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What Is Net Metering and How Does It Work?
What Is Net Metering and How Does It Work?
If you're interested in setting up solar panels at your home, you've likely run into a number of new concepts when it comes to how utilities handle the electricity you'll generate. Perhaps you've run into the term "net metering" otherwise known as "net energy metering" or NEM, a concept unique to commercial and residential areas that generate their own electricity.
With solar panels, you can generate enough energy to provide electricity to your home and, sometimes, more than you can use or store. When that happens, you can sell that excess electricity to the utility company to distribute elsewhere along the power grid. That process is known as net metering.
How does net metering work?
In states that offer net metering (check here to see if your state qualifies), you can sell your excess solar energy back to your utility company in exchange for credits that offset the cost of your energy usage. You may generate excess solar power when it is clear and sunny out, but see less energy than is necessary to power your home when it is cloudy or rainy. By selling your excess energy back to the utility grid, you'll be able to use the credit to cover the cost for any electricity you need to use. You end up paying only for the "net" energy, or the difference between how much you sold and actually used.
The types of net metering
There are three different models of net metering, and which one is available to you may depend on your state and your utility provider.
Net metering
Net metering is the most common arrangement, and works by selling any surplus power generated by your solar panels to the utility operator in exchange for credits, which offset any electricity you may need to use from the grid. The credit is applied at the retail rate, which means the rate that you pay for electricity. Only one meter is required to track this, though your meter may need to be upgraded when you go solar.
Buy all/sell all
The buy all/sell all model works by selling 100% of the energy that your solar panels generate to the utility company. It is sold at wholesale price, which is cheaper for the purchases. In exchange, you get 100% of your home's energy from the utility company, which you pay the retail rate to use. This requires two separate meters, and you will pay the difference -- if any -- between the amount generated and the amount consumed. It's important to note that under this model, you do not directly consume any of the energy your solar panels generate.
Net billing
Much like net metering, the net billing model allows you to use the electricity generated by your solar panels and sell the excess to the utility company at retail price. Unlike the net metering model, though, you cannot bank credits for future billing cycles. This arrangement is more common for commercial situations than residential ones.
Advertiser Disclosure: CNET's corporate partner, SaveOnEnergy, can help you find the right energy fit for your home. The SaveOnEnergy marketplace helps you search, compare, sign up and save on the right energy fit for your home — all for free. If you're interested in solar, answer a few questions to get an exact price quote from our solar advisors.
What to consider when it comes to net metering types
In some cases you won't have a choice when it comes to the type of net energy metering arrangement, as utility companies may only offer one option. However, if you can choose, you'll want to keep in mind a couple things.
Net metering is the most common option for a reason: it's the simplest to understand. You get credits for energy sold and those credits are at retail price, meaning they are paid at the same rate that you pay for your electricity. That makes the math simple.
However, that doesn't mean it's the best deal available to you. If you're in a situation where you expect to generate a lot of electricity -- a region where it is sunny most of the time and there isn't much rain or cloud cover to interfere with your panels -- a buy all/sell all option may work better. While you'll be selling at a wholesale rate, meaning it is a lower rate for you since you are acting as a provider, you'll also be selling much more than you otherwise would. All of your solar power generation will be monetized, as opposed to just the excess.
You should also keep in mind other fees associated with net metering. For instance, you may have to pay a connection fee. This is a monthly expense that you pay for connecting to the utility company's grid. It typically isn't much, between $10-20 per month, but it is an expense to keep in mind.
No matter what arrangement ends up working best for you, net energy metering a great way to get the most out of your solar panels. Not only does it allow you to power your own house or pay for your full electricity use, but it also allows you to monetize your energy generation and let others make use of it.
What Is Collagen? Benefits, Food Sources and Everything You Should Know
What Is Collagen? Benefits, Food Sources and Everything You Should Know
The benefits of collagen have been well-marketed in recent years, from stronger bones to more glowing skin. But regardless of all the hype, can boosting your collagen really accomplish these things?
As it turns out, the answer is yes. Several studies have found that adding collagen-rich foods or supplements to your diet offers a number of benefits and truly does help improve the health of your skin, joints, hair and bones.
However, there are a few things you should know about collagen before incorporating it into your daily wellness routine.
Below, you'll find an in-depth explanation about collagen, including what it is, where to find it and how you might benefit from it -- plus the drawbacks you should be aware of. In addition, be sure to check out the best food sources for every vitamin and mineral you need and 10 tips for budget-friendly meal prepping that's still healthy.
What is collagen?
Before discussing its benefits, what is collagen? In short, collagen is the most plentiful protein in the human body and accounts for one-third of all protein. It serves as a connective building block that holds together your muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones and skin.
There are nearly 30 known types of collagen, but type I is the most prevalent (it exists in all connective tissue and makes up 90% of all collagen in the body). Types II, III and IV are also common and found in various parts of the body including your joints, kidneys, ears and blood vessels.
All of this leads us to another pertinent question: What is collagen good for? Your body naturally makes collagen by combining multiple amino acids (like proline and glycine) with zinc, vitamin C and copper. However, as you get older, production slows and the existing collagen in your body starts to break down at a faster rate.
When that happens, you may notice your skin getting wrinklier, your tendons and ligaments becoming less flexible and shrinking muscles. To prevent or delay these effects, some people consume collagen (either via food or supplements) to make up for what their body has lost.
Adding collagen to your diet
fotograzia/Getty Images
If you're looking to amp up your collagen production, you should ensure that your diet includes foods with these essential ingredients:
Bone broth
Fish and shellfish
Chicken
Pork skin
Eggs
Beans
Citrus
Bell peppers
Nuts
Eating a well-balanced combination of these foods is the best way to boost your collagen levels. However, you can also consider taking supplements (typically in powder or capsule form) if you aren't getting enough collagen from diet alone.
For best results, experts advise taking a collagen supplement one hour before working out, but always check the label and speak with your doctor before starting any new wellness routine.
Benefits of collagen
Now that we've covered the fundamentals, let's explore some of the benefits of collagen.
Builds stronger bones
Bones are full of collagen, but as you get older, the protein starts to deteriorate. In turn, this can lead to a decrease in bone strength and density. However, by incorporating collagen supplements into your diet, you may be able to prevent some bone loss and reduce your risk of bone-related problems, including osteoporosis and fractures.
Decreases joint pain
Collagen also works together with cartilage to keep your joints properly functioning. Over the years, as it wears down, it can lead to stiff and achy joints and put you at a higher risk for osteoarthritis. The good news is that taking collagen has been found to reduce joint pain in physically active people. It may also serve as a pain reliever for people with existing joint problems.
