Life Style

Europe is hungry for more kid-producing couples. Population growth is important for any society to continue forward. The problem is, Europe is dealing with slowing growth rates. People simply aren’t having as many babies as they once did. That leaves many countries to figure out ways to get people reproducing again. Money seems to do the trick.

Hungary is one country looking to make a huge difference. Their government is very pro-family and seems to understand the important of a booming population. Their Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, came up with the idea to give a nice chunk of change to couples to encourage them to have children.

He’s offering couples about $33,000 USD to have kids. It’s given to them as a loan, but it’s a loan they don’t have to pay back if they have at least three kids. This is a great move for a country that is showing the slowest birth rate of all European countries. There are plenty of other pro-family subsidies as well. So far, many thousands of families have applied.

After receiving the loan, they would have to start paying it back monthly. If they have their first kid within the first five years of receiving it, then all interest is suspended as is all repayments for another three years. This should really encourage a lot of young couples to start procreating and, in turn, they would receive a large loan in which to start their family.

Hungary Loan Criteria

As with anything else, there’s a certain criteria a family must meet before applying for this loan. First is that the couple must be married. They also want to make sure that the marriage is the first one for at least one of the spouses, so if both people have been married before, that won’t work. They also want to make sure that the woman involved is between 18 and 40 and that at least one part of the couple has been paying taxes in the country for at least 180 days.

There are a few downsides to accepting the loan, such as consequences if you don’t produce a child in time. If you don’t have your first child within five years, then you would have to pay back the full loan within the next 4 months. That is unless you have a medical certificate proving you found out you’re unable to have children.

Handing out loans isn’t the only way Hungary is proving to be pro-family. The allow for as much as $135,000 USD in mortgage write-offs. Of course, it depends on the number of children you have. One child will grant a $33,000 write-off. Each child allows for an additional write-off that makes having kids worth it to many.

“In Hungary, we believe in strong families as the basis of our community. We have driven family-friendly governance and gained two-third parliamentary majority three times in a row at democratic general elections. Hungarian citizens have many times expressed they will and entitled us to stop illegal migration at our borders, not to let in a mass of economic migrants but instead empower Hungarian women and men to be able to have as many children as they wish to and have them as soon as they wish to,” she said. 

Most of us use social media to connect with friends and family. We like to share different things that we do throughout the day or special events in our lives. For others, social media makes them a lot of money. In particular, these people are called influencers. They have tens of thousands even millions of followers on sites like Instagram and Facebook. Because they have a lot of followers, they get a lot of endorsements.

You might wonder how people like Kylie Jenner to become the world youngest billionaire. Of course, her family is filthy rich, but it didn’t take her long to figure out how to use her influence. With her millions of followers, companies pay her a lot of money to pump their products. All she has to do is get photographed wearing a particular purse or plug an event. The more likes you have, the bigger your influence, and the more money you make.

Sam McAllister isn’t as famous as the Jenner family, but makes good use of his 23,000 followers. Several of his photos get thousands of likes, and that’s important for Sam. He works for Stripe, an online payment company, but that’s not his only source of income. He’s made a nice chunk of change on the side using his influence.

He’s been able to do paid campaigns for airline companies while taking pictures of his visits to Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia. “The fact that my posts are massively engaged has paid off for me,” McAllister. “My main concern right now is that the number of followers a user has now defaults to be the main metric.”

Instagram’s Move to Remove Likes

While this move is detrimental for people like Sam McAllister, Instagram says they add too much pressure. Most issues feel pressure to get likes and if they don’t, it can damage their confidence and self-esteem. Too many young people find their self-worth based upon the attention they get on social media. This isn’t a good thing for the future of these companies. That’s why they’re eager to see how this change might help everyday users.

“We understand that the number of likes is an important metric for many creators, and while this test is in exploratory stages, we are thinking through ways for creators to communicate value to their partners,” said a spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram. Just like any other business platform, influencers will have to adapt and change their business model.

Most of us have been too busy to cook at one time or another. In these cases, we might stop by and grab some fast food on the way home. But if it’s the weekend and you don’t feel like going out, you might decide to order out. And pizza isn’t the only thing you can order anymore. Apps like Doordash, Grubhub, Ubereats, and even more local companies offer delivery from all your favorite restaurants.

