In 1964, Paul McCartney of the Beatles famously sang, “I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love.” While Mr. McCartney’s sentiments were definitely a major foreshadowing of the hippie, free-love movement that was to come in the ‘60s, it appears as though he was also onto a big truth that wouldn’t be proven for another 50 years.11 years ago, researchers Hugo M. Mialon and Andrew Francis-Tan from Emory University embarked on the first study to determine whether spending a lot on a wedding or engagement ring meant a marriage would succeed or fail.The pair wanted to see if the wedding industry was being honest when it came to claims that the more money a couple spends, the more likely they are to stay together.“The wedding industry has consistently sought to link wedding spending with long-lasting marriages. This paper is the first to examine this relationship statistically,” the researchers wrote. Maybe don't splurge on the big balloon release. Photo by Álvaro CvG on Unsplash The researchers carried out online surveys with more than 3,000 people who have been married at least once and live in the United States.After reviewing the answers to the questionnaire the researchers learned that spending big bucks on a wedding and engagement ring made a couple more likely to get divorced.So much for the idea that "Diamonds are a girl's best friends." Thanks a lot, Marilyn! The researchers determined that "marriage duration is inversely associated with spending on the engagement ring and wedding ceremony."For example, couples that spent between $2000-4000 on an engagement ring were about 1.3 times more likely to divorce than couples who spent in the $500-2000 range. For wedding ceremonies, $20,000 was the big cut off — any more than that was correlated with a 1.6 times increase in divorce likelihood. Remember that this study was conducted in 2014. In 2025, the average cost of a wedding is a whopping $31,281. Clearly, an updated survey is needed.Conversely, the research found that "relatively low spending on the wedding is positively associated with duration among male and female respondents."Those cheap courthouse weddings that cost almost nothing? Very often, they foreshadow a long-lasting marriage!The researchers also found that the number of people who attend the wedding matters, too. The questionnaire revealed that “high wedding attendance and having a honeymoon (regardless of how much it cost) are generally positively associated with marriage duration."The researchers haven’t studied why people who splurge on weddings and rings have a greater chance of having to hire divorce lawyers, but they have a few theories. A romantic wedding day kiss. Giphy “It could be that the type of couples who have a … (cheap wedding) are the type that are a perfect match for each other,” Mialon told CNN. “Or it could be that having an inexpensive wedding relieves young couples of financial burdens that may strain their marriage,” he added.Francis-Tan believes that people who have weddings with a large number of attendees are more successful because they have a lot of support.“This could be evidence of a community effect, i.e., having more support from friends and family may help the couple to get through the challenges of marriage,” Francis-Tan said. “Or this could be that the type of couples who have a lot of friends and family are also the type that tend not to divorce as much.”(Interestingly, common sense would indicate that a high guest count naturally drives up the cost of the wedding — so it really comes down to how much you're splurging on food and decor.)Could it also be that people who put a big emphasis on a flashy wedding and jewelry tend to bit a bit more materialistic? It makes sense that couples that are really into keeping up appearances may not have their priorities straight when it comes to building a loving relationship. Gwen Stefani throws a bouquet in a music video. Giphy Of course, there are many, many factors that go into a long, happy, and successful marriage. And don't forget that not all marriages that last are happy. Spending big on a fancy engagement ring or splurging for the chocolate fountain at the wedding don't spell doom for couples that communicate and work on their relationship. Like anything in life, there are no guarantees either way.To finish things off with another pop music analogy, “If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it,” (just make sure it’s an inexpensive one, in front of a lot of people, in your backyard).This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.