Improves skin
Your skin also contains collagen, which gives it elasticity and hydration when you're young. But as you mature, your skin becomes saggier and more wrinkly due to depleting collagen levels. Interestingly, studies have shown that adding more collagen to your diet can boost skin firmness and hydration, visibly reducing the effects of aging.
Promotes healthy hair
Collagen is created with some of the same amino acids that are used to build keratin, the protein that makes up your hair. Because of this connection, there is some evidence that consuming more collagen may help with your hair health by promoting growth, reducing thinning and slowing graying.
Adds muscle mass
Muscle tissue consists of as much as 10% collagen. When the collagen in your body begins to break down, you could lose muscle mass and potentially develop a condition called sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss). Fortunately, studies have shown that collagen supplements, along with increased protein intake and routine resistance exercise, may help people with sarcopenia build back muscle strength.
Drawbacks to collagen supplements
Despite these benefits, there are also a handful of drawbacks to collagen supplements that you should bear in mind before incorporating them into your routine.
They contain animal products (and sometimes, allergens)
Traditional collagen supplements, and all dietary supplements in general, are made from animal products, so they aren't suitable if you follow a plant-based diet. While there are some vegan collagen options on the market, it's unclear how they compare to the ones made from animal products. Similarly, if you have any food allergies, make sure to read the label on your collagen supplements thoroughly. In some cases, they may contain common allergens like fish or eggs.
Regulation is a gray area
Collagen supplements are regulated as food (not drugs) by the US Food and Drug Administration, meaning their ingredients and production aren't monitored by an official governing body. These products aren't subject to the same regulations and stringent approval process as pharmaceuticals, so it can be tricky to find out about the quality, purity and safety of the ingredients.
Effectiveness studies are limited
Although there have been studies about the effectiveness of collagen (many of which we've cited above), more research needs to be done. Also, some of the existing studies have been funded by companies that produce collagen supplements, which may raise ethical questions about bias.
Similar supplements to collagen
Olga Shumytskaya/Getty Images
It's difficult to find other supplements that replicate the effects of collagen because its amino acid makeup is different from other proteins. However, you could try boosting your intake of glycine and proline, the key amino acids that are involved in creating collagen. They're most often found in protein-rich foods like meat and poultry, but they're also available in supplement form.
If you're most interested in how collagen can help improve your hair, nails and skin, you could consider keratin or biotin, which typically come in the form of shampoos and salon treatments but are also sold as dietary supplements. Biotin is also found in certain foods, including legumes, egg yolks, nuts and avocados.
For more advice on supplements, here are five fitness supplements that are proven to work. Plus, check out these three alternatives to melatonin for better sleep without drowsiness the next day.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
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The Ghost Particle: What Is a Neutrino and Could It Be the Key to Modern Physics?
The Ghost Particle: What Is a Neutrino and Could It Be the Key to Modern Physics?
It came from deep space, moving at the speed of light, and crashed into Antarctica. Deep below the ice, it met its end. It wasn't an asteroid or alien spacecraft, but a particle that rarely interacts with matter, known as a neutrino.
Though theorized in the 1930s and first detected in the 1950s, neutrinos maintain a mysterious aura, and are often dubbed "ghost particles" -- they're not haunting or dangerous, but they just zip through the Earth without us even noticing them. Oh, "and it's a cool name," according to astrophysicist Clancy James at Curtin University in Western Australia.
In recent years, ghost particles have been making headlines for all sorts of reasons and not just because they have a cool name. That Antarctic collision was traced to a black hole that shredded a star, for instance, and other neutrinos seem to come via the sun. In early 2022, physicists were able to directly pin down the approximate mass of a neutrino -- a discovery that could help uncover new physics or break the rules of the Standard Model.
Imagine if we actually captured a ghost and could say the specter was of someone who had died. It would change everything we know about the universe. A ghost particle is pretty much a big deal for the same reason, and that's why astrophysicists are trying to trap them. They're excited, and here's why you should be, too.
The IceCube observatory in Antarctica.
Erik Beiser, IceCube/NSF
What is a neutrino?
In a nutshell, a neutrino is a fundamental, subatomic particle. Under the Standard Model of particle physics it's classified as a "lepton." Other leptons include electrons, the negatively charged particles that make up atoms, with protons and neutrons. But look, if we get into all that, we're going to go real deep on particle physics and it'll explode our brains.
The neutrino is unique because it has a vanishingly small mass and no electrical charge and it's found across the universe. "They are made in the sun, in nuclear reactors, and when high-energy cosmic rays smash into Earth's atmosphere," says Eric Thrane, an astrophysicist at Monash University in Australia. They're also made by some of the most extreme and powerful objects we know of, like supermassive black holes and exploding stars, and they were also produced at the beginning of the universe: the Big Bang.
Like light, they travel in basically a straight line from where they're created in space. Other charged particles are at the mercy of magnetic fields, but neutrinos just barrel through the cosmos without impediment; a ghostly bullet fired from a monstrous cosmic gun.
And, as you read this, trillions of them are zipping through the Earth and straight through you.
They're crashing into me right now?
Yes, exactly. Every second of every day since the day you were born, neutrinos have been moving through your body. You just don't know it because they interact with hardly anything. They don't smash into the atoms that make you up, and so you don't even know they're there. Just like a shadowy spirit passing through a wall, the neutrino moves right on through. Fortunately, there's no exorcism required.
But why should I care about neutrinos?
Studying them for decades has thrown up a bit of a surprise for scientists. Under the standard model, neutrinos shouldn't have any mass. But they do. "The fact they do points us to new physics to enhance our understanding of the universe," notes James.
The puzzle of the neutrino mass first came to light in the 1960s. Scientists had suggested the sun should be producing what's known as electron neutrinos, a particular type of the subatomic particle. But it wasn't. This "solar neutrino problem" led to a breakthrough discovery: that neutrinos can change flavor.
Like an almost-empty bag of Mentos, the ghost particle comes in just three distinct flavors -- electron, muon and tau -- and they can change flavor as they move through space (flavor is the actual terminology, I'm not making that up for this analogy). For instance, an electron neutrino might be produced by the sun and then be later detected as a muon neutrino.
And such a change implies the neutrino does have mass. Physics tells us they couldn't change flavor if they were massless. Now research efforts are focused on elucidating what the mass is.
In a study published in the prestigious journal Nature in February 2022, researchers revealed the mass of a neutrino to be incredibly tiny (but definitely there). Physicists were able to show directly, using a neutrino detector in Germany, that the maximum mass for a neutrino is around eight-tenths of an electron volt (eV). That's an unfathomably tiny mass, more than a million times "lighter" than an electron.
