In this video, I reveal my Liquidation Heatmap Trading Strategy using real-time data from Coinglass and execute live trades on Bitcoin & Ethereum. Learn how to identify key liquidity zones, spot trapped traders, and take advantage of major liquidation clusters for high-probability setups.
📊 What You’ll Learn:
• How to read liquidation heatmaps effectively
• Spotting high-volume liquidation zones before big moves
• Live BTC & ETH trade execution based on heatmap signals
• Using Coinglass & order flow for smart entries
⚡ Tools Used:
• Coinglass Heatmap
• Binance / Bybit Trading Chart
• Volume & Open Interest Data
As a real estate investor, you likely already know quite a bit about the importance of landlord insurance for your rental properties.You also probably know that landlord policies are separate and different from regular home insurance.
But what about when you decide to branch out into short-term rentals? You might be comparing policies and wondering if Airbnb rentals will be covered if you decide to go down that route in the future, or only occasionally, or you may be considering a complete business strategy switch to short-term rentals.
Regardless of the exact circumstance, there’s one point that will apply to you in most cases: You will need to dig deeper into your current policy specs rather than assuming your short-term rental will be adequately covered by your current policy. Many investors only discover coverage gaps after a denied claim, which is why providers that specialize specifically in short-term rental insurance, like Proper Insurance, emphasize reviewing your policy before you ever host your first guest.
If you haven’t bought your policy yet but are thinking about going into short-term rentals, here are the things you need to think twice about when buying insurance.
Can My Landlord Policy Cover Short-Term Rentals?
The short answer is: it depends — and that uncertainty alone is worth investigating. Landlord/Dwelling insurance is not designed to cover the vast risks of short-term rentals, but that’s not always obvious. Some insurers market DP-3 policies as short-term rental products, but underneath, they remain standard landlord policies with the same limitations.
The most significant of those limitations is liability and guest-caused damage.
If you’re renting your investment property as a short-term rental, a Commercial Homeowners policy is the appropriate product. Unlike Landlord insurance, a Commercial policy is a business policy built to cover business operations, with Commercial General Liability that extends beyond your property line, and without the exclusions that can leave property owners and investors exposed.
Equally, if you’re completely switching over your rentals to STRs, you can’t just keep your current landlord policy and hope for the best. There is a mechanism for writing the occasional short-term stay into the homeowner’s insurance for your primary residence. In this case, the insurer can simply add on what’s known as a “rider” to your existing policy. But an investment property that has been rented out on a long-term basis (12+ months is the standard lease term for LTR) will not be covered.
What a Landlord Policy Will Not Cover When It Comes to Short-Term Rentals
Let’s take a more in-depth look at what won’t be covered and why relying on a landlord policy for a short-term rental can lead to unexpected costs when something goes wrong.
For an insurer, deciding how to structure an insurance policy and how much coverage to offer boils down to the specific risks associated with the activity that’s being insured. And while to a beginner investor, STRs and LTRs seem like similar activities, they are actually subject to very different risks—hence the different coverage types required.
The most significant coverage gap is in liability. Landlord insurance protects investors by covering lawsuits for tenants’ personal injuries while occupying the property. But what if it turns out that the “tenants” suing for personal injury were only staying for the weekend and are not the tenants named on the long-term lease? The insurer most likely will deny coverage. Most Landlord policies include a “business pursuits” exclusion. Your insurer has the authority to determine that short-term renting is a business pursuit; your liability coverage could be voided entirely, even for incidents that do occur on the premises.
The same goes for if a guest slipped and fell in front of an outdoor hot tub or got injured while kayaking in a nearby river in a kayak you provided as a host. Certain activities, amenities, or off-premises exposures may require separate coverage or specific endorsements and are often excluded unless explicitly insured. Without appropriate coverage, even a single accident involving a hot tub, pool, or recreational equipment can quickly escalate into a six-figure liability exposure.
Next, if a guest steals something of yours during a weekend stay, landlord coverage will not be of help here because landlord policies assume that nothing in a rental property is your own personal property, with most LTR properties offered on an unfurnished/partially furnished basis. Theft is especially problematic if you offer an STR that is elaborately furnished or “themed” with knick-knacks and unique decor.
Be careful with this, though: Even short-term insurance plans often won’t cover the cost of expensive items like artwork or jewelry; if you really feel like leaving these in a property you’ll be using as an STR, you’ll need to add a special add-on plan for valuable personal property.
