money

The End of an Era? Pizza Hut Closing Down their Dine-In Restaurants

Written by adminAugust 13, 2019

It would seem as if we’re quickly reaching the end of another era. There are plenty of pizza delivery chains like Dominos and Papa Johns. Pizza Hut does well with delivery themselves, but one thing they had that separated them from everyone else was the sit-down format. Bring your family to Pizza Hut and sit down together and enjoy the meal.

But it seems as if things are rapidly changing. Pizza Hut now says that they plan to close hundreds of their dine-in restaurants to focus mainly on delivery. They want to provide a faster product to keep up with the demand. Less people are sitting down to eat, so the change is needed to save the company money.

Other establishments are also changing themselves to be more convenience oriented. We’re getting busier, so quick pizzas out the door are undoubtedly going to sell more. By moving away from the restaurant model, they hope to drive more sales, according to Yum! Brands CEO Greg Creed. Yum! Brands owns Pizza Hut among many other restaurants and fast food places.

“We plan to lean in to accelerate the transition of our Pizza Hut U.S. estate to a more modern delivery- and carryout-focused asset base,” he said. “This will ultimately position the Pizza Hut brand for many years of faster growth in the U.S. We view this as a positive move for the brand,” he said.

Cost Cutting

Pizza Hut plans to cut around 500 restaurants across the country. It’s only a small number of the 7,496 stores they have, but most aren’t sit-in restaurants. This is a way for them to cut costs and staying relevant in a time when pizza delivery is trying to reinvent itself. There’s no doubt that pizza, while always popular, has been seeing slumping sales as of late.

With new apps like Grubhub and Doordash, you can order from just about any restaurant in your community. That means you no longer have to go and sit down in a restaurant to enjoy their food. This is a convenience that might do to dining restaurants was Netflix did to Blockbuster. You offer a new convenience and people move forward with what’s the easiest.

Just like Dominos did a few years ago, Pizza Hut has released a new recipe for their famous Original Pan Pizza. They’re also trying out new pick-up options much like Little Caesars is doing today. You can order online and pick up your hot-n-ready at your leisure or on the way home from work. It’s pizza made easy.

4 Great Ways to Lower Your Car Insurance Bill

Written by adminAugust 5, 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.

5 Ways to Save Money on Back-to-School Shopping

Written by adminJuly 29, 2019

Saving

Whether you’re ready for it or not, we are quickly approaching the end of the summer season. As we get close to the start of August, were only weeks away from many schools across the country ringing the bell and ushering students back into their halls. That makes right now back-to-school season as we begin to see many ads start popping up on our TV and Internet.

Many families have a difficult time facing back-to-school expenditures. This time of year is second only to Christmas in terms of major family needs and buys. The National Retail Federal is estimated that parents will spend on average around $696 per child going back to school. If your child is enrolled in sports, that number can easily push past the $1,000 mark and even broach $2,000.

Just like the cost of college tuition, back-to-school costs are constantly inflating. School supplies and clothing continues to get more expensive. After a nice relaxing summer, the last thing parents want to do is be barrage with the number of ads telling them that summer is about over. They began sweating over the amount of money they know they have to fork out.

To make matters worse, a lot of teachers are beginning to ask students to take on larger needs. Their budgets are small and schools are running out of money, so they rely on parents to supply various items, making the cost of back-to-school shopping that much more expensive. Let’s take a look at five ways that you can save money on back-to-school shopping.

1) Look Around the House

You can save money by doing a simple supply sweep around your home. You might have a pack of folders or notebooks hidden in a desk drawer somewhere. Maybe you have a storage bin full of hidden treasures that will help you from spending money on things you already have. This is also a great time to go through your child’s clothing. See what close they have and what they’ve outgrown over the summer. As much as they want brand-new name brand stuff, there’s no point supplying them a brand-new wardrobe just because it’s the start of a new year.

2) Do a Supply Swap with Family and Friends

If you’ve taken the time to pull out all the extras that you have around the house, maybe get together with family and friends who also have kids going back to school. Even if they don’t have kids, they might have extra reams of paper or a box of pencils or stack of notebooks that they’re not using. You might have something extra that they need and it will be worth the swap to save you both money in the long run.

3) Thrift Stores and Garage Sales Will Save You

You never know what you’ll find that a thrift store or garage sale. These places can hold all kinds of treasures and back-to-school supplies. You might find new clothing, backpacks, or other supplies that you’ll need. Your child might not want gently used stuff, but that’s because they have no concept of a budget and they’ll have to live with what they get. No one has to know that what they’re wearing for the supplies they’re using was bought at a thrift store or garage sale.

