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By Gabrielle Olya In this edition of our Small Business Spotlight series, we’re featuring Skeeter Reaper, an Illinois-based family-owned and operated pest control business that prides itself on fast, efficient and transparent service. Here, we chat with co-owner Ashlee Gaither about how starting a business has benefited her and her husband’s home life, the example she wants to set for her three children and why you should “start now” if you’re dreaming of starting a business of your own....

MyPoints Overview Initially founded in 1996, MyPoints was one of the first online rewards platforms. Although it was one of the first, it is still a viable opportunity to earn rewards online. A few ways to earn MyPoints include watching videos, taking surveys, playing games, and shopping online at select stores. With enough MyPoints, you can trade them in for gift cards. By Sarah Sharkey Overview Features How It Stands Ou t...

Polkadot is currently the No. 11 biggest cryptocurrency in the world. Although it just misses the top 10 list, Polkadot’s $7.19 billion market cap puts it in the crypto big leagues, just ahead of dai, polygon and shiba inu and just behind dogecoin, solana and cardano. By Andrew Lisa About Polkadot About DOT Price Predictions Should You Invest As of Sept. 22, polkadot is trading at $6.42. The token has experienced some recent turmoil, so making an accurate polkadot price prediction is no easy feat....

The Consumer Price Index Report was released yesterday, revealing that overall inflation has increased 5.4% over the past 12 months. Prices have particularly surged in all six major grocery store categories and the energy sector. Supply chain disruptions have caused major blockages, as well, causing surging prices in beef, poultry and eggs. A rapid decline in demand last year for airline travel has also caused oil production to slow and then pick back up when demand did....

Traveling solo can be both a daunting and rewarding task. While a vacation on your own frees you up to make your own itinerary, not having someone along to help split the cost can seem challenging. Fortunately, there are plenty of options when traveling by oneself that can help make your vacation cost-friendly without leaving you anxious about your pocketbook. By Christian Long Plan Ahead and Do Your Research Wander Off the Beaten Path Hit the Free Spots Avoid Weekends Pack Smart There’s Still Time: How To Budget and Plan for a Vacation in 2021 Shhh: 13 Insider Secrets From Travel Agents That Will Save You Money...

Many people are walking around with at least one credit card in their wallets that aren’t being used to their full potential. Credit cards offer many benefits that people aren’t taking advantage of, and chargebacks are one of them. By Diane Fogle About Chargebacks Chargeback Process Effects Responsibility The option for a chargeback is available for both debit and credit cards. Read on to learn more about chargebacks and how to use them effectively and responsibly....

Everyone knows that EVs don’t take gas and that it’s cheaper to charge a battery than it is to fill a tank. It’s no secret that EVs cost less to maintain and that they don’t break down as much because they have far fewer moving parts. But gas and maintenance are only two of the three big components that factor into the cost of long-term ownership. By Andrew Lisa See: What Percentage of Your Income Should Go Toward Auto Loan Payments?...

Inflation fears in the United States have many Americans thinking about how to protect their money against rising prices and higher costs of living. This requires strategizing on which investments to gravitate toward — and which to avoid. By Vance Cariaga Making Money: The Most Fascinating Things You Never Knew You Could Invest InSee: Investing for Beginners: What First-Time Investors Need To Know As the BBC reported in May 2021, consumer prices in the U....

At the heart of America’s growth and prosperity are small businesses. Small and mighty, these businesses are vital not only to our communities, but at a broader economic level. By Heather Taylor See Our List: 100 Most Influential Money ExpertsFind Out: Should You Still Buy a Home in Today’s Market? Here’s why keeping the doors at a small business open matters for the U.S. economy and local communities. Plus, we take a look at some of the challenges small businesses face and how you can help make a difference and support small businesses....

The Federal Reserve has said it will soon begin raising interest rates, and industry experts as well as investment analysts are weighing in on how this economic shift will affect the outlook for Bitcoin — particularly as the asset has matured since the previous hikes, and the crypto has seen increased adoption. By Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy See: Bitcoin Trends for 2022 From the Experts Find: Bitcoin, Cryptos Plunge Lower, Continuing Downward Trend...