The is what a ghost hunter looks like: The main spectrometer of the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino Experiment (KATRIN) is manoeuvred through a road in southern Germany.
Michael Latz/Getty
Wait! A neutrino detector? But aren't they... ghost particles? How do you detect neutrinos?
As James notes, "the darn things mostly pass straight through whatever detector you build!"
But there are a number of ways to trap a ghost.
One of the key ingredients you need is space. Physical space, deep underground. For great results, scientists have built their neutrino detectors under meters of ice in Antarctica and, soon, at the bottom of the ocean. This helps keep the data clean from any interference from things like cosmic rays, which would bombard the sensitive detectors at the surface. The detector in Antarctica, known as IceCube, is buried about 8,000 feet straight down.
"Trapping" a ghost particle might not actually be the best terminology for what these detectors are doing. IceCube, for instance, doesn't hold any neutrinos prisoner. The particles mostly blast straight through the detector. But on the way, some very (very!) rarely interact with the Antarctic ice and produce a shower of secondary particles emitting a type of blue light known as Cherenkov radiation. A range of light-sensing spherical modules, vertically arranged like beads on a string, pick up the light those particles emit. A similar detector exists in Japan: Super-Kamiokande. This uses a 55,000 ton tank of water instead of ice and is buried under Mount Ikeno.
Both are able to detect which direction the neutrino came from and its flavor. And so, physicists can see signs the ghost particle was there, but not the ghost particle itself. It's kind of like a poltergeist -- you can see the way it interacts with chairs (throwing them at you) and lights (menacingly switching them on and off), but you can't see the phantom itself. Spooky!
The sun is known to produce a specific type of neutrino
NASA/SDO/Spaceweather.com
Great. So what can we learn from neutrinos?
Neutrinos are a fundamental particle in our universe, which means they underlie, in some way, everything that exists. Learning more about neutrinos will help unlock some of the mysteries of physics.
"Particle physicists study neutrinos in order to look for clues for physics beyond the Standard Model," says Thrane. He notes that physicists want to understand if neutrinos violate some of the fundamental laws of the Standard Model. "This may shed light on why there's more matter than antimatter in the Universe," Thrane says, noting that the problem has been referred to as one of the great mysteries in physics.
We also know that extreme cosmic objects and events can produce them. For instance, exploding stars, or supernovas, are known to create neutrinos and shoot them across the universe. So are supermassive black holes chomping on gas, dust and stars.
"Detecting neutrinos tells us about what is going on in these objects," says James.
Because they hardly interact with the surrounding matter, we could use neutrinos to see these types of objects and understand them in regions of the universe we can't study with other electromagnetic wavelengths (like optical light, UV and radio). For example, scientists could peer into the heart of the Milky Way, which is hard to observe in other electromagnetic wavelengths because our view is interfered with by gas and dust.
Reliable detection and tracing could stimulate an astronomy revolution akin to the one we're currently seeing with gravitational waves. Essentially, neutrinos can give us a whole new eye on the cosmos, complementing our existing set of telescopes and detectors to reveal what's going on in the void.
And then there are "sterile" neutrinos which...
Oh god. What are sterile neutrinos?
I probably should've kept those under wraps, but seeing as you're here, sterile neutrinos are a whole other class of neutrinos. They're entirely theoretical, but scientists think they likely exist because of a feature in physics known as chirality. Essentially, the normal neutrinos we've been discussing are what some call "left-handed." So, some physicists think there may be "right-handed" neutrinos -- sterile neutrinos.
They give them this name because they don't interact with other particles via the weak force, like normal neutrinos. They interact only through gravity. These types of neutrinos are considered a candidate for dark matter, the stuff that makes up more than a quarter of the universe but that we've never seen.
That means neutrinos might also help answer another vexing puzzle in physics: What, exactly, is dark matter? There are lots of candidates for dark matter theorized by physicists, and there's still plenty to learn -- it may not be related to neutrinos at all!
The three flavors of neutrino and the theoretical "sterile" neutrino.
IceCube Collaboration
Cool. Anything else I need to know about neutrinos?
As Deborah Conway once sang, "It's only the beginning, but I've already gone and lost my mind."
We haven't gotten into some of the more mind-blowing theories about neutrinos, like neutrinoless double beta decay and the idea of the neutrino as a Majorana particle.
Several new neutrino experiments have been proposed, including the Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection, or GRAND, which would see up to 200,000 receivers placed. The total area of the array is designed to be about the same size as Great Britain. The first 10,000 antennas are expected to be placed on the Tibetan plateau, near the city of Dunhuang, in the next few years.
Though we've been able to detect and trace only a few neutrinos so far, the next decade should see neutrino astronomy really take off. The bottom line is that understanding neutrinos, their flavors and masses, will provide a window into the fundamental nature of our universe.
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What is Signal? Everything you need to know about Elon Musk's app recommendation
What is Signal? Everything you need to know about Elon Musk's app recommendation
Tech mogul Elon Musk -- known as widely for slinging cars into the sun's orbit as he is for advocating against COVID-19 safety measures -- took to Twitter earlier this month to slam Facebook over its latest privacy policy updates for its supposedly secure encrypted messaging app WhatsApp. Musk instead recommended people choose encrypted messaging app Signal.
The tweet was then retweeted by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Shortly after, Signal tweeted that it was working to handle the surge of new users.
The Signal app was downloaded almost 1.3 million times on Jan. 11, according to data from Apptopia, a tracking firm. The app had been downloaded an average of 50,000 times a day prior to Musk's tweet. A Signal spokesperson said the report undercounted the number of downloads the service is experiencing.
Signal also attributed a temporary outage later that week to the surge in new users.
"While we have been working hard all week to keep up with all the new people switching over to Signal, today exceeded even our most optimistic projections. We are working hard to resolve [the issue]," the spokesman told CNET in an email.
Musk's Twitter endorsement also incidentally led shares in the biotechnology company Signal Advance to soar, despite the fact that it is completely unrelated to Signal, which is not a publicly traded company.
This isn't the first time Musk has publicly sparred with Facebook over privacy concerns. In 2018, he not only had his own personal Facebook page removed, but those of his companies Tesla and SpaceX. His take on the long-fought battle between Signal and WhatsApp isn't off-base, though.
Both of the encrypted messaging apps have been found to have security bugs over the years that have been resolved. For years, WhatsApp has openly collected certain user data to share with parent company Facebook. Its latest policy change just expands that. Signal, on the other hand, has a history of fighting any entity that asks for your data, and adds features to further anonymize you where possible.