4) Go to the Dollar Store

Dollar stores often have amazing deals on things you need. It is not just a place for party supplies and cheap stuff anymore. You can get notebooks, pencils, Kleenex, sanitizers, pens, and so much more at a dollar store for much cheaper than you’d find in a department store.

5) Tax Holidays Are a Thing

You may not know about this, but many states have what are called tax holidays. Tax holidays are allowed so that shoppers can buy things without having to pay an enormous sales tax on top of it. You should do your research and find out when your state holds the tax holiday. Many states have one of the first week of August or maybe the last week in July. These tax holidays help shoppers for the back-to-school season. This is when you should make your larger purchases, like if you need to buy a computer.

5 Ways to Reduce Spending and Start Saving

Written by adminJuly 22, 2019

Saving

Believe it or not, there are a lot of things we do as Americans that are more expensive than we realize. We could all easily comb through our budget and see the things we are literally wasting money on. Yet, we live during a time when health insurance is unaffordable and hardly anyone is able to save for retirement.

The economy is doing really well, but it could be doing a lot better. Millions of Americans are burdened by trillions of dollars’ worth of debt. Rather than finding a way to slow down spending, they keep spending even more, taking on more debt and making the situation worse for themselves. The best thing to do is find expenses you can cut from your life.

Here are the 5 ways to reduce spending:

1) Cut the Cord

Unless you’re a massive TV fan, paying $100 per month for cable is utterly ridiculous. The prices only continue to climb. Is it worth the cost for only getting to watch it maybe an hour or two per day? In that case, you can buy a $20 HD antenna to watch the local programming and do well with a Netflix subscription and internet. Anything on TV will show up on Hulu anyway, including live TV. Save your money and cut the cord!

2) Refinance Your Debts

If you’ve been doing really well at maintaining your debt, there’s no doubt that your credit score has improved over time. Maybe you took a loan out ten years ago you’re still paying on. If you have an improved credit score, that can go a long way in helping reduce what you spend each month. You can refinance your auto loan and/or your mortgage and student loan debt. It means a bank will give you a loan to pay that off, but your new loan will have better rates and lower monthly payments, saving you a bundle!

3) Don’t Be Afraid to Renegotiate

A lot of companies will do anything to keep you on as a customer, especially if they have a lot of competition. Don’t be afraid to call up these companies and do a bit of haggling to get a better rate. You can lower your cable get, get a good deal, or even threaten to switch companies if they’re offering something more your size. In most cases, they’re willing to oblige!

4) Share Your Bills

One simple way to save money is to split your bills with someone. Of course, this assumes you’re single or living on your own. By getting a roommate, that has a lot of great economic impacts. Suddenly you pay half of what you were before, putting more money back into your pocket.

5) Coordinate your Activities Better

You can easily lump different errands together and make a single trip out of it. A lot of people don’t do this and it makes no sense whatsoever. You can really save a lot on gas by going out and doing all your things at once while coordinating how you do it. For example, getting groceries after you hit the gym because the store is on your way home.

3 Things You Should Know Before Buying Health Insurance

Written by adminJuly 19, 2019

Health Insurance

Health insurance can be an evolving beast that’s complicated to understand and changes with the weather. With each new administration, it seems as if the rules change, as does the coverage.

That’s not all. Each individual state and local areas have different types of insurance. Which is the right type for you and your family? What will your coverage look like? How high is the deductible?

The issue can get so complicated (and expensive) that a large portion of the population just throws their hands in the air and decided not to get coverage at all. Obamacare tried to weed those people out by fining them, but it didn’t matter. To their own detriment, many millions of Americans still do not have health insurance.

In fact, 62% of bankruptcies are because of medical bills. That’s a scary situation to put yourself in. Bad things happen all the time and it’s essential to protect yourself for when it does. Here are three things you need to know about managing your own health insurance.

1) Know Your Budget Before Going In

One of the best ways to know which coverage is best for you should be dependent on your budget. According to a Consumer Expenditure Survey, most Americans spend about 5% of their income on health insurance. That’s somewhere around the mid-tier or “Silver” plan. What you do from there is up to you.

If you make a bit more money, then the best option might be to spend a little more on the premiums so your deductibles aren’t as high if you need to use your insurance. If you can’t afford that, then understand your deductible will be higher. Whichever option you choose, knowing what you can afford beforehand is the best way to go.

2) Know Your Options and Compare

After you know what you’re able to spend on health insurance, it’s time to look at the different options and compare different plans to see what fits your needs. As of right now, there are four categories: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Each one has varying benefits at increasingly expensive rates.