You might consider trying any of these companies. Allows you to eat out without actually having to leave your home. Use make an order online and it will come right to your door. The problem with these companies is that it’s difficult to determine whether your food will get to you safely.

In many cases, your driver might’ve been nibbling on your food. U.S. Foods Distributing Company conducted a recent survey. They found that a quarter of all food delivery drivers admitted to tasting the food they were delivering. 500 drivers were surveyed across the multitude of different delivery services.

Not only did one-in-four drivers admit to it, 21% of customers felt or suspected that their driver had tampered with their food. It gets even worse. Half of the drivers who were surveyed said the smell of the food really tempted them to have a taste. Only 28% said they actually couldn’t help themselves and did it.

Taking Some Food Off the Top

“I’ve seen people grab a couple of fries off the top, take some, and then kind of roll the bag up. People just don’t know how to control that hunger.” said Neftaly Gonzalez, an UberEats driver. “I’ve always considered, imagine this was me getting my food. Would I want somebody’s dirty fingers where I don’t know they’ve been touching the food that I’m supposed to be eating?” he said.

Maybe these drivers consider it a perk of the job. They have no problem munching on a few French fries while they deliver your food. Of course, they can just buy their own French fries. Why do that when they can get yours for free? In order to combat this, 85% of customers said that tamper-evident seals should be made a standard.

If you can’t do a little extra to ensure your customers that their food is arrived at their home safe, then you probably shouldn’t be in business.

Coca-Cola has been making a lot of moves with their flavors. This year they’ve released a new version of Coke Zero, added orange-vanilla, and even updated several flavors of their Diet Coke varieties. Coke and Christmas seems to go along well together. In fact, it was the Coke brand that first introduced the classic image of Santa Claus we love and enjoy today.

Every holiday season, Coke puts out their famously designed cans with the polar bear and Santa, all decorated and ready to delight families everywhere. This year, they want to expand a certain flavor that went over really well in the UK last season: cinnamon Coke. This new flavor looks to be launched on September 30^th in time for the beginning of the holiday season.

Cinnamon Coke might seem like a weird combination, but those who tried the flavor in the UK last year gave it two emphatic thumbs up and are eager for its release again this year. That doesn’t mean the flavor will be as widely accepted here, as people in the UK doesn’t always share the same tastes with the US. Still, it might still be worth trying.

Currently, there is no word on what varieties of cinnamon Coke that will be provided. It may or may not hit the widely growing zero-sugar or Diet Coke versions. So, if you’re diabetic or staying away from full-sugar soft drinks, hopefully they will put out a version that you can try. Either way, the release will only be limited to the holidays from October through December.

Not Just Cinnamon

While we wait to find out if there will be sugar-free option for cinnamon Coke, the famous Coca-Cola isn’t the only flavor getting a holiday makeover. The company also owns the Sprite brand and is set to release a new holiday flavor for that as well. It’s called the Winter Spiced Cranberry Sprite. They’ve already been experimenting with Sprite and adding refreshing new flavors, so this holiday version isn’t so much of a Hail Mary throw to fans.

When the two sodas run through their cycle this holiday season, their success will determine whether these varieties will be run again next Christmas. Once again, the cinnamon Coke had great success in the UK and Coke has had a lot of success with their orange-vanilla and other Diet Coke flavors.

If the flavors don’t do too well, then they will most likely end up as part of the Coca-Cola museum where bad ideas and concoctions are sent to die and be immortalized forever as a failed flavor. They currently have many other unsuccessful and successful flavors that guests can sample when they visit.

Today is Halloween, so what candy is going to be consumed more than others? According to a new Monmouth University poll, it’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The survey asked 1,161 adults about what they like to eat and buy on Halloween. It wasn’t a massive majority, as it was only 36% who voted this way. The next highest was Snickers at 18% and M&Ms at 11%.

Other candies were much less at only 6% of the combined vote. This goes to show how much people love Reese’s on Halloween. They do usually have the most creative ads when the holiday starts rolling around. That seems to be the major indicator of how many people buy their candy this time of year.