Hot water heater, air conditioner, refrigerator, circuit panels, heating, or smart home system stops working? If an appliance breaks due to mechanical failure, landlord insurance generally does not cover replacement unless a specific equipment breakdown endorsement is in place. Landlord insurance typically responds only to damage caused by a covered peril such as fire or storm.And if you are forced to cancel a booking due to the equipment that broke down, without this coverage, you’ll have to shoulder the loss of income from that booking and any other impacted booking as well.
What if one of your guests accidentally brings in bedbugs via their bags? A pest infestation can make an STR uninhabitable for weeks while pest control deals with the issue.
Landlord insurance does not cover pest infestations because they’re considered preventable with proper maintenance. Some short-term rental policies, on the other hand, will cover this problem due to high guest turnover, which can make such infestations impossible to prevent in short-term properties.
When bedbugs or similar infestations occur under a landlord policy, the financial impact is twofold: the owner is responsible for extermination and remediation costs and must cancel upcoming reservations while the property is out of service. Because landlord policies do not include loss-of-revenue protection, the lost booking revenue during this downtime is typically uninsured.
All these exclusions amount to a fundamental assumption about the key differences between STRs and LTRs: Long-term renters, as a rule, tend to take better care of the properties they occupy than short-term renters. They are also less likely to sue their landlords because they want to stay in their home, so you have less of a risk of someone filing a claim opportunistically. Long-term rentals are just subject to fewer unpredictabilities.
For all these reasons, short-term rentals require their own kind of insurance with higher liability limits, broader property protection, and business income considerations, coverage structures that contemplate hospitality-style operations rather than long-term tenancy.
When a Rental Becomes a Business
There’s one more important thing investors need to know about switching to short-term rental insurance: What you’ll be switching to is actually a form of commercial insurance, combined with elements of home insurance.
In the eyes of an insurer, a short-term rental stay is considered a “business activity.” In this, the insurers follow IRS guidance that deems active hospitality, where cleaning, concierge services, and amenities are offered as part of the stay, a business activity rather than passive income, as in the case of traditional real estate investing.
This is important not just because this designation as a business activity may automatically exclude you from LTR landlord policies, most of which come with a “business pursuit exclusion” clause, but also because you may need a lot more than you think as an STR landlord, including a business permit, a local STR registration, and any other licensing required specifically of short-term rentals in your local area.
The precise guidelines vary, and you’ll need to do your own research, but, as a rule of thumb, if you’re planning on using your investment property for stays that will be, on average, seven days or fewer, you almost certainly will fall into the category of a short-term rental “business,” with all the legal implications.
Final Thoughts
For a short-term rental landlord, there’s far more to think about due to the higher-risk and more unpredictable nature of this rental strategy.
If you’re planning on renting through Airbnb or Vrbo, it can be tempting to rely solely on the OTA guarantees these companies advertise.
Resist the temptation to skip the fine print. Standard platform protections come with significant limitations. For example, Airbnb’s host coverage is not a policy with your name on it, meaning you forfeit all policy rights. They are in complete control of the process, how long it takes, if you get paid, and how much for any experienced loss.
The strongest protection strategy is a policy designed specifically for short-term rentals and customized to your property’s risk profile.Working with a provider that specializes exclusively in STR coverage, such as Proper Insurance, ensures your policy reflects the realities of operating a hospitality business, not just owning a rental property.
Over the past week, a highly speculative piece of financial fiction has gripped Wall Street. Titled “The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis,” the viral essay by Citrini Research and Alap Shah paints a catastrophic picture of an economy destroyed by artificial intelligence. Framing itself as a “Macro Memo from June 2028,” the piece describes a world in which the S&P 500 has plummeted 38%, unemployment has spiked to 10.2%, and the U.S. economy is trapped in a deflationary spiral caused by the mass displacement of white-collar workers.
However, Ken Griffin’s market-making giant Citadel Securities has swiftly dismantled the viral narrative. In a blistering new macro strategy report authored by Frank Flight, Citadel systematically debunks Citrini’s doomsday scenario, using real-time economic data to prove that the so-called “intelligence crisis” is actually rooted in a profound misunderstanding of macroeconomic fundamentals and technological adoption curves.
Viral “doomsday” narrative
To understand Citadel’s takedown, one must first understand the hysteria Citrini, a macroeconomic analysis research firm founded in 2023 by James van Geelen, attempted to incite. Citrini’s Substack essay imagines a “human intelligence displacement spiral”—a negative feedback loop with no natural brake. In this hypothetical future, AI agents rapidly replace software engineers, financial advisors, and middle management. Companies lay off workers to expand margins, reinvesting those savings into more AI compute, which only accelerates further layoffs.
