saving

Carla grew up witnessing her father’s fight to protect Valencia’s fragile beach ecosystems. Now, as climate change warms the Mediterranean, sea turtles – driven by rising sea temperatures – have begun arriving to lay their eggs on her city’s shoreline. But the beaches they rely on are under threat. Mass tourism, unchecked development, and the recent floods are eroding these vital habitats.

At 27, Carla is an environmental lawyer and conservationist who works with her father to restore the beaches and protect turtle nests, knowing the species’ survival depends on their efforts. After the catastrophic 2024 floods, Carla rallies her community to act fast to restore Valencia’s coastline. With turtle nesting coinciding with peak tourism, Carla urgently needs volunteers to protect each nest – and time is running out.

After the Floods is a documentary film by Adriana Cardoso and Rodrigo Hernandez.

Convenience is now the default

Remember when “online banking” felt weird and scary? Those days are gone. Mobile apps from top online banks are easy to use and packed with features. Remote check deposit, instant transfers, bill pay — it’s all there.

Most of us already bank online anyway. Whether you’re with Chase or Ally, you’re using your phone more than you’re walking into a branch. So why settle for low rates when the online-only banks are just as easy to use?

Safety and peace of mind

Online banks don’t have a building you can walk into, but deposits at FDIC-insured online banks are just as safe as those at your neighborhood branch. Up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per account ownership category — it’s the same rule everywhere.

Add in two-factor authentication and advanced security features, and your money is likely no less safe online than it is in a brick building down the street.

Why this shift matters now

Online banks aren’t just a niche option anymore; they’ve changed how saving works for everyone. They’ve raised the bar on what customers expect, and if your money isn’t keeping up, you’re losing out.

If you’re still tied to a branch account, ask yourself what you’re really getting for that trade-off. Because the difference between $10 and $5,200 in interest is the kind of thing that can cover a vacation, pay down debt faster, or pad your retirement account.

You can compare the best high-yield savings accounts here and see which ones fit your needs. It takes minutes to switch, but the payoff could last for years.

A WIFE is sharing her secret ‘3-hour rule’ that keeps her marriage alive, and other married couples can’t get enough of it.

TikToker Rachel Higgins posted a video sharing the simple way she and her husband manage to reconnect after long days.

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Higgins and her husband began following a three-hour night back in 2024, and the mother said it has been a “game changer” in their relationship.

What is the three-hour night? Higgins explains it as dividing up three hours into three different sections, which allows them to accomplish chores and connect.

Higgins and her husband would previously spend the entire night taking care of their young daughter, lounging on the couch while scrolling through their phones, and then going to bed.

However, after prioritizing their relationship, their nights take on a slightly different look.

“What we do is after my daughter goes to bed…we take an hour of productive time,” Higgins explained.

“Anything that’s productive for the household.” 

During the productive hour, they do chores that they couldn’t accomplish throughout the day, such as cleaning the kitchen or laundry.

“The second hour we’re dedicating to our marriage.

“During this time, we put our phones away and we’re solely dedicated to each other and to our marriage.”

Higgins said that this hour can look a little different every night.

Some nights it may mean taking a shower together, while others it may just be as simple as playing a game together.

The purpose of this hour is to debrief, discuss, and connect.

“The last hour is about taking time to yourself,” she said.

In the final hour, both of them can do whatever they want without judgment.

This may be lying on the couch, on your phone, or any other self-care activities you need to do.

“Main point is to inspire you to be intentional with your time if you feel stuck doing the same thing every night like we did,” Higgins wrote in the comments.

“No hard rules.”

Higgins said that they don’t necessarily accomplish their three-hour night goal every night, but they try to do it three to four times a week. 

The mother said that even just succeeding one night a week can be enough.

Higgins’ three-hour night drew the attention of over 300,000 TikTok users, with many people rushing to the comments to support the idea or question how she manages to make it work.

“Such a good idea,” one woman commented.

“Good for us empty nesters too! The phone scrolling is outta control!”

When it became clear that the couple beneath the bedclothes were indeed having sexual intercourse, the West Hollywood crowd that had come to watch cheered loudly and with the exultant delight that one imagines might erupt from courtiers overseeing a royal post-nuptial bedding. Or, in a more contemporary context, from soccer fans after a final-minute, high-left-corner soccer goal.

