My husband insisted we split finances 50/50 after his salary increase – I agreed, but with a catch

By
Monica Pop
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My husband, James, got promoted at work, and that’s when everything changed. He demanded we split finances 50/50 knowing I settled for a part-time job in order to raise our daughter.

When Emily was born, James thought it would be for the best if I cut my work hours and be there for her. I somehow felt it wasn’t a good idea, because honestly, my job meant a lot to me, but since he pushed the idea, I finally agreed.

I had been working on a number of consulting projects I wasn’t willing to give up on, but James managed to convince me that me being at home with Emily was more important.

Midjourney

Although I still went to work, part-time, that diminished all my chances of climbing up the corporate leader.

A couple of years later, James came home one day bringing a champagne.

“Honey, I made it,” he said, “I got that promotion. And the salary… you won’t believe this, it’s doubled.”

I felt genuinely happy for him.

As he took out glasses from the cabinet, ready to open the champagne and celebrate his success, he turned to me and said, “And that has got me thinking, we need to discuss our finances.”

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“Our finances!?” I asked, not assuming what he meant by that.

“You see, now that my salary doubled, we should split finances 50/50. The errands, the mortgage, everything.”

I was waiting for him to tell me he was joking, but James was dead serious.

“James, how can you expect we split finances 50/50 when I only have a part-time job?” I asked. “I’m home with Emily most of the time, this doesn’t make any sense.”

But then, James turned to me and said, “That’s on you, you were the one who settled for less.”

Midjourney

His words felt like a knife. I reminded him that he was the one who forced me to reduce my work hours, but he was so consumed with his promotion, that he ignored everything I had to say.

After giving it some thought, I agreed, but only if we did it in writing.

The following day, we signed the agreement and had it notarized.

Honestly, the next two years were a living hell. I was having a hard time splitting the expenses while doing everything around the house, but I had a plan and I just waited for the right time to put it into action.

Midjourney

As of James, he changed to the extent I no longer recognized him. He became full of himself and started treating me as I was not worthy.

He replaced all his clothes with expensive suits, started visiting expensive restaurants, and showed his love for golf all of a sudden.

What’s most, he never invited me anywhere, claiming I wouldn’t know what to speak to his colleagues since I was home most of the time. He truly believed I was living under a rock.

When Emily turned six, I felt it was about time I have my revenge on the man who humiliated me over and over again.

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The call I made changed our lives forever.

One day, my husband came home struggling to stop the tears from falling down his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him, totally aware of what was going on.

“They are demoting me. Apparently, my position is being ‘restructured.’ I didn’t even get my old job back, but even a lower position.”

James complained that it didn’t make any sense. But it did.

“See, James, you got that promotion because of my connections to your boss, Mike. The two of us go way back. I’ve never mentioned that because I didn’t want you to feel like you didn’t work hard enough for it. But since you’ve changed, I decided to take it back.”

Midjourney

James couldn’t believe my words.

“And you know what? He offered me your position, and I accepted it.”

Still shocked, James said, “Well, at least we’ll still be earning a lot.”

“No, James, there is no WE. Don’t you remember the contract? We still split our finances 50/50.”

James said it was ridiculous. But of course it wasn’t. If I could do it, then he should have been able to manage too.

Midjourney

As expected, it didn’t take long before James realized the role reversal was too much for him.

Eventually, we decided to split, and that was the best decision I’ve ever made. When signing the divorce papers, James’ agreement on our finances came to him one final time, but honestly, that’s what he deserved.

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Bored Daddy

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She made my elderly mom sleep on the floor — I’ll never forgive her

By
Monica Pop
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My sister-in-law Jessica organized a getaway weekend for the family at a lake house. I was fond of the idea of everyone getting together because I knew that my mother, who raised me and my brother Peter all by herself following our dad’s passing, deserved vacation. She hasn’t been on real vacation in years, always coming up with excuses. This time, however, she was happy to be spending time with the family.

Everyone was expected to pitch in $500. Well, everyone except for Jessica. She said she deserved to go for free because she was the one who took the time to organize everything.

Honestly, I was fine with it. But a day before the trip, my son got sick and I stayed behind. My mom, however, was still going.

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The following day, I Facetimed her, eager to learn how was everything and is she was having a nice time. But that’s when I noticed tears in her eyes.

“Mom, is that a mattress I see behind you? Are you staying in the hallway?”

She was ashamed to even admit that Jessica made her sleep on a mattress on the floor, next to the mop closet. There wasn’t even a pillow there. I just couldn’t believe my eyes.

In the meantime, Jessica’s mom had a queen-sized bed, and her sister had a private suite.

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I called my brother and asked him if he was aware that our mother was staying in the hallway while his wife’s mother was sleeping in a huge bed all by herself. Peter, however, didn’t seem to see it as an issue. He said Jessica made this rule, “first come, first served,” and her part of the family got the rooms only because they arrived there before my mother did.