Other candies that were also voted include Skittles, Starbursts, Hershey bars, and Tootsie roll pops. It’s interesting to note that certain candies did better in different regions. For example, Starbursts are the most popular Halloween candies in Michigan. Snickers is the most popular in the Southwest.

You might not believe it, but even candy corn made the list! “Candy corn even making the list may surprise some people, but it is one of the top-selling Halloween candies in the country,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.”We don’t know if it’s one of the top-eaten candies, but it does have a fan base. And candy corn makes great fake teeth to creep out your parents with,” he said.

Halloween Night

Considering today is Halloween, millions of kids and teens are expected to be trick-or-treating. It’s important to remember to use the utmost safety when driving around. Kids in costumes may not be properly lit-up with reflective surfaces to help drivers see them. More kids are hit by cars and killed on Halloween night than the average pedestrian rate.

Also, it’s important for parents to keep an eye out for their kids. Check all the candy they bring home. Discard anything not sealed in a protective individual wrapper.

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 Paycheck 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 of desperately waiting for your paycheck.

Some people decide in life that it’s time to make a change. Maybe you’re tired of the current climate or political differences where you currently live. Perhaps you got a new job offer we want to go and help take care of family. Either way, moving to a new state or even area of the country can be a difficult process.

There are a lot of things most people do not consider. It all sounds good in theory when you’re making your plans or looking through pictures on the Internet, but reality often sets in during the process. Let’s take a look at 5 tips to consider before moving out of state:

1) The Grass Isn’t Always Greener

Maybe you went to a certain location for a vacation. Everything there was beautiful, you love the weather, and it seemed like a great place to live. This might be one of the bigger reasons why you’re moving out of state. You had a great experience somewhere and you know you want to make a change, so why not live in a place that others go to for vacation?

The reality is, the grass is always greener on the other side. You had a great experience there most likely because many vacation spots are designed to cater to the tourists. Every need and desire is often met, especially if you go to your resort or stay on the beach. A life with your feet in the sand and wind and the waves down the way isn’t the full picture of what it’s like to live there.

Eventually, you may end up not liking living somewhere that has a lot of regular tourism. It can really disrupt a calm and comfortable life when during seasons of the year the traffic is so crazy you can’t go anywhere or do anything. Consider all the options before moving. Talk to the people who live in that area and see what they think about it and the tourists who regularly visit.

2) Check the Driving Time Before Moving

Once again, you might think that living in a certain spot is going to be heavenly, until you realize just how much traffic and frustration a lot of these areas. This is especially true with areas packed with tourists. If you want to live next to a certain attraction, but the Disney for next the beach, look up on Google maps just how long it will take you to get around on a daily basis. Look at areas where you might work, shop, eat, and where you might call home.

3) Do Better Research on Places to Live

it’s easier to find a place to live in an area you can drive or it’s close enough to where you currently live at you have a good idea of what to look for. And a brand-new city in a faraway state, you’re not going to be so familiar with the area, the people, customs, or what are known as ‘expensive’ or ‘cheaper’ places to live. Do your best research looking into everyone.

4) Don’t Just Take Online Photos at Face Value

Online real estate videos and pictures don’t tell the entire story. They are designed to entice people when you actually go to look at the place, you might find that your little too close to your neighbors. You might find that the home isn’t in as good of shape as when the picture was taken. There may be a lot of appliances that need updating. Don’t be deceived into thinking that the picture is going to be 100% reality before moving.

5) Prices Can Be Crazy

In places with a lot of tourism, everything is a lot more expensive. As you can imagine, being closer to these landmarks can make life that much more expensive. The cost of rent, food, insurance, even the price of gas, will be much higher in these areas. Areas that are desirable can take advantage of the fact that everyone wants to be there, so they have no problem charging a fortune for things you can get much cheaper elsewhere. Consider this before moving.

Your wedding day might be the greatest day of your life, but it’s still only a single day. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not getting preachy about spending. But when you put it into perspective, we spend WAY too much money on it. In fact, the average cost of weddings in the U.S. is $33,931. You can get a 2019 Acura ILX, everything included, for $25,900.