But no. This was a “Love Island USA” watch party presented by Reality Bar at Roosterfish Tuesday night, one of hundreds of similar gatherings at bars all over the country. After living in the shadow of its wildly popular U.K. progenitor, “Love Island USA” became a hit last year with a genuinely love-filled Season 6. This year, the series has seen more scandal than romance — two contestants have been removed following outcry over their past use of racial slurs in social media posts.

But if the proliferation of watch parties is any indication, those scandals have only increased audience interest.

“I never really understood sports bars before,” my 25-year-old daughter told me. “Now I do.”

For a watch-party neophyte, it was more than a little strange to see tables full of people set aside their watermelon margaritas and mozzarella sticks to applaud the sexual consummation of strangers. But under those sheets cavorted current fan-favorite Amaya “Papaya” Espinal with her current partner Bryan Arenales, which explains the crowd’s voyeuristic joy. On “Love Island,” the couple perceived as the strongest wins the $100,000 prize (and, presumably, romantic bliss).

So the approving roar was, in part, driven by relief and hope for a team Amaya Papaya win.

Amaya “Papaya” Espinal and Bryan Arenales in Tuesday’s episode of “Love Island USA.”

(Peacock)

It was also the sound of the latest attempt to revive the smoldering embers of the electronic hearth and save linear television.

You don’t have to love “Love Island,” with its appalling candy-colored villa in Fiji, unapologetic emphasis on “hotness” and endless dramatic pauses to appreciate the fact that in the increasingly fractured and isolated viewership experience of modern television, it is drawing people together, physically, and in real time.

The platform may be NBCUniversal‘s streaming service Peacock, but “Love Island” is returning TV to its roots.

Frankly, that’s much more startling than the sight and sound of people devouring the messy drama of competitive intercourse along with their happy-hour priced drinks and bites.

Twenty years ago, reality television was viewed by many as a threat to traditional TV. Yes, there had always been daytime game shows, but after “American Idol” and “Survivor” became prime-time hits and the Kardashians began their empire building, the reality craze spread like kudzu through broadcast and cable. Cheap to make, reality series didn’t need huge audiences to be successful. Network executives couldn’t green-light them fast enough, and for a few years, it seemed that scripted programming would become the exception, found mostly on subscription-based platforms like HBO and Showtime.

That isn’t what happened, of course. Beginning with AMC, a wide variety of cable networks began producing original scripted series, followed closely by Netflix, Prime Video and other streamers. Reality TV remained popular, but there was a new cultural phenomenon in town — the prestige dramas and comedies of what some called the new Golden Age of television. For a few glorious years, highly produced scripted series were watched, and then discussed, together and in real time. A thousand recap blogs bloomed, and whether it was “Breaking Bad” or “Downton Abbey,” all anyone talked about was television.

Alas, as is so often the case, bust followed boom. The proliferation of platforms and shows splintered the audience and ad revenues. Streaming, with its binge model and personal-device availability, made viewing increasingly less about a family or group of friends gathering around a flat-screen and more about everyone balancing their laptop on their stomachs or hunching over their phones. Since no one knew who was watching what and when, watercooler chat and even many recap blogs spluttered out.

But reality TV, quietly chugging along as the number of scripted series swelled to unsustainable proportions, has always been a spectator’s sport. Sure you can binge past seasons of “The Great British Baking Show,” but when it comes to “The Bachelor,” “Love Is Blind” or “The Traitors,” it’s much more rewarding to watch and to comment in real time.

While the rise in interest in “Love Island USA” has been attributed to the Season 6 casting that led to several genuine couples, the show has also upped its social media presence and emphasized the fact that episodes air little more than a day after they are shot, making it as close to a live viewing experience as an edited series can get.

So it’s not surprising that the crowd watching at Roosterfish would act as if they were part of a live audience — groaning when one of the men suggests that his partner is “worthy,” or shouting out opinions to Huda Mustafa when she asks if she or her partner is to blame for that day’s miscommunication (according to the women at the next table, it is definitely her).

Chris Seeley and Huda Mustafa in “Love Island USA.”

