Connexion
On Thursday, the IRS released its annual adjustments for the 2024 tax year, which include changes to income tax brackets and a higher standard deduction. These shifts happen every year to account for “bracket creep,” which causes people to pay more in taxes due to inflation without actually earning more income.
Tax day 2024 is not until Mon, Apr 15, 2024, and also right around the corner. The luxury of time doesn’t mean you should wait until the last minute to figure out how you’re going to file your 2023 taxes—especially when you can save some money if you plan ahead.
Target’s early Black Friday deals are already live, and one of their limited-time offers will be especially attractive to pint-size gamers (and their parents). The retailer is offering Roblox gift cards at 40% off for a very limited time—today only, in fact. From now until 2:59 a.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 10, Target is…
We’re still a ways out from the winter holidays, but they’ll be here before you know it—so now is the time to mark your calendars so your gifts arrive on time. The major shipping services—USPS, UPS, and FedEx—each have deadlines for sending mail and packages if you want them to arrive ahead of Dec. 25.
After Best Buy, Target, and Walmart shared their Black Friday plans, Amazon finally announced its own. Big retailers are rolling out their deals especially early this year, so if you plan to shop, you should take advantage of them.
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We’re going to create a deep umami condiment out of mushrooms, and then use that condiment on freaking everything this Thanksgiving. Doesn’t sound very convincing? Think about Worcestershire sauce: It goes with absolutely everything. Meat, vegetables—heck, it’s a major component of Caesar salad dressing. The reason is…
It’s almost time to fall back for Daylight Saving Time, but who came up with this bizarre practice? And why? If you just answered “Benjamin Franklin” and “to help farmers,” you don’t know the real history.
The Department of the Treasury announced last week that the new rate for I bonds issued between November 2023 and April 2024 is 5.27%. This number includes a fixed rate of 1.30%. With inflation causing concerns for your investments across the board, U.S. savings bonds are considered a safe bet, since they’re fully…
It’s pretty much an American tradition that the FDA only bans a controversial ingredient after companies have mostly stopped using it—that’s how it went with trans fats and with BPA in baby bottles. Now, brominated vegetable oil (BVO) stands ready to join the list. The additive was once used in Mountain Dew, and is…
Welcome to Evil Week, our annual dive into all the slightly sketchy hacks we’d usually refrain from recommending. Want to weasel your way into free drinks, play elaborate mind games, or, er, launder some money? We’ve got all the info you need to be successfully unsavory.
Law enforcement officers and agents will hide who they are for all kinds of reasons, from catching speeders to infiltrating extremist political groups to preventing the kidnappings of state governors. It’s often hard to recognize undercover cops, but there are some tells, so here’s a rough guide to recognizing cops…
Leftover cornbread is a sad, dusty thing. It’s hard to believe it could ever even be left over—the stuff is so exquisite when fresh—but Thanksgiving leads to leftover everything. Whether you made too much for your famous stuffing, or the cornbread muffins were forgotten at dinner, there’s a way you can give stale…
Good news for savers: The IRS announced yesterday that next year’s contribution limits for 401(k)s and other tax-advantaged retirement plans are being increased to account for inflation. Since it’s always a good idea to max out your retirement contributions, let’s take a look at what these new limits are for the 2024…
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) determines your eligibility for need-based financial aid for college. In previous years, the FAFSA asked families about the amount they contributed to employer-sponsored retirement accounts like 401(k)s each year, and factored it into households’ overall yearly…
Welcome to Evil Week, our annual dive into all the slightly sketchy hacks we’d usually refrain from recommending. Want to weasel your way into free drinks, play elaborate mind games, or, er, launder some money? We’ve got all the info you need to be successfully unsavory.
Making a cake is never easy. With all the bowls, whisks, and measuring cups involved, it can feel a lot more like a chemistry experiment than a celebratory snack. “One bowl” recipes can make the process less of a chore, but all I really want to do is just dump everything in a dish and bake it. Turns out I’ve been in…
An Apple ID is the social security card of the Apple ecosystem: It is your Apple identity, required whenever logging into a new device or to verify you are who you say you are. So if you don’t know your Apple ID, it’s kind of a big deal. Luckily, there are a few ways to find it, although some are easier than others.
