The Piano Man, Billy Joel, is one of the most celebrated musicians of all time. His career in the music business spans more than 50 years, during which time he’s entertained millions in concerts worldwide. He recently ended his Madison Square Garden residency after ten years and 104 shows. Few in the world can attract a crowd like Billy Joel, but it seems Taylor Swift is one of them. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Billy Joel (@billyjoel) Billy Joel Recently Took His Wife and Daughters to See Taylor Swift in Miami Billy posted on Instagram that his girls, Della Rose, 9, and Remy Anne, 7, are Swifties to the core. He and the family had to catch the Eras Tour at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, near and dear to Billy’s heart. He wore a shirt that said, “It’s me, hi. I’m the dad. It’s me.” Billy shared photos on Instagram with Taylor and her mom, Andrew, and a sweet caption. “Our family attended the Taylor Swift concert at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami where Billy Joel/Elton John’s ‘Face to Face’ concert previously held the seating record. Taylor’s second concert at Hard Rock Miami set a new record and ushered in a new era at Hard Rock Stadium. We were so happy to be a part of this record-breaking concert!  Plus, we got to celebrate with her mama,” he wrote. Billy Joel is not one bit jealous of Taylor Swift’s success. In fact, he champions her as an incredibly talented artist. He ended his Instagram post with a message to those caught up in the competition. “Celebrating someone’s success does not negate your own.  She is showing our girls all that is possible. Onward and upward.” Fans loved his sentiment. Like this person, “Spoken like a true champion of the arts, celebrating music achievements, and this trailblazing woman, yet another reason to love you!! The girls will never forget this night!” This story’s featured image is by Debby Wong via Shutterstock. The post Billy Joel Reacts To Taylor Swift Breaking One Of His Long-Standing Records appeared first on InspireMore.

If you struggle with setting boundaries and saying no, you are not alone.

Experts say you should put 20% of your income into a savings account every month. For some of us, that’s darn near impossible after paying the bills, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t attempt to save money at all. Even the smallest amount is worth something at the end of the day. Homesteaders Should Save Money This Spring Before you do anything else, you’ll need to document your budget. Knowing how much you make and spend each month is the first guideline for saving. You can do this a number of ways, from pen and paper, to excel spreadsheets, to popular online budgeting tools — whatever makes most sense to you. Once you’ve recorded your budget, you’ll know how much you have leftover to put in savings. But what should you be saving for? And how much should you be setting aside for it? Emergencies Establishing and maintaining an emergency savings fund should be your top priority. Unexpected setbacks (such as job loss or expensive medical bills) can leave you scrambling to  make ends meet — and ultimately put you into debt. It’s especially important not to count on credit cards to cover emergencies as the high interest rates can make your purchases cost thousands more in the long run. Using cash to pay off these unforeseen expenses will save you both money and stress. Financial experts used to recommend saving three to six months’ worth of living expenses for an emergency fund. However, after the recession and the high unemployment rates that followed, they changed it to six months (at the very least) — 12 months if you can manage it. This substantial amount ensures that you’ll be able to keep your head above water no matter what happens. If you haven’t started saving yet, this can sound like an impossible goal. The trick is to keep working toward it — again, every little bit counts. It helps to break it up into smaller goals, such as one month’s salary at a time, and then celebrate when you reach the milestones! Once you’ve established your emergency fund, you’ll find a lot of peace in knowing that you have enough money to stay financially safe in a time of need. What’s more, once you’ve successfully built your emergency fund, you’ll have also developed a habit. This habit will allow you to continue saving toward other financial goals, such as the ones listed below. Just remember, your emergency fund should always come first! Home Repair If this is the first home you’ve owned (that is, you’ve only rented before), you’ll find that being responsible for all maintenance and repairs is not only irritating, it can also eat through money like nobody’s business. That’s why putting aside money for home repairs is so important. You just never know when your siding might start to crumble or your furnace may give up the ghost. When it comes to maintenance and repair costs, the best rule of thumb is to budget one dollar per square foot, per year. That means that if you own a 1,500 square foot home, you should save $1,500 a year. While you may not necessarily spend $1,500 every year, there will be years where big ticket items (such as your roof) need repairs. Though the square foot idea is a reasonable estimate, it’s not perfect. There are many additional factors that may increase the likelihood and frequency of repairs. The age and condition of the house, it’s location, and the type of weather it is exposed to can all influence the need for repairs. For each of these factors that adversely affect your home, add an additional 10 percent to the square footage rule. For example, if you own a 2,500 square foot house built at the turn of the 20th century, and it’s located in an area that experiences heavy snowfall in the winter, you’d add 20 percent to $2,500. That comes out to $3,000 a year. While that’s definitely a hefty chunk of change, the tax benefits of these repairs can help to offset these costs. Animals Adding animals to your homestead is often a worthwhile investment — whether you sell what they produce or keep them purely for self-sustainability. However, before you start bringing home chickens and goats, you’ll want to set money aside to cover a variety of costs. Besides the purchase price of the animal, you’ll need to save for their housing, food, and care. The money you put down initially is just the start. Continuing food and veterinary needs will have to be calculated into your budget. Different animals have different needs, and it’s your job to know what those needs are before you commit to raising them. New Vehicle As we all know, buying a car is a big deal — not only because it’s exciting, but also because it’s a huge financial commitment. The average price of a new car is $33,453, and a reliable used car averages at $18,100. However, if you need to upgrade so you can haul horse trailer or hay, you don’t have much of an option. It has to be done. When budgeting for a new car, you’re most likely going to be budgeting for an auto loan. The general rule of thumb is that no more than 20% of your monthly income should go to your car loan payments. However, if you already have a lot of expenses, and there isn't much you can cut from your budget, that number should go down to 10-15%. Determining how much you can realistically afford — and buying within your means — is incredibly important. Furthermore, the larger down payment you can make, the better. With fewer total payments in the life of the loan, you’ll pay a lot less in interest. Just like buying a home, aim to save 20% of the price of the car for the down payment. Once you know what you can afford and have found a few cars that fit into your budget, you can start hitting the lots. The biggest thing to remember is this: don't let a salesperson push you around or into something you’re not looking for. Dealers will always try to sell you more car than you need — and when lenders let you borrow more than you can afford, you’ll find yourself in a bad situation. Be firm and insist the salesperson show you exactly what you’re looking for. If at any time in the process, you find that the monthly payments they project are getting out of hand, walk away. It’s also important to note that a new (or used) car will cost more than just the purchase price. You will need a new registration, which usually runs from $50 to $125, depending on the age of the car. The newer a car, the higher the registration and insurance costs. Vacation Working on the homestead is hard — and you deserve a break every now and then! Start with where you want to go and how long you want to be gone. Then, collect information on what airfare (or gas) will cost, as well as hotels in the area. With a rough idea of how long you'll be gone, you can work out the estimated costs for food, rental cars, gas, souvenirs, and entertainment. Once you have a ballpark figure of how much money the trip will cost, you can start saving! Determine how much money you have available to save each month, and how many months it will take you to save the necessary funds for your trip. Don’t forget to add in pre-trip costs, such as passports, travel insurance, and immunizations. When you have everything mapped out, you’ll have a vacation start date and can start the countdown! When saving for anything, be it emergencies or vacations, the key to success is to stick to your plan. Augment your savings by cutting back where you can, from working to save energy (and thus lower your bills) to planning your meals and eating out less. Pay yourself first and always treat your deposits like any other bill — non-negotiable and subject to a schedule. If you do this, you’ll find yourself financially secure in no time. And that’s a feeling that beats just about anything. Up Next: How To Grow Rainbow Corn | Glass Gem Corn Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook! Do you have any other ways you save money on the homestead? Let us know in the comment section below.