He even had the audacity to say that mom didn’t mind it anyways.

Without hesitating, I left my son with a neighbor and headed towards the lake house. I was there after half and hour and went straight to Jessica’s room. When I knocked on the door, she saw me holding a mattress in my hands, and said, “You wouldn’t dare.”

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But I already had. I went inside and threw all her stuff in the hallway, along with the mattress I got for her. “Jessica, you can sleep in the hallway yourself, or just go wherever you want. This room is now my mother’s.”

Jessica got livid. She started calling Peter’s name, but I didn’t care.

I took my mom inside the room and told her to have the rest and the fun she deserved.

That evening, my mother slept in a real bed while Jessica, her mom, and her sister left early — cutting the vacation short.

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My mom? She swam, laughed, and made the most of the couple of days she had left at that beautiful lake house.

“Thank you for seeing me,” she whispered to my ear while giving me a hug. “Always, mom,” I said.

I haven’t spoken to neither Jessica nor Peter ever since the incident. They didn’t take the time to apologize to my mother for treating her the way they did, and I honestly believe she doesn’t deserve such people to even be part of her life. So I guess everything turned just fine at the end.

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Bored Daddy

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What’s SPAM, really — and what goes into it?

By
Monica Pop
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Ever since Hormel Foods Corporation introduced it in 1937, SPAM, the canned cooked meat known for its long shelf life, became a must-have pantry item in every household in America.

The name of the brand stands for ‘Spiced Ham’ — or at least, that’s the popular belief. Some speculate that it stands for ‘Shoulder of Pork And Ham,’ while others suggest it could mean ‘Specially Processed American Meat.’

It’s taste and texture are rather unique, which makes many question what ingredients the company uses to make the popular product.

SPAM gained popularity during the WWII, when it was used to feed the troops. Even today, it is a staple food in places like Hawaii, South Korea, and the Philippines.

1936 can of Hormel “Spiced Ham” at the Spam Museum/ Wikipedia

It comes in various flavors and varieties, satisfying diverse food preferences. From the classic original SPAM to flavors like Hickory Smoke, Hot & Spicy, and even SPAM with Cheese, there’s a SPAM for everyone’s taste.

If you’ve ever wondered exactly what ingredients SPAM is made of, these are the ones used in the classic can: pork (with ham), salt, water, sugar, potato starch (used as a binder), and sodium nitrate, a common preservative used in cured meat to keep it look fresh, extend shelf-life, and preserve the pink color.

Sliced Spam (straight from the can)/ Wikipedia

In fact, sodium nitrate is found is certain vegetables such as spinach and celery, as well as in unregulated drinking water. It is a chemical compound of nitrate and sodium.

While nitrates are a natural part of any normal diet, excessive consumption can lead to health risks. Research suggest that high levels can cause colorectal cancer. Also, high intake is linked to diseases such as leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, heart disease, and ovarian, stomach, esophageal, pancreatic and thyroid cancers.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA/ Wikipedia

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests the daily intake of sodium nitrate to be limited to 3.7 milligrams per kilo of body weight. The issue is that this ingredient is not listed on food labels, making it difficult to track the amount you are getting on a daily basis.

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Kate’s subtle piano performance at Westminster Abbey moved the nation to tears

By
Monica Pop
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Kate Middleton is special in so many ways. Being a princess, a mother, and a future Queen, or Queen Consort at least, she is loved by her people and millions others from every corner of the world.

Many believe that when Kate Middleton was given the title of Princess of Wales, she began to see herself not just as William’s wife, but as a prominent figure within the royal family.

Following her battle with cancer, a period of her life that left a mark not only on her and her family, but the entire country, Kate is again seen in public, executing her royal duties with excellence.

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

It doesn’t come as a surprise that she’s often compared to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana. That’s because, like the People’s Princess, Kate is admired for her grace, compassion, strong connection with the public, and dedication to charitable work.

During Christmas 2021, Kate revealed her musical abilities to the nation at Westminster Abbey, stunning the audience with a moving surprise piano performance during the “Royal Carols: Together at Christmas” ITV special, which aired on December 24. 

She joined Scottish singer Tom Walker on the stage as the duo performed the song For Those Who Can’t Be Here. According to BBC, the two secretly filmed at a recording studio ahead of the event that also featured Leona Lewis, Ellie Goulding and “Harry Potter” star Tom Felton.

Kensington Royal/Twitter

Speaking of the experience, Walker recalled being asked if he was fine with the duchess performing with him. His reaction was, “What?”

“She picked it up so well, it’s really not easy to go from not playing with other musicians for like 10 years to jumping straight in with like a whole band you’ve never met and camera crews doing live takes that’s being filmed in Westminster Abbey, so I thought it just went so well,” he said. “She’s [a] very talented musician.”

