(NEW YORK) — With the holidays around the corner, are you looking for ways to take control of your budget?
According to a viral hashtag with more than 376 million views on TikTok, you can accomplish both and all you need is some old-fashioned cash and a set of envelopes.
TikTokers swear by the concept of cash stuffing. It’s a technology-free way to budget and plan out your finances that’s similar to the “developing” method.
How to cash stuff
You can start by dividing up your set of envelopes into categories and labeling them. For example, holiday shopping, bills, utilities, etc.
From there, you then divide up your hard-earned cash into the respective category or envelope it will be allotted to.
“I swiped my card way too much,” TikTok cash stuffer Stephanie Garcia told GMA.
Since she began stuffing, Garcia said she managed to keep her debt low and also saved over $10,000 for the future.
(NEW YORK) — A New York City law will require companies with at least four employees to post salary ranges in job listings in an effort to increase pay transparency starting Tuesday.
Employers advertising jobs in the city who have at least one employee currently located there must include a “good faith salary range,” according to the New York City Commission on Human Rights, which is enforcing the law. Employers must include a minimum and maximum salary.
There is no fine for a first-time offense, though companies and employment agencies found to violate the law could face civil penalties of up to $250,000 if not corrected within 30 days of receiving notice of the violation.
Temporary staffing agencies are exempt from the law because they already disclose this information under the New York State Wage Theft Prevention Act.
Starting November 1, 2022, the NYC Human Rights Law requires employers to include a good faith pay range in all job postings – another step toward pay equity for New Yorkers.
The new law, which passed the New York City Council late last year, was set to go into effect in May, though the start date was delayed following criticism from business groups and companies who said they were not consulted about the legislation beforehand and that the language of the law was vague.
The law was also amended to waive a penalty for a first-time violation and clarify that it would not apply to jobs that cannot or will not be performed in New York City, among other changes.
The city follows other jurisdictions that have passed laws to increase pay transparency. Among them, Colorado, Connecticut and Nevada started mandating salary ranges on job postings last year, and similar salary requirement laws will go into effect in California, Rhode Island and Washington state in 2023.
Several companies have already started complying with the New York City law, including Amazon, American Express, Citigroup and Zillow.
Pay transparency advocates who were involved in the new law called it a “game changer for the city’s workers,” in particular those who face wage disparities, including Black and Latina women.
“With salary ranges out in the open, employers must think critically about how they set pay at the front end of their process before they insert unconscious biases. At the same time, women and people of color have more leverage to advocate for themselves and more information to make better decisions about jobs and industries to pursue, helping to combat occupational segregation,” Beverly Cooper Neufeld, president of PowHer New York, and Seher Khawaja, senior attorney for economic empowerment at Legal Momentum, wrote in an opinion piece published in the New York Daily News on Thursday.
The chambers of commerce in each borough and the Partnership for New York City, an organization that represents the city’s business leadership, had unsuccessfully pushed for the law to exempt industries with severe labor shortages, as well as only require minimum salary postings for highly compensated jobs.
“New York City is a highly competitive labor market, where most employers are committed to gender and racial pay parity,” they wrote in a joint letter in April, arguing that the inclusion of a salary range is “not necessarily the most appropriate tool for the New York labor market.”
(SAN FRANCISCO) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk has closed a deal to acquire Twitter, ending a monthslong saga that cast Musk as suitor, critic, legal adversary and ultimately owner of the social media platform.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed the deal closure to ABC News on Friday morning. Some of Twitter’s top executives were fired, including CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sam Edgett, and the company will likely be launching an internal investigation, according to the source.
On Friday, Segal recounted his tenure at the company and vowed to remain active as a user of the platform.
“The last 5 years have been the most fulfilling of my career,” Segal said. “The people, the potential, and the importance of Twitter. The shifts in technology, politics, culture. This will be hard to beat.”
Meanwhile, an employee leaving Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on Friday told ABC station KGO he’d been terminated during a Zoom meeting.
Former President Donald Trump applauded Musk’s takeover of Twitter. Musk has said in the past he would rescind the ban on the former president, but Trump did not say Friday whether he would return to the platform.
“I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, a platform launched by Trump. “Twitter must now work hard to rid itself of all of the bots and fake accounts that have hurt it so badly.”