Read more: Signal vs. WhatsApp vs. Telegram: What to know before you switch messaging apps
Soon after Musk's tweet, WhatsApp published an FAQ aimed at clarifying its data collection policy, emphasizing that neither it nor Facebook can see users' private messages or hear their calls. Following mounting privacy concerns, WhatsApp announced Friday it would delay the rollout of its new policy by three months.
"We're now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms. No one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8. We're also going to do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsApp. We'll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15," the company said in a blog post.
Here are the basics of Signal you should know if you're interested in using the secure messaging app. Plus, here are all of the differences between Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram.
Signal is a typical one-tap install app that can be found in your normal marketplaces like Google'sPlay Store and Apple'sApp Store, and works just like the usual text messaging app. It's an open source development provided free of charge by the non-profit Signal Foundation, and has been famously used for years by high-profile privacy icons like Edward Snowden.
Signal's main function is that it can send text, video, audio and picture messages protected by end-to-end encryption, after verifying your phone number and letting you independently verify other Signal users' identity. You can also use it to make voice and video calls, either one-to-one or with a group. For a deeper dive into the potential pitfalls and limitations of encrypted messaging apps, CNET's Laura Hautala's explainer is a life-saver. But for our purposes, the key to Signal is encryption.
Despite the buzz around the term, end-to-end encryption is simple: Unlike normal SMS messaging apps, it garbles up your messages before sending them, and only ungarbles them for the verified recipient. This prevents law enforcement, your mobile carrier and other snooping entities from being able to read the contents of your messages even when they intercept them (which happens more often than you might think).
When it comes to privacy it's hard to beat Signal's offer. It doesn't store your user data. And beyond its encryption prowess, it gives you extended, onscreen privacy options, including app-specific locks, blank notification pop-ups, face-blurring anti-surveillance tools, and disappearing messages. Occasional bugs have proven that the tech is far from bulletproof, of course, but the overall arc of Signal's reputation and results have kept it at the top of every privacy-savvy person's list of identity protection tools.
For years, the core privacy challenge for Signal lay not in its technology but in its wider adoption. Sending an encrypted Signal message is great, but if your recipient isn't using Signal, then your privacy may be nil. Think of it like the herd immunity created by vaccines, but for your messaging privacy.
Now that Musk and Dorsey's endorsements have sent a surge of users to get a privacy booster shot, however, that challenge may be a thing of the past.
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What Is Shrinkflation and What Does It Mean for Your Favorite Supermarket Items?
What Is Shrinkflation and What Does It Mean for Your Favorite Supermarket Items?
Higher grocery bills continue to plague American consumers, as the Consumer Price Index for May shows that the "food at home index" was up another 1% in May. Food prices in April were already up 10.8% from where they were a year ago, the largest 12-month increase since November 1980, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
It's not just consumers, though: Manufacturers are feeling the pinch of inflation as well, with ingredients costing more and supply chain issues making it harder to get goods to store shelves.
Rather than just raise prices, some manufacturers shrink their packaging, a practice known as "shrinkflation."
Shoppers across the US have reported smaller toilet paper rolls, fewer potato chips and other reductions in supermarket staples.
"It comes in waves," consumer advocate Edgar Dworsky told NPR. "We happen to be in a tidal wave at the moment because of inflation."
Read on to learn more about shrinkflation, including whether it's legal, how to guard against it and which manufacturers are downsizing their products.
What does "shrinkflation" mean?
Shrinkflation is the practice of reducing the size or quantity of a product while keeping the same price. It can mean fewer chips in the bag, fewer scoops of ice cream in the container. Basically, the purchase price remains the same but the cost per unit rises.
Customers may not notice what are effectively price increases, John Gourville, a professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School. "We found that consumers reacted greatly to periodic changes in price, but not at all to periodic (yet systematic) reductions in quantity," Gourville said in an interview back in 2004.
Some companies disguise shrinkflation with a package redesign, according to Gourville, like adding dents to the bottom of bottles or touting claims of "lower calories."
A Gatorade representative told Quartz in March that the company redesigned its bottles to be "more aerodynamic" and "easier to grab." It also happened to reduce the amount of Gatorade in the container from 32 to 28 ounces.
Is shrinkflation legal?
Shrinking package size is not illegal so long as the product amounts are clearly labeled and "and the business is not engaging in unfair or deceptive practices," according to the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs.
"This is legal -- companies can change prices of their products however they want. This way they do it and it reduces the amount of complaints that the companies receive as a consequence of this stuff," Tom Fullerton, an economics professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, told KFOX.
How can I protect myself against shrinkflation?
Consumers tend to pay more attention to product prices than package sizes. Breaking that habit is the top tip for steeling yourself against shrinkflation: learn the package sizes and per-unit pricing for your favorite products.
If you notice that a product has shrunk or reduced the number of included items, consider competitors who offer a similar product at a lower cost per ounce or item. Compare per-unit prices to see which product provides a better deal.
Charmin has reportedly reduced the amount of toilet paper in its Mega package from 266 sheets per roll to 244.
Olivier Douliery/Getty Images
Shrinkflation also offers an opportunity to wean yourself off packaged foods. Retailers might be able to make cereal boxes and granola bars smaller, but they can't shrink a pound of apples.
Dworsky, the consumer advocate, has made shrinkflation (or "downsizing," as he calls it) a major focus of his website MousePrint, which is dedicated to examining the fine print of advertising claims.
Every few months, Dworsky publishescompilations of all the products he's found that have recently decreased in size. He usually posts on Mondays and crowdsources items from his readers to get a fuller picture of which products have changed.
The Reddit message board /r/shrinkflation also serves as a good source for tracking package size changes for your favorite products. Users post instances of shrinkflation that they've found in their local stores or online, usually with screenshots or photos as evidence.
Which products have shrunk?
Consumers have reported shrinkage in all kinds of household products. A keen eye on Reddit found that Huggies Little Snugglers packs dropped from 96 diapers per box to 84.
Procter & Gamble's Cascade reduced the number of dishwashing pods in a box from 78 to 63, while Unilever's Seventh Generation liquid dish soap dropped from 25 to 19 ounces with a bottle redesign.
Charmin has shrunk its Super Mega package from 396 double-ply sheets per roll to 366, MousePrint reported. The toiler paper company also reduced its Mega package from 266 sheets per roll to 244.
Cottonelle reduced the number of toilet paper sheets in its Ultra Clean line from 340 sheets to 312 and in its Ultra Comfort brand from 284 sheets to 268.
Memories Are Captured/Getty Images
Other bath products have also gotten smaller: Pantene has rebranded its Curl Protection Conditioner and in the process reduced the size from 12 to 10.4 ounces, per Reddit. And MousePrint reports that Dove Body Wash recently shrunk from 24 to 22 ounces.