Citrini argues this leads to systemic financial ruin. They hypothesize that stripped of their high-paying salaries, prime borrowers will default on their portion of the $13 trillion residential mortgage market. Furthermore, Citrini predicts a bloodbath in private credit, forecasting that PE-backed Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies like Zendesk will default on billions in debt as AI coding agents allow clients to build internal software rather than pay subscription fees. In Citrini’s eyes, AI represents an “economic pandemic” generating “Ghost GDP”—output that benefits the owners of compute but never circulates through the human consumer economy.
Citrini became the top finance Substack after accurately identifying early investment prospects in artificial intelligence and weight-loss pharmaceuticals. Its recent viral memo spooked markets and divided audiences, who either found it eerily prescient or inherently flawed.
Software jobs are rising, not falling
Citadel Securities didn’t mince words in its response, pointing out that “despite the macroeconomic community struggling to forecast 2-month-forward payroll growth with any reliable accuracy, the forward path of labor destruction can apparently be inferred with significant certainty from a hypothetical scenario posted on Substack”.
Flight begins the demolition by looking at actual labor market data. While Citrini’s essay insists that software and consulting jobs are currently collapsing, Citadel points to Indeed job posting data showing that demand for software engineers is actually rising rapidly, up 11% year-over-year in early 2026.
Furthermore, the data on AI diffusion completely contradicts the idea of an overnight white-collar wipeout. Using the St. Louis Fed’s analysis of the Real Time Population Survey, Citadel notes that the daily use of generative AI for work is remaining “unexpectedly stable” and currently “presents little evidence of any imminent displacement risk”. Instead of a collapsing economy, new business formation in the U.S. is rapidly expanding, and the construction of massive AI data centers is currently driving a localized boom in construction hiring.
The “Recursive Technology” Fallacy
The core of Citrini’s error, according to Citadel, is conflating recursive technology with recursive economic adoption. Citrini’s premise assumes that because AI can write code to improve itself, its integration into the economy will compound infinitely and instantaneously.
Citadel calls this fundamentally flawed. Technological diffusion has historically followed an S-curve, where early adoption is slow, accelerates as costs fall, and eventually plateaus as saturation sets in and marginal returns diminish. Furthermore, Citadel points out a massive physical constraint that Citrini ignores: energy and computing power.
“Displacing white collar work would require orders of magnitude more compute intensity than the current level utilization,” Flight writes. If automation were to expand at the breakneck pace Citrini fears, the demand for compute would inherently rise, pushing up its marginal cost. “If the marginal cost of compute rises above the marginal cost of human labor for certain tasks, substitution will not occur, creating a natural economic boundary”. In other words, physical capital, energy availability, and regulatory friction will naturally brake the “unstoppable” feedback loop Citrini envisions.
Ignorance of macroeconomic fundamentals
Citadel’s most damning critique targets Citrini’s apparent ignorance of basic macroeconomics. Citrini claims that AI is a unique threat because it will destroy aggregate demand while boosting output, violating the basic laws of economic accounting.
“Productivity shocks are positive supply shocks: they lower marginal costs, expand potential output, and increase real income,” Citadel counters. Historically, every major technological leap—from the steam engine to the internet—has followed this exact pattern. If AI allows firms to produce more at a lower cost, prices fall and margins expand. Lower prices increase real purchasing power for consumers, which in turn increases consumption. Higher margins lead to reinvestment.
Citadel argues that for Citrini’s scenario to play out, one must assume that labor income completely collapses and capital income has a spending velocity of zero, which is historically false. Profits from AI efficiency will be reinvested, distributed, taxed, or spent. Moreover, Citadel points out that AI is highly likely to be a complement to human labor rather than a strict substitute. The economy consists of a vast array of physical, relational, and supervisory tasks fraught with coordination frictions and liability constraints that algorithms cannot easily navigate. Citadel poses a simple historical reality check: “Was the advent of Microsoft Office a complement or substitute for office workers?”
The Financial Times’ Robert Armstrong, who writes the Unhedged column, has been among the Citadel-leaning critics over the past week, along with Tyler Cowen of George Mason University and the Marginal Revolution blog, but he argued on Wednesday that more nuance could support the Citrini scenario. Paul Kedrosky, the tech analyst with SK Ventures, wrote to Armstrong about the so-called “Engels pause,” a scenario Fortune has previously covered, named by the economist Robert Allenafter Karl Marx’s 19th-century partner and benefactor, Friedrich Engels.