Trump told Fox News in April, when news of Musk’s bid to buy Twitter emerged, that he would not return to the platform if his ban was lifted and was committed to growing Truth Social.
Musk said on Friday that he will forgo any significant content moderation or account reinstatement decisions until after the formation of a new committee devoted to the issues.
“Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” Musk tweeted. “No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”
The New York Stock Exchange confirmed on Friday morning that Twitter shares are now suspended for trading, which means the social media platform is headed for delisting and is no longer a public company.
On Thursday night, Musk tweeted: “The bird is freed.”
The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal were among the first outlets to report the purchase had gone through on Thursday evening, also citing sources familiar with the matter.
Musk — the richest person in the world, according to Forbes — reportedly acquired Twitter at his original offer price of $54.20 a share at a total cost of roughly $44 billion.
On Wednesday, Musk posted a video of himself walking into Twitter’s offices with a sink, with the tagline: “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”
After initially reaching an acquisition deal with Twitter in April, Musk moved to terminate the agreement in July, citing concerns over spam accounts on the platform.
Soon after, Twitter filed a lawsuit against Musk over his effort to nix the deal. The judge in the trial, set to take place in Delaware Chancery Court, gave Musk a deadline of Friday to reach a deal or proceed with the trial.
The deal completes a courtship that started in January when the billionaire first invested in Twitter.
By March, Musk had become the largest stakeholder in Twitter with the social media company announcing in April that Musk would join its board. Days later, however, Musk said he had decided against joining the board.
In April, Musk offered to buy Twitter at $54.20 per share, valuing the company at about $44 billion. The offer amounted to a 38% premium above where the price stood a day before Musk’s investment in Twitter became public. Roughly 10 days later, Twitter accepted Musk’s offer.
One month later, however, Musk said he had put the deal “temporarily on hold,” citing concern over what he said was the prevalence of bot and spam accounts on the platform. Roughly two hours later, Musk said he was “still committed” to the deal.
Twitter said it had provided Musk with information in accordance with conditions set out in the acquisition deal.
Eventually, Musk moved to terminate the deal in July. Soon after, Twitter sued Musk in Chancery Court in Delaware to force him to complete the deal.
A scheduling decision made by the court in July — to hold the trial over five days in October — appeared to align more closely with a timeline requested by Twitter, which had sought a four-day trial in September. Musk asked the court to set a trial date no earlier than mid-February 2023.
(NEW YORK) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk has closed a deal to acquire Twitter, ending a monthslong saga that cast Musk as suitor, critic, legal adversary and ultimately owner of the social media platform.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed the deal closure to ABC News on Friday morning. Some of Twitter’s top executives were fired, including CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sam Edgett, and the company will likely be launching an internal investigation, according to the source.
Meanwhile, the New York Stock Exchange confirmed on Friday morning that Twitter shares are now suspended for trading, which means the social media platform is headed for delisting and is no longer a public company.
On Thursday night, Musk tweeted, “The bird is freed.”
The Washington Post,The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal were among the first outlets to report the news on Thursday evening, also citing sources familiar with the matter.
Musk — the richest person in the world, according to Forbes — reportedly acquired Twitter at his original offer price of $54.20 a share at a total cost of roughly $44 billion.
On Wednesday, Musk posted a video of himself walking into Twitter’s offices with a sink, with the tagline: “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”
After initially reaching an acquisition deal with Twitter in April, Musk moved to terminate the agreement in July, citing concerns over spam accounts on the platform.
Soon after, Twitter filed a lawsuit against Musk over his effort to nix the deal. The judge in the trial, set to take place in Delaware Chancery Court, gave Musk a deadline of Friday to reach a deal or proceed with the trial.
The deal completes a courtship that started in January when the billionaire first invested in Twitter.
By March, Musk had become the largest stakeholder in Twitter with the social media company announcing in April that Musk would join its board. Days later, however, Musk said he had decided against joining the board.
In April, Musk offered to buy Twitter at $54.20 per share, valuing the company at about $44 billion. The offer amounted to a 38% premium above where the price stood a day before Musk’s investment in Twitter became public. Roughly 10 days later, Twitter accepted Musk’s offer.
