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| Subscribe to The Daily Money newsletter. Come for our roundup of each day's top stories from USA TODAY Money. Stay for the pop-culture references and financial news-inspired playlist. |
| Happy Valentine's Day if you celebrate, Daily Money readers, and a regular old good morning if you don't. Jayme Deerwester with you once again, writing from Athens, Ohio, the hometown of Joe Burrow which he referenced in the team introductions Sunday night instead of his college alma mater (and yes, I know that technically, he's from the next town over). I'd hoped a Bengals win might give us a bonus Halloween celebration on Court St., but it was not to be. But at least we got one hell of a halftime show. Best '90s flashback, ever. |
🗞 News you should know 🗞 |
| The busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing reopened late Sunday after protests against COVID-19 restrictions closed it for almost a week, while Canadian officials held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa. |
| Detroit International Bridge Co. said in a statement that "the Ambassador Bridge is now fully open allowing the free flow of commerce between the Canada and U.S. economies once again." Esther Jentzen, spokeswoman for the company, said in a later text to The Associated Press that the bridge reopened to traffic at 11 p.m. EST. |
| Police on Sunday swept through the lingering protest that has brought a week of chaos to the massive bridge linking Detroit to Canada, arresting a few truckers and other protesters still attempting to block the nation's largest border crossing. |
| In a statement, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said, "It's time to get traffic and trade moving across North America's busiest land border crossing again. I will always stand with every hardworking Michigander and do whatever it takes to ensure that our businesses can keep humming along." |
🚨 More stories you shouldn't miss 🚨 |
| VALENTINE'S DAY DEALS. Free Taco Bell, Starbucks delivery discount, heart-shaped pizza and more. |
| MASK-FREE VEGAS. Super Bowl weekend marked the first without a mask mandate since July 2021. |
| MAKE 2022 THE YEAR YOU BECOME DEBT-FREE. Here's how to make it happen. |
| EXTEND YOUR PHONE'S BATTERY LIFE. Stop closing apps. (Yeah, you heard us right.) |
| HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO MAINTAIN A HOME? $3,000 per Angi survey. |
💡 Daily insight 💡 |
| Being in a relationship often means having difficult or uncomfortable conversations. Those might include topics like health matters, children, religion and money. |
| But the latter is something a large chunk of Americans would rather not talk about with their partners. In a recent NFCC and Wells Fargo survey, 40% of respondents say they'd rather avoid the topic of money with a partner or spouse. But that's a big mistake – one that could have serious consequences. |
| That's why being open about money matters is a better idea. Specifically, you and your partner should make a point to talk about: |
| • | What your income entails | | • | How much money you each have in savings and investments | | • | How much debt you have, and what type | | • | What your respective credit scores look like | |
| You should also, if you're living together and splitting expenses, get on a joint budget that outlines what your various spending categories look like. If you don't plan to pay expenses from a joint account or split them evenly, then you'll need to make a clear plan that maps out who's responsible for which bills. |
💵 Tax refund report 💵 |
| The IRS released stats Friday that give taxpayers a glimpse into the start of the season. |
| So far, the average tax refund was $2,201 as of Feb. 4 – about two weeks after the Jan. 24 kickoff when the Internal Revenue Service began accepting returns. |
| A total of $9.53 billion has been issued in refund cash with a bit more than 4.3 million returns generating federal income tax refunds. Nearly 16.7 million returns were received through Feb. 4 and nearly 13 million individual income tax returns have been processed, according to IRS statistics. |
| What's important to note is that the IRS is dealing with a burdensome backlog of 2020 returns that remained unprocessed from last year and needed to move forward. |
| The IRS stats, for example, listed about 4.46 million refunds issued via direct deposit. The average is $2,306. |
🎶 Mood music 🎶 |
| Today's lyric from Elton John's 'I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" is for all the heartbroken Bengals fans: "Don't wish it away. Don't look at it like it's forever. Between you and me, I could honestly say that things can only get better." |
| Listen while you work: Remember, you can listen to this song and every track I've quoted in the newsletter in the Daily Money Mood Music playlist on Spotify. |
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