Snacks are another popular target for shrinkflation, as they often come in bags that make it difficult to spot changes. Last year, Doritos decreased the weight of its regular-size bags from 9.75 to 9.25 ounces, a loss of about five chips per bag. Redditors also noticed that Doritos' party-size bag has shrunk from 15.5 to 14.5 ounces.
A party-size bag of Fritos Scoops, which used to be 18 ounces, is now reportedly just under 16 ounces, the Associated Press reported. A tube of Pringles now carries 165 grams of potato chips, down from 200 grams.
Nabisco's Wheat Thins made its "Family Size" product smaller, too, lowering the package weight from 16 to 14 ounces, per Reddit.
A bag of Keebler's Vienna Fingers bag has shrunk from 14.2 to 12 ounces, per Reddit. And MousePrint reports that the size of the company's regular Chips Deluxe package dwindled from 11.3 to 9.7 ounces. (The "family size" package decreased from 17.2 to 14.6 ounces.)
Package downsizing has also hit fast-food chains: Domino's has cut down the number of boneless wings in an order from ten to eight, citing "unprecedented ingredient costs." Burger King is doing the same with its chicken nuggets.
And Subway rotisserie chicken wraps and sandwiches now contain less meat, Bloomberg reported.
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'The Hunger Games' Prequel Movie: What You Need to Know
'The Hunger Games' Prequel Movie: What You Need to Know
The Hunger Games movie franchise is expanding with a prequel film called The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, based on a 2020 book of the same name by Suzanne Collins. While the Lionsgate flick is still awhile off, a flurry of casting announcements in May and June along with a striking, ice-coated teaser have stoked excitement for the games to begin.
The film adaptation is scheduled to hit theaters in November 2023, roughly eight years after Mockingjay Part 2, and follows a younger Coriolanus Snow (Blyth) who mentors District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler). A refresh: We know Snow from past movies as the ruthless president portrayed by Donald Sutherland. The original films brought in more than $3 billion globally, according to Lionsgate. Here's more on the cast, the plot and when we'll be making our official return to Panem.
What is The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes about?
Collins' novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set 64 years before the events of the initial trilogy. According to Lionsgate, the movie will focus in part on the lead up to the 10th Hunger Games. (For reference, Katniss volunteered as tribute for the 74th.) Teenage Snow, not yet the dictatorial ruler he'd turn out to be, senses some opportunity in Baird, the tribute he's given to mentor.
Here's the full Lionsgate synopsis: "Years before he would become the tyrannical president of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem's attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor."
It continues: "Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy Gray's race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake."
The fifth film in the Hunger Games franchise will be directed by Francis Lawrence, director of Catching Fire and both Mockingjay films. Michael Lesslie (screenwriter for 2015's Macbeth and 2016's Assassin's Creed) wrote the latest version of the script, working off a draft by Collins and Catching Fire screenwriter Michael Arndt.
The first teaser for Songbirds and Snakes
I have to hand it to the people behind this clip -- it doesn't reveal a smidgen of the actual movie, but it still sucked me back into the world of The Hunger Games. We see what looks like an animated version of the book's cover design. A songbird and snake are covered in frost, but the ice breaks off, revealing a gold coat underneath. "You're invited to return to the games," the onscreen text says. "In 2023, the world will discover who is a songbird and who is a snake."
Who's in the cast?
The Hunger Games prequel film stars Tom Blyth as young Snow and Rachel Zegler as Baird. Blyth plays the titular role in Epix's 2022 Western series Billy the Kid and appeared in an episode of HBO series The Gilded Age. Zegler is known for her starring role in Steven Spielberg's 2021 West Side Story adaptation. She's also set to play Snow White in Disney's live-action version of the animated classic and will be in Shazam sequel Fury of the Gods.
Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis will play Volumnia Gaul, the villainous head gamemaker of the 10th Hunger Games. "Dr. Gaul is as cruel as she is creative and as fearsome as she is formidable," director Francis Lawrence said. Emmy-winning Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage will portray the dean of the Academy, Casca Highbottom. According to Lawrence, the dean is "the austere and vindictive face of the games."
The movie arrives Nov. 17, 2023. That means there's time to pick up a copy of the book if you're interested -- or you could skip the training and head straight into the 10th games. May the odds be ever in your favor.
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Borderline Personality Disorder: What It Is and How to Get Help
Borderline Personality Disorder: What It Is and How to Get Help
Borderline personality disorder, also known as BPD, is a mental health disorder that impacts your ability to regulate your emotions and feelings about yourself and those around you. It affects approximately 14 million Americans. To be clear, it's different from normal fluctuations of emotions and diagnosed variations like bipolar disorder.
People diagnosed with BPD experience long-term patterns of extreme and unstable emotions that impede their ability to function in everyday life. You can think of BPD as the extremes of everything -- either really good or really bad. The opinions and perceptions of things change extremely fast, leading to impulsiveness in relationships and actions.
Here's what to know about borderline personality disorder and seeking help.
What causes borderline personality disorder?
Experts don't fully understand what causes BPD, though current research suggests that genetic, social and environmental factors contribute. Some research investigating twins and families has found that personality disorders may be inherited, or familial relationships may predispose you to BPD.
The next factor is environmental and social influences, especially in early childhood. Traumatic life experiences, like a history of neglect, child abuse or abandonment, can contribute to BPD development. One of the most tangible markers for BPD is the fear of abandonment and the willingness to do anything to stop it. The behaviors taken are extreme, like self-harm or aggressive actions to physically keep a person there.
Finally, your brain structure may contribute to BPD. Research that studies brain images of those with BPD found that the amygdala and hippocampus -- brain structures crucial for emotional regulation and the fear response -- are smaller than in the average brain.
Signs and symptoms of borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder isn't just a roller coaster of emotions. It fundamentally affects how you interpret your feelings about yourself, your behavior and your relationships with others. While the experience of BPD symptoms will vary by person, there are typical behavioral markers that help therapists diagnose the condition. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual identifies the symptoms of BPD as:
Having an intense fear of being abandoned by friends and family. For many with BPD, perceptions of being left or relationships ending are big triggers. They will frantically try to avoid both real and imagined abandonment.
Significant mood swings can range from happiness to anxiety and irritability. These episodes can last a few hours or as long as a few days.
A history of unstable personal relationships with friends and family members.
Impulsive and risky behavior like binge drinking and eating, quitting a good job, reckless spending and drug use.
Frequent changes in how someone views themselves. Goals and values may change as well.
Self-harm behavior and suicidal threats .
Periods of intense anger or bitterness, which can lead to physical fights.
