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Americans are Turning to Side Hustles to Combat Inflation

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(Family Features) As inflation increases, many Americans are looking for ways to make some extra cash to reach financial goals faster, save for a big purchase or simply make ends meet. In fact, 41% of Americans need additional income from sources like side hustles, according to a Bankrate survey, up from 31% in 2019.

The rise of the gig economy and a variety of side hustle options may be a solution for some. One option, the Spark Driver platform, powers delivery services for Walmart, Sam’s Club and other retailers, allowing drivers to deliver everything from groceries and cleaning supplies to tools and home decor. Available in more than 600 cities and all 50 states, the platform allows independent contractors to earn money by delivering or shopping and delivering orders in flexible, convenient time windows of their choosing.

What is a Side Hustle?
Different from full-time or part-time employment, a side hustle is a flexible way to provide services while being your own boss. You control which opportunities you want to take and can independently supplement your primary income or bridge the gap between jobs. Side hustles can even provide opportunities for people who can’t work traditional jobs. In fact, 93% of Americans have a side hustle, according to research from insuranks.com, and 44% of survey respondents said they’re doing it to make ends meet. Gig opportunities, like shopping orders and delivering goods using your personal vehicle, are increasingly popular as side hustles.

Benefits of Side Hustles
While most people turn to side hustles because of the potential for additional earnings, there are other benefits that can make them a fit for you and your situation, such as:

  • Flexibility and Convenience: Available almost anywhere at times that work for your schedule, side hustles allow you to be your own boss and earn extra cash when you want. Be sure to pick one that fits your schedule and can be done at any time. Many offer different windows of time to complete the service and let you choose where you’re willing to travel to, which makes it easy to plan around other obligations.
  • Earning Potential: Many people turn to side hustles as a supplement to full-time positions with specific, money-oriented goals in mind. For example, most drivers on the Spark Driver platform drive as a secondary source of income. In order to reach a desired goal, it’s important to know how much you can expect to earn. When receiving an offer, the platform will show the minimum amount you earn for completing the delivery, so drivers know their earnings before accepting offers. Most deliveries also allow for tips, and incentives and referrals create additional opportunities for increasing earnings.

“The Spark Driver platform has made a huge difference in my life,” driver Christina Hinssen said. “It gives me the flexibility to make deliveries when I want and I can spend more time with my daughter. It has given me extra cash to pay off my car and make extra house payments to get my house paid down.”

  • Simplicity: The ideal side hustle is one that can be done without heavy investment or training. Many gig opportunities offer quick sign-up processes through easy-to-use apps and only require a background check, smartphone, valid driver’s license and operational vehicle.

Fighting Inflation…

Learn more about how to make extra cash through gig opportunities by visiting drive4spark.com or downloading the app.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images

Americans are Turning to Side Hustles to Combat Inflation


SOURCE:
Spark Driver

https://q5i.09c.myftpupload.com/category/lifestyle/

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  • Rod Washington

    Rod: A creative force, blending words, images, and flavors. Blogger, writer, filmmaker, and photographer. Cooking enthusiast with a sci-fi vision. Passionate about his upcoming series and dedicated to TNC Network. Partnered with Rebecca Washington for a shared journey of love and art. View all posts

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Rod: A creative force, blending words, images, and flavors. Blogger, writer, filmmaker, and photographer. Cooking enthusiast with a sci-fi vision. Passionate about his upcoming series and dedicated to TNC Network. Partnered with Rebecca Washington for a shared journey of love and art.

Lifestyle

CareerBuilder and Monster close combination, creating stronger job board for talent and employers

CareerBuilder and Monster have finalized their merger, creating a stronger job board to capitalize on market trends. Jeff Furman leads the team, and further branding details will follow.

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concentrated female entrepreneur typing on laptop in workplace. CareerBuilder
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

CHICAGO, Sept. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — We are excited to announce that with the completion of all customary regulatory approvals, the agreement to combine CareerBuilder and Monster is now finalized. As previously announced, the combination of CareerBuilder and Monster brings together two strong, trusted, complementary brands to create a job board with greater scale and reach. Together, both companies can more effectively capitalize on prevailing trends in the market to deliver enhanced growth.

