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  • Extra Income Has Become a Necessity

    In recent surveys, it has been found that over 70% of households are looking for ways to make extra income. A second income is not always a luxury anymore - it is often a lifeline to make ends meet.  Yet, not every opportunity is worth the cost of your time and money.

    It used to be that success meant focusing on your full-time job, climbing the corporate ladder, and then retiring with a pension.  For many, that is no longer the path to an enjoyable retirement.  With costs soaring and wages not keeping up with inflation, people are finding that adding another income stream is essential.

    Many refer to this extra work as a "side hustle."  You know, you hustle hard, receive little in return, and can get "hustled" yourself by bad actors, empty promises, or outright scams.

  • Saver's Credit Out - Saver's Match In

    Starting in 2027, a long-standing credit is gone and a new one takes it's place.

    2026 is the last year for the saver’s credit. This tax credit has rewarded low- and middle-incomers who contributed money to an IRA, 401(k), 403(b), SEP or similar retirement plan. The maximum credit is $2,000 for joint filers and $1,000 for other filers is capped at 50%, 20% or 10% of contributions, depending on your AGI (adjusted gross income). In 2026, the saver’s credit fully phases out at AGIs of $40,250 for single filers, $60,375 for household heads and $80,500 for married couples filing a joint return. 

  • Hate Captchas? We opted for a better choice.

    When I first set up this website, I was spending hours deleting spam user accounts and posts. Trying to go over my site logs was a nightmare because the majority of the logs were filled filled with bots trying to attack my site. So I gave in and installed captchas. I added extra questions to my webforms to try and filter out the spam. While these efforts helped, the bots just became smarter and found ways to get around them. One of the things that I hate the most is having to deal with Captchas, but I hate spam more.

  • The Trade School Revival

    College tuitions and the mounting debt incurred to get a degree are getting ridiculous.  And that to the fact that liberal arts degrees are probably not going to get you a dream job. So when I read about a renewed interest in trade schools and apprenticeships, it's about time.

    There is such a shortage of people going into the trades currently, that employers across construction, manufacturing, electrical work, plumbing, and HVAC are struggling to fill jobs.  Those that wish to take take path can count on finding a good job with decent pay.

  • What's Your Comfort Number?

    It's seems like everyone is looking for extra income these days, Monster.com's 2026 Cost of Living Report found that 93% of workers say that their pay isn't keeping up with today's cost of living.  And 85% said that they've dipped into savings to make ends meet.  In fact, if you asked 10 people, "How much money would allow you to feel financially secure?" you would no doubt get ten different answers.

    One person might need an extra $200 a month to stop relying on credit cards, while another might be looking for an extra $1,000 to build up their savings and take a long overdue vacation.  Then there are those you may dream of replaying a full-time income altogether because is hate what they are doing to pay the bills.

  • Your Sense of Thirst is Complicated

    Let's say you just finished a long walk on a warm afternoon, then stop to drink a tall glass of water and take a long drink. Usually, the dryness in your mouth eases, your throat reflexes and you feel satisfied.  But that water won't hit your bloodstream for at least another half hour, so why does your brain stop telling you to drink?

    The answer to that question has to do with how your body manages on of its most essential resources and why so many of us walk around mildly dehydrated with ever feeling it.

    Buried in your brain are two small regions that keep watch on the balance of water and salt in your blood. When that ratio changes a little, it triggers that sensation that we call thirst.  According to a report from Quanta Magazine discussing the neuroscience of thirst, it only takes a 1% change in your blood's water content to trip the thirst alarm.

  • How AI is Changing Fraud

    Scams are definately getting harder to spot nowadays. That is mainly due to how Artificial intelligence has changed how fraud works by making messages smoother, faces more familiar, and stories more believable.  

    According to Chainabuse, a leading reporting platform for malicious crypto activity worldwide, reports of  AI-enabled scams grew 456% between May 2024 and April 2025, compared with the same period the year before.  And that earlier period was already a 78% increase over 2022-2023.  This dramatic  spike wasn't just more scams, but scams supercharged by AI tools that make fraud faster, cheaper, and more believable.  Here is the real staggering news: Americans lost $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024 alone. 

  • Do You Have a Backup Income?

    Last year, employers in the United States cut nearly one million jobs, which is the highest number of layoffs since 2020. Companies of every size are looking for ways to minimize their workforce.

    For example, GM cut more than 6,000 jobs over the past two years, even though they had rising profits and strong stock performance.  Amazon has eliminated more than 27,000 jobs since 2022.  Not because they were losing money. Profitable corporations are eliminating jobs because of a new reality - they can grow revenue without adding employees.

    Labor expert Andy Challenger noted that job cuts at this level have historically occurred normally “during recessions or… during the first wave of automations that cost jobs in manufacturing and technology.”