Engels noted that per capita GDP was increasing but wages were stagnating in the UK during the late 18th and early 19th century, and analysts at the Bank of America Institute, while not using the Engels pause phrase, noted the same dynamic taking place recently “Profits are gaining ground vs. wages,” they wrote in February, explaining that “recent productivity gains have been piling as corporate profits, with labor income steadily falling as a share of U.S. GDP.”
Allen told Armstrong by email that he thinks the Engels pause in the U.S. and UK economies actually dates back to the early 1970s, referring him to a 2024 paper that analyzed labor market trends dating back to 1620. Wages briefly outpaced inflation during the pandemic labor shortages, leading to a short-lived era called “The Great Resignation,” but anemic job growth over the last few years suggests companies believe they overhired.
The Keynesian Trap
Citadel refers back to another economist in its attempt drive the final nail into the coffin of the “Global Intelligence Crisis,” invoking a famously optimistic and incorrect prediction by John Maynard Keynes. In 1930, Keynes famously predicted that soaring productivity would lead to a 15-hour workweek by the 21st century. He was right about the productivity, but entirely wrong about the labor market.
Why didn’t jobs disappear? Because, as Citadel explains, “rising productivity lowered costs and expanded the consumption frontier”. Humans simply shifted their preferences to higher-quality goods, novel services, and previously unimaginable forms of expenditure. “Keynes underestimated the elasticity of human wants,” Citadel asserts. Citrini is making the exact same analytical mistake today. AI will alter the composition of demand and generate entirely new industries, just as the internet did. The 2026 economy is probably not heading for a sci-fi apocalypse; in other words, it is simply experiencing the next great, manageable wave of human productivity.
For this story, Fortune journalists used generative AI as a research tool. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
It’s been a bad few months for Bitcoin, as prices have fallen over 40% since October. For investors this has been especially frustrating since, unlike in previous downturns, there has no obvious explanation for the market malaise. This week, however, the perpetually online crowd known as Crypto Twitter came up with a culprit: The secretive Wall Street firm Jane Street, which they alleged had been engaging in a surreptitious form of ETF-related trading that systemically depressed the market.
The theory spawned a series of viral posts in the fever swamps of social media, and gained further traction when Bitcoin staged a midweek rally—following further claims that Jane Street had changed its trading patterns after being “exposed.” The claims, however, appear to be flimsy at best in the eyes of Wall Street veterans. They were also dismissed by a person close to Jane Street, who was not authorized to speak for attribution but described the claims as an “absolutely ridiculous” conspiracy theory.
The unfounded claims that Jane Street manipulated the price of Bitcoin revolve around the firm’s role as an “authorized participant” in the relatively new market for crypto ETFs offered by BlackRock and others. So-called “APs”, which are an integral part of the ETF landscape, are deep-pocketed firms that help ensure that the price of ETF shares track the value of the assets they hold, allowing the firms to earn money from arbitrage by doing so.
Jane Street has been acting as a Bitcoin AP for some time. But this week social media posts began to surface alleging the firm was engaged in skullduggery. The specific accusations vary, but most allege some version of Jane Street dumping Bitcoin holdings at a given time every morning, while holding short positions to benefit from the resulting dip. There is no firm evidence to support this theory, however, and veteran market watchers have put little stock in it.
“The argument makes zero sense and completely misunderstands how derivatives and perps/futures work as well as what an AP does for these ETFs,” said Rob Hadick, a partner at Dragonfly Capital, who has previously worked at Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms.
Even though the rumors about Jane Street manipulating Bitcoin appear to lack substance, recent controversies surrounding the firm may have helped to fuel them. Those include a lawsuit filed last week by the administrator winding down the bankrupt stablecoin issuer Terraform Labs, which accused Jane Street of insider trading as the firm collapsed.
In a statement, Jane Street rejected what it describes as “baseless, opportunistic claims” related to its role at Terraform Labs, noting that the firm’s stablecoin imploded due to massive fraud perpetrated by its now-imprisoned founder. This explanation is the consensus view, but a broader dislike for Jane Street among some in the crypto and financial world may be fueling claims the firm was complicit in the demise of Terraform Labs.
The reason for ill will towards Jane Street in some quarters stems in part from the firm having once employed notorious conman Sam Bankman-Fried and his one-time girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, who were both later convicted of fraud-related crimes related to the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX. Jane Street may have also aroused jealousy among some traders for its massively profitable trading strategies, and the secret and eccentric behavior of co-founder Rob Granieri, described in a recent Bloomberg profile.