How severely and how often someone may experience these symptoms will depend on the person.
Borderline personality treatment
The prognosis for borderline personality disorder is pretty good, and even better if you seek treatment. It's essential to see a licensed mental health professional who will complete a comprehensive medical examination.
A therapist can help create an effective treatment plan that includes psychotherapy, medication management or peer counseling. Psychotherapy methods are the primary treatment for BPD, including cognitive behavioral therapy, schema-focused therapy and dialectical behavior therapy. These therapy sessions help you build long-term coping skills you can use to manage your symptoms and reactions to situations.
Medications may also be a part of the treatment plan for BPD. Mood stabilizers or antidepressants can be prescribed to help offset the extreme mood swings of BPD, though no pill cures symptoms.
No matter what your treatment plan looks like, the goal of BPD treatments is to help you overcome emotional issues and manage the symptoms of the disorder.
Borderline personality vs. bipolar disorder
While on the surface, borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder seem like the same thing because of their shared symptoms, they are two distinct disorders that cannot be lumped together. BPD is a personality disorder, while bipolar disorder is a mood disorder.
BPD is marked by instability in your emotions and actions, in how you perceive situations and in how others see you. When someone with bipolar disorder isn't in a manic or depressive episode, they have stability that those with BPD do not have.
Additionally, bipolar disorder is more responsive to medication because it is biologically based. BPD cannot be treated like bipolar disorder because additional psychological factors must be addressed.
Finding help for borderline personality disorder
Living with borderline personality disorder or being the family member of someone who has it can be stressful. When you're in the thick of it, finding help can seem unattainable, especially if you don't know where to start or how to find a therapist.
If you're looking for a therapist in your area, you can contact your primary care doctor, who will refer you to a mental health professional who's trained to help. When preparing for your appointment, write down your questions beforehand and make sure you have a list of your current medications on hand. You want to bring in as much information as you can. Don't be afraid to ask questions!
Also, it is more than OK to bring a spouse, friend or relative. You should feel empowered to do whatever you need to ensure you're comfortable and in the best position to get help. The prognosis with long-term talk therapy is good, but it improves the more willing you are to accept help.
Use the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Behavioral Health, or SAMHSA, Treatment Services Locator to find the therapist in your area.
Self-care tips for borderline personality disorder
The fact is, borderline personality disorder isn't something you get rid of. But it doesn't have to rule your life and wreak havoc on your self-image and relationships. In addition to talk therapy and support from mental health professionals, there are things you can do on a daily basis to take care of yourself.
Set realistic goals.
When you have a big task, break it down into smaller, achievable steps.
Make sure your family and friends know what situations or actions may trigger you. They may do things unintentionally, and setting expectations can help avoid those situations entirely.
Allow yourself to seek out things that bring you comfort. That may be a place, people or a certain situation.
Integrate exercise into your routine to help reduce stress.
Borderline personality disorder is a lifelong condition. You shouldn't expect your symptoms to go away or get better overnight. You'll see gradual improvements in your thoughts and actions with therapy and self-care.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
NFTs explained: Why people spend millions of dollars on JPEGs
NFTs explained: Why people spend millions of dollars on JPEGs
Take a quick look at the image to the right. What, if anything, could convince you that image is worth $9 million?
Richerd/OpenSea
What you're looking at is an NFT, one of the first ever created. It's part of the CryptoPunks collection, a set of 10,000 NFTs released in 2017, a time when much of the world was still finding out what bitcoin is.
Most likely you've already rolled your eyes, either at the $9 million figure or at the very idea of NFTs themselves. The response to nonfungible tokens hasn't changed much since March when they first started exploding. The public at large has reflexively dismissed them as environmentally harmful scams. The bigger the sale, the more brazen the injustice.
Which brings us back to the above pixelated chap. Its owner is Richerd, an affable Canadian software developer. He started building cryptocurrency software around 2013, but eventually tired of it. After discovering NFTs earlier this year, Richerd bought CryptoPunk #6046 on March 31 for $86,000 in what he said was the biggest purchase he'd ever made in his life.
Richerd, who has over 80,000 followers on Twitter, last month claimed that his CryptoPunk was priceless to him and wasn't for sale no matter the price. The very next day his determination was tested when an offer came through for 2,500 ether, or $9.5 million. It was made not because Richerd's CryptoPunk is worth that amount -- similar NFTs now go for about $400,000 -- but rather because his bluff was very publicly being called. It was a challenge, but it was still a legitimate offer. If Richerd clicked "accept", 2,500 ether would have flowed into his wallet.
Richerd rejected the offer.
"Well, obviously, the day before I said 'I'm not selling it for any price,' so if I sell it for that price, I'd be going against my integrity," Richerd told me over a Zoom call. "On top of that, I've used this CryptoPunk as my profile pic, as my brand. Everyone knows that's me."
Not too long ago, Richerd's explanation would have sounded insane to me. How divorced from reality would someone need to be to offer eight figures on a picture that looks like a Fiverr job? How scandalously misguided would a person need to be to rebuff that offer? After I spent a few months researching and following NFTs, however, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. In fact, it makes a whole lot of sense.
There are 10,000 NFTs in the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection. Here are three examples. The middle one is owned by Jimmy Fallon.
Yuga Labs
Bitcoin millionaires
Here is one quick fact that explains why NFTs are bought for the equivalent of a CEO's salary: Bitcoin is estimated to have made over 100,000 millionaires. It's no surprise that NFTs became a phenomenon in March. That's when bitcoin hit $60,000, up over 500% from just six months prior.
When you see a headline or a tweet about some preposterous sum being spent on an NFT, it's easy to become bewildered over how absurd that purchase would be for you. What's easy to forget is that very expensive things are almost exclusively bought by very rich people -- and very rich people spend a lot on status symbols.
Take Bored Ape Yacht Club, for example. It's a collection of 10,000 ape NFTs, all with different traits that make some rarer than others. Rare ones have sold over for over a million bucks, but common variants go for around $200,000. (At the time of launch back in April, BAYC developers sold the NFTs for $190 each.) BAYC, owned by the likes of Steph Curry and Jimmy Fallon, is what you'd call a "profile pic collection." The main purpose of the images is to be used as your display photo on Discord, where most NFT business goes down, or on Twitter, Instagram or wherever else.
To recap: $200,000 minimum for a profile picture.
In isolation, that's insane. But place it on a spectrum of how wealthy people spend money, and it becomes less staggering. You can right click and save a JPEG, so why spend money on it? Well, you can buy a nice house in a safe neighborhood almost anywhere in the world for $1 million, yet celebrities regularly snap up $20 million mansions. You can find a fashionable dress for under $500, yet brands like Chanel build their business on selling ones for 20 times that amount.