One month later, however, Musk said he had put the deal “temporarily on hold,” citing concern over what he said was the prevalence of bot and spam accounts on the platform. Roughly two hours later, Musk said he was “still committed” to the deal.
Twitter said it had provided Musk with information in accordance with conditions set out in the acquisition deal.
Eventually, Musk moved to terminate the deal in July. Soon after, Twitter sued Musk in Chancery Court in Delaware to force him to complete the deal.
A scheduling decision made by the court in July — to hold the trial over five days in October — appeared to align more closely with a timeline requested by Twitter, which had sought a four-day trial in September. Musk asked the court to set a trial date no earlier than mid-February 2023.
(NEW YORK) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly closed a deal to acquire Twitter on Thursday, ending a monthslong saga that cast Musk as suitor, critic, legal adversary and ultimately owner of the social media platform.
The Washington Post, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal were among the outlets to report the deal closure, citing sources familiar with the matter. ABC News has not confirmed.
Later Thursday night, Musk tweeted, “The bird is freed.”
Musk — the richest person in the world, according to Forbes — reportedly acquired Twitter at his original offer price of $54.20 a share at a total cost of roughly $44 billion.
On Wednesday, Musk posted a video of himself walking into Twitter’s offices with a sink, with the tagline: “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”
After initially reaching an acquisition deal with Twitter in April, Musk moved to terminate the agreement in July, citing concerns over spam accounts on the platform.
Soon after, Twitter filed a lawsuit against Musk over his effort to nix the deal. The judge in the trial, set to take place in Delaware Chancery Court, gave Musk a deadline of Friday to reach a deal or proceed with the trial.
The deal completes a courtship that started in January when the billionaire first invested in Twitter.
By March, Musk had become the largest stakeholder in Twitter with the social media company announcing in April that Musk would join its board. Days later, however, Musk said he had decided against joining the board.
In April, Musk offered to buy Twitter at $54.20 per share, valuing the company at about $44 billion. The offer amounted to a 38% premium above where the price stood a day before Musk’s investment in Twitter became public. Roughly 10 days later, Twitter accepted Musk’s offer.
One month later, however, Musk said he had put the deal “temporarily on hold,” citing concern over what he said was the prevalence of bot and spam accounts on the platform. Roughly two hours later, Musk said he was “still committed” to the deal.
Twitter said it had provided Musk with information in accordance with conditions set out in the acquisition deal.
Eventually, Musk moved to terminate the deal in July. Soon after, Twitter sued Musk in Chancery Court in Delaware to force him to complete the deal.
A scheduling decision made by the court in July — to hold the trial over five days in October — appeared to align more closely with a timeline requested by Twitter, which had sought a four-day trial in September. Musk asked the court to set a trial date no earlier than mid-February 2023.
(NEW YORK) — As avian flu outbreaks continue to ravage poultry production in the U.S. and overseas, turkey availability has drastically dropped and experts say the devastating wave shows no signs of letting up ahead of the Thanksgiving and holiday seasons.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook report for October, turkey production will be lower than usual for the remainder of 2022 into early 2023 as a result of the deadly Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreaks.
“Turkey exports are adjusted slightly lower in 2022 and slightly higher in 2023, while imports are adjusted up in both years. Turkey prices are adjusted up on recent trends and lowered production expectations,” the USDA report stated.
As of the time of publication, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service data confirmed that 249 commercial flocks have been affected across 25 states with 47.76 million birds infected in total.
Farmers across the U.S. have reported horrific incidents of HPAI strains to the USDA that have wiped out entire flocks, and in other cases acted as a catalyst for farmers to cull infected birds in order to prevent the virus from spreading further.
Last month, the American Farm Bureau Federation announced that “families can expect to pay record high prices at the grocery store for turkey” due to bird flu and inflation.
The USDA reported that more than six million turkeys have died due to the virus nationwide thus far — nearly 14% of the total U.S. turkey production.
As a result, farmers are putting a premium on the birds that have remained healthy and ready for consumption.
According to a USDA report dated Oct. 21, combined with inflation, consumers can expect to pay around 20% more per pound for whole frozen turkeys this year, as compared to the price point at the same time last year. Ground turkey as well as bone-in and boneless drumsticks, cutlets and wings have also risen in price since last year.