All of this suggests that, at a time of prolonged market pain, the crypto sector may have found a convenient scapegoat. “It’s just people who don’t understand markets and want there to be a boogeyman to blame for why they haven’t made more money,” said Hadick.
I like getting in and out, sticking to my list, and not wasting half a Saturday chasing tiny discounts across town. For me, that usually means one main grocery store and done.
But there’s one extra stop I always make each month, and it’s my local Dollar Tree.
It’s not where I buy everything. In fact, some things there are a waste of money. But there are a handful of items I grab every single time because the price is hard to beat and the quality is surprisingly decent.
From basic pantry staples to little household essentials, these are the 20 things I always buy at the dollar store to save money.
20 Things I Always Buy at Dollar Tree
Every now and then I’ll toss something random into my cart, but most of the time I walk into Dollar Tree with a plan. I’m there for a short list of basics I refuse to pay more for anywhere else.
Some prices are just too good to ignore. When you can grab everyday essentials for around a dollar, it almost feels wrong to buy them at a regular store for two or three times the price.
If you shop carefully and stick to the right categories, the savings add up fast. These are the 20 things I always buy at the dollar store without hesitation.
Flip-flops
It’s hard to beat $1 shoes no matter how cheap or flimsy they are. We do most of our vacations at the beach, and Dollar Tree flip-flops are perfect for those trips.
Lose a shoe in the ocean? Forget them at your hotel? Who cares?
It’s hard to stress over a pair of shoes that costs just a dollar. But really, I’ve had Dollar Tree flip-flops last for years. That’s why I keep buying them. And since most similar shoes would cost $5 or more elsewhere, you can save $4 or more per pair.
Cards
I’m awful when it comes to birthdays and anniversaries, often forgetting about them until the last minute. Fortunately, I’ve learned to keep a bunch of cards in stock so I can mail them out on the fly.
Dollar Tree lets you buy two cards for $1, which makes it easy to stock up on generic cards for emergencies. I typically buy 10 cards every few months – a few for birthdays, and some for other occasions. I also buy Dollar Tree’s blank cards so I can fill them out however I want.
Since birthday and anniversary cards can easily cost $4 or more at the supermarket or drug store, this is a huge savings!
Balloons
While I rarely buy balloons for birthdays and special occasions, there are times when I’ll splurge. At Dollar Tree, you can get a balloon for $1, five balloons for $5, and so on. If you don’t like any of the balloons that are already prepared, they’ll also blow one up for you.
Balloons can cost $5 and up at the grocery store, so this is an awesome deal when you need balloons for any reason. The Dollar Tree doesn’t normally have specialty balloons or large balloons in animal shapes, but the basic balloons they do have are nice.
Party Supplies
Along with balloons, Dollar Tree is a great place to buy party supplies. You can buy solid color tablecloths, plastic cutlery, napkins, and more – all for $1 a package.
I always buy my kid’s birthday party supplies here. They don’t always have the most up-to-date party “themes,” and their stuff isn’t fancy, but it’s good enough for me. Dollar Tree is also a great place to buy paper plates to use for barbecues or dinners when you don’t feel like doing dishes.
Wrapping Paper
If you don’t keep wrapping paper in stock, it’s easy to overspend in a crisis. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve paid $5 or more for wrapping paper in the store when I was in a hurry.
These days, we keep wrapping paper from the Dollar Tree in stock all the time. It’s only $1 per roll, and we try to buy generic patterns that can work for any occasion. I also buy holiday wrapping paper here at the end of the year.
Gift Bags
Gift bags are another Dollar Tree steal that are crazy expensive at regular stores. I frequently see gift bags for $5 or more at the grocery store, yet they’re only (you guessed it) $1 at the Dollar Tree.
The selection may not be that great, but you can’t beat the price. I’ve had the best luck finding gift bags for baby showers and birthdays, but they do have cute holiday bags at the end of the year, too. It’s always smart to keep a few of these on hand. You never know when you’ll have to prepare a last-minute gift, and gift bags make the wrapping part easy.
School and Office Supplies
Since my husband and I work at home, we occasionally need to buy supplies for our office – pens, pencils, Sharpies, and markers. We always find what we need for $1 at Dollar Tree. The only office supply I wish they would carry is printer paper.
We also buy some of our kid’s school supplies here. They don’t always have everything we need, but they usually have pens, paper, glue, erasers, and so on. Whether you’re trying to stock up for your own kids or simply want supplies to donate, Dollar Tree has some good deals.