Up to 100,000 people became millionaires when that green line shot skyward.
coinmarketcap.com
We accept that rich folks buy extravagant items offline. Is it so inconceivable they would buy extravagant things online, too?
"In the real world, how do people flex their wealth?" said Alex Gedevani, an analyst at cryptocurrency research firm Delphi Digital. "It can be buying cars or watches. How scalable is that versus if I buy a CryptoPunk and use it as my profile picture?"
Obviously, status symbols aren't specific to the rich. All of us indulge in some way or another, be it buying a $20,000 new car when a $7,000 used vehicle will do, or buying a $30 T-shirt when Walmart sells basics for under $5. What most status symbols have in common is that they have a specific audience in mind. The banker sporting his Rolex and the chief executive stepping into her Bentley don't care that I think either of those purchases is excessive. They have a small but powerful group of people they're trying to influence. So, too, with NFTs.
In the case of Richerd, he runs his own business, Manifold, where he helps show digital artists like Beeple how they can use blockchain technology to make art that could only exist as NFTs. Being a part of the most sought-after NFT collection helps in those circles. And when he says his brand is built on his Punk, he's not exaggerating -- a group of investors even named their organization after him.
"Anybody who owns a CryptoPunk believes certain things," Richerd explained. "Either you've been in the community for a long time so you believe in what these are, or you've paid a lot of money to get in, which shows conviction.
"I want to show my conviction. This is one of those projects that makes you put your money where your mouth is."
A bit of trouble
NFTs are polarizing. There's a small group of people who believe in the underlying technology (tokens that prove ownership of a digital good), but there are many more who regard it as a hoax. Just as the second group struggles to see any value in NFTs, the first group can sometimes be defensive about the technology's imperfections.
And make no doubt about it, there are a lot of issues with NFTs.
First is the confounding inaccessibility. There's a reason software developers tend to do well in crypto and NFT trading: Setting up blockchain wallets and other required digital apparatus is difficult. Even just buying and selling can be perilous. Send money to the wrong wallet address by accident, and it's gone forever.
Then there are the fees. Imagine you're interested in dipping your toes into nonfungible waters and you have $1,000 you're willing to lose. If you're minting a new NFT during a public sale you'll usually spend between $120 and $400. Not too bad -- until you factor in the transaction fees. Most NFTs are built on the ethereum blockchain, which is notoriously inefficient. The more people using ethereum, be it through trading altcoins or buying NFTs, the higher the fees. At a good time you'll spend about $100 per transaction, though double or triple that amount is common. Suddenly that $1,000 doesn't go very far.
This is especially troublesome for NFTs, which are infamous for causing "gas wars." It's possible for 100,000 people to buy shiba inu coins at once, since there are a quadrillion in circulation. But when 10,000 people try to buy an NFT, it results in a massive spike in transaction costs as some users outbid each other to speed up their purchase. It may only last a minute or two, but a lot of damage can be done in that time. People spending over $10,000 on a transaction fee isn't rare. People losing $1,000 on a failed transaction isn't, either.
This is what it looks like when someone spends $4,000 on a failed transaction. It's rare, but not rare enough.
Etherscan screenshot by Daniel Van Boom
Ethereum's inefficiency also contributes to the other major criticism of NFTs, the massive amount of energy they consume. Note that this is something of a semantic issue: NFTs aren't bad for the environment as much as ethereum is. Other networks, like Solana, use a fraction of the power. Ethereum developers are expected to implement an upgrade next year that will make mining it consume 1% the energy it currently does. At this moment though, while no one can say precisely how much energy ethereum consumes, we know it's a lot. (Bitcoin, despite getting all the headlines, is even less efficient than ethereum, which is why almost nothing is built on its blockchain.)
And finally, there's the fact that most people trading NFTs are doing so to make a profit. Scams are everywhere, and prices are volatile. Most of the people who create, buy and sell NFTs are ignorant or uninterested in the technology. If there is a technological leap taking place, it's likely to be obscured by the dizzying price movements.
"I'd call it a bubble," Gedvani said, "because the amount of speculators that are entering the market is outpacing genuine creators."
But a bubble can pop and leave something better in its wake. Think of Pets.com. It had a peak valuation of $290 million in February 2000 but by November of that year, as the infamous dot-com bubble began to burst, it had already closed shop. It's used as a cautionary tale for speculative trading in bubbles. But the impulse to invest in Pets.com evidently ended up being justifiable. That particular venture was misguided, but the e-commerce trend it was flicking at was legitimate. Seven-figure pixel art may not be forever, but proof of digital ownership, which is what NFTs are really about, may be.
A big 2022
Where NFTs will end up is anyone's guess -- and anyone who claims to know is probably trying to sell you something. What we do know is that the amount of people buying NFTs is almost definitely about to grow.
It's estimated that around 250,000 people trade NFTs each month on OpenSea, the biggest NFT marketplace. In the short term, CoinBase will soon open its own NFT marketplace, for which 2 million users are on the waiting list. Robinhood has similar plans.
More importantly, giant companies that already make money outside of the crypto space want in. Niantic, the company behind Pokemon Go, has just announced a game in which players can earn bitcoin. Twitter and the company formerly known as Facebook plan to integrate NFTs into their platforms, and Epic Games says it's open to doing so too. Envision a world where instead of buying skins in Fortnite, you buy an NFT for those skins that you own -- meaning you can trade it for outfits and weapons in other games, or sell it once you're done with it. (Epic said it won't integrate such a mechanic into Fortnite, but that may not stop competitors.)
Richerd reckons the flood of people soon to enter the NFT marketplace will create a broader diversity of digital products sold for different audiences. Your neighbor might not want to spend $200 -- much less $200,000 -- on a profile picture, but maybe they'll be willing to spend $10 on a one-of-a-kind skin, or on a product in Facebook's Metaverse. But though the space may change, he remains confident that CryptoPunk #6046 is safe for a while yet.
"Even if every NFT falls," he said, "CryptoPunks will be the last one."
What to Know About Hidden Fees That Increase the Price of Everything
What to Know About Hidden Fees That Increase the Price of Everything
This story is part of Recession Help Desk, CNET's coverage of how to make smart money moves in an uncertain economy.
What's happening
Many companies have found ways of passing down increased costs to consumers, with extra charges tacked on to your bill at checkout.
Why it matters
It's called drip pricing, and these new fees and surcharges are affecting customers who are already struggling with rampant inflation.
What it means for you
Knowing what merchants are charging can help you manage your budget and make better buying decisions.
