always be happy.

“While many side hustles are born out of a personal interest or hobby, they don’t have to stay small,” Braier said. “Side business owners can test their venture’s long-term viability, growth and marketing opportunities in a safer setting, helping them to ease the transition into full-time entrepreneurship and spend more time doing what they love.”

Written by adminAugust 7, 2019

Saving

Living paycheck to paycheck is extremely difficult, yet many Americans know no other life. Even the smallest problem can throw your entire life into loop. According to a survey from Schwab, 59% of Americans live this way and it’s extremely stressful. This article will take a look at several ways in which you can break the cycle and help gain some financial independence.

Strategy #1: Put Together a Budget

Sadly, a lot of Americans don’t even take the time to budget their finances. In reality, if this sounds all too real for you, then you should know how extremely difficult it’s going to be to be financially responsible if you don’t budget. You’ll have no idea what’s coming in or what’s going out. This forces a lot of people into a big-time jam.

You need to know exactly what your spending money on. You sit down at the table and write it all out. Gather all your bills and financial statements. Then, start putting everything into categories. Set yourself a budget for what you’re going to spend. Look at how much money you spend on groceries and determine exactly how much you’re going to spend every month.

Strategy #2: Start Cutting Some Expenses

The only way you’re going to become financially independent is by living below your means. We don’t like to do this. This is why we don’t mind maxing out our credit card. We often want things that we can afford but still try to find a way to pay for, even if that means using credit. This is how we rack up thousands of dollars in debt and get behind on her bills.

When you put your budget together, look for things you can cut. You notice that your family doesn’t watch as much TV anymore? Cut the cable and go to Hulu and Netflix. Can you sell a car and still live comfortably? That’s less money that you have to spend on insurance and gas every month. Take public transportation if you have to until you get settled.

Strategy #3: Have an Emergency Fund

Once you start looking for things to cut and realize you pay for a lot of things you don’t really need or use, you start stashing away that cash into your savings account. There will definitely come a day when you’ll need some emergency money. Not because the next greatest thing is about to come out, but because a legitimate emergency will arise.

When emergencies happen, this is when a lot of people go into bankruptcy. They simply can’t afford the additional medical bills or car repair. What if you lose your job? You have to be prepared for when the situations occur. The best advice is to save up at least six months’ worth of living expenses in the event you lose your job in the time to find a new one.

Strategy #4: Improve Your Income Situation

If you’re having a difficult time socking away money, maybe it’s time to get a second job or side hustle for a little while. You still need to find ways to cut your spending, getting a second job to bring in an additional source of income will go a long way in gaining more financial independence. This can also help you pay off any debts that you have.

Paying off your debt as soon as possible is a great way to solve your problem. There is often interest tacked on to anything you buy with credit. That means you can spend many thousands of dollars extra on a loan or hundreds of dollars a year paying interest on credit cards. Make the smart choice and pay off those debts so you can be free.

Written by adminAugust 7, 2019

Real life

If you’re like most Americans, you hate receiving robocalls. They often hit at the most inopportune time in a matter how many times you block the phone number, they just hit you the next day from a new number. If you’re one of the millions of Americans who get regular robocalls, then we have some good news for you!

The FCC (or the Federal Communications Commission) has officially voted to approve a law that would effectively ban all fraudulent phone robocalls and texts, even international calls, from making their way to your phone. There was already an act in place, called the Truth in Caller ID Act. It was signed into law by Pres. George W. Bush.

While it was a good law while it lasted, it needed to be updated. It only focused on domestic calls made, but did nothing to stop international robocalls. It also did very little to address text messages, which weren’t as big of a thing back then. This new law does ban text messages and international calls as well as allows the FCC to monitor these types of calls. If someone breaks the law, they now have the power to punish any person who calls to peddle their scam.

The FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was the first to bring up this new legislation earlier in the summer. The government agency has been receiving many thousands of calls and complaints consumers sick and tired of the constant robocalls that won’t stop no matter what they do. They even use something called “spoofing” which fakes the area code the scammer is calling from to make it look like a local call.

Too Many Robocalls

AARP recently released an estimation through their Fraud Watch Network that revealed as many as 48 billion Robo calls were made in the last year alone. Those numbers are up as much of 57%, which is just absolutely ridiculous. You know many of the people at the FCC also get plenty of these types of calls, which is why they acted so quickly to get them banned.

Last week the House voted to pass a new law that forces your carrier to authenticate every single call you receive. You’re able to add your phone number to the Do Not Call Registry by visiting donotcall.gov. In order to help enforce this new law, the FTC (or Federal Trade Commission) has stated that they plan to increase enforcement against these types of calls. They are suing many of the companies who make these billions of robocalls each year.