Paint Supplies
My local Dollar Tree has an entire section full of paint brushes and supplies. They’ve got small brushes for edging or big ones for large walls, rolling pans, and roller brushes. They also have painting tape and other supplies.
Since paint brushes run about $3 to $10 (and sometimes more) at Lowe’s or Home Depot, the brushes at Dollar Tree are a steal. They may not be the world’s best quality, but they work fine for most painting jobs. Since I like to touch up the interior paint of my home occasionally, I keep these brushes on hand at all times.
Medicine and First Aid
Generic Tylenol, Band-Aids, and cough drops are all things I buy regularly at Dollar Tree. They also have eye drops, medicine for kids, and first-aid supplies.
While it’s easy to assume Dollar Tree medicine is sketchy, you can check expiration dates before you buy. We’ve been using medicine and first-aid supplies from Dollar Tree for a long time, and we’ve never had a problem.
Razors
Razors can be insanely expensive at the grocery store or the drug store. But, at Dollar Tree, everything is only $1!
You can buy 5-packs of the flimsy single disposable razors, or 3-packs of the nicer luxury razors. I tend to buy the 3-packs of the nicer razors because they last longer. If you’re not picky about which brand of razor you use, these are a steal.
Dental Care
I buy nearly all our dental care items at Dollar Tree – things like floss, toothpaste, and mouthwash. They have plenty of name brands like Colgate and Crest, and the prices can’t be beat.
Over time, I’ve found it’s smarter to keep extra toothbrushes and toothpaste on hand. That way, I don’t wind up spending more on supplies at the grocery store. I even keep extra kid’s toothbrushes on hand for when our kids’ friends stay the night. Their kid’s toothbrushes are an especially good deal at three for a $1.
Brushes and Hair Ties
My kids go through brushes and ponytail holders like it’s their part-time job. I probably buy 100 plain ponytail holders every few months. They end up in the trash, or stashed somewhere when my kids take their ponytails out.
Fortunately, it’s easy to stock up when everything is $1. I typically buy a few packs of ponytail holders, hair pins, and clips each time I visit the store.
Snacks
While I’m fairly picky about the food I buy at Dollar Tree, I’m not against stocking up on cheap snacks. Whether I’m buying cookies for a party or some chips to snack on at home, Dollar Tree has a pretty good selection at $1 each.
I occasionally buy their canned goods, and I’ve been known to stock up on coffee and coffee filters there, too. Since their food options change all the time, I tend to buy whatever they have that’s a good deal.
\Seasonings
If you buy spices and seasonings often, you already know how expensive they can be. At my local Kroger, spices are usually in the $3 to $8 range depending on what you’re buying and how much.
At Dollar Tree, all their spices and seasonings are just $1. They don’t have a huge selection, but what they do offer is a good deal. I regularly buy seasoning salt, garlic salt, garlic powder, and dried basil there.
Plastic Bags
Whether you need small sandwich bags or gallon-size bags for freezing, it’s hard to beat Dollar Tree pricing. They have the same bags my local Kroger offers, but for $1 each.
I try not to use too many bags, but I do keep a stash in case the kids need them for school or something special. Gallon-size bags are also especially handy when it comes to freezing soups or leftovers.
Ideally, I like to use reusable containers when I can – like, for my kids’ lunches. But there are still plenty of occasions where plastic bags come in handy.
Trash Bags
I buy all our trash bags at Dollar Tree, mostly because I don’t mind the generic brands. We have a small trash can anyway, so I don’t mind the type with the flaps instead of the drawstring, either. And I certainly don’t mind the $1 price tag! After all, a box of trash bags at my local grocery store is usually $5 or more.
I also buy tiny trash bags for our bathroom trashcans at Dollar Tree. That way, I have bags available when we run out of used grocery store bags.
Cleaning Supplies
While not all cleaning supplies are a good deal, Dollar Tree does offer an array of smart options for $1. I tend to buy glass cleaner, toilet cleaner, and other basic cleaning supplies there.
I also buy two-packs of those bleach packets for toilets. While those are $5 or more at the grocery store, they’re just $1 at Dollar Tree.
Brooms and Other Supplies
Recently, I bought an outdoor broom specifically for my garage. I’ve also bought dust pans, scrub brushes, and sponges at Dollar Tree. They typically have cleaning clothes, plungers and other supplies as well.
While prices vary, it’s hard to find any of these items elsewhere for anything close to $1.