In a major order filed Tuesday in the $1 billion defamation case against CNN, and exclusively obtained by NewsBusters, Judge William Scott Henry of Florida’s 14th Circuit Court threw out CNN’s desperate attempt to cite Taliban Sharia law in their defense. Judge Henry also ordered that Plaintiff and Navy veteran Zachary Young “did not act illegally or criminally.” As NewsBusters was first to report back in August, the Cable News Network took to citing Taliban Sharia law in order to defend suggestions made in their offending report; that Young was engaged in criminal activity when he was working to help rescue women and children from Afghanistan following U.S. withdrawal and the Taliban sweeping back into power. In their filing citing Sharia law, CNN listed off a series of illegal activities Young, the other operatives, and the people fleeing the Taliban were allegedly guilty of, including “avoiding the Taliban,” “mak[ing] it past the Taliban checkpoints,” and keeping “people hidden from the Taliban”—i.e., all activities that were illegal in Afghanistan at the time.” While Judge Henry noted that CNN’s accusation of Young being involved in a “black market” was not something the Court was in position to make ruling on “at this time,” he describe their citation of Sharia law as “a bridge too far”: First, there is nothing in the record to suggest that any Taliban or Sharia law which would restrict the movement of persons (especially women) within or out of Afghanistan was properly enacted, adopted or recognized law to even suggest that evacuating individuals from Afghanistan was a criminal or illegal activity. In fact, the only information contained in the record suggests that formal adoption of any rules restricting travel within or out of Afghanistan did not occur until 2024 – almost three years after the publications in this case. In August of this year, CNN republished an Associate Press report which admitted that the Taliban had only recently gotten around to implementing Sharia law’s travel restrictions on women. “Further, Defendant did not plead the application of any foreign law to this case,” Judge Henry added.  That point essentially meant that CNN did not properly argue that Taliban Sharia law was the basis of what was being referenced in their report at the start of the case, two years ago; this line of defense only cropped up this summer. Judge Henry also dispelled any notion that Young had engaged in any illegal activity: As originally phrased, the Court is not in a position to determine that Young did not operate in a black market as it is not determining what black market means as a matter of law. However, as the argument was nuanced and modified in the Motion and at hearing, the Court can conclude that Young did not act criminally or illegally. (...) Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Defendant’s corporate representative acknowledged that Defendant’s reporting did not uncover illegal or criminal activity committed by Young. Accordingly, there is no dispute as to material fact that Young did not act illegally or criminally. As NewsBusters reported in late August, Judge Henry appeared skeptical of CNN’s Sharia Law defense when questioning CNN’s lead counsel Deanna Shullman (of Shullman Fugate PLLC). He compared the situation in Afghanistan to a Mexican drug cartel taking over a town: So, in Mexico, if a cartel is restricting people from going somewhere and you run your car out of town against the cartels “law,” are you saying that somebody did something illegal by leaving that town because the cartel said no you can't go? I mean, that that seems to be the equivalent of what you're suggesting here.     He also questioned the validity of the Taliban’s supposed laws, wondering how one could know what they were and/or if they were codified anywhere: And where I, I mean, if I, you know, if I'm saying somebody did something illegal in the state of Florida. I point to some chapter and some section, sub subsection of a statute that says this in Florida makes it illegal. Where does it say in Taliban law adopted in Afghanistan in 2021, the fall of 2021, that this is illegal to do? The case is still on track for their January 6, 2025 trial start date.

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But at an incredible cost.