CareerBuilder

Jeff Furman, CEO of the combined company, said: “I could not be more excited to bring these two celebrated brands together. We are able to leverage the best-in-class solutions, capabilities, and expertise from both companies to better serve both our candidates and employers and help them navigate the evolving talent marketplace.” 

In addition, we are excited to announce the new leadership team of the organization:

Dinesh Arora, Chief Technology Officer

Scott Blumsack, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer

Brian Burbrink, Chief People Officer

Leslie Cope, Chief Product Officer

Ahern Dull, Chief Operating Officer

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Mark Pacioni, General Counsel

Mike Suhajda, Chief Financial Officer

More details about the company, including branding, will be announced in due course. For now, the company will be referred to as CareerBuilder + Monster, and both websites will continue to operate.

PJT Partners Inc. served as financial advisor and Sidley Austin LLC served as legal counsel to CareerBuilder on the transaction. Jefferies LLC served as financial advisor and Jones Day served as legal counsel to Monster on the transaction.

about CareerBuilder
For over 25 years, CareerBuilder has been a leading global talent marketplace providing innovative solutions to help employers find, hire, and onboard great people, and help job seekers build new skills and progressive careers as the modern world of work changes. CareerBuilder is majority-owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. For more information, visit careerbuilder.com, and to learn more about our solutions for employers, visit hiring.careerbuilder.com.

about Monster
Monster is a global leader in connecting the right people to the right jobs. Every day, Monster aims to make every workplace happier and more productive by transforming the way employers find talent and candidates find careers. For 30 years, Monster has worked to transform the recruiting industry. Today, the company leverages innovative digital, social, and mobile solutions and proprietary data and insights to enable employers and candidates to see each other more clearly. For more information, visit monster.com.

SOURCE CareerBuilder + Monster

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Our Lifestyle section on STM Daily News is a hub of inspiration and practical information, offering a range of articles that touch on various aspects of daily life. From tips on family finances to guides for maintaining health and wellness, we strive to empower our readers with knowledge and resources to enhance their lifestyles. Whether you’re seeking outdoor activity ideas, fashion trends, or travel recommendations, our lifestyle section has got you covered. Visit us today at https://stmdailynews.com/category/lifestyle/ and embark on a journey of discovery and self-improvement.


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financial wellness

Preventive care is free by law, but many Americans get incorrectly billed − especially if you’re poor, a person of color or don’t have a college degree

Preventive care costs exacerbate health disparities, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities. Insurance claim denials are higher for minority and low-income patients despite legal exemptions.

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preventive care
Unexpected bills for preventive care can worsen existing racial and socioeconomic health disparities. Maskot/Getty Images

Alex Hoagland, University of Toronto and Michal Horný, UMass Amherst

Even though preventive care is supposed to be free by law for millions of Americans thanks to the Affordable Care Act, many don’t receive recommended preventive services, especially racial and ethnic minorities and other at-risk patient groups.

The Affordable Care Act exempted preventive services from patient cost-sharing for large chunks of the population. This means that if you receive preventive screening and have private insurance, including through the ACA Marketplace, there should be no copay at time of service, and you shouldn’t get a bill later on. Easy enough, right?

Wrong. Our team of health economists has shown that patients spend millions of dollars every year on unexpected bills for preventive care. The main reason for this is that no specific regulations were put in place to determine exactly which services should be exempted, or for whom, or how often. This omission has left many people on the hook to pay for valuable health care they thought would be free.

Now, in our recently published research in the journal JAMA Network Open, we’ve found that the burden of paying for what should be free preventive care disproportionately falls on some patient groups.

Close-up of hand filling out health insurnace claim form with a pen
Which health care services should be exempted from cost-sharing often isn’t clear. Tetra Images/Getty Images

Inequitable claim denials

Looking at data from over 1.5 million patients, our study demonstrates that insurers deny preventive claims for patients from marginalized communities at higher rates than for those from majority groups.