Batteries
Batteries can be expensive depending on where you buy them. At Kroger, for example, an 8-pack of AA batteries typically costs $5.99 or more. At Dollar Tree, on the other hand, you can buy nearly any type of battery for $1.
The downside here is that the selection isn’t always that great. Plus, all of their batteries are off-brand. If you can get past those issues, you’ll save plenty of money!
The Bottom Line
If you want to save money on food and household supplies, don’t forget to check your local dollar store. While not everything they offer is an excellent deal, there are plenty of bargains to be had. And if you’re willing to make a monthly trip, you can stock up on the items that make sense and avoid paying more elsewhere.
Just be sure to check the size of each item so you can make an apples-to-apples comparison. While it’s possible to score full-size items for $1, dollar and discount stores occasionally offer a sample sizes for the lower price. It’s up to you to compare ounces or amounts of whatever you’re buying so you can ensure you’re getting the best deal possible.
Hi, I’m Ashley a freelance writer who’s passionate about personal finance. Ever since I was young, I’ve been fascinated by the power of money and how it can shape our lives. I’ve spent years learning everything I can about budgeting, saving, investing and retirement planning. So if you are looking for tips, advice, or just a little bit of inspiration to help you on your financial journey, you have come to the right place. I am always here to help, and I am excited to share my passion for personal finance with you.
We’ve expanded our approach to the three-year continuance requirement for distribution income.
Meeting the 3-Year Continuance Requirement
When a borrower uses distributions from a retirement account,wemust verify that the account has sufficient funds to continue payments for at least 36months. But what happens when the primary account doesn’t show enough remaining funds?
If the borrower’s main retirement account falls short of meeting the three-year continuance requirement, we will now consider additional retirement or similar accounts to bridge the gap. As long as the combined balances demonstrate that the borrower has sufficient funds to sustain payments for the next 36 months, the income may be considered eligible.
To use retirement distributions as qualifying income:
At least one fixed payment must already be made to the borrower.
This ensures that the income is stable, consistent, and likely to continue.
This expanded approach gives borrowers more financing options and greater opportunity to qualify, especially those who maintain multiple retirement accounts or diversified investment portfolios.
If you have questions about using retirement distributions to qualify for a mortgage, our team is here to help.Contactus today and let us guide you through your financing options.
Do you have a business degree? Are you thinking of getting one to become an entrepreneur? Then this video is for you! I’ll tell you about the pros and cons of entrepreneurship and also what you can do with a business degree.
00:00 Intro & Summary
00:41 Warning
02:12 What a business degree is for
05:23 Mind-blowing revelation
05:45 Pros of entrepreneurship
08:17 Innovation
09:43 No retirement
10:14 Cons of entrepreneurship
13:27 What’s next?
Watch and Enjoy!
Nate Woodbury
GET MY INFLUENCER ALMANAC
========================
JOIN MY MASTERCLASS
========================
FREE KEYWORD RESEARCH MINI-COURSE
========================
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
========================
How To Find Low Competition Keywords For YouTube
YouTube SEO | The Leaf Strategy
WORK WITH NATE
========================
Nate Woodbury is a YouTube Producer. He works with Six and Seven Figure Influencers, helping them build a massive following on YouTube. As a master of efficiency, Nate uses filming and editing systems that drastically reduce the expense and time commitment for his clients, and at the same time, get real trackable results.
If you’ve been successful as an influencer in the minor leagues, and you’re ready to leverage YouTube to reach a worldwide audience, Nate’s your guy.
If you’ve read this far, thank you for being such a great fan and subscriber. I’m creating this content for you!
MUSIC
========================
Track: Nurko and Last Heroes – Promise Me (feat. Jessie Chambers)
[NCS Release] Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds
Watch:
Free Download / Stream:
FAFSA verification is a routine federal review process. Being selected does not mean you made a mistake.
Colleges must confirm certain FAFSA information before releasing federal aid. That often requires tax records, income documentation, or identity confirmation.
Failing to complete verification can delay (or eliminate) your financial aid eligibility.
Each year, millions of students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as the FAFSA. For many, the process ends with a financial aid offer. For others, it pauses unexpectedly with a request for “verification.”
Verification can feel unsettling. It should not. This is NOT like an IRS audit and it doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. The Department of Education requires that a certain number of applications are verified each year. If you are appealing your financial aid award, it’s required the school verifies your information. Sometimes the college may want to verify your information to avoid financial aid fraud.