Written by adminAugust 7, 2019

Car Insurance

No matter what each of us pay each month for our car insurance, it’s a pretty safe bet to assume most of us think were paying too much money. These car insurance companies do whatever they can to keep raising rates and make it even more expensive for you to drive a car. In many places, people are spending $200 to $300 a month. That’s a ridiculous amount of money.

Worst part about it is that a lot of states require you to have insurance to drive. That means you have to take the situation sitting down. There are several options out there that you can look into to help make your insurance cheaper. Let’s take a look at four of those ways to see if they can help you or your monthly bill.

1) Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Discounts

Many insurance companies offer discounts. They won’t just come out and tell you what those discounts are, unless they use them as a marketing tactic. But you never know if there are certain discounts hidden from you unless you ask for them. For example, if you have a great driving record, and companies might want to offer a discount. They don’t believe you’ll be accident-prone and will reward you for your good driving.

2) Consider Packaged Deals

Yes, and a package deal you’ll end up paying more overall. But if you also need to get renters insurance, you have other vehicles that need insurance like a boat, or you need insurance for your home, many places will offer a discount to combine all your needs into one basket. Many of the top insurance companies like Progressive, Geico, and Allstate provide many different types of insurance. So, if you have additional need, don’t be afraid to combine it with your car insurance for a discount.

3) Don’t Forget to Check Back in Periodically

When you get car insurance when you’re young, it works a lot like credit. You’re not trusted enough just yet. In fact, you’re seen as an experienced and more accident-prone. As you get older, you might find your insurance starts to get a cheaper. That’s because as you get older, you become a better driver and the chances of you having an accident starts to drop. Once you hit 25 or so, you had close to a decade of experience and that should really help to lower your rate.

4) Take Public Transportation

You may consider this point extreme, but if you’re really struggling to afford paying your car insurance, get rid of the car! Of course, we don’t want to do this. We enjoy our independence and being able to go wherever we want whenever we want. Still, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners says that overall driving is down for millennials. Back in 2014, 69% of 19-year-olds had a license. Back in 1983, the number was near 90%. That means the number of overall drivers has fallen over the past few decades. If you’re struggling with high rates, put away the keys for a while.

Written by adminAugust 7, 2019

Politics

It was but just yesterday when the stock market took a major dive and at one point was 900 points in the hole. News of China’s currency manipulation really struck a chord with American investors. They hate the trade war more than anything. What should have been good news for the US when it came to cutting interest rates, the stock market went down instead of up.

That’s because president Trump has announced even stronger tariffs $350 billion worth of Chinese goods. Is no doubt that the trade war hurts our economy, but the president is out for blood. He’s tired of the Chinese manipulating the currency. He’s tired of how they steal intellectual rights and technology.

As a result of yesterday’s events, now the Treasury Department has weighed in and also called China a currency manipulator. They took action to lower the value of their yuan, which makes Chinese products much cheaper in the foreign market. This means that more countries are able to trade with China because goods aren’t as expensive as they would be trading with the United States.

This essentially gives China an “unfair advantage,” forcing the International Monetary Fund and the Treasury Department to look for ways to counter this move by the world’s #2 economy. This is the first time Trump has made comments about another country’s manipulation of their currency. In fact, he accused the EU of doing the same. They deflate their currency while the value of the dollar remains really strong.

What a Strong Dollar Means

You might think having a strong dollar is a good thing. Yet, there’s a reason why other countries are devaluing their currency. Having a strong currency is not a good thing for trade. Consider exchange rates and how they would play a part in a country buying goods from another. If a country has a strong dollar like the US currently does, and your currency is weak, who would other countries rather trade with?

Surely, they would rather trade with someone currency is weak because that means they get the same products for much cheaper. This is the type of game that China’s playing. As the US increases the amount of tariffs that they place on China, their figuring out ways of getting around it by lowering the value of the yuan.

“China and Europe playing big currency manipulation game and pumping money into their system in order to compete with the USA,” President Trump wrote on Twitter. “We should MATCH, or continue being the dummies who sit back and politely watch as other countries continue to play their games – as they have for many years!”

“Mario Draghi just announced more stimulus could come, which immediately dropped the Euro against the Dollar, making it unfairly easier for them to compete against the USA. They have been getting away with this for years, along with China and others.”

Benefits of Weakening the Dollar

The value of the dollar impacts so many things here in America. If the US dollar is weakened, that means more countries can buy more U.S. goods. When we have that open trade relationship with other countries and their buying up all of our stuff, that gives a boost to many industries in our country.

