enRICHed: Volume 12

Written By Rich BFF

YourRichBFF Fest

Anyone else see 1,000 Instagram stories this week about Spotify? It started with SpotifyFest, which took all of our listening history from this year and turned it into a festival lineup curated just for us. Then 2 days later we got hit with Spotify Wrapped, and all of the hilarious memes that came with it. No one can resist sharing their results each year, which gives Spotify some of the easiest and quickest free advertising ever seen. Can’t get enough? Check out 5 other ways to recap your music preferences from this year.

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.

Someone Stop Kanye

  • Kanye West has yet again been given a platform to spew hate speech. On Thursday, videos of Ye’s interview with InfoWars host Alex Jones surfaced, showing him praising Hitler and the Nazis.

  • Kanye proceeded to tweet a photo of a swastika inside the Star of David, alongside support for Balenciaga (who has been facing its own controversy regarding child exploitation), prompting his Twitter account suspension Thursday night. Elon Musk, who has been proudly touting the new free speech policies on the platform, finally admitting that Kanye was inciting violence with his words.

  • HYCU; since October 3rd, Kanye has been putting Jews around the world in danger. We have said before, and we will reiterate always, we stand with the Jewish community and believe in the consequences Kanye is facing. The latest, along with his Twitter suspension, being the loss of his deal to buy social media app Parler.

November Employment Numbers

  • Amid whispers of a recession, the U.S. added 263,000 jobs in November, with the jobless rate staying at a historically low 3.7%.

  • Economists are trying to figure out where there are cracks, as tech companies have been announcing major layoffs in the past months. We have also started to see retail and warehousing companies cut jobs ahead of the holiday season, as consumers seem to be prioritizing experiences over material goods.

  • HYCU; Numbers showing low unemployment usually correspond with consumer spending—which keeps our economy running—but they are also contributing to four-decade high inflation numbers. With all of these conflicting views, we are kind of anticipating the floor to fall out from under us at some point or another.

Zelle Scams

  • Have you ever posted something on Facebook Marketplace, only to have someone ask you to activate a Zelle account for payment? Then for some reason they ask you to pay them first? It’s a scam. And even we’ve been targeted!

  • Unlike Venmo and Cash App, Zelle is partially owned by banks, which makes it seem like it should be safer. Yet, Senator Elizabeth Warren found that by the end of 2022, Zelle is on pace to hear $255 million in scam and fraud claims (jumping from $90 million in 2020).

  • HYCU; this week, the owners of Zelle, including JP Morgan, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, were discussing how to standardize the process of refunding Zelle fraud victims. Currently, only ~10% of people scammed get their money back, so this could protect you and your loved ones who might fall for the elaborate and wide-scale schemes that these scammers are running.

Rail Strike Update

  • Last week we talked about the potential rail strike looming overhead. 7 days later, we have another update.

  • On Friday, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law making a rail strike illegal, preventing workers from walking off the job weeks before the holiday season. While the House passed a measure that would ensure 7 days paid sick leave for railway workers, the Senate voted it down.

  • HYCU; the expected rail strike would have cost the US an estimated $2 billion per day. As Biden said this week, “Without freight rail, many of our industries would have literally shut down.” While Biden’s law does not address the paid leave that the union workers are owed as valued employees, avoiding a strike has a positive impact on the US economy overall. Quite the ethical dilemma - any thoughts? Send ‘em in.

Shop Small, Shop Local

  • Black Friday has been evolving to include the entire month of November, but the days following Thanksgiving remain designated to certain types of spending.

  • In 2021, 51 million Americans shopped on Small Business Saturday, spending a record $23.3 billion. This year, 59% of shoppers said they would be participating, even more than Black Friday.

  • But that type of local support doesn’t have to stop in November, especially because 78% of small business owners say their holiday sales likely determine whether they can stay afloat the following year!

  • HYCU; how can you support a small business this holiday season? One thing that doesn’t cost any money is leaving positive reviews online and sharing content on social media. You can also buy gift cards, order takeout directly from restaurants, choose to opt local, and share links to online stores with friends and family. Want to support Vivian? “Like, comment or subscribe” is the classic free way to do so. But, we do also have some merch if you’re interested.

Rich BFF
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enRICHed: Volume 11