For example, low-income patients were 43% more likely than high-income patients to have their claims denied. In addition, Asian, Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black patients were each roughly twice as likely as non-Hispanic white patients to have claims denied.

Not only were these patients denied routine benefits, but they also saw large differences in rates of billing errors. For example, patients with a high school diploma or less experienced denials due to this kind of billing error almost twice as often than patients with college degrees. All of these services should have been covered by an insurer.

Research on preventive care access is commonly based only on claims data, which doesn’t typically have information on patient demographics. This limits a study’s ability to detect differences across patient groups. Our study, however, uses a combination of linked claims data, remittance data containing information on why claims were denied and whether they were resubmitted, and demographic data from self-reports, purchase transactions and voter registries. Together, this richer dataset allowed us to examine differences in denials based on race and ethnicity, education and income, including reasons why patients were denied care.

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Preventive care is essential

Equitable access to preventive health care is about more than just physicals, although those are important, too. Preventive health care includes key screenings for cancers, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, access to contraceptives, and mental health checkups, among other services. Ensuring that insurers provide equal coverage for these services for all patients is important to improve health outcomes and quality of life for everyone while reducing future health care costs.

Our results paint a picture of the kinds of hurdles patients face when they seek health screenings. Patients from underrepresented groups were not only more likely to be told their care wouldn’t be covered. They were also more likely to have their claims processed incorrectly, leading to more frequent denials and, ultimately, larger medical bills. https://www.youtube.com/embed/Uc2uG6LhFQQ?wmode=transparent&start=0 Few patients appeal claim denials, even though rejections may be unjustified.

Unexpected bills can affect both a patient’s current health and their future use of health care services. These hurdles can exacerbate an already tenuous trust in a fragmented health care system, making patients less likely to return for follow-up screenings.

Stacked coverage denials for patients who live with multiple marginalized identities or who are less able to advocate for themselves can further entrench racial and socioeconomic inequities.

Ensuring equitable access

Our study paints a compelling picture of where different patients may face hurdles for getting preventive care, but more research is necessary to identify how to ensure equitable access.

As our study looked only at preventive services, we will also need to see how our findings generalize to other forms of health care. More research is also needed to understand how other vulnerable patient groups, such as LGBTQ+ patients or patients with multiple chronic conditions, fare when trying to access care.

Our team is currently studying how actual bills for care differ across patient groups and how patients respond when bills arrive. In our study, more than two-thirds of denied claims were never resubmitted to insurers, meaning that many billing errors go uncorrected at patients’ expense.

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Equitable policy on multiple fronts can help rectify the way preventive care is inconsistently and inequitably provided. These include uniform coverage of preventive care by insurers, standardized billing practices for physicians and improved means for patients to advocate for themselves. This can help ensure that everyone has appropriate access to lifesaving health care.

Alex Hoagland, Assistant Professor of Health Economics, University of Toronto and Michal Horný, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management, UMass Amherst

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Our Lifestyle section on STM Daily News is a hub of inspiration and practical information, offering a range of articles that touch on various aspects of daily life. From tips on family finances to guides for maintaining health and wellness, we strive to empower our readers with knowledge and resources to enhance their lifestyles. Whether you’re seeking outdoor activity ideas, fashion trends, or travel recommendations, our lifestyle section has got you covered. Visit us today at https://stmdailynews.com/category/lifestyle/ and embark on a journey of discovery and self-improvement.

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Economy

Kroger Exec Admits to Inflating Essential Item Prices

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Kroger Exec Admits to Inflating Essential Item Prices

Inflating Essential Pricing

In a tense federal courtroom in downtown Portland, the spotlight was on Kroger executives as they faced sharp scrutiny over allegations of inflating prices on essential staples such as eggs and milk. This courtroom drama unfolded against the backdrop of Kroger’s proposed national merger with supermarket behemoth Albertsons — a move Kroger claims is vital for their competitive edge in the retail market.