For those still able or willing to take on the price hikes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises proper handling and cooking of all poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, as a general food safety precaution.
In the meantime, federal and state partners, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, are working jointly to monitor and test areas near affected flocks to actively identify any disease in commercial poultry operations, live bird markets and in migratory wild bird populations.
(NEW YORK) — A union representing 6,000 rail workers said its members have voted against ratifying the tentative agreement brokered between rail companies, unions and members of President Joe Biden’s administration in September.
The vote by the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the second union to reject the White House-brokered deal, elevates the likelihood of a nationwide strike when a negotiation deadline arrives in November.
The potential work stoppage could paralyze the nation’s supply chain and transportation rail service as the U.S. enters peak holiday season.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, when asked about the union vote during a briefing on Wednesday, said Biden “remains focused on protecting America’s families, farms and businesses by avoiding a rail shutdown.”
“We continue to urge both sides to work in good faith and avoid even the threat of a shutdown,” she added.
The vote against the contract centered on frustration with a lack of paid sick days, according to a statement from Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen President Michael Baldwin.
“For the first time that I can remember, the BRS members voted not to ratify a National Agreement,” he said.
The rejection of the deal came despite a 24% compounded wage increase and preservation of the members’ health care benefits, Baldwin added.
The National Carriers’ Conference Committee, or NCCC, which represents freight railroads in national collective bargaining, expressed disappointment over the union vote.
The tentative contract “included the largest wage package in nearly five decades, maintained rail employees’ platinum-level health benefits, and added an additional day of paid time off,” the NCCC said in a statement.
The contract was rejected by roughly 60% of members in the the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, while nearly 40% voted in favor of the deal, the union said. The vote garnered the highest participation rate in union history, it added.
In all, 12 unions representing 115,000 workers stand to ratify a labor agreement with rail companies. The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees division of the Teamsters, which represents 12,000 members, rejected the tentative agreement earlier this month.
Six unions have ratified the deal brokered by the White House, the NCCC said.
The two largest rail unions — the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Trainmen, or BLET, and the SMART Transportation Division, or SMART-TD, which make up roughly half of all rail workers — are set to finish voting in the middle of next month.
The unions that voted down the agreement have vowed to continue negotiations at least until Nov. 19, when a strike could ensue.
“The artery of the US economy is the rail system. It’s one of the ways we get everything around. One third of everything gets around this way. And when you cut it, you have a stroke,” Diane Swonk, chief economist at global tax firm KPMG, previously told ABC News.
A potential strike could lead to $2 billion a day in lost economic output, according to the Association of American Railroads, which lobbies on behalf of rail companies.
Freight railroads are responsible for carrying 40% of the nation’s long-haul freight and a work stoppage could jeopardize these shipments.
(NEW YORK) — Uber drivers will take fewer left turns and soon be able to record rides through their smartphones as the ride-share company makes changes geared toward safety in the driver’s seat, officials said.
The company announced Thursday that it is launching a new pilot program in which certain drivers in three U.S. cities and in Brazil can use their phone’s front-facing camera to record audio and video during trips.
“Recording can just improve and make interactions on the Uber platform a little bit more comfortable because everyone knows that they’re going to be held accountable for their actions,” Rebecca Payne, group product manager on safety at Uber, said in an interview with ABC News.
The pilot is an expansion of the company’s already existing audio recording feature, in which drivers and passengers can both opt to record audio of trips.
Passengers will be notified after requesting a trip that their driver will be video-recording the ride, Uber said. If they don’t feel comfortable being recorded, passengers can cancel at no extra cost.
“We’ve seen many instances where this technology has helped us determine the best course of action after a safety incident, and the majority of riders and drivers in the pilot cities told us this feature helped them feel safer when using Uber,” the company said in a news release.
The new video recording technology will be available to select drivers in Cincinnati, Louisville and New York City as well as Santos and João Pessoa in Brazil, Uber said.
When asked about privacy concerns, Uber said the driver’s video recordings will be encrypted and stored directly on the driver’s device but inaccessible even to them.
“No one can access it … even Uber can’t access it,” Payne said. “If nothing bad happens on the trip, that recording will essentially just disappear after seven days.”