The Knot has released a new survey that found the amount of money people are spending on weddings keeps rising. Another interesting statistic they found is that parents are less likely today to go the traditional route. Usually the parents get together and pay for the big day, but not anymore. More couples are footing the bill and it’s so expensive that they’re leaning on financing options to help pay for it.

One of the worst ways you and your partner can start your life together is by going into debt. This doesn’t include any other of the debt and loans you’ve each accumulated separately. Throw in student loans for a lot of young adults and you’ll end up living in a debt nightmare. This is why more people are putting off things like marriage and having kids.

Weddings by the Numbers

Weddings are becoming so expensive that nearly a third of all the people in the survey said they had to get into debt to help pay for it. The average amount of money they borrowed was $11,737. That’s just what they borrowed, considering that cost of an average wedding is nearly $20,000 more expensive.

Student Loan Hero conducted a survey of their own and found that 74% of couples have already expected they would go into debt to get married. That is a sad statistic. 61% planned to use their credit cards to pay for everything. As couples continue to spare no expense, they really need to think more about their future together than a single day of their lives.

In fact, around half of the money spent on weddings, a paltry $15,439 of it, goes towards the venue alone. It would seen as if a wedding could be made much cheaper by selecting a place that costs a lot less money or even free. Is the venue really worth that much for a single night? In reality, it’s not.

It’s mainly because people are doing away with anything traditional. Fancy wedding spots verses churches. Reception halls and country clubs are on the outs as well.

“Couples are rethinking conventional traditions and putting their own creative spins on long-standing wedding moments, like unity ceremonies and first dances,” says Kristen Maxwell Cooper, editor in chief of The Knot. “Some couples are opting to embrace their cultural heritage, while others choose to pay homage to pop culture that plays a part in their shared story.”

As Americans, we love our social media. Everything we do, every life experience we have, every fun moment is captured. Our social media says a lot about who we are, even if some of it isn’t true. Let’s face it, we have an image to uphold whether that image is based on fact or little bit of fiction. What you may not realize is, your social media posts can come back to haunt you.

Around 70% of employers use social media to screen certain job candidates. CareerBuilder says around 57% of bosses found things in potential prospects social media that eventually led them to turn down an applicant. So, if you’ve ever been turned down for jobs before and wondered why, take a look at your Facebook and Instagram.

You’re being watched by everyone. What you post online can make or break your career. This can be anything from pictures, what you dress, whether you have any extremist political or religious views, and so much more. Every word in every picture is scrutinized. So, let’s take a look at some of the social media rules for job hunting.

1) Did You Have a Wild Night Out? Keep It Off Social Media!

We might think that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with going out one night and cutting it loose. We like to have fun! What we do at night outside of work hours should not be the business of employer. Yet, many scenarios have played out where an employer turned down the potential applicant due to “incriminating” pictures on social media.

We might think this is wrong, but imagine how it looks from their point of view. Would a serious employer want to hire someone that appears to be a party animal? Who seems to always be drinking? Again, this might not sound very fair, but it is from their point of view. The golden rule then is to be more conservative with what you post online.

2) Dirty Jokes Can Be a Potential Problem

We certainly understand that you have a sense of humor. Maybe your friends and family get it, but 40% of employers don’t find that dirty joke funny. In fact, it might lead them to believe that there is a deeper problem with hiring you. If you’re going to come in to work and say dirty jokes, that can lead to someone else filing for sexual harassment.

Not everyone has the same sense of humor you do. Whatever you do, don’t post it on your social media. Plus, we can see today how much things have changed. Jokes made 10 years ago are coming to surface today is costing people their jobs. With this being said, you should go through and clean out your social media. If they can find it, they most certainly will use it against you.

3) Don’t Boast About Drug Use

This point doesn’t even have to be about illegal drugs. If a potential employer sees you talking about how you’re on Vicodin, that can work against you. If you’re sharing a conversation about marijuana use, even if it’s legal in your state, you probably won’t get hired. Again, these are things you should keep to yourself and off your social media for very obvious reasons.

4) Don’t Trash the Boss

This is a big one. Even if it’s a previous boss, don’t get online and write a scathing criticism or review. You may want to really bad, but it can work against you in the future. A potential employer can look at that as a problem down the line if things don’t work out with you. You write a scathing review of them in the company? It may not be worth it to them.