Hot chicken has foodie virality at the moment, but it isn’t a passing fad. This spicy fried poultry has been searing the taste buds off of Nashvillians for generations. You can give large chicken cuts the hot chicken treatment, or shrink it down to party snack size. Bring a tiny piece of Nashville into your home with…
While Apple Music and Spotify are the two dominant music streaming services, there are plenty of other legitimate options to check out. Maybe you’re looking for something that prioritizes the highest quality digital music experience possible; maybe you want something that works well free of charge; maybe your priority…
It’s getting near Halloween, when the veil between the living and the dead grows thin, so I traveled to a notoriously haunted picnic table during a solar eclipse to find ghosts with my iPhone.
Picture perfect apples are tumbling into grocery stores with no sign of stopping. Make the most of this bounty by cooking up one of the more concentrated iterations of apple—apple butter, with a twist. It’s always been a dippable, spreadable, velvety smooth fall favorite, but take it a step further with a dose of…
Paramount+ has a handful of original titles worth watching in November. On one end is Lawmen: Bass Reeves (November 5), a Wild West drama starring David Oyelowo as the real-life Bass Reeves, the first Black deputy U.S. marshal to work west of the Mississippi. On the other is Colin From Accounts (November 9), an…
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Choosing an ethernet cable for your home network seems straightforward, but there’s more to it than you might think, especially if you don’t know what all the different names and numbers mean. If you just go with the highest numbers, you could end up spending too much money on something you don’t really need.…
Being self-employed gives you the freedom and flexibility to be your own boss. However, one major drawback of being your own boss is securing your own affordable health insurance.
Cash is king, even if the jury is still out on how much you should carry on you at any given moment. What’s not up for debate is how frustrating it is to walk up to an ATM and have to authorize a charge for $2 or $3 for the privilege of accessing your own money. Yes, you can go to one of your bank’s ATMs to avoid the…
Sadly, we did not manage to abolish Daylight Saving time changes during that brief, hopeful moment last year, so in less than two weeks we will be going ahead with our usual ritual: Wake up early, forgetting that the time changed during the night, then get confused that the clock on our phone doesn’t match the one on…
Max has a handful of original series worth streaming in November, starting with season two of the Issa Rae comedy Rap Sh!t, which stars KaMillion and Aida Osman as estranged friends turned rap partners (November 9) followed by season two of Julia, the comedy-drama based on the life of Julia Child (November 16). At the…
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Saving for retirement is a crucial part of everyone’s financial planning. I’ve recommended before that dividing your money into multiple accounts helps you see all your saving goals separately. A big part of that is taking advantage of retirement-specific accounts in order to invest in your future. So, how can…
If you want to live in a newly constructed house, you have two choices: You can buy a finished home from a builder, or you can have one built from scratch. Either choice can be incredibly expensive: The cost of building a new house in the U.S. ranges quite a bit, with $332,397 being the national average, but the final…
From the earliest days of cinema history, cartoons were never just for kids, and it’s important not to confuse the medium with a genre. Animation has produced movies that are charming, romantic, harrowing, musical, magical, dystopian, funny...and pretty much every other adjective you might use to describe a story that…
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I’ve had TSA Precheck for years, with no regrets. The fee works out to just $15 annually, and every time I’ve taken a trip by air and faced shorter lines at security, I’ve been glad I signed up. The only real hassle was that I had to take several hours out of my day to drive to the airport for an in-person interview.…
The Roth IRA is a powerful retirement savings tool. For young people especially, it’s the best way to take full advantage of compound interest while minimizing your tax exposure. The money you contribute grows tax-free, and most people can withdraw funds in retirement tax-free, too. However, make some wrong moves…
After going heavy on horror in October, Hulu has something for nearly everyone in November. There’s Hulu Original comedy Quiz Lady, starring Sandra Oh and Awkwafina as sisters on a journey to pay off debt by winning game shows (Nov. 3); and Black Cake, a serial drama based on Charmaine Wilkerson’s book of the same…
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Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, has become a quasi-holiday in the United States that’s marked by consumer discounts, shopping, and violence. While its importance is slowly waning as online shopping grows, it’s still a big deal in the U.S.—it’s estimated that around 166 million American consumers went…
