enRICHed: Volume 22
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It’s the Super Bowl! Are you watching for the football? For the commercials? For Rihanna’s first concert in years?!?! Or are you just in it for the snacks? Honestly whatever it is, we support you, even if you will not be tuning in at all. We’ll keep it quick so you can prepare for whatever your day ahead looks like, happy Sunday BFFS!
A few administrative reminders below:
HYCU, pronounced ‘haiku’: how the news impacts you and your wallet, aka How You Can Use
Spilling the Prosperitea 🫖 : our hot tips for you on all things money. Think discount codes, hacks, non-boring finance articles, sales, etc.
Now that you’re up to speed, let’s get you enRICHed.
AMC’s Sightline
AMC announced this week that they would be charging more for better seats in the theater, in an attempt to save itself from falling movie attendance. Seats with better sight lines (hence the name of the program) will pay $1-2 more than those in “worse” seats.
AMC’s CEO tweeted, “In inflationary times, costs rise, so prices rise. Under the old system, our only option was to raise prices on all seats. Sightline lets us raise prices only on our most popular seats, but we can also hold the line on Standard seats & actually cut prices on Value seats.”
Some of the feedback has mentioned that this disadvantages those with lower income, deterring them from an entertainment experience that is often the affordable option for a family outing versus attending a play or concert.
HYCU; we are used to the idea of paying more for better seats just about everywhere else in entertainment, but for some reason people are really up in arms about this. Will public outrage be enough for AMC to roll back Sightline, or will the extra few dollars here and there truly help them stay afloat?
Destruction in Syria and Turkey
This week, a monumental 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit both Turkey and Syria, causing complete devastation. The death toll continues to climb well past 20,000, and over 60,000 people have been reported injured.
Both Turkey and Syria were already facing economic and humanitarian crises. Turkey’s own inflation rate hit 80% last year, and it is reported that the damages of the earthquake could cost almost 2% of Turkey’s entire GDP. Further, the civil war in Syria has displaced millions of refugees who are in need of humanitarian aid. This catastrophe adds to the number of people who are in great need of food, water, shelter and aid.
HYCU; these countries need our help, and many organizations are leading aid efforts which you can support. UNICEF is on the ground, along with Doctors Without Borders. Global Giving is accepting donations, along with this list of organizations from the NYTimes.
What’s Up with Google?
It feels like everyone is coming for Google these days. New TikTok ads promote it as a search engine. And while the ad doesn’t directly reference Google itself, we can all see through it.
Further, on Monday Google unveiled its own chat bot named Bard. An obvious direct response to ChatGPT. Since its inception, ChatGPT has been used for everything you might have previously searched on Google: essay generation, spark notes for books, song lyrics, you name it. The rise of AI is clearly taking aim at Google’s core business, and Bard is Google’s way of fighting back.
HYCU; with a new generation, comes new technology, and it seems that Gen X and Gen Z are moving away from Google towards splashier technology like TikTok and ChatGPT. Competition is a good thing, right? Google execs seem to think not.
Wages Decline for College Grads
Interestingly enough, wages grew 6% for those with only high school degrees.
HCYU; the Fed data shows the demand for workers who have technical trade skills, such as plumbing and electrical work, which you don’t necessarily need a college degree to obtain. If this trend continues, will young people in the US continue on the path of an expensive college program? We would love to hear your take on this, or any personal anecdotes you want to share.
Rewards Programs are Changing
Everyone is familiar with customer loyalty programs; it used to be a punch card you kept in your wallet, “buy 9 coffees get your 10th free.” But now, with everyone on their phones, these reward programs have taken on new life in the form of apps.
However, these programs are starting to change to make it harder for customers to accrue rewards points. For example, Best Buy will only give points to Best Buy credit card holders. Dunkin’ Donuts also changed its system and members now need 700 points for a free coffee versus 200 points previously.
Starbucks also announced changes to their program starting next week. You’ll now need more stars to earn that free reward.
HYCU; while we still recommend using a rewards program if you are a repeat customer somewhere, it’s a good thing to keep an eye on when time stretches longer in between your free coffee or donut. It’s also good to note that local shops are more likely to have better rewards programs, or even still have punch cards, because they aren’t as popular are chains like Starbucks and Dunkin’.
Rich Tip of the Week: Phrases to Kill at Work (video link w/ sound)
People are getting vulnerable - LinkedIn is the new place to be on the Internet
A collection of super bowl snacks to make if you’re hosting (or bring if you’re looking for extra guest brownie points)
Babysitting costs are on the rise! If you need a new side hustle, it seems parents need a break.
The Hell Yeah Group breaks down merging finances with your boo with an easy to understand illustration