More and more people are getting fed up with tipping culture and "tip creep" in the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted the service industry and now almost everyone is paying the price; being asked to tip at self-checkouts, vending machines, and for drive-through or carry out food orders. Often times, the "suggested tips" begin at 20% and only go up from there. Tipping was meant to be a generosity for great service, not a necessity for business owners to be able to pay their workers.That frustration, along with overall higher prices of... well, everything, has led to a noticeable decrease in overall tipping. People are annoyed and closing up their wallets. But until the culture and laws change, it's service workers who are the ones really getting hurt.A server in Texas recently shared some personal information on TikTok to remind everyone why it's so important to tip those who serve us our meals, drinks, and cut our hair.In 2020, Aaliyah Cortez filmed a video of her paycheck where she shows that although she worked 70.80 hours during a pay period, she only received a check for $9.28. "So this is why you should always tip your bartenders and servers, anyone who waits on you, or provides a service for you," she said. @f.aa.ded PSA #psa #fyp #foryou #bartender #server #work #tips #chooseone #CleanFreshHype #photography101 #hardwork #viral The video shows that even though she was paid the criminally low federal minimum tipped wage of $2.13, the money she received in her check was further reduced by taxes, social security, and Medicare payments."Of course, I got tips, but this is what I got for my hourly," Cortez said. "This is why you tip."The rules for wages in tipped industries vary across the country. Texas is among the 16 states where the state minimum cash wage payment is the same as that required under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ($2.13/hr.).Now, if a server making $2.13 an hour doesn't reach the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour with tips, then their employer must make up the difference. Which, to be clear, is still horrendous and does not constitute a living wage. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a single person with no children would need to earn $21.82 per hour to afford basic cost of living expenses in Texas. What consumers see everywhere we go. Giphy The calculator also indicates a "poverty wage," which is $7.52 — just a few centers higher than the minimum wage.The best state to work in for tipped wages is Washington where the minimum wage is $16.66, with no separate wage for tipped employees.In a follow-up video, Cortez further discussed the issue, noting that she doesn't agree with "state laws that allow restaurants to pay under minimum wage and expect the customer to pay our wages," she said."I make great money in tips, she added, "However, this is not the case for all service industry workers." According to Cortez, people aren't always that generous with their tips, even though their "state is expecting them to tip." @f.aa.ded WATCH MY LAST VID #psa #fyp #foryou #bartender #server #work #tips #hardwork #viral #serverlife #bartenderlife Cortez's video is a great reminder of two things:First, that we should all be mindful to take care of those who serve us by giving them a decent tip. If you don't want to leave a tip for the cashier at the grocery store or the ticket-taker at the movies, who should all be earning at least $7.25 per hour, that's understandable. Save it up and give it to the people who really rely on it for their income.Secondly, Cortez's video is five years old but just as relevant as ever. It's still strong proof that the U.S. needs to address the issue of the tipped minimum wage because it hasn't changed in 30 years. "Since 1991, the federal tipped minimum wage has been frozen at $2.13 an hour," gender economist Katica Rot told NBC. "Meanwhile, the non-tipped federal minimum wage has risen 70.6% and consumer prices have gone up 90.24%."In fact, tipped employees are twice as likely (and servers three times as likely) to live in poverty than non-tipped workers.Women bear the biggest burden of the tipped minimum wage. They represent 70% of all workers in tip-dependent occupations.In recent years, Congress has rejected attempts to raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour, even though most Americans support it. That fight, however, is far from over.In the meantime, it means the average person needs to step up and do their part to help out as much as possible. But it's impossible to ignore the systemic nature of the issue at hand. And until business owners are required by law to pay their workers a living wage, no amount of spinning iPads and "suggested tips" will fix anything.This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.

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Food stamps became a kind of underground currency. Believe it or not, Tide laundry detergent also functions as a currency in some really low-income areas. The EBT program is rife with fraud and abuse. It needs to be radically reformed. For starters, no processed food at all. If… https://t.co/JpvM5pxD3F — HealthRanger (@HealthRanger) August 12, 2025

by Paul Joseph Watson, Modernity News: With the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda in full swing, many State and local officials around the country have been spurred to make an effort to ensure people are eating better. One such example is limiting what foods can be bought through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known […]