But prices are only just the beginning. You will have to look at the doctors in your area. What insurance do they cover? What are you able to do with that insurance if you need other types of care, like dental and vision? There are a lot of network types as well, like PPO, POS, HMO, and EPO.

You might find that there’s only one type that’s universally accepted within the networks in your area. Others have limited coverage or might even charge you more money if you venture outside the network.

3) Know What Your Needs Are

The worst thing you can do is choose an insurance plan solely based on price, but then find out later it doesn’t cover nearly as much as you thought it would. Needs can come later that you weren’t prepared for. You can know the future, so it’s best to be reflect the needs you have.

For example, will your kids need braces? Glasses? Do you need to visit a chiropractor for medical reasons? Do you take a lot of expensive medications? Are you fully covered in the event you end up missing work due to an accident or prolonged illness?

Some people rarely use their healthcare and haven’t stepped into a doctor’s office in a decade. Others make sure they get monthly check-ups. What we use and what we’ll need vary from person to person. Does your employer have an FSA (or Flexible Spending Account)? Would a HAS (Health Savings Account) help you more if money is tight?

With these three steps in mind, don’t just decide one day that you need health insurance and immediately jump online to apply. Instead, take a lot of notes. Think about future needs more than financial burden, as medical bills can bankrupt you if you’re not prepared.

The Dog Days of Summer Are Here. Here’s How Energy Companies Say You Can Save Money

Written by adminJuly 18, 2019

Science

It’s currently the middle of July and this next week is expected to be a scorcher across the entire country. Highs near 100° will reach as far north as Canada. It’s been a very hot season so far for most of the country and many energy companies are doing their best to keep up with demand. In fact, one energy company, Consumers Energy, says that were using our air-conditioning 40% more this month compared to other Julys in the past.

That’s why a lot of energy companies are sending out emails and text to their customers. They want to warn everybody about the warmer weather and what they can do to help protect their bill. The goal is for every individual consumer to use less energy. When it gets superhot like this, we want to crank up the AC, but everyone else is their AC on as well. This can lead to a lot of complications with the power grid.

When it gets hot, it also impacts the air quality. With the soaring temperatures, a lot of the country falls under air-quality alerts as ozone levels continue to rise. This type of pollution can make the situation dire when combined with extremely high temperatures. Most people are advised to stay inside, stay hydrated, and stay cool if possible.

Saving Money this Summer

If you really want to save money this summer, don’t crank your AC that often. The air conditioner, while a modern marvel, is one of the largest budget killers in your home. You’ll notice a tremendous difference in your bill from the cooler spring months when you didn’t run the AC, to months like July when it’s most likely on more often.

Many energy companies, including Consumers Energy, recommends that you turn your thermostat up when the days get superhot. The recommended temperature setting is 78° for these warm days. It’s estimated that every degree that you turn up your thermostat, you’ll save anywhere between 1% and 3% on your bill. Not to mention, you’ll be helping out the environment by using less energy.

The lower your thermostat on these extremely hot days, the more times it will kick on throughout the day. It’s not uncommon for big cities to have brownouts or even blackouts during the hot summer months when everyone’s trying to crank their AC.

Energy Saving Tips

If 78° is a little warm for you, there are a few things you can do to still save energy. It’s a good idea to keep your shades and blinds closed during the day to keep the heat of the sun out of your house. You could also use fans. A fan in front of the AC might help push cooler air throughout your home. If possible, consider ordering out on the hottest of days you have to use your oven or dishwasher. And when night comes, open the windows and let in the cool night air.

5 Tips for Paying off Your Student Loans Faster

Written by adminJuly 16, 2019

Loans , Student Loan Consolidation

If you’re one of the 44 million Americans who have student loans, it may seem like you’ll never be able to pay it off. It can be an insurmountable amount of money totaling in the tens of thousands of dollars. The average amount of student loan debt Americans have is around $28,000. That will take them as long as 10, even 20 years to pay off.

This is causing a lot of problems and so many people’s lives. It even impacts the economy as it prevents young people from making major life decisions. It’s making them decide to put off getting married, having children, buying a car, or even getting a mortgage. There unable to buy health insurance or save for retirement.

The impact of the $1.53 trillion owed was going to be felt for a very long time. The economy might be thriving right now, but having this much debt as caused major recessions in the past. At some point, the bubble might burst. And while many people are sitting around and waiting for politicians to create a fix, there are things you can do right now to help yourself.