Outside, the drama resonated, with Kroger-owned Fred Meyer’s workers, represented by UFCW Local 555, actively striking across Portland. Their signs, a vivid display of protest against unfair labor practices, underscored a deepening divide between corporate profits and workers’ lived realities.

The union drew a connecting line, spotlighting Kroger’s courtroom admission as emblematic of a broader corporate disregard for both consumer and employee welfare. “Kroger’s exposed strategy of upping prices on basics like milk and eggs only intensifies our drive for equitable labor terms,” the statement from UFCW Local 555 forcefully articulated.

Central to the courtroom revelations was an internal company email, wielded by FTC lawyers, authored by Kroger’s senior director for pricing, Andy Groff. The email candidly noted that the retail price upticks on milk and eggs were “significantly higher than cost inflation,” laying bare a strategy to offload elevated costs onto consumers. This disclosure stirred a noticeable reaction among courtroom attendees, piercing the veil typically shrouding corporate decision-making.

Kroger countered, urging the email’s context be considered as isolated rather than reflecting their broader price strategy. “The email in question does not define our company’s enduring commitment to compress margins and competitively price our goods,” defended a Kroger spokesperson, emphasizing ongoing responses to erratic pricing landscapes since 2020 and maintaining that their pricing aligns competitively with industry leaders like Walmart.

Simultaneously, the ongoing strike at Fred Meyer accentuated community solidarity and frustration concerning soaring living costs, linking the in-court disputes to palpable systemic issues. “It’s as if there’s ‘big corporations’ on one end and ‘everyone else’ on the other,” voiced Justin Godoy, echoing a common sentiment among shoppers disillusioned by perceived corporate avarice overshadowing basic needs.

From the corporate side, Fred Meyer linked the strike’s timing to the pivotal merger, framing the union as pivotal in safeguarding the fate of unionized grocery stores across America. “The merger underscores our commitment to the future of unionized grocery stores,” the company declared, steering the conversation towards a favorable merger outcome.

With the strike poised to continue until the following Tuesday disrupting operations across 28 stores, and an impending decision on the Kroger-Albertsons merger, the issues of corporate stewardship, labor rights, and consumer advocacy hung in balance — unresolved yet deeply interwoven. Community backing for the strikers was palpable, and the reverberations from these intertwined disputes were set to resonate well beyond Portland, casting a long shadow over the national conversation around corporate integrity and economic justice.

Further reading, check out these links.

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https://www.koin.com/news/portland/kroger-albertsons-merger-price-gouging-ftc-allegations-fred-meyer-workers-strike

https://www.commondreams.org/news/kroger-egg-prices

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/kroger-executive-confesses-to-excessively-raising-prices-beyond-inflation/ss-AA1pDO4b

STM Daily News is a vibrant news blog dedicated to sharing the brighter side of human experiences. Emphasizing positive, uplifting stories, the site focuses on delivering inspiring, informative, and well-researched content. With a commitment to accurate, fair, and responsible journalism, STM Daily News aims to foster a community of readers passionate about positive change and engaged in meaningful conversations. Join the movement and explore stories that celebrate the positive impacts shaping our world.

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Our Lifestyle section on STM Daily News is a hub of inspiration and practical information, offering a range of articles that touch on various aspects of daily life. From tips on family finances to guides for maintaining health and wellness, we strive to empower our readers with knowledge and resources to enhance their lifestyles. Whether you’re seeking outdoor activity ideas, fashion trends, or travel recommendations, our lifestyle section has got you covered. Visit us today at https://stmdailynews.com/category/lifestyle/ and embark on a journey of discovery and self-improvement.

Author

  • Rod Washington

    Rod: A creative force, blending words, images, and flavors. Blogger, writer, filmmaker, and photographer. Cooking enthusiast with a sci-fi vision. Passionate about his upcoming series and dedicated to TNC Network. Partnered with Rebecca Washington for a shared journey of love and art. View all posts

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