Most everyone was hit hard by the pandemic (except many a tech bro, to be honest), but women were decimated. Female job losses due to COVID-19 are 1.8 times higher than men’s job losses, according to research from the McKinsey Global Institute. As of February 2021, women lost 5.4 million jobs during the pandemic compared with 4.4 million lost by men. Indeed, things have been so bad for working women during the early waves of the pandemic that some called the economic aftermath a “shecession....

The holiday season often carries added stress for families who are financially strapped and trying to find the perfect gifts for everyone on their list. However, ongoing inflation with grocery and energy prices and the rising credit card interest rates could mean Americans may need to spend a little more time planning financially for a happy holiday season. By Dawn Allcot Holiday Spending: Get Top Holiday Shopping and Savings TipsRead More: If Your Credit Score Is Under 740, Make These 4 Moves Now...

You’ll always need cleaning supplies, so it’s helpful to know how to save money on these products. Not shopping smart can make cleaning your house a major expense. By Sam DiSalvo For instance, buying name brand products for each spot of your home is both expensive and unnecessary. Some cleaners can and should be used for multiple surfaces, and you might have certain items in your pantry that can double as extremely effective cleaning products....

Formerly known as food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helped nearly 42 million Americans cope with food insecurity in 2021. But millions are still missing out on benefits despite being eligible, and many more aren’t getting the most out of the benefits they are receiving. Here’s a look at the most common mistakes that keep qualifying people from collecting benefits and that keep beneficiaries from maximizing their SNAP payments....

Texas is a huge state of more than 268,000 square miles and 1,800 cities and towns. Even so, there are less than a handful of places where retirees can live on $2,000 a month — none of which are major cities you normally hear about, like Austin and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. By Cynthia Measom Retirement at Any Age: Get Retirement Tips That Fit Every Stage of LifeMore: 7 Surprisingly Easy Ways To Reach Your Retirement Goals...

Credit One Bank has made a name for itself by offering credit cards for people with less-than-stellar — and, in some cases, downright awful — credit. It should be noted that Credit One bears no association with Capital One. By Nicole Spector For Retail Protection For Gas and Groceries For Building Credit For No Annual Fee For Travel Rewards For Simple Rewards Credit One Credit Cards If you’re interested in applying for a Credit One card, you’ll need to see if you pre-qualify on its website, first....

The price of many cryptocurrencies continues to fall — a drop largely driven by widespread anxiety regarding the Federal Reserve’s actions to stem inflation and how bond sell-offs (and interest rate hikes) will affect investment markets. By Dawn Allcot Discover: 11 Best Prepared-Food Deals at Costco More: Stimulus Updates To Know for Spring 2022 On May 12, TerraUSD, one of the stablecoins previously tied to the value of the dollar, stopped processing new transactions....

Being the boss is the aspiration of many working Americans, and who’s a bigger boss than the CEO? A company’s chief executive officer has the ultimate power within a business, as she is responsible for managing and overseeing all operations. Everything from organizing the company’s structure, strategy and missions to delegating tasks and making executive hiring (and firing!) decisions are on her agenda. By Nicole Spector Get an MBA “Earning a Master’s in Business Administration can potentially shorten your path to the CEO post,” said David Bitton, co-founder and CMO of DoorLoop....

Taco Bell’s new Taco Lover’s Pass can get you a taco a day for 30 days at no extra charge — a spicy start to 2022. The pass costs around $10 for the month, although prices vary by business location, and customers have up to seven taco options to choose from every day for 30 days, the company reported. By Josephine Nesbit See: This Fast Food Joint Has a Unique Way of Handling Hiring Problems Find: Gaming, Fast Food and 19 Other Pleasures That Are Hurting Your Bank Account...

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) is the parent company of Google, the search engine that is so ubiquitous it has become a verb. it really has — you can Google it. It is also the parent of more than 100 other companies whose products you use every day, including YouTube, Fitbit, Waze and Nest. By Karen Doyle Differences What Is Alphabet History Looking Ahead Long-Term Forecast Buy or Sell Read: 5 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000...