(Ben Symons / Peacock)

Here is where I confess that, after watching several seasons, including 6 and 7, for the purposes of this column, I am not a fan of “Love Island USA,” and considering my aged demographic, I cannot imagine the good folks at ITV America or Peacock care at all.

I find all the blindfolded kissing troubling, the close-ups of those waiting to be voted safe or dumped gratuitously painful and the endless shots of contestant-grooming tedious. (Except when the guys are ironing — that’s my favorite part.) As a mother, I worry that between the “islanders’” sleep deprivation, complete lack of privacy and requisite emotional manipulation, whatever partnerships emerge are likely to be trauma-bonds, which is just not healthy. Mostly though, I think it’s boring — for every three minutes of “action,” the audience is expected to endure 30 minutes of analysis, mostly by people who overuse the words “queen” and “bro.” Also, I think the villa is hideous and the most fake moments are when everyone has to pretend it’s not.

But…

I did have a lot of fun at the watch party. The audience reaction, whether it was cheering or a collective cringe, amplified the drama while also making it right-sized — the show is ridiculous; that’s precisely why so many people love it.

As any theatergoer or stage actor will tell you — often ad nauseam — the audience is always part of the performance; the story is not just occurring in front of you, it’s all around you. The laughter and groans, the suspenseful silence of those watching play as big a part as whatever is happening on stage.

The same is true for television, and we are in grave danger of forgetting this. More than any other art form, television was created to be communal — to allow a large group of people to share something simultaneously.

Very few of us would give up our modern ability to watch what we want whenever we feel like it, but wholly surrendering the joys of old-fashioned, vying-for-the-best-seat, “what-did-he-say?” television is too high a price to pay for the ability to binge. The power of an audience is not limited to voting people out of the villa or determining a series’ success — it’s an energy source in itself.

Gathering with friends and family, or a group of strangers, to regularly enjoy a certain show together doesn’t just lift the spirit, it makes the show more than just something to watch.

If “Love Island USA” manages to remind us of that in a meaningful way, well, I may never like it much, but I will be a fan for life.

The Money Saving Club team are on hand to bring you all the latest news, tips and deals that can help parents stretch their budget for the summer holidays

The school summer holidays are nearly upon us, and while that means plenty of quality time with the kids, it also means having to come up with plenty of ways to enjoy that quality time with the kids.

Any parent will know the pressure of trying to navigate hiked up prices during the holidays, trying to find days out, alternatives for rainy days and generally trying to keep the kids entertained for six to seven weeks.

As well as having to get creative, that all comes with plenty of costs and it can feel like your summer budget quickly disappears even if you’re minding the pennies and trying to limit how often you end up eating out or dashing to the cinema when the British weather doesn’t play nicely.

That’s where the Money Saving Club can step in to help. The dedicated team seek out all of the best deals, money-saving tricks and latest news that they hand pick and send in a weekly newsletter, to help you stretch that holiday budget.

It’s free and easy to sign up – simply click here, enter your email address and then select the topics that are most relevant for you. Each week you’ll receive an email direct in your inbox with a round-up of the latest news and tips that have caught the team’s eye, whether it’s a warning from an expert over changes to government schemes, or an easy trick a fellow mum or dad has discovered that has been a game-changer for their household bills.

Although you can choose from a wide array of topics, this summer you may want to closely follow their round-up of all the latest travel and shopping news, especially if you’re trying to stick to a tighter budget due to the cost of living.

The Money Saving Club team round-up the latest news and tips they think you’ll love, with something for everyone whether you’re opting for a staycation or taking the kids abroad.

We’re talking discounted days out, free activities for the families, and simple money-saving hacks shared by fellow parents. If you’re heading abroad, they offer plenty of tips including how to cut costs on holidays and swerve fines or hidden costs, how to save before you head abroad and even how to get the best value for your money while you’re away.

Of course alongside that there are plenty of day-to-day tips and tricks including cheap and cheerful ways to stay cool in those pesky heatwaves, or the latest money news and deadlines you’ll want to be aware of whether it’s to cut your bills or sign up to a government scheme that can help you with your finances.

You can sign up to the Money Saving Club here to receive your weekly dose of money tips direct in your inbox, with topics including travel, shopping and discounts, utilities and plenty more.