New iPhone setting might be draining your battery: Found out about this new iPhone setting this week that was not at all on my radar and turning it off does seem to have made a meaningful impact on my battery life.
Podcast Rec: My friend Yanira has been telling me I should listen to the Scamanda podcast for years. My husband and I finally opened it up on a road trip last month. Very quickly, we were hooked and our kids started listening along too. It's a well-done 8-episode true-crime podcast chronicling the unbelievable story of Amanda Riley, a woman who faked having cancer for years, defrauding friends, family, and a church community out of money and support through elaborate blog posts before being caught and imprisoned for wire fraud. Truly a fascinating listen. Have you already listened to it? Let me know what you thought!
Greenlight for allowance: We researched all the tools for making allowance easier as our kids got older and Greenlight was the best choice. We've been happy users for years at this point. It has tools to teach kids about money and it can automate a certain amount going to saving or charity if you want. I like that if we're out at a store and my kids want something, they can either pay with their Greenlight debit card from their allowance or if they don't have the card (which is most often the case), I can just open the app and pull the money out for their purchase with a little note. My dad (their grandpa) even uses it to send them cash sometimes. They normally give you $30 free cash when you join Greenlight but I saw they are giving $45 to everyone who joins by this Sunday. So if you've been thinking about it, now's a good time to try it out.
If you are in California or know someone who is: A new privacy law has gone into effect now that it's 2026 and you can spend a few minutes signing up here to get your information removed from data brokers who are selling your info (which results in spam, but also in scams and phishing). I've been using DeleteMe happily (still using it!) for years to deal with this nonsense, and I happily signed up for this new free service as a California resident.
Instead of asking for feedback: I made this 48-second video with a tiny tweak that you can make to get better feedback from folks around you. Would this be helpful for you?
Bonus Sponsor Resource: Free LEGO Magazine. Did you know LEGO sends a free printed magazine to kids several times a year? It's 28 pages of screen-free fun—puzzles, comics, building ideas, posters, and cool creations made by kids around the world. My kids love when it shows up in the mailbox with their name on it. It's completely free (no credit card, no trial period, even delivery is free), you just need to sign up. This resource is from one of our Friday Five sponsors - thank you to them for keeping this newsletter free for readers!