Lots of people are hearing about Novavax, the fourth COVID vaccine option in the U.S., for the first time, but it’s been authorized for use as a primary vaccine series since early 2022. Previously, it was only available for those who hadn’t received a mRNA vaccine—an alternative for those who either couldn’t or…
The 2000s, in some ways, feel, culturally, neither here nor there: They don’t have the strong neon vibe we associate with the 1980s, and lack the grunge appeal of the ‘90s. There’s plenty to appreciate, however, in movies over the decade that was bookended by blockbusters: Lord of the Rings in the early years, and Iron…
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“Naked pizza” might sound confusing at first, if not slightly scandalous. After all, half of the fun is adding flavorful toppings, so what is the allure of nude dough? A naked pizza is more than its title; think of it as a starting point for alternative toppings. The technique is simple, but you’re going to need some …
Whether or not you love hearing spooky stories all year round,October is inarguably the best time of year to indulge. If you’re looking for a podcast that will scare you silly, here’s a terrifyingly good roundup of prospects—some based on true stories, some thankfully not, some funny, some safe for kids, and all…
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The word “chili” can mean a lot of different things, depending on where you are in the country. Setting chili peppers aside, the dish known as “chili” can take a few forms, most commonly a mess of meat or beans or some combination of the two, usually swimming in a base of tomato, garlic, onion, and (of course) chili…
Spicy food is a lifelong adventure. Even for the wary, the sensitive, the adamantly spice-less, there’s usually a moment when unexpected spice makes its way into the hors d’oeuvres at an event or at a family gathering–and it’s pretty good. Fear strikes, but after that moment passes, you kind of don’t hate what just…
If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Thursday, October 12, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 12, NYT Connections #123! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s…
After years of threatening to do so, I have finally joined the Costco community. I did it mostly for the reasonably priced dog food and Diet Coke, but I would be lying if I said the prospect of $5 rotisserie chickens had nothing to do with my decision. I love that chicken, and always have. I get four meals out of that…
Having a higher credit limit on your credit card can be beneficial in several ways. It can help improve your credit score by lowering your credit utilization ratio. It also gives you more purchasing power and flexibility with your spending. But automatic credit limit increases aren’t automatic—you have to ask your…
Before the explosion of streaming services, watching a rousing cricket match could be a sticky wicket in the United States, but these days, it’s easy, mate. Badgers (extreme cricket fans) can watch all 48 matches from cricket’s ICC ODI World Cup from their living rooms, even if they don’t have cable TV, so there’s no…
Open enrollment for the next U.S. healthcare plan year kicks off Nov. 1—and the process can be overwhelming, to say the least. As you review your employer-provided health insurance options, it’s easy to make mistakes that could negatively impact your coverage and costs for the next year. Even if you consider yourself…
Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days don’t arrive until next week, but the early offers have already started. Among them: Blink security cameras (up to 60% off), this Ring camera bundle (40% off), and Amazon Fire TV Sticks starting at $17.99.
If you’re looking to get a jump on your student loan application for next year, you’re going to have to wait: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) won’t open until sometime in December. Since 2016, the FAFSA for the upcoming academic year has opened on Oct. 1—however, the process is currently being…
When facing what feels like a crushing amount of debt, you may be tempted to resign yourself to feeling hopeless and alone. This is understandable, given how society tends to treat debt like a personal problem—your mistake, your job to deal with the consequences. But debtors’ unions are trying to change that.
Get ready for a little chaos on Wednesday afternoon, because a test of the national Wireless Emergency Alerts will happen between 2:20 and 2:50 p.m. EDT. (That’s 11:20 to 11:50 a.m. on the West Coast.) If you have a burner phone that needs to stay hidden, or a baby who sleeps during that time, you may want to be…
International travel is about to get a little easier for the more than 12 million members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Global Entry program. Earlier this month, GBP announced the launch of a new mobile app which would allow Global Entry members to complete their arrival processing on their phone…
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