When temperatures start to rise, many of us naturally want to open the windows, deep clean, and get rid of clutter. Why not apply that same refreshing ritual to your finances? Just as you'd prune the plants in your yard, you can trim wasteful money habits and plant seeds for new financial goals while preparing for the April tax deadline. Get out the (figurative) feather duster and give your budget a thorough once-over. Get your filing ducks in a rowMake assembling your tax documents part of your spring cleaning ritual. Have a designated folder or binder to compile W-2s, 1099s, mortgage interest statements, donation receipts, and any other necessary forms. Securely discard what you don't need, like paid bills or returns/documents that are six or more years old after you file. Proper record-keeping makes tax season far less stressful next time.As an example, use a folder or digital system with separate sections for income, deductions, credits, and prior year documents to stay organized. Good news: I've created a downloadable tax preparation checklist you can use as your personalized roadmap through the filing process. Conduct a money check-in I also recommend taking stock of your overall financial situation. And trust me, I know what it's like when the thought of looking at your personal finances makes your stomach churn. But if you want to regain control over how much you're spending and saving, you need to understand exactly where your money is going.Gather your latest bank statements, pay stubs, bills, and debts. Use a trusty budgeting app or spreadsheet to calculate your monthly income versus expenses. This bird's eye snapshot reveals if you're living within your means or drowning in debt.If you examine your last 90 days of spending, youll probably find you can cut back on areas you dont even realize youre wasting money (overlooked subscriptions come to mind). It also helps to get on top of your unconscious spending with tricks like physically writing down the things you want to buy before you buy them.For example, say your net monthly income is $4,500 while expenses ring in at $4,100. You'd have $400 leftover each month to put towards goals like saving or paying down debt faster.Tackle lingering high-interest debt Speaking of debt, your top priority should be eliminating any you're paying high interest rates on, such as credit cards. List out all debts by interest rate from highest to lowest. Put as much as you can each month towards the highest interest debt first while paying minimums on the rest.As an example, if you owed $10,000 at 19.99% on one credit card and $5,000 at 0% on another, focus on aggressively paying that high 19.99% balance down first.Automate finances where possibleSpring is all about embracing new habits and getting organized. Now's an ideal time to arrange automatic payments and transfers so your finances run smoothly in the months ahead:Arrange to automatically pay all bills from a hub accountSet recurring transfers to divert funds into separate savings buckets for different goalsSign up to automatically increase your 401(k) or IRA retirement contributions each yearClear account/credit clutter While you're going paperless, clean out mystery charges on your bank or credit card statements. Root out any zombie subscriptions or recurring fees for products/services you no longer use or need. These small money drains can easily go unnoticed but add up over months and years.Choose the right types of accounts for your needsDifferent savings vehicles offer different tax advantages. For instance, if you have kids, research setting up tax-advantaged 529 education accounts.Spring is smart timing to ensure you're maximizing those benefits. For a long-term goal, like retirement, you want to consider a retirement account like a 401(k) or IRA to earn compound interest over a long period of timemoney invested over time, even small amounts, can make a big difference.For short-term goals, youll want your money to be easily accessible in cash and earning high interest. Something like a high-interest cash management account allows you to easily take out money when you need it. Find the budget that works for youThere's no "one size fits all" budget out there for everyone, but choosing a system of some kind is better than nothing. This list goes over some of the most common budgets to choose from, like the classic 50/30/20, or cash-stuffing, or perhaps a values-based budget. This spring, I've been trying out the "one in, one out" method for my finances so that I can increase my mindfulness about my spendingand turn a profit along the way.The bottom lineWhatever the season, taking a periodic, comprehensive look at your finances allows you to get rid of unhealthy money habits, identify problem areas, set new goals, and determine smarter ways to save, spend and invest. An annual financial clean-up provides clarity on where you truly stand financially and what needs to be prioritized. It's easy for things like mounting credit card debt, lack of retirement savings, and unhealthy spending patterns to get out of control when you aren't regularly reviewing your money situation.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has determined that the country's mobile browser markets are "not working well for consumers and businesses" and "holding back innovation." Most of the watchdog's ire is directed at Apple for policies such as requiring mobile browsers to use its engine, WebKit and, thus, limiting competitor's abilities to differentiate from Apple. The report also points out that Safari has received access to key functions of WebKit and the operating system, earlier or to a greater extent than its competitors. This final report ends an investigation that began nearly four years ago.The CMA released a preliminary report in November, but has since removed two issues, thanks to updates from Apple, along with Google. In December, a software update at Apple changed how people can swap their default browser, while Google shared new evidence around its prompts created to encourage Android users to have Chrome as their default browser.The concerns around limiting innovation and growth remain. The independent inquiry group in charge of the final report, however, pulls its recommendation from another ongoing probe. In January, the CMA began investigating whether Apple and Google's mobile ecosystems, including their mobile browsers, should be given Strategic Market Status (SMS). This designation would allow the CMA to have greater regulatory powers over Apple and Google, as well as issuing pro-competition directives.If Apple and Google do receive an SMS designation, then the inquiry group recommends the CMA imposes "measures which could enhance the ability of other browsers to compete by offering new, innovative features to consumers, as well as enabling users actively to choose their preferred mobile browser which could drive competition." It could take until the fall for the CMA to make a decision on Apple and Google's SMS status. It's unclear what, if any, steps the watchdog might take in the meantime to mitigate this report's concerns.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/uk-watchdog-finds-apples-mobile-browser-policies-are-restricting-innovation-140049033.html?src=rss