“Royal Carols” honored those who inspired communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and offered space for grief, remembrance, and shared strength.

“This Christmas will be different to what so many of us had planned,” Prince William and Kate tweeted at the time. “From those who are alone or having to isolate away from loved ones, to the incredible people supporting our NHS and caring for those most in need — we are thinking of you.”

The event was organized and hosted by Kate Middleton herself.

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Bored Daddy

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Entitled parents tried to ban me from eating on a plane—Guess who caused the real scene

By
Monica Pop
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When I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at just 12, I thought my life would be completely different from everyone else’s. But over time, I learned how to manage my condition without letting it stand in the way of any goal I set my mind to.

My family, friends, and colleagues know that my blood sugar levels can sometimes spike or drop dangerously low, so they understand the my needs for a snack when I feel like I need to have one. In fact, I always have a protein bar in all my purses. I keep them along with my insulin injections and other medications that help me manage my condition.

Even my boss makes sure the otherwise long conference meetings include a couple of snack breaks in order to accommodate my needs.

But it turns out that not everyone out there understand what it feels like to be living with Type 1 Diabetes. What’s a simple snack for most people can sometimes be a medical necessity for me.

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During a three-hour-long flight, I started feeling that familiar sensation that often warned me my blood sugar was dropping.

I was seated next to a family of three, a mom and dad in their mid-thirties and their son, around seven years old. The boy had the newest iPad, a wireless headphones, and kept kicking the seat in front of him. His parents didn’t seem to bother much about his behavior although the person whose seat got kicked over and over again kept glancing at them, expecting from them to do something about their son’s lack of manners.

At one moment, I grabbed my snack bar out of my purse when the mother turned to me and said, “You can’t have that here, our son has sensitivities. He hates ot when someone eats in front of him.” The father then added, “It’s the crunching and chewing, it triggers tantrums.”

I was stunned by their request, and although I felt like I had to have my snack right there and then, I decided to wait for the snack cart instead.

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However, when the flight attendant got to our row some time later and asked what we wanted, I said, “Can I get a Coke and the protein snack box, please?” But the entitled parents said, “No, she won’t have anything,” referring to me. “We are fine, you can pass our row.”

I turned to them and said, “Listen, I need to have a snack,” to which they responded that I was being totally insensitive and unsympathetic to their son’s wishes.

At that point, I decided to act and called the flight attendant to return to our row. “Hi. I have Type 1 Diabetes. If I don’t eat something now, I could pass out or end up in the hospital. So yes, I will be eating. Thanks.” I said loud enough so that most of the people around us could hear me.

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The flight attendant passed me the snacks and the Coke I demanded and I started eating right away. Luckily, my sugar levels started getting up and I started regaining energy.

The woman started yelling, getting upset because of my eating while her son had his Skittles on his tray. When I pointed that out, the woman claimed it was different, and Skittles wasn’t really “food.”

She tried to talk to me about her son’s sensitivities, but I wasn’t willing to listen.

“Lady, listen” I said, “I’ll manage my diabetes, you manage your tantrum-prone kid. I won’t risk my health for your comfort—next time, book the whole row or fly private.”

That day, I learned that it’s never rude to advocate for your own health, especially when someone hates the sound of the chewing of the snack that could save my life.

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Coldplay concert kiss cam blows up online, dragging tech exec’s private life into the light

By
Monica Pop
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The stir over the Coldplay kiss cam moment that revealed the affair between two Astronomer colleagues hasn’t died down.

The CEO of the New York based tech company, Andy Byron, and the Head of HR, Kristin Cabot, were caught on cam were holding each other intimately. The moment they realized they are featured on the kiss cam, they both tried to hide their faces, but the damage was already done when Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin poked on their reaction, saying jokingly that they are either very shy or are having an affair.

The footage of the awkward moment was soon shared on TikTok, going viral in the blink of an eye.

@instaagraace trouble in paradise?? 👀 #coldplay #boston #coldplayconcert #kisscam #fyp ♬ original sound – grace

According to LinkedIn, Cabot has served as the company’s Chief People Officer for nine months, with Byron praising her leadership at the time of her appointment. “She is a proven leader at multiple growth-stage companies and her passion for fostering diverse, collaborative workplaces makes her a perfect fit for Astronomer,” the CEO was reported to have said of Cabot.

In her own statement, Cabot said she had “energised in my conversations with Andy and the Astronomer leadership team about the opportunities that exist here.”

Her statement continued: “I prefer to think of my role as people strategy versus traditional human resources, as the real magic happens when you align the people strategy with the business strategy.”

Following the incident that many dub one of the most viral corporate scandals of the year, Internet users flooded the Byron’s LinkedIn page with comments, many referencing Coldplay songs. He has since deleted his account.