Here are five tips for paying off your student loans faster:

1) Don’t Just Pay the Minimum Balance

The minimum balances there for a reason. If you could pay less, then of course you would. At that point, it would take even longer for you to pay off your debt. We definitely would like to have more money in our pockets, but that’s not going to happen until we pay off our debt. That debt is going to stick with us until it’s paid off. You cannot declare bankruptcy and get rid of this debt. By avoiding it, you’re only making the situation worse in your life. Instead, take responsibility for your debt. Pay it off as quickly as possible. That’ll actually lower the interest will be expected to pay for the lifetime of your debt. Interest alone can add thousands to your total, so limiting that while paying it off quicker will help you in the long run.

2) Set a Payoff Date for Motivation

Whether you decide you’re going to pay more than the minimum balance each month, do a little bit of math and figure out exactly the date when you finish paying off your debt. Use that data as motivation moving forward. Might even think that the date is too far off and make the wise choice to beat the date and pay it off sooner.

3) Check into Refinancing

Listen, if you’ve had your debt for a while and you’ve had a great track record of paying it off without taking on more debt, you could get your debt refinanced. When you graduated college, you probably didn’t have a great credit score. That means monthly payments or higher, as is the interest you’ll be expected to pay. But if you improved your credit score, that will certainly help you to refinance and get a lower interest and monthly payment. Lower interest means you’ll pay it off sooner.

4) Check Out How Each Payment is Applied

When you make monthly payments, you might think every dollar is going toward your loan. It’s not. This is how the lenders make their money. A big chunk of your payment goes towards the interest, not the principal. That means you’re paying off your student debt even slower than you realize. This is why it’s important to pay more each month, as the more you pay, the more you’ll pay down the principal amount.

5) Avoid Forbearances

There may come a time when you think the best course of action is to get a forbearance. Forbearance will allow you to hold off on making payments for certain time without impacting your credit score or putting you into default. While there may come a time when you desperately need a forbearance, it’s never a good idea, especially if you do it for a long period of time. Even while you’re on forbearance, your debt will still collect interest and grow during that time. Always pay something, even if things are financially tight.

Reynolds Wrap is Looking for Someone to Grill and Eat Ribs for $5,000 a Week!

Written by adminJune 27, 2019

Real life

Do you consider yourself a grill master? How good are you with ribs? If you can hang as one of the best grilling chefs in America, then you might get to join Reynolds Wrap in a journey across the United States this summer. It’s only for a few weeks, but the pay is solid at $5,000 per week. This is a deal I don’t think anyone can pass up!

Reynolds Wrap has officially stated that they’re looking for their next “Chief Grilling Officer.” If that Chief Grilling Officer is you, then the company will let you choose a friend to join you on the quest of finding the best BBQ ribs in America. They don’t just pay $5,000 per week (in the form of a $10,000 stipend), but also all your lodging and transportation costs.

Now, you may be chomping on the bit to take this job, but it’s not for the faint of heart. You’d be asked to eat A LOT of BBQ ribs over a two-week period. If you can handle it, then the role of Chief Grilling Officer can be all yours! The contest would have the CGO traveling the country and looking for the best rack of ribs in America.

“If you don’t mind being paid to taste test some of the most delicious BBQ ribs across the country, posting envy-inducing pictures of your food and falling asleep every night dreaming about your next rack of ribs, then you could have what it takes to be the next Reynolds Wrap Chief Grilling Officer,” Reynolds Wrap said in a statement.

Genius Marketing Stunt

There are a lot of ways of using Reynolds Wrap foil when barbequing, especially when grilling a rack of nice ribs. A marketing stunt like this, sending the Chief Grilling Officer to find the best ribs in America, is surely done to promote their brand and how amazing chefs, grillers, and smokers across the land use Reynolds Wrap foil for their tasty food.

In order to qualify to be chosen, Reynolds Wrap is asking each contestant to send in a photo that shows them grilling and using their products. They’re also asking for a 100-word essay that explains why you should be the Chief Grilling Officer. But you must hurry! The deadline for this contest is coming up soon!

Tesla Develops Proprietary Batteries in Secret Lab

Written by adminJune 27, 2019

Business , Technology

Tesla aiming to manufacture their own battery cells to reduce dependence on Panasonic.

According to five current and recent employees, Tesla is designing the means to manufacture their own battery cells en masse. This is in spite of an extensive partnership deal signed with Panasonic, who have been making battery cells for Tesla since 2014.