They like to buy agriculture which is great for farmers. They’ll buy our cars and steel, giving a boost to manufacturers and factory workers. But when other countries manipulate their currency, it gives them an unfair advantage and takes jobs away from American workers. Trump has been displeased throughout his own presidency with the high value of the dollar.

“I want a strong dollar, but I want a dollar that does great for our country, not a dollar that’s so strong that it makes it prohibitive for us to do business with other nations and take their business,” Trump said during a speech in March, before launching into criticism of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. “We have a gentleman that likes a very strong dollar in the Fed,” he added, referring to Powell.

Written by adminAugust 7, 2019

Business

There is an option to opt out, but most of you won’t like it.

In the past few years, Chase has ramped up the attractiveness of their credit cards, providing their cardholders with a smorgasbord or perks and points. This lured in many new applicants, and led to Chase being the undisputed front-runner in the credit card industry.

However in recent months, Chase customers started receiving emails stating unexpected changes to their user agreements which stripped their right to sue Chase, should they choose to.

The bank updated all their credit card contracts to include a “binding arbitration” clause, which requires customers who have a dispute with the bank to settle through private arbitration, which essentially prevents the formation of class-action lawsuits.

Instead of joining a class action suit, consumers with disputes would have no recourse but to take their chances in a private lawsuit, which experts say heavily favor the corporations and not the consumers.

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The bank is updating all but one class of their credit cards, the AARP line, based on their existing contract with the group.

The revised agreement states that “With arbitration, you cannot go to court, have a jury trial or initiate or participate in a class action for your disputes with the bank. In arbitration, disputes are resolved by an arbitrator, not a judge or jury, and procedures are cimpler and more limited than rules applicable in court.”

To opt out of the agreement, cardholders must send a physical letter to Chase by August 9th with account numbers, addresses and signatures of all the cards they own, explicitly stating that you “reject this agreement to arbitrate”. These letters must also be mailed to Chase at PO box 15298, Wilmington, DE 199850-5298.

As part of a strategy, Chase is not allowing their customers to opt out online despite the fact that they tout their online services as well as their mobile apps as being so convenient you can apply for a credit card, cancel cards, pay off card balances, and receive paperless statements online.

Chase benefits from this new agreement as it shields the company from class-action lawsuits. In a statement released to Yahoo Finance, Chase states that there is no online version of this opt out agreement as the company wants “to make sure we captured our customers’ preferences accurately.”

Chase cards used to have these provisions and actually dropped forced arbitration clauses in their agreements in 2009 after a settlement.

A Chase spokesperson who declined to be named said “Our experience in Consumer banking has been that it’s often faster, easier and less expensive,” referring to forced arbitration.

Written by adminAugust 7, 2019

Real life

A lot of people today think that electric and hybrid vehicles are new technology, but electric cars have been around since well before combustion engines arrived on the scene. Electric cars were quite popular back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Even New York City’s first fleet of taxis were electric cars.

So, what happened? Well, the combustion engine was in its infancy. It was difficult to start, using a crank to get it going. Also, there were a lot of fumes and it smelled. This is why electric cars were more popular back then, but the popularity didn’t last. Combustion engine cars were simply cheaper to make and cheaper to buy. In the end, the lower price always wins out.

That’s not the whole story. There were other advancements in combustion engine technology. Not only did you get much more range, but fuel was cheap and abundant. Once they figured out how to do away with the crank to get the engine going, and added a tailpipe to send the exhaust out the back of the car, it all but sent the electric car into near extinction.

Environmental Concerns

Fast forward to modern times and we’re now dealing with an epidemic. Environmental concerns are making their way to the forefront of people’s minds. Pollution, due to more than a century of burning fossil fuels and other pollution, is threatening our planet. Now, people are giving electric and hybrid cars a second look as a means of reducing pollution.

The problem is, electric cars still aren’t cheap. They’re still more expensive than combustion engine cars by as much as 20%. The price is definitely keeping people away from investing in eco-friendly vehicles. To counter this cost, the government has decided to offer a bunch of different incentives and credit to inspire you to buy them.

Tax Credit and Incentives

There’s a lot of research you will have to do on your own before purchasing an electric car. There are a lot of varying factors that depend on what you buy and which state you live in. Federal rules can be difficult to understand, so find a dealer who knows what they’re talking about and bring your own research to the table.

The federal government will grant a tax incentive up to $7,500, but there’s a catch. It’s not a blank check to everyone. You only get the full $7,500 if you owe that much in taxes. If you owe $5,000, then you’ll only get $5,000 in credits. And no, you won’t get the difference. It is what it is. But state-level benefits exist too, but they vary per state. Of course, states like California have better incentives than those who are less environmentally savvy.