People went even further, finding the CEO’s wife’s Facebook profile and posting comments of sympathy. “Girl dump his ass and get a good lawyer. You’re too much of a baddie to deal with this,” one person wrote.

“Take him to the cleaners. Get that alimony,” another said.

Users have also noticed that Byron’s wife has since removed his surname from her profile.

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Donald Trump diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency following leg swelling

By
Monica Pop
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The public has been speculating about President Donald Trump’s swollen legs and ankles for quite some time and it has now been revealed that the rumors were not unfounded.

According to the White House, the president has undergone a “comprehensive examination, including diagnostic vascular studies,” with the White House Medical Unit. It was White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt who read the note from physician Sean Barbabella, the doctor who performed Trump’s first physical examination which also involved a cognitive assessment since his return to Oval Office.

“I know that many in the media have been speculating about bruising on the president’s hand and also swelling in the president’s legs,” Leavitt said Thursday. “So, in the effort of transparency, the president wanted me to share a note from his physician with all of you today.”

President Trump’s hand/ Nathan Howard/Reuters

Further, Barbabella’s statement added that Donald Trump had “noted mild swelling in his lower legs.”

“The president underwent a comprehensive examination, including diagnostic vascular studies. Bilateral lower extremity venous Doppler ultrasounds were performed and revealed chronic venous insufficiency, a benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70,” Barbabella’s note said of Trump.

According to the doctor’s note, no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease was found during the examination and Trump’s lab testing was all “within normal limits.”

Further Barbabella wrote that Trump also underwent an echocardiogram and “no signs of heart failure, renal impairment, or systemic illness were identified.” 

President Donald Trump’s feet during the FIFA World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 13/ eenah Moon/REUTERS

According to My Cleveland Clinic, “Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a form of venous disease that occurs when veins in your legs are damaged. As a result, these veins can’t manage blood flow as well as they should, and it’s harder for blood in your legs to return to your heart. CVI causes blood to pool in your leg veins, leading to high pressure in those veins..”

Further, the clinic adds that the condition is pretty common and affects 1 in 20 individuals.

Dr. Jeremy Faust, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School, said the president’s condition is “not alarming information” and “not surprising.”

“This is a pretty normal part of aging, and especially for someone in the overweight to obese category, which is where the president has always been. But the bigger concern … is that symptoms like this do need to be evaluated for more serious conditions, and that is what happened,” Faust told CNN.

Alex Brandon/AP Photo

Cardiologist Dr. Bernard Ashby told CNN that Chronic venous insufficiency can also be related to other health conditions such as increased pressure from the heart or sleep apnea.

Dr. Chris Pernell added that other possible causes could be age, obesity, and inactivity.

The truth is that this his swollen ankles aren’t the sole concern the public has regarding Trump’s health.

On June9, Trump attended the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and a couple of photos of him that were shared online caught the attention of many who claimed he was having what appeared to be a “catheter.”

The White House White House spokesperson Steven Cheung commented on the matter.

“The President has been the most transparent president in history, and the recent medical report that was released clearly and unequivocally shows he is in peak condition,” he told Snopes in an email.

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Bored Daddy

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The internet has ID’d the third woman caught on jumbotron next to cheating couple at Coldplay concert, and everyone is saying the same thing about her

By
Monica Pop
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The awkward moment during which a kiss cam caught Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and the company’s Chief People Officer, Kristin Cabot, at a Coldplay concert in Boston is still something the Internet is freaking out about.

Byron and Cabot were cuddling and smiling, his arms wrapped around her, as she leaned back into him when Chris Martin asked the cameras to scan the crowd for his “Jumbotron Song.” When they saw themselves on the big screen, Cabot covered her face while Byron ducked down of sight. Martin then made a comment jokingly, saying, “Oh look at these two. Oh, what? Either they’re having an affair or they’re just really shy.”

Now, as the online community continues to buzz over the affair, people were eager to learn who the second woman in the clip that has since gone viral is. In no time, they have identified her as Alyssa Stoddard, also an employee at Astronomer. Allegedly, Stoddard is the Senior Director of People at the company that she joined in January 2025.

According to her LinkedIn profile, she has previously been a board member at Little Sparks Project, a human resources business partner at Proofpoint, and a people strategy manager at ObserveI.

Cabot promoted her to her current position just last week.

As the video made rounds, people couldn’t help but notice Stoddard’s reaction, with everyone agreeing that she was well-aware of the “relationship” between her colleagues.

One person commented, “She’s the recent hire who just got a promotion.” 

“She’s cute with a great smile – supposedly she’s in HR as well and is a direct report of the chick that got busted on the big screen,” a second person added.

A third person added: “She was the annoying, loud mouth, bad influence, feminist friend pushing for it all to happen, is my guess.” 

Someone else commented, “When it comes out, this lady is actually best friends with the wife… that may be the bigger drama by far.” 

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