It’s no big secret that the battery pack and battery cells are by far the biggest cost component of Tesla’s electric vehicles. This development will definitely help to lower the cost of production on Tesla’s electric vehicles while cutting out data and resource sharing with any outside vendors and partners.

Call Now 844-332-2079

Earlier this month at Tesla’s annual shareholders meeting, CEO Elon Musk admitted that the company had been “battery-constrained”. What this means is that Tesla’s shortage of batteries limited their production and sales of their electric vehicle and storage systems such as their Powerwalls and Powerpacks.

If Tesla can pull this off, that would complete their vertical integration as they would be developing, manufacturing and selling their own product. They would be hard-pressed to scale their manufacturing process for these battery cells as they continue to struggle to do the same for their vehicle production.

The “secret lab” in question

Tesla currently makes most of its batteries at the Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, which it jointly owns with Panasonic. In light of Tesla researching their own battery option, it makes sense that they would divert resources to a separate facility.

The battery research and development division is located at the Tesla’s Kato Road facility a few minutes drive from the company’s car plant in Fremont, California. There, Tesla aims to design prototype advanced lithium ion battery cells, as well as develop processes that will allow mass production once it’s ready to go to market.

Even if Tesla is successful in developing this new battery, this does not mean that they will cut ties entirely with Panasonic. Tesla employees that are kept apprised of supplier negotiations say that the company will be working with Panasonic and LG in producing the batteries that will go into the first vehicles manufactured at the new Shanghai factory. The new factory is slated to be operational by the end of the year, and initiate mass production in 2020.

Tension between partners

This initiative to bring battery manufacturing in-house has been public knowledge for a while now. At Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting in June, Musk encouraged investors to place their focus on two company priorities, namely complete self-driving vehicles and scaling battery production.

On the latter point, he dropped no details however on how he intended to do so, including the reason for the $218 million acquisition of energy tech company Maxwell Technologies back in May this year.

Tesla CTO JB Straubel said that,” We’re taking all the moves required to be masters of our own destiny here. I think through all the experience we’ve developed with partners and otherwise, we will have solutions for this.”

His comments follow reports of tension between the two companies. In January this year, Panasonic made a deal with Toyota to build car batteries together in a joint venture. A few months later in April, Panasonic said it would temporarily freeze their investments in Tesla Gigafactories.

Musk hit back a few days later, blaming Panasonic for delaying Model 3 production by lowering capacity, threatening to pull financing until cell line capacity was brought up to speed.

Panasonic seems to have come out on top though, as in recent years many Tesla employees have been moving over to Panasonic, lured by better compensation, clear policies on schedules and time off. As for Tesla’s aspirations on battery production, only time will tell.

Call Now 844-332-2079

Reynolds Wrap is Looking for Someone to Grill and Eat Ribs for $5,000 a Week!

Written by adminJune 21, 2019

Entertainment

Do you consider yourself a grill master? How good are you with ribs? If you can hang as one of the best grilling chefs in America, then you might get to join Reynolds Wrap in a journey across the United States this summer. It’s only for a few weeks, but the pay is solid at $5,000 per week. This is a deal I don’t think anyone can pass up!

Reynolds Wrap has officially stated that they’re looking for their next “Chief Grilling Officer.” If that Chief Grilling Officer is you, then the company will let you choose a friend to join you on the quest of finding the best BBQ ribs in America. They don’t just pay $5,000 per week (in the form of a $10,000 stipend), but also all your lodging and transportation costs.

Now, you may be chomping on the bit to take this job, but it’s not for the faint of heart. You’d be asked to eat A LOT of BBQ ribs over a two-week period. If you can handle it, then the role of Chief Grilling Officer can be all yours! The contest would have the CGO traveling the country and looking for the best rack of ribs in America.

“If you don’t mind being paid to taste test some of the most delicious BBQ ribs across the country, posting envy-inducing pictures of your food and falling asleep every night dreaming about your next rack of ribs, then you could have what it takes to be the next Reynolds Wrap Chief Grilling Officer,” Reynolds Wrap said in a statement.

Genius Marketing Stunt

There are a lot of ways of using Reynolds Wrap foil when barbequing, especially when grilling a rack of nice ribs. A marketing stunt like this, sending the Chief Grilling Officer to find the best ribs in America, is surely done to promote their brand and how amazing chefs, grillers, and smokers across the land use Reynolds Wrap foil for their tasty food.

In order to qualify to be chosen, Reynolds Wrap is asking each contestant to send in a photo that shows them grilling and using their products. They’re also asking for a 100-word essay that explains why you should be the Chief Grilling Officer. But you must hurry! The deadline for this contest is coming up soon!

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