But should a safety incident occur during a trip, the driver could attach the encrypted video file to the safety report sent to Uber. Once the company had the report, the file would then be decrypted and a trained safety agent would review it to help determine what occurred, the Uber said.
The company also announced Thursday it will update its in-app navigation software to suggest drivers make fewer left turns. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 22% of crashes involved a car making a left turn at an intersection.
“Essentially what it does is when a rider puts in the destination, our algorithm and our navigation will choose a routing to reduce those lectures as much as possible without adding any additional time or cost for the trip,” Kristin Smith, Uber’s head of road safety policy, told ABC News. “We’re hopeful that this will be one of those tech interventions that can help to really improve road safety.”
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. economy expanded significantly to kick off the second half of the year, marking a dramatic reversal from the contraction experienced over the first six months, government data showed.
U.S. gross domestic product grew 2.6% over the three months ending in September, according to data released Thursday. By contrast, economic activity shrank a combined 2.2% over the first six months of the year.
The economic growth defies Federal Reserve efforts to slow economic activity and slash consumer demand in its fight against inflation.
The data arrives less than two weeks before the midterm elections, possibly bolstering Democratic claims of economic stewardship as polls show voters prefer Republicans on the issue.
Fears of an imminent recession may quiet in response to the data, which ends the streak of two consecutive quarters of negative GDP that many consider shorthand for identifying a downturn as a recession.
The National Bureau of Economic Research, or NBER, a research organization seen as the formal authority for identifying recessions, uses a more complicated definition that takes into account an array of factors. Many economists believe the U.S. has averted a recession so far this year.
Still, the positive overall indicator may veil signs of a cooling economy. The economic growth stemmed in part from a reduced trade deficit, signaling that the U.S. narrowed the gap between imported and exported goods, compared to the previous quarter. But that development also suggests that U.S. demand for imported goods has weakened.
In an effort to dial back inflation, the Fed has raised the benchmark interest rate by 0.75% at each of its last three meetings. Prior to this year, the Fed last matched a hike of this magnitude in 1994.
The rate increases appear to have slowed key sectors of the economy, sending mortgage rates soaring and slowing the construction of new homes.
U.S. hiring remains robust, however. Employers added 263,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell slightly from 3.7% to 3.5%.
But hiring has fallen from a breakneck pace sustained earlier in the year, suggesting that the Fed’s rate hikes may have begun to cool off the labor market. By the end of 2023, central bank moves will raise the unemployment rate from its current level of 3.7% to 4.4%, the Fed predicted last month.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. economy is expected to have expanded significantly when the government releases data on Thursday, marking a dramatic reversal from the contraction experienced over the first half of the year.
The economic growth would defy Federal Reserve efforts to slow economic activity and slash consumer demand in its fight against inflation.
The data arrives less than two weeks before the midterm elections, possibly bolstering Democratic claims of economic stewardship as polls show voters prefer Republicans on the issue.
Fears of an imminent recession may quiet in response to the data, which ends the streak of two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product that many consider shorthand for identifying a downturn as a recession.
The National Bureau of Economic Research, or NBER, a research organization seen as the formal authority for identifying recessions, uses a more complicated definition that takes into account an array of factors. Many economists believe the U.S. has averted a recession so far this year.
U.S. GDP is expected to have grown 3.1% over the three months ending in September, according to a tracker from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Economic activity shrank a combined 2.2% over the first six months of the year.
Still, the positive overall indicator may veil signs of a cooling economy. The economic growth is expected to stem in part from a reduced trade deficit, signaling that the U.S. narrowed the gap between imported and exported goods, compared to the previous quarter. But that development also suggests that U.S. demand for imported goods has weakened.
In an effort to dial back inflation, the Fed has raised the benchmark interest rate by 0.75% at each of its last three meetings. Prior to this year, the Fed last matched a hike of this magnitude in 1994.
The rate increases appear to have slowed key sectors of the economy, sending mortgage rates soaring and slowing the construction of new homes.
U.S. hiring remains robust, however. Employers added 263,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell slightly from 3.7% to 3.5%.
But hiring has fallen from a breakneck pace sustained earlier in the year, suggesting that the Fed’s rate hikes may have begun to cool off the labor market. By the end of 2023, central bank moves will raise the unemployment rate from its current level of 3.7% to 4.4%, the Fed predicted last month.