Below is what FAFSA verification means, what schools expect from families, and what happens if you do not respond.
Would you like to save this?
We’ll email this article to you, so you can come back to it later!
What Is FAFSA Verification?
U.S. Department of Education oversees the FAFSA and requires colleges to confirm certain information reported by applicants. This confirmation process is called verification.
Each year, a portion of FAFSA filers are selected. According to federal data in recent years, roughly 30% of applicants are flagged for some form of verification, though the percentage can vary depending on federal policy changes.
Selection may be random. In other cases, it is triggered by:
Inconsistent income data
Missing information
Household size discrepancies
Unusual tax situations
Conflicts between reported income and IRS records
If selected, the student’s FAFSA Submission Summary will indicate that additional information is required. Colleges listed on the FAFSA will then contact the student directly with next steps or the family can follow the steps on StudentAid.gov.
Verification is not optional. Federal regulations require colleges to resolve discrepancies before disbursing federal student aid.
Why Does The Government Verify Financial Aid Information?
Federal student aid programs distribute tens of billions of dollars annually in Pell Grants, work-study funds, and student loans. Verification exists to ensure:
Aid is distributed correctly
Reported income and family data are accurate
Tax information matches IRS records
Students meet eligibility requirements
Stop financial aid fraud and “ghost students”
The process also protects families. If an error underestimated your eligibility, verification can sometimes result in more aid, not less.
How Families Are Notified Of FAFSA Verification
Students learn about verification in two main ways:
A notice on the FAFSA Submission Summary.
Direct communication from the college’s financial aid office.
Each college handles its own verification process. If a student applied to five schools, they may need to complete verification five separate times. Requirements and submission portals can vary.
Colleges often request documentation through online portals. Some institutions use the Institutional Documentation Service (IDOC) connected to the CSS Profile for private institutional aid.
Families should always be checking:
Email accounts
Financial aid portals
Physical mail
Delays in responding can slow down financial aid offers.
What Documents Are Required?
The documents requested depend on what is being verified. In many cases, income information is confirmed automatically through the IRS Direct Data Exchange (DDX), which securely transfers tax data into the FAFSA.
If tax information was transferred directly and remains unchanged, additional income verification may not be required.
When documentation is required, families may need to provide:
Income Documentation for Tax Filers
IRS tax transcript
Signed copy of the federal tax return (Form 1040 and schedules)
W-2 forms
1099 forms
Statements confirming IRA or pension rollovers
Special situations (such as divorce after filing a joint return or filing extensions) require additional signed statements and documentation.
For Non-Tax Filers
Signed statement confirming non-filing status
Statement listing income sources and amounts
W-2 forms
Identity or Educational Purpose
Students may be asked to submit:
Government-issued photo ID
A signed Statement of Educational Purpose
Family Size Confirmation
If household size changed, colleges may request a signed statement listing family members and relationships.
What Are The Potential Outcomes Of FAFSA Verification?
Once documents are submitted, the financial aid office compares them with FAFSA data.
There are three possible outcomes:
1. No Change
This is the most common outcome. If documentation matches FAFSA information, the Student Aid Index (SAI) remains the same. Aid eligibility does not change.
2. Increased Student Aid Index (SAI)
If documentation shows higher income or fewer household members than originally reported, the SAI may increase. A higher SAI signals greater ability to pay, potentially reducing need-based aid such as Pell Grants.
3. Decreased Student Aid Index (SAI)
If verification shows lower income or higher household size, the SAI may decrease. A lower SAI can increase eligibility for need-based federal and institutional aid.
Colleges must send an updated financial aid offer if changes occur.
What Happens If You Don’t Complete Verification?
If you do not complete verification:
Federal grants and student loans cannot be disbursed.
Pell Grant eligibility will not be finalized.
Work-study funds cannot be awarded.
Institutional aid may be canceled.
In practical terms, the student will not receive a financial aid package.
For some families, that can mean thousands (or tens of thousands) of dollars in lost assistance.
Colleges are required to resolve verification flags before releasing federal funds. They cannot “override” the process.
Bottom Line
FAFSA verification is a safeguard in the federal student aid system. It ensures aid is calculated accurately and distributed correctly.
For families, the most important steps are simple:
Do not panic. Selection is common.
Read all instructions carefully.
Submit requested documents promptly.
Communicate with the financial aid office if anything is unclear.
Verification can feel intimidating, but in most cases it results in no change to aid eligibility. The risk comes not from being selected, but from ignoring the request.
Financial aid cannot move forward until verification is complete.