The prices for nearly everything have ballooned in the past year. Record high inflation means the cost of food, fuel and other everyday essentials has gone up, which has put severe financial pressure on US households, particularly low-income Americans.
Look out for surcharges like these on your restaurant bills.
Courtney Johnston/CNET
And then there's the hidden costs added to your purchase before checkout, or tacked on to the receipt without warning.
These additional merchant fees are called drip pricing, and they're inflicting pain on our already-stretched wallets. Businesses often claim these fees are the only way to offset the burden of inflation and supply chain shortages. For consumers, it means the things we buy are pricier than they initially appear.
"Most of the time we find out about these fees when it's time to pay, not before," Ashley Feinstein Gerstley, author of Financial Adulting, told me via email. "Because these fees really run the gamut, you never really know what you are going to get."
I asked my Instagram followers about these new and surprising fees, and they gave me loads of anecdotes. From restaurants to medical offices to rideshare services, here's a look at some charges that I discovered.
And I'll offer tips on how to manage these unexpected surcharges.
Restaurants are charging more, and not just for food
Many restaurants are still reeling from a fiscal slump during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with rising food and payroll costs, eateries continue to struggle. "Average small business restaurants run on very tight margins of around 3 to 5% pre-tax," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research with the National Restaurant Association. "The typical restaurant business model is not set up to deal with this sustained and accelerated cost of food and labor, which is putting extraordinary pressure on operators, and indications are these will continue."
Here are some of the new fees you may see on your restaurant bill:
Credit card surcharges
Earlierthis spring, major creditcard companies like Mastercard and Visa increased interchange fees, which is what merchants pay to card issuers every time a customer uses a credit card. Also known as "swipe fees," they cost businesses 1.5 to 3% per transaction. They're most challenging for smaller establishments like restaurants, and some are passing this expense on to customers as a percentage of their total bill.
When Feinstein Gerstley dined out with her family last summer in Sapphire, North Carolina, the restaurant charged a credit card processing fee that she says was not mentioned until the bill arrived: "We were a party of 15 who had drinks, apps, dinner and dessert so the charge was substantial, over $100." Many states permit businesses to pass on their card swipe fees to customers, but they must properly disclose the surcharges on visible signage and their websites. The customer fee also cannot exceed what the business pays to the credit card companies.
Increased labor costs
Back in April, Sarah Morisson saw a $5 surcharge when the bill for her enchiladas arrived at a restaurant in Alpharetta, Georgia. The reason? "Increased labor costs." This may also be called a "kitchen appreciation fee" in some eateries and comes in the form of an added $3 to $5.
Health care charges
Restaurants are competing for workers and offering more benefits as a draw. This added cost may show up on your receipt next time you eat out. In Chicago last month, Rema Shamon noticed a few dollars added to her dining bill labeled "health care for staff." Similarly in West Hollywood, California, Claudia Scott was charged 3% more for "employee health insurance" at a local eatery.
Add-ons for staff who don't get tips
At a sandwich shop in Portland, Maine, a couple weeks ago, Jennifer Steralacci and a friend paid a $4 fee "for non-tipped staff" -- and that was on top of the gratuity. "I didn't recall seeing anything on the menu that indicated this charge," Steralacci told me.
Rideshare and food delivery apps are charging more for gas
Fees were already climbing because of the pandemic, but as rideshare companies compete to hire drivers, they're luring them with sign-on bonuses and higher pay. That's another reason your rideshare total seems more expensive than ever. On top of that, in March, Uber and Uber Eats announced a new fuel fee to help drivers cover the cost of rising energy prices.
That'll cost an additional $0.45 or $0.55 on each Uber trip and either $0.35 or $0.45 on each Uber Eats food order, depending on the location. Uber says 100% of that fee goes to drivers.Rival rideshare companyLyft has also announced a 55-cent fuel surcharge. Grocery delivery app Instacart says it's tacking on a new 40-cent fuel fee, too.
Fees at doctors' offices are adding to the shock, too
Increased supply and materials fees
Keep an eye out for this line-item cost at your next medical visit, which ranges in price. In Dallas, Kelsie Whittington got hit with an unusual $18 "supply fee" after her son's routine pediatrician visit in May. The medical office explained that it was for pricier bed covers, needles, gauze and other equipment.
With insurance companies slow to issue reimbursements, the clinic was having patients eat the cost. "I was a little shocked at first, then empathetic. I needed to pay for my son's health," Whittington said.
Facility fees
While doctors' offices have been charging facility fees since before the pandemic, patients may not know about them until they receive an itemized bill. According to Consumer Reports, facility fees, which typically cover the cost of maintaining the medical office, urgent care center or clinic that's owned by a hospital, can add hundreds of dollars to a bill... and insurance may only partially cover it.
What can you do about all the extra hidden charges?
To minimize the blow of these new fees and surcharges, we need to gather facts and self-advocate. Here are four pieces of advice:
1. Question the fees: We may feel awkward or embarrassed to ask about new and unusual charges. But if a business is not upfront and hasn't disclosed their charges ahead of time, it's within our right to understand and ask questions. We may learn that the fee is justified and we're actually happy to pay it and continue patronizing. In other cases, it may deter us from returning.
2. Ask for a cash discount: Like many gas stations, some restaurants offer cash discounts to help minimize their credit card processing costs. For example, at The Fifth Season restaurant in Port Washington, New York, cash-paying diners receive a 3.5% bill reduction through its Cash Discount Program promoted on the eatery's website.
Even if not advertised, ask if a business will offer you a cash discount, a win-win for both you and the merchant. I've successfully used this trick at small, independently owned stores, too.
3. Think twice about using third-party delivery apps: Delivery apps are convenient but they can quickly double the cost of your pizza order after fees, taxes and the suggested 25% tip. Ordering takeout the old-fashioned way by calling the restaurant directly could result in substantial savings. Some eateries may require you to pick up the food, but others may offer free delivery of their own -- just be sure to tip the driver. If you want to stick with third-party deliverers, MealMe helps identify the lowest options by comparing pricing across the board.
4. Vote with your feet: It's our choice where and how to spend, and if paying extra fees is too much to bear, we have the right to walk away and patronize a different business next time. When a restaurant manager refused to remove the surprise credit card surcharge, Feinstein Gerstley said a family member in attendance shared the experience on Yelp. "We definitely didn't return to the restaurant," she said.
If a charge does not come with any adequate disclosure, the merchant may be in violation of state laws, so consumer advocates recommend filing a complaint with both your credit card issuer and the state attorney general. According to Riehle, "The restaurant industry is very competitive, and operators know that if a consumer's last experience doesn't meet their expectations, they are likely to vote with their feet."
