Dad Joke
Did you know that “t-shirt” is actually short for “Tyrannosaurus Shirt”?
It’s because of the short arms.
Now Let’s Make Your Money Smile
Don’t scan that QR code on the parking meter
Here’s a two-minute habit that could save you a lot of grief. The FTC put out an alert today about scammers slapping their own fake QR codes right over the real ones on parking meters. You scan it thinking you’re paying for parking, and instead you land on a site built to grab your card number or your login. It works because almost nobody stops to check — the code is stuck to public equipment, so we assume it’s legit. It isn’t always.
Before you scan any QR code in public — a meter, a flyer, a “free WiFi” sign — most QR readers will preview the link first. Look at it. Misspellings or swapped letters are the tell. And keep your phone’s OS and apps updated, because that’s what turns a bad link into a bad day.
If you already scanned one and entered anything: change that password everywhere you reused it, check your card and bank statements for anything you didn’t make, and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Full FTC alert.
Send this to whoever in your life pays for parking with their phone — which by now is basically everyone. It costs them nothing to check the link first, and it costs them a lot if they don’t.
The door most people with an IRS problem don’t know they have
If you owe back taxes and things have gotten serious enough that you’ve hired someone to represent you, here’s something the IRS’s own watchdog just confirmed most people never learn: once you have representation, the IRS is required to stop contacting you directly and go through your representative instead. And if you’re ever in an interview with the IRS about your own case, you have the right to record it.
That’s not a workaround — it’s written into the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. A new report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found IRS employees don’t always apply this consistently, which is exactly why it’s worth knowing yourself instead of assuming the agency will remember for you. If you’re dealing with the IRS and feeling steamrolled, this is one of the actual levers you have.
A ten-minute upgrade for money that’s just sitting there
The FDIC’s own August numbers: the average U.S. money market account pays 0.63%. Plenty of online banks and brokerages pay 4%+ on the same FDIC insurance, for the same money, with no risk added. If your “extra” cash — an emergency fund, a house-down-payment stash, whatever you’re not touching this month — is parked at whatever the local branch defaults to, you are quietly leaving real money on the table for no reason at all. This isn’t a sales pitch for a specific bank (see the Bonus Section below if you want where I personally keep mine) — it’s ten minutes of your time against money you’re already not using.
Money you might actually be owed this month
Bought or leased a Toyota forklift with an internal combustion engine between 2007 and 2021? A $299.5M settlement over emissions compliance is paying up to $2,500 in cash, plus a free service visit and parts warranty coverage. Claim deadline: September 22. Check the specific eligibility window before you file — details here.
What I published yesterday
For the deeper dives — company reviews, full case breakdowns, the stuff that needs more than a paragraph — that’s what the Weekday Briefing is for. This one’s the quick version, every day. If today’s issue was useful, forward it to the one person you know who needed to see the QR code warning before their next parking meter.
Nothing here is legal advice, and I’m not your lawyer or your financial advisor. These are filings and allegations, not findings — read “alleges” as exactly that. Talk to someone qualified before you act on anything specific to your situation. Nobody gets to tell you what to do with your money. Not me, not anyone.
There’s a version of today where you read this and nothing changes. And there’s a version where you check one link, ask one question, or just breathe a little easier knowing what your actual options are. Most people get out of situations like these — not with a windfall, but one honest look and one decision at a time. That’s been true for thirty years and it’s still true today.
— Steve
Bonus Section
A few places I actually use, and what I get out of telling you. Each one shows a plain link and my referral link. If you use mine, the company may hand us both a small bonus. The plain link goes to exactly the same place — it just pays me nothing, and you nothing. Use whichever you like; genuinely, it’s your call.
I’ve also listed places I like that pay me nothing at all, so you can see the difference.
Cash that actually earns something
Betterment — their Cash Reserve account is the closest thing here to a plain high-yield savings account. (my referral link)
Robinhood’s cash sweep pays competitively too. The good rate sits behind their paid Gold tier — I pay for it myself — so on a small balance the subscription can eat the gain. It’s under Investing below. Do the arithmetic before you subscribe.
And one where nobody pays anybody: TreasuryDirect is the government’s own site. You buy Treasury bills straight from the Treasury with no broker in the middle — $100 minimum, in $100 increments, terms from four weeks out to a year. There is no app, no bonus and no referral link in existence for it. I mention it because for money you know you won’t touch for a few months, it’s usually the honest number the others have to beat.
Saving without having to think about it
Acorns — rounds up your spare change and invests it automatically. I pay for it, and the reason is simple: it saves money I’d otherwise spend without noticing. (my referral link)
And the version that costs nobody anything, me included: a standing transfer out of checking on payday, at the bank you already have. Acorns works because it moves the money before you notice it; a transfer you set once and forget does the same thing. If you’d rather not open another account, do that instead — I’d genuinely rather you saved something than used my link.
Investing
Robinhood — the platform I run my own experiment on. Uninvested cash is swept to FDIC-insured program banks, so it doubles as a cash account. The competitive rate requires their paid Gold subscription, which I pay for myself — worth it at my balance, but do the arithmetic on yours. And note Robinhood doesn’t pay that interest itself; the program banks do. (my referral link)
And three I recommend on merit, where I get nothing at all: Vanguard for low-cost index funds, Schwab for a full-service brokerage, and American Century — I was a happy customer there for decades.
Rates and terms move, and each of these has its own conditions. Go look at today’s numbers before you move a dollar.
A free conversation about your situation
Damon Day is an independent debt coach, and my co-host on Get Out of Debt Guy — you can also hear us on Spotify. I want you to know that before you decide anything. I receive no payment for this referral.
The consultation is free. The only time money changes hands is if you decide you want to hire him as a consultant. Go to DamonDay.com and schedule — he doesn’t cold-call anybody, and neither do I.
Or ask me, anonymously
Ask Steve — free, private, and I’m not selling anything. No account, no email, no sales pitch at the end of it.