WhatsApp never waits long between updates and this time it's reportedly changing how replies look. According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is currently working on a feature that would put all replies to the same message in one thread. A look at it appeared in an Android update available through the Google Play Beta Program.Right now, WhatsApp allows users to reply directly to a message and shows the original on top of the new message. However, users have to click through each response to see any earlier replies or the first message quoted. The new update would instead show every message in the thread in one place, making the flow of conversation clearer.WABetaInfoThe update is currently under development, but should be available in individual or group chats, communities and channels. It would especially be beneficial for those latter ones, considering it's always impossible to keep track of an ongoing conversation between multiple people. In the meantime, there's no word yet of when this will roll out, though it probably won't be too long if it's already showing up in a beta.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/whatsapp-is-reportedly-developing-reply-threads-134516511.html?src=rss

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An hourslong outage Wednesday on StudentAid.gov, the federal website for student loans and financial aid, underscored the risks in rapidly gutting the Department of Education, as President Donald Trump aims to dismantle the agency.Hundreds of users reported FAFSA outages to Downdetector starting midday Wednesday, saying they were having trouble completing the form, which is required for financial aid at colleges nationwide. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, a group of people who handle colleges financial aid awards, also received reports of users experiencing technical issues and having trouble completing the FAFSA.Weve been trying to get more clarity on why its down, said Allie Bidwell Arcese, a spokeswoman for NASFAA. The Education Department hadnt shared any information on the outage, she said. The maintenance and troubleshooting may be impacted by yesterdays layoffs.The developers and IT support staff who worked on the FAFSA form were hard hit in the Education Departments layoffs Tuesday, along with staff buyouts and the termination of probationary employees. In all, the Education Department has reduced its staff by half, to roughly 2,000, since Trump took office.A list of laid-off staff obtained and verified by AP shows more than 300 people cut from Federal Student Aidtwo dozen of them from Federal Student Aids technology division. That included the entire team responsible for systems supporting the FAFSA form, a person with knowledge of the outage told The Associated Press, speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation. While laid-off staffers are still technically employed until March 21, they had limited access to their email, phones, and computers, making a response to the outage difficult, the person said. At one point Wednesday, about 70 people had joined a Teams call to try to pinpoint the cause of the outage.The call continued for hours. By Wednesday evening, the website carried a banner claiming Planned Maintenance was underway, and login access was cut off.The Education Department did not respond to a request for comment on the outage.Problems with the FAFSA had vexed the administration of former President Joe Biden, drawing rebuke from Republicans. The form was overhauled last year in an attempt to simplify it, but technical problems blocked students from submitting forms or bungled financial aid calculations.Advocates had feared frustration would lead thousands of students to give up on going to college at all. But overall freshman enrollment at U.S. colleges increased over the previous year.Editors note: A previous version of this story said freshman enrollment at U.S. colleges had dropped in fall 2024. That data was corrected in January by the National Student Clearinghouse, which cited an error in its methodology. Freshman enrollment increased over the previous year.The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Collin Binkley and Jocelyn Gecker, AP Education Writers

As buzz around womens sports continues to grow, the largest dedicated female sports fund just got larger.Monarch Collective, the first and largest investment platform that exclusively invests in womens sports, announced Thursday that it has expanded its fund size from $150 million to $250 million. The increased capital will allow the fund to capitalize on what it calls a rapidly accelerating market: womens professional sports teams that have been increasingly filling seats.Since launching our fund last year, womens sports has experienced a cultural transcendence and the ecosystem has evolved dramatically, making the need for operational, value-added capital even more important than it once was, said Kara Nortman, managing partner of Monarch Collective, in a statement. Now is the time to build the right community around the table and deploy new playbooks that will win.Big-name investors on boardThe fund touts high-profile investors, who contributed to the majority of the new infusion of capital. According to a press release, they include Melinda French Gatess Pivotal Ventures; Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden; and Beth Brooke, former global vice chairman of public policy at EY.The growth of Monarch Collective aligns with an increased interest in womens sports more broadly. Over the past few years, viewership of games has soared alongside merchandise sales and tickets sold.Last year, the National Womens Soccer League (NWSL) reached two million total attendance. Monarchs current profile includes three NWSL teams: Angel City Football Club, BOS Nation FC, and the San Diego Wave FC.But the main driver of this womens sports boom is basketball at both the collegiate and professional level. Last year, Caitlin Clark mania drove record-shattering viewership and revenue toward the Womens March Madness tournament last year. The womens championship game was the most-watched basketball game on ESPN since 2019among all mens, womens, collegiate, and professional games.And ever since Clark joined the WNBA for the 2024 season, that league has more than tripled its number of sellouts.Meaningful changeThis year, get ready for the hype around womens sports to continue. Womens March Madness begins next Wednesday, and sports-centric X accounts have already begun to share their excitement about seeing stars like Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins playing on national television. Some may say were at a pivotal moment in womens sports, but to us, its much bigger than that, said Jasmine Robinson, managing partner of Monarch Collective, in a statement. Along with our investors, we believe we have the power to drive meaningful change that is representative of todays diverse ownership groups, management teams, and fan bases.

South Korean industrial design firm Intenxiv did these cosmetic package designs for their own RMRP product label. Thus far the line consists of lipstick, perfume and a hand cream, with at least two packaging options per product. "Cosmetics go beyond mere functionalitythey create a sensory experience," writes the firm. "The new @rmrp.kr beauty line reinterprets this experience through a seamless design flow." "Just as texture blends into the skin, fragrance disperses into the air, and color merges naturally onto the lips, we applied surface transitions to shape each product." "The surfaces capture and reflect light in unique ways, creating different expressions from every angle." "While the three products each have their own distinct character, they are seamlessly connected through a unified design language." It's not clear which of the design variants will go into production, but if they do, that'll be the first time I've heard of an ID firm that had their own fragrance!