The credits will also depend on the side of the battery in the car. Different cars will have different benefits attached to them, so, again, do your homework. Some models will get you more incentives and some don’t have any at all.

Written by adminAugust 7, 2019

Business

For many years, Amazon has dominated the online market scene. It is done so by finding ways to stay had of the competition. Convenience is key here is Amazon can send anything to your home within a day or two. Need to buy a new bed? Comes with free shipping and it will get there, delivered by someone else, in a few days. What company can beat that?

As important as Amazon is, they rely on a network of various delivery companies to get their shipments out into their customer within the promised time. Over the last year or so, Amazon has been making changes to the way they deliver goods. They’ve actually been building up their own delivery fleet of Amazon trucks.

This undoubtedly save them a lot of money, because contracting out those deliveries to UPS and FedEx is costly. One company that’s getting fed up with Amazon is FedEx. Now that Amazon is building up its own fleet of trucks and planes, as well as adapting new technologies like drones to deliver packages, Amazon looks more and more like a competitor to FedEx rather than a team player.

Two months ago, FedEx announced that it would terminate their air delivery contract with the mega online retail store. Today was just announced that they would sever all ties with the company. This is a natural move for FedEx as Amazon continues to find alternative ways to deliver packages.

Amazon Was Hurting FedEx Business

As you can imagine, there’s a major infrastructure put in place so that companies like Amazon can keep their promises. It takes a lot of engineering and manpower to get to products from the opposite sides of the country to your home at the same time and within a 1 to 2-day window. That means companies like FedEx had to put more trucks and hire more workers, especially during the busy holiday season, to take care of increased demand.

It was just last month when FedEx said that because Amazon is using them less and less, it’s “negatively impacting our financial condition and results of operations.” Perhaps FedEx feels it can sever ties with Amazon as other companies like Target and Walmart are dramatically stepping up their e-commerce business in order to compete with Amazon.

The problem with that is, Walmart and target have their own fleet of trucks as well. They will undoubtedly use their own fleets more often to save money without having to contract out FedEx. But for right now, the move fits with FedEx wants to do. They claim that Amazon only made up about 1.3% of the 850 million they made last year.

Hopefully the severing of this relationship doesn’t impact the holiday season this year. It does mean UPS and other delivery companies, like the USPS, will have to ramp up their operations to fill the void.

Written by adminAugust 7, 2019

Credit & Debt

Debt is one of those things where we have to seriously consider whether it can positively or negatively influence our life. Yes, that can have its good moments. You need to have debt in order to build your credit. There has to be a period of time in which you can prove that you’ll regularly make on-time payments toward debt.

Were debt gets people and the problems is that they often struggle and paying it back. They want to buy something even though they can afford it. So, they use their credit and at times it can be difficult, especially when they add on tons of interest and the monthly payments are higher than anticipated.

A lot of people do not know how to manage their debt the right way. They continue piling debt until they eventually maxed out. This is a dangerous situation that can dramatically set you back in the future. You may have a need to take out a loan, but if you have so much debt or history of not being able to pay it back, you will lose out

Let’s look at 3 debt traps you should avoid:

1) Credit Card Rewards

Credit card companies often offer a lot of rewards in order to entice people to get one. Again, using a credit card the right way can be good towards improving your credit. If you go with a credit card that offers tons of rewards, it will be a long time before you see those rewards. We’re talking spending thousands of dollars before you see a single reward. Even then, they’re not good rewards that they advertise for.

Before you know it, you racked up hundreds and interest payments and that, going broke just to get a ‘free’ airline ticket your trip that you would have paid for five times over if you didn’t get that credit card. If you need a credit card, and you want to build your credit, do it the smart way. Make small payments and pay it off each month.

2) Getting a Brand-New Car

This is one of the biggest debt traps out there today. Having a brand-new car is a status symbol to the world. You may have been eyeing that luxury car for many years, but many people don’t understand exactly how expensive that is. Not only are you expected to pay full-time coverage for insurance, you’ll also be taking a loan out for many tens of thousands of dollars which carries with it many thousands of dollars of additional interest. Owning a brand-new car is a burden that you must be ready for. Wait until you’re financially secure and have no other debts. In the meantime, there’s nothing wrong with getting something used.

3) Clothing

Just like the brand-new car, the close that we swear is indicated of our status. People love to wear expensive clothing to impress. The problem with this is, you could easily spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on designer clothing. People who buy these types of clothing also are not content after they buy something expensive. They wear it once or twice and in the ready to buy something else. If you look at a lot of the current billionaires, their wearing flip-flops and hoodies